The first to fall

Collette scowled and moved her bishop to a3 as Mimoko moved her rook to e8. She had caught a glimpse of the state of things on board 4 and was not happy with how it was going.

"Damn it. The position there's practically even. Mimosa squandered away an advantage, meaning we have to change tactics. Dammit. I wanted a 4-0 sweep, but these vile bastards are putting up a fight. Worse, I think Alice might be slipping up a bit. Whatever, I'll pull my weight," she thought as she moved her pawn to f3.

Over on board 2, things had looked fine after Alice, playing as White, went for a French Defense: Exchange variation, which Tenju had responded to with bishop d6. C4 and knight f6 followed, but then came the head scratching queen e2, check. With bishop e7, Tenju not only neutralized the threat, but gained a slight advantage. One that continued to hold following knight c3 and a king's side castle.

But that was all it amounted to as just as Nancy predicted, a decisive play happened; knight captures d5.

"Hold up, why'd the bar just jump in Tenju's favor?" Danny asked.

"Because if knight captures d5, c captures d5, and then she can deliver a check with bishop b4," Nancy stated.

"I see. Then if Alice goes king d1, queen captures d5, but still not seeing why this is so favorable to black," Danny scowled as all the moves he and Nancy discussed came to pass.

Nancy was also stumped as to what could come next, but the two soon got their answer as Alice moved her queen to c4, prompting a game of tag as Tenju moved her queen to a5.

Alice didn't give up though and moved her queen right onto b5. "Cowards wouldn't play like this. I know you didn't say the remark, but you're guilty by proxy, and a true coward to boot," she thought.

Prior to Taira's death, Alice had known both her and Tenju well. Even back then though, she often looked down upon Tenju with scorn as she believed she was dragging down Taira with her lack of talent.

"I don't get it. They're twins, yet unlike us, their skill at chess is night an day, while we're equal as all should be."

"Hmm, perhaps they're not like us after all."

"Yeah, Taira's clearly bending over backwards for Tenju and it's showing. No wonder she doesn't love her as I love you."

Tenju was unable to listen in on the flashback conversation withing Alice's mind, but she could surmise exactly why Alice hated her so much; just like her, she loved her sister to death. But unlike her, was not her true equal and was unable to save her in the end. Even after reconciling with Daria, she could still never forgive Iori for being the one to deal the death blow to Taira, even if it was out of her control.

In that sense, she could sympathize with Collette in a sense. But fusing with some of Taira's soul had given her some peace of mind. While it wasn't like she could hear Taira's thoughts or voice, the fact that she now possessed her chess prowess gave her a better understanding of how her mind worked.

"Now I see, I was looking at this all wrong before. Taira, I'm sorry. You should have been the one sitting here representing the team along with Mizuse. For both your sakes, I'll pull my weight and get Japan gold, so Taira, please lend my your strength," Tenju thought as she moved her bishop to g4.

A queen trade followed with Alice capturing the pawn queen at a5 with her queen and Tenju capturing said queen with her bishop. But even after bishop e3 and knight c6, the commentators still couldn't see why the eval bar was showing an overwhelming advantage for Tenju and decided to shift focus to the other games.

They shifted over to the board 4 game and watched as Mimosa castled queen's side and Iori moved her knight to d3. Mimosa responded with f6, while Iori moved her king to e2. Then, Mimosa moved her king to b7 and Iori smelled blood on the water.

"Oo, not a good move. Now Iori will win the exchange, meaning Mimosa will have to move the king back to a8," Danny noted.

"Yes, but then Iori can play-"

"Wait, she just played... King c8!?"

"Not king a8?"

"Bishop e3's still on the way, regardless, and there it is. But now things are really tricky for Mimosa. The engine shows a6, bishop d6, and h5 as the three best moves for Black. But a6 is just too hard to spot, even at the top levels. Bishop d6 also seems less probable since from a human perspective, that would be blocking off the open file..."

As Danny pondered what could come next, Mimosa answered him by moving her bishop to c4, eliciting shocked gasps from him and Nancy.

"Oh, that's bad. Nancy, why don't we explain to our viewers why."

"Certainly. Now this might look like a fork, but knight a5, which is now on the board, negates it. So if Mimosa captures-"

"Hold on, she went bishop a6!"

"What!? Now Iori can perform a fork if she captures c6... which she just did. Danny, this is not looking good for Mimosa- AND IT JUST GOT WORSE!" Nancy cried as Mimosa moved her rook to d7, turning the eval bar almost entirely white in Iori's favor.

Iori could sense the shifting tide as well and moved her pawn to b4. Mimosa on the other hand was still calm and unaware of just how badly her position truly was as she worsened it ever so slightly by moving her bishop to c4.

Next came pawn a4 and pawn a6, but pawn to b5 caused a complete lapse in judgement for Mimosa as she moved her pawn to h5, which did nothing to improve her position. Iori was now free to capture the pawn at a6 with her b-pawn, forcing Mimosa to capture said pawn with her bishop if she didn't want to have a bad time.

But now Iori could move her h-rook to b1, nearly spelling the end for Mimosa.

"Merde [Shit]! This is bad... but I'm only a pawn down. Yes, I don't see how she can win this, and if I can equalize, it'll be my game," Mimosa thought as she moved her bishop to b7.

"Lol, check. So feel like dissing my Bongcloud now that you're about to lose to it?" Iori snickered as she moved her knight to a7.

Mimosa shot Iori a death glare and moved her king to b8, seeking to go after the knight. Yet Iori seemingly forsook the knight and moved her pawn to a5. It was then that Mimosa began to sweat as she realized the knight was not defenseless as the bishop had it guarded, meaning she couldn't capture it with her king. Thus, she moved her pawn to c5 to try and stop that.

Iori pressed her pawn onward to a6, now threatening to go up a bishop, thus Mimosa countered by moving her pawn to c4, threatening Iori's knight.

Sensing the threat, Iori moved her knight to f4, which was guarded by one of Mimosa's pawns. The commentators went silent with shock as Mimosa cupped her hand over her mouth in order to contain her laughter.

"What an idiot! You moved your knight right into danger, and now, I'm winning," Mimosa thought as she gleefully captured the knight at f4 with her e-pawn.

Danny and Nancy stared in shock and turned to face one another. "Nancy, I don't believe what we just witnessed. That's the game!"

Iori immediately let loose a maniacal grin and captured the bishop at b7 with her b-pawn. Mimosa shot her an odd scowl and simply captured the pawn at b7 with her rook, expecting a rook trade. How wrong she was.

"Lol dumbass blew it! Check!" Iori snickered as she captured the pawn at f4 with her bishop.

Mimosa gasped in horror as she realized what this meant. It was mate in 3.

"No... NO! I can't lose... I won't surrender! I'm not a coward!" she thought as her hand trembled while moving her bishop to d6.

"Run n' hide, Frenchie, here I come, check," Iori taunted as she captured the bishop at d6 with her bishop, forcing Mimosa's king to a8.

The others all glanced over and stared at the game. Azenira was elated by what she was seeing, and while Mimoko and Tenju both had issues with Iori's moral conduct, they couldn't deny that they were glad they were about to get on the scoreboard. France on the other hand was horrified.

"Sh- She's going to lose. And to a Bongcloud!? No, that bitch needed to be beaten for what she said. If she wins, it'll stroke her ego!" Collette thought as Iori moved her knight to c6.

Tears began to pour down Mimosa's face as she stared at the board. There was now only one legal move she could make before mate, rook a7. It was either that, or she could resign on the spot, or sit and wait 10 more minutes for her clock to run out. She chose to move the rook.

"Checkmate! Guess that Bongcloud didn't like getting dissed," Iori snickered as she captured the rook at a7, winning the game.

Japan now led 1-0 over France.

The full game:

White: Iori Ishikiridokoro (2444) Black: Mimosa Utsugi (2442)

1. e4 e6

2. Ke2 d5

3. d3 dxe4

4. dxe4 Qxd1+

5. Kxd1 Bc5

6. f3 Nc6

7. Nd2 Be7

8. Nh3 e5

9. Nf2 Be6

10. Bb5 O-O-O

11. Bxc6 bxc6

12. Nd3 f6

13. Ke2 Kb7

14. Nb3 Kc8

15. Be3 Bc4

16. Na5 Ba6

17. Nxc6 Rd7

18. b4 Bc4

19. a4 a6

20. b5 h5

21. bxa6 Bxa6

22. Rhb1 Bb7

23. Na7+ Kb8

24. a5 c5

25. a6 c4

26. Nf4 exf4

27. axb7 Rxb7

28. Bxf4+ Bd6

29. Bxd6+ Ka8

30. Nc6+ Ra7

31. Rxa7#