Jun 24, 2025
Author's Commentary #357:
Time to talk about Chapter 357: Party people.
So many bios to do, and it's entirely on me. Many of these chapters will have multiple characters debuting whether it be in downtime, during games, or both. It's part of my mission to try and introduce as many of the teams playing before the second rest day in the story. So without further ado, let's begin.
シグリドゥール・ノルドダール (Sigríður Norðdahl) is how Sigríður's name would be spelled in katakana.
Her birthday is March 21st. I chose this date at random, so there's no greater significance behind why this date is her birthday.
Her favorite piece is the queen.
ホルムフリドゥール・シェヴィング (Hólmfríður Scheving) is how Hólmfríður's name would be spelled in katakana.
Her birthday is August 16th, which is when the first episode of Lazytown was released.
Her favorite piece is the queen.
フラフニルドゥル・ロヴェ (Hrafnhildur Löve) is how Hrafnhildur's name would be spelled in katakana.
Her birthday is February 14th, which is Valentines Day.
Her favorite piece is the queen.
ビョーク・ブリャンソン (Björk Brjánsson) is how Björk's name would be spelled in katakana.
Her birthday is March 16th. I chose this date at random, so there's no greater significance behind why this date is her birthday.
Her favorite piece is the queen.
フィリップ・バルボサ (Filipa Barbosa) is how Filipa's name would be spelled in katakana.
Her birthday is unknown, however, many claim it's February 19th, the same as Fifi's, while Filipa herself claims it's March 19th.
Her favorite piece is the queen, which is what a pawn can become, and since Fifi's favorite piece is the pawn, many take it as proof that Filipa is Fifi.
Filipa's a character I've had in the wings for a while, and it's easy to see the appeal of her character. She's Brazilian Fifi, but claims not to be. She's never been seem at the same place at the exact time as Fifi, and she even has the same rating and title as her. The only question is whether her and Fifi really are the same person or two different people.
ヤラ・サントス (Yara Santos) is how Yara's name would be spelled in katakana.
Her birthday is March 17th, which is St. Patrick's Day.
Her favorite piece is the knight.
リタ・ジャコメ (Rita Jacome) is how Rita's name would be spelled in katakana.
Her birthday is March 25th. I chose this date at random, so there's no greater significance behind why this date is her birthday.
Her favorite piece is the pawn.
ニノ・ナツヴリシビリ (Nino Natsvlishvili) is how Nino's name would be spelled in katakana. ნინო ნაცვლიშვილი (Nino Natsvlishvili) is how it would be spelled in Georgian.
Her birthday is January 22nd. I chose this date at random, so there's no greater significance behind why this date is her birthday.
Her favorite piece is the queen.
Once again, I can't help name characters in reference to the Quintessential Quintuplets. This Nino, however, is a complete jerk. This was true even when I first drafted her, but now I feel she's going to be much worse, and far more unlikeable than originally planned.
バナニ・ナカニ(Banani Nakani) is how Banani's name would be spelled in katakana. ბანანი ნაკანი (Banani Nakani) is how it would be spelled in Georgian. Her first name is also Georgian for "banana".
Her birthday is April 16th, which is National Banana Day.
Her favorite piece is the pawn.
Banani was actually originally going to fill Tinatin's role as the bullied character, but at the last minute, I decided to make her a masochistic stock trader.
ティナティン・オクルアシビリ (Tinatin Okruashvili) is how Tinatin's name would be spelled in katakana. თინათინ ოქრუაშვილი (Tinatin Okruashvili) is how it would be spelled in Georgian.
Her birthday is January 10th, which is the date The Adventures of Tintin first debuted in French back in 1929.
Her favorite piece is the pawn.
Tinatin's design is easily one of my favorites. Originally, her design was going to be used for a member of the Simien team, but I eventually settled on using it for a member of the Georgian team.
ネスタン・ダレヤン・グヴェネタゼ (Nestan-Darejan Gvenetadze) is how Nestan-Darejan's name would be spelled in katakana. ნესტან-დარეჯან გვენეტაძე (Nestan-Darejan Gvenetadze) is how it would be spelled in Georgian.
Her birthday is November 6th. I chose this date at random, so there's no greater significance behind why this date is her birthday.
Her favorite piece is the king.
グランドゥクト・イアシュビリ (Gurandukht Iashvili) is how Gurandukht's name would be spelled in katakana. გურანდუხტ იაშვილი (Gurandukht Iashvili) is how it would be spelled in Georgian.
(If I made any mistakes with the translations, feel free to correct me).
Her birthday is June 3rd. I chose this date at random, so there's no greater significance behind why this date is her birthday.
Her favorite piece is the queen.
Gurandukht was actually planned to be one of the players that originally faced Rasputin. However, I decided against using her as I didn't want her character to be engrossed in the eventual plotline that will stem from said event.
ミルジャム・ファン・デル・ヴィーン (Mirjam Van der Veen) is how Mirjam's name would be spelled in katakana.
Her birthday is August 12th, which she shares with Dutch grandmaster, Dimitri Reinderman.
Her favorite piece is the knight.
Mirjam is a racing cyclist, as well as a DSPCM. While she is generally considered a tomboy, she is very beautiful and is very well-mannered. But when she's acing or playing chess, she becomes a competitive mad woman, and will start hurling vulgarities at her opponents if talking's allowed.
ショーク・ウィニックス (Sjouke Weenix) is how Sjouke's name would be spelled in katakana.
Her birthday is May 8th, which she shares with Chinese-born Dutch grandmaster, Peng Zhaoqin.
Her favorite piece is the pawn.
Sjouke is a painter descended from the famous Dutch painter, Jan Baptist Weenix. She's constantly trying to create various new works of art, and will often kidnap Mirjam to be he model or even her canvas depending on he mood. Like Mirjam, she's also a DSPCM and has an eccentric style when playing.
ネル・ズワン (Nel Zwan) is how Nel's name would be spelled in katakana.
Her birthday is April 20th because she smokes weed.
Her favorite piece is the rook.
I feel that if this series ever got a video game or anime adaptation, Nel would be one of the most surprisingly controversial characters, mainly due to the fact that she's constantly high on weed.
ヘンリカ・ヴァン・ペルト (Henrika Van Pelt) is how Henrika's name would be written in katakana.
Her birthday is December 13th, which is the day Lucy Van Pelt made her final appearance in the Peanuts comic strip.
Her favorite piece is the queen.
One unique thing about the Dutch women's team is that their ratings are almost the exact same. This was deliberate on my pat as I wanted their to be a team where everyone's rating was just a point higher than their teammate next to them.
Phew, that's everyone. I have to say, the birthdays are some of the most time consuming things as I want everyone's birthday to have time and care put into deciding them, but sometimes, you just have to give them a random date with no meaning behind it. And now, it's onto the DJ challenge where some familiar faces will be facing off for a chance to win 10 million WWCF points. Get hyped, because Chess 960, aka Fischer Random/ Freestyle chess is about to reappear in the story.
That's all for this commentary. I hope you enjoyed it.
