Chapter 275:

Yarr, harr, ahoy n' avast

En Passant Grandmaster

Going back in time to the start of round 2...

Over on the men's side, the match between Japan and Iceland kicked off.

"Pay attention boy, this is going down in history!" Ragnar declared as he opened the game by moving his knight to f3.

Okisato had heard of Ragnar's infamy for cheating which is why he resolved to stay at the board until the game was over. And his other way of countering Ragnar was to play the Arctic defense by moving his pawn to f6.

Ragnar was barely able to contain his excitement at the development. "This isn't atomic chess! Now I don't even need to cheat! I'll best him in 10 moves!" he thought as he moved his pawn to e4.

Okisato did what he always did though and played with a disadvantage, choosing to go with pawn to e6. Ragnar meanwhile got a bit too greedy and began moving pieces at a rapid pace, which Okisato was happy to abide by.

Though as the two began playing, Ragnar's teammate Sportlegur began frantically doing squats. "Knight f3, bishop b4, a3, oh good, that forces bishop captures c3 and d captures c3. And now queen e7... What's the best response? I wish Ragnar would slow down a bit so I can think. Otherwise I can't- ...!"

Sportlegur froze as Okisato turned behind him. Ragnar meanwhile quickly slid his bishop to e3, and attempted to move another piece, but was caught by Okisato.

"Ahahaha, Just adjusting the pawn, that's all."

"Sure," Okisato glared as he checked his notation.

Once he confirmed everything was in order, he moved his pawn to d6 and called an arbiter over and asked them to do something about Sportlegur.

"I feel he's going to try and intentionally distract us. Or perhaps try to send his teammates a message."

The arbiter nodded and quickly escorted Sportlegur away, causing Ragnar to scowl as now his back-up plan was gone... which was EXACTLY according to plan.

"You fell right into my evil trap! Now that Sportlegur's gone, you'll keep all your attention on me. And if your eyes are on me, you can't look behind you and see your own teammate helping me out!" Raganar maniacally thought as he moved his queen to d3.

Over on board 2, the game between Ryonosuke and Ræningi had started out with a bang. First Ryonosuke opened with e4, but Ræningi had responded by moving his pawn to a5. Ryonosuke naturally played d4, but Ræningi played h5.

"Hmm, a trap of sorts. But I'm prepared for the unorthodox," Ryonosuke thought as he moved his knight to c3.

"Yarr, harr, ahoy and avast, I like me cannons havin' open sea files! Me black flag is hung and I'm plunderin' yer pearls, cuz I'm an evil pirate," Ræningi sung in his mind as he moved his pawn to c6.

Ryonosuke moved his queen out to d3 as Ræningi continued his unorthodox attack by moving his knight to a6. Ryonosuke guarded by moving his pawn to a3, but Ræningi decided to open up the hatches by moving his pawn to g6.

As for the other two boards, Zago was off to an even start against Köfun while the Masked man had opened his game with knight f3 and was waiting for Stressaður's response.

"Oi, oi, I heard that guy was overworked, but it's the first dang move. How long's he gonna sit like that for?" Ginji thought.

Around the same time, Danny and Nancy finished recapping how Japan's women's tea got it's 2-0 lead and had shifted over to the men's section.

"Let's look at board 2 where the prate's playing. looks like we're in for an odd one as this position looks crazy. Looks like knight f3 and bishop g7 are likely to follow and since the engine says bishop e3 and knight c7 are the best moves after that, I think that's how it'll play out," Danny stated.

Sure enough, that's how things played out, but then, the curse of the castle struck once more as queen's side castle by Ryonosuke completely evened things out.

Sensing this, Ginji quickly calculated the best move in his mind before sitting back down in view of Ræningi in order to silently convey a coded message with his eyes and hand.

""B5"? What to b5 matey? Me knight or me pawn? Arr, must be me pawn. The knight would invite the queen for a plunderin," Ræningi thought as he moved his pawn to b5.

Ryonosuke then made the natural bishop to e2 play, but that seemingly natural move quickly shifted the eval bar to Ræningi's favor. Ginji didn't even need to help out as Ræningi immediately made the best move possible, b4.

Ryonosuke captured the pawn at b4 with his a-pawn, but that allowed Ræningi to not just capture said pawn with his a-pawn, but also open up the a-file for his rook.

"Yarr harr, now me cannon's got wide open sea for firing," Ræningi thought as Ryonosuke scowled and moved his knight to b1.

Mimoko then arrived and watched as Ræningi moved his bishop to a6. Ginji began to scowl, but stopped himself as even though he couldn't help out the Icelandic team with Mimoko nearby, Ræningi was in a completely winning position, and he was skilled enough to convert the win.

"I'm sure even you can tell, Mimoko-chwan; the old geezer's gonna lose. And then all the guys need to do is force draws and it's a win for Iceland. And best of all, you can't stay here forever, so once you're gone, I can act as an insurance plan again. The arbiters won't suspect me of cheating, and even if they do, my team would bear the brunt of it, since it wouldn't make sense for me to help the other team," Ginji thought as Ryonosuke moved his queen to d2.

Ræningi quickly captured the bishop at e2 with his bishop, prompting Ryonosuke to capture it with his queen. He then moved his knight out to f6, but Ryonosuke, having a lapse in judgement, moved his bishop to g5.

"Oof! That's bad!" Danny exclaimed as Ræningi moved his knight to e6.

"True, but remember dear viewers, the players can't see the eval bar or the engine like us, so they may not know they're in a losing position," Nancy stated as Ryonosuke moved his h-rook to e1.

Though Ræningi could tell he had the edge. "Yarr, harr, ahoy n' avast, it time for the captain to take up his post. Man the cannon and fire a blast, cuz I'm an evil pirate," he sang in his mind as he castled king's side.

Ryonosuke meanwhile began to scowl. He was beginning to get the sinking feeling things weren't right, yet couldn't tell why and moved his queen to d2.

"Yarr, harr, ahoy n' avast, we manning the longboats cuz we're pillagin' the land!" Ræningi thought as he slammed his rook down on a1.

"Tch, I don't like that queen's side pressure. Hmm... I fear this might be precarious," Ryonosuke thought as he moved his pawn to h4.

That was putting it VERY lightly as he was on the verge of being mated. Okisato and Zago both glanced over and scowled as Ræningi moved his queen to a5. Both could tell Ryonosuke was cooked, meaning more work for them.

Ryonosuke tried his best to create counterplay by moving his pawn to d5, but Ræningi went for the kill and captured the pawn at e4 with his knight. As if by instinct, Ryonosuke captured the knight on e6 with his d-pawn, but that was it as it was now mate in 3.

"Yarr harr, I be checking your pockets for booty!" Ræningi declared as he captured the pawn at b2 with his bishop, forcing Ryonosuke to capture it with his king. "I'm not done pillagin' yet, landlubber!" he grinned as he moved his queen to a2.

Ryonosuke sunk his face into his hand as he made the only legal move possible, king to c1. "My apologies, I got too aggressive in light of his unorthodox attacks. Tanabe-dono, I have failed to adhere to your teachings.

"Yarr harr, X marks the spot and your checkmate!" Ræningi declared as he captured the knight at b1 with his rook, winning the game.

Iceland now led the match 1-0.

The full game:

White: Eyonosuke Hobou (2415) Black: Ræningi Sjóræningi (2112)

1. e4 a5

2. d4 h5

3. Nc3 c6

4. Qd3 Na6

5. a3 g6

6. Nf3 Bg7

7. Be3 Nc7

8. O-O-O b5