Beauty in mate

As soon as the strategy meeting concluded, everyone decided to play each other in practice matches.

"I am honored to meet you. I am Ryonosuke Hobou," a middle-aged man bowed as he sat down across from Okisato.

"You play shogi as well, yes?" Okisato asked as he opened by moving his pawn to a3.

"That is correct, though I am also one of this nation's top chess players," Ryonosuke nodded as he moved his pawn to d5.

While Okisato could easily follow up with King e2, the Baron Buster gambit, he decided that Ryonosuke didn't deserve to be disrespected like that, and opted for the more tempered, but still bold, e4.

"And what kind of gambit is this supposed to be?" Ryonosuke asked as he captured the pawn at e4 with his d-pawn.

"I'll call it the Anderssen opening: Prussian, Kaiser gambit," Okisato shrugged as he moved his pawn to e4.

"And this new gambit?" Ryonosuke asked as he moved his knight to f6.

"The one you didn't accept by not performing en passant? ...The Anderssen opening: Prussian, Kaiser, Von Richthofen gambit," Okisato shrugged as he moved his knight to e2.

"Why that?" Ryonosuke asked as he moved his pawn to c5.

"Because it's not the best gambit, and I want to insult a certain Prussian kaiser by naming those moves after him," Okisato snickered as he moved his b-knight to c3.

"The current kaiser of Prussia? That seems a bit disrespectful," Ryonosuke scowled as he moved hos queen to b6.

"And that's why. He doesn't deserve my respect. In fact, I already beat him with two Bongcloud-type moves, one being the Baron Buster gambit," Okisato stated as he captured the pawn at c5 with his d-pawn.

"The what now?" Ryonosuke scowled as he moved his queen to c7.

"The Baron Buster gambit. It goes, 1. a3 d5, 2. Ke2," Okisato stated as he moved his pawn to b4.

"That's just reckless play. Forgoing your castling rights is a big vice," Ryonosuke frowned as he moved his bishop to d7.

"Nah, castling's not always the greatest, besides, this is just how I play," Okisato snickered as he moved his bishop to f4.

"I don't agree with it though," Ryonosuke scowled as he moved his pawn to e5.

"Wasn't asking you to. Besides, I can play normally if I want to," Okisato grinned as he moved his bishop to g5.

"Then why don't you?" Ryonosuke asked as he moved his queen to c8.

Okisato paused and leaned back before moving his knight to g3. "Like I said, I prefer playing unorthodox openings and pouncing on the first mistake my opponent makes."

"But said unorthodox openings put you at a disadvantage," Ryonosuke countered as he moved his pawn to a5.

"But it's those exact unorthodox openings that make players think they have an advantage and then, fall into the trap of messing up," Okisato snickered as he moved hos bishop to b5.

Ryonosuske scowled and went silent, moving his queen to c8. Okisato also went silent and captured the knight at f6 with his bishop, causing Ryonosuske to frown and capture the pawn at b4 with his a-pawn.

"Not gonna take my bishop?" Okisato asked as he captured the pawn at e4 with his g-knight.

Ryonosuske didn't reply and simply captured the knight at c3 with his b-pawn.

"Well, you did make the best moves actually, but still not good enough," Okisato smirked as he captured the pawn at g7 with his bishop.

"The material count is even now," Ryonusuke scowled as he captured the bishop at g7 with his bishop.

"But not for long. Check!" Okisato maniacally grinned as he slammed his knight down on d6.

"I would ask that you kindly- ...!"

Ryonuske went pale as he realized what Okisato just did.

"...You forked my king and queen. Damn, I was foolish," he trembled as he moved his king to e7.

"Not gonna resign?" Okisato asked as he captured the queen at c8 with his knight.

"No, for mate is not inevitable," Ryonosuke declared as he captured the knight at c8 with his rook.

"And if it was?" Okisato asked as he moved his rook to b1.

"I'd still fight on. I don't want to lose to you," Ryonosuke scowled as he moved his knight to c6.

"Why's that?" Okisato asked as he moved his queen to d6.

"Because it would be humiliation," Ryonosuke frowned as he moved his king to e8.

"I didn't go THAT hard on you," Okisato scowled as he moved his bishop to c4.

"And you shouldn't go easy on me. We are practicing in order to face far stronger opponents, but if I can't win a game like this... I fear I'll become the weak link of the team," Ryonosuke frowned as he moved his rook to d8.

Despite being able to read many of his opponents, consoling wasn't exactly Okisato's forte due to his personality. However, he didn't want Ryonosuke to fall into despair as he was still his teammate and vital to Japan's medal chances.

"Then how about we have Inoue-senpai review this game once it's over?" Okisato asked as je captured the pawn at b7 with his rook.

"Why her?" Ryonosuke asked as he captured the pawn at a3 with his rook.

"Because she's the one I respect the most when it comes to chess," Okisato nodded as he castled king's side.

Ryonosuke stared in silence for a bit before smiling. "Seems my perception of you was flawed. My apologies," he bowed before moving his knight to a5.

"Hmm? What brought this on?" Okisato asked as he captured the bishop at d7 with his rook.

"Two things, you castled and admitted you look up to others. I thought you were more of an egotist that forgoed castling for unorthodox plays, but it seems I was wrong," Ryonosuke stated as he captured the rook at d7 with his rook.

"Like I said before, castling isn't always the best move. Though speaking of which, my teacher actually holds the record for most castling checkmates," Okisato stated as he moved his bishop to b5.

"Hoh, nasty. The pin not your statement," Ryonosuke nodded as he thought for a bit before finally moving his knight to c6.

"It is a nasty pin. Though my teacher put me on the receiving end of far nastier ones," Okisato stated as he simply captured the knight at c6 with his bishop.

"And just who is this teacher?" Ryonosuke asked as he moved his rook to a7.

"Peter Morphy," Okisato stated as he moved his rook to b1.

Ryonosuke's jaw hung open, but now everything made sense to him. "So that's why you're like this. I've heard Peter is a young man that will often play unotrthodox moves simply to make things more exciting as he puts it. Funny considering his ancestor Paul Morphy often requested that he only play odds matches following him becoming unofficial world champion," he chuckled as he moved his bishop to f6.

"Still not going to throw in the towel yet?" Okisato asked as he captured the bishop at f6 with his queen.

"Not when a back rank checkmate is still possible," Ryonosuke chuckled as he moved his rook to a8.

"Well sorry, but that's not gonna happen," Okisato snickered as he moved his rook to e1.

"How so?" Ryonosuke asked as he moved his rook to a7.

"Do you do kyudo as well, Hobou-san?" Okisato asked as he moved his queen to h8.

The question surprised Ryonosuke, but after moving his king to e7, he did admit that yes, he dabbled in it from time and asked why Okisato brought it up.

"Because I'm about to show you some prime archery right here. Checkmate," Okisato snickered as he captured the pawn at e5 with his rook, winning the game.

Ryonosuke stared at the board in bewilderment before slowly clapping. "Marvelous. That is a beautiful checkmate you've just pulled off. Tanabe-san, you are indeed a worthy opponent and teammate," he smiled as he extended his hand.

"You are too. Hmm, perhaps Inoue-senpai won't yell at me too much," Okisato chuckled as he shook Ryonosuke's hand.

Much to his dismay, Mimoko did in fact berate him for his Anderssen opening: Prussian, Kaiser, Richthofen gambit. Though she did at least praise him for the checkmate as it was in fact a very beautiful one.

"Hmm, maybe we should call this type of checkmate, a Bull's-eye mate," Okisato pondered aloud.

The full game:

White: Okisato Tanabe (2700) Black: Ryonosuke Hobou (2415)

1. a3 d5

2. e4 dxe4

3. d4 Nf6

4. Ne2 c5

5. Nbc3 Qb6

6. dxc5 Qc7

7. b4 Bd7

8. Bf4 e5

9. Bg5 Qc6

10. Ng3 a5

11. Bb5 Qc8

12. Bxf6 axb4

13. Ngxe4 bxc3

14. Bxg7 Bxg7

15. Nd6+ Ke7

16. Nxc8+ Rxc8

17. Rb1 Nc6

18. Qd6+ Ke8

19. Bc4 Rd8

20. Rxb7 Rxa3

21. O-O Na5

22. Rxd7 Rxd7

23. Bb5 Nc6

24. Bxc6 Ra7

25. Rb1 Bf6

26. Qxf6 Ra8

27. Re1 Ra7

28. Qh8+ Ke7

29. Rxe5#