Chapter 276:

Stressed to blunder

En Passant Grandmaster

"What a lapse in judgement for Ryonosuke, though it wasn't looking good anyway. Funnily enough, if he had captured the other knight at e4 with his rook, it also would have been mate in 3," Danny stated.

"But this is a blow to Team Japan. Okisato's still locked in combat with Ragnar, and Zago looks like he's losing his edge," Nancy added.

"And if things weren't tense enough, Stressaður just now made his first move, knight f6, and it's been nearly half an hour! I'm telling ya Nancy, he'd need to pre-move everything to stay ahead, but you can't pre-move over the board. Just what is that guy thinking?"

The answer to that was simply that Stressaður had figured everything out, and was waiting for one of his teammates to gain the edge before letting loose. While he couldn't pre-move, he most certainly could move fast a piece faster than a second, and with the increment, that could slowly build back up his time.

"Heh, you don't know what powers I've gotten from being overworked! I'll show you why they call me Mannlegt færiband [the human assembly line]," Stressaður thought.

Sure enough, the game at board 4 quickly became a bullet game.

"Knight c3, d5, d4, queen d6, g3, knight e4, bishop g2, knight captures c3, b captures c3, bishop f5, I know I shouldn't be watching for so long, but the game is just so mesmerizing, and I'm curious to know just how strong this masked man is. If Okaa-chan is vouching for him than despite his meager rating, he must be strong," Mimoko thought as she hovered nearby.

The masked man decided to slow down though, waiting about a minute before castling king's side. Stressaður quickly picked up the pace once more, sliding his queen to c6, causing the masked man to move his knight to e5.

That was all according to plan though as Stressaður promptly captured the pawn at c3 with his queen, but rather than move the rook, the masked man instead captured the pawn at d5 with his bishop.

"Hah, now I'm up a rook!" Stressaður thought as he captured the rook at a1 with his queen.

The masked man didn't seem to care, though it was hard to tell how he was felling due to his mask obscuring his face. He did however capture the pawn at f7 with his bishop and say, "Check."

Stressaður didn't care though. Even though king d8 was his only legal move, he didn't mind losing his castling rights. All was going according to plan. And as soon as the masked man moved his queen to d8, the commentators covered their mouths in shock. Everyone that was watching the game also stared in shock, which Stressaður relished in.

"Up a rook, and close to mating you. All according to plan," Stressaður thought as he moved his queen to b1.

But almost immediately, the masked man moved his bishop to b3 and Stressaður froze in horror.

"And that viewers, is how you lose a queen. I'm telling you, Nancy, that masked man has got to be a grandmaster," Danny declared.

"Hmm, normally someone like that would raise plenty of red flags in terms of fair play, but Prokrutka himself gave him to all-clear," Nancy stated.

"Tell him to give me one too. I'm tired of all his Zitter, er guess now it's Y after Dillon Dusk bought it, threads about him ranting about how I'm a cheater. Seriously, why's an implier like him head of the WWCF's fair play enforcement?"

Back at the board, Stressaður began trembling as he tried to figure a way out. "No, how did this happen!? I calculated it... I CALCULATED IT! AH!"

Seeing his time starting to get low, he quickly moved his king to c8, but it mattered not as the masked man instantly moved his bishop to a3, dooming Stressaður's queen.

An insane smile spread on Stressaður's face as he began to laugh. "Alright, I'll take you down with me! Check!" he declared as he captured the rook at f1 with his queen.

The masked man was forced to capture said queen with his king, but by doing so, Stressaður realized something. "It's even... We're even in material! Hahaha! All according to plan!" he thought as he moved his pawn to e6.

But it wasn't even for long as following the masked man moving his pawn to g4, Stressaður captured said pawn with his bishop. This allowed the masked man to capture said bishop with his knight, seemingly taking the lead in material, but Stressaður capturing the bishop at a3 with his bishop gaining the slight edge in material once more. But it was gone instantly as the masked man captured the pawn at e6 with his bishop, forcing Stressaður to move his knight to d7.

If Stressaður could see just how white the eval bar was in the masked man's favor, he'd be far more stressed out. His position was completely losing despite being even in terms of material, and the masked man was making the point that he knew how to play chess very well.

"Oi, oi. That masked weirdo's actually THIS good!? Tch, now I'll have another factor to worry about," Ginji scowled as the masked man moved his knight to e5.

Stressaður frantically moved his rook to d8, but all watching could tell he was at the end of his rope., especially after the masked man moved his queen to g5. Stressaður fought on though and moved his bishop to f8, but the masked man simply captured the knight at d7 with his bishop.

"Hah! You did it wrong! You should have captured with the knight since knights are worth less than bishops!" Stressaður thought as he captured the bishop at d7 with his rook.

But the masked man outclassed him yet again by moving his queen to f5, pinning the rook.

Stressaður once again burst into laughter, as he reached his limit. "No more, no more. I've been on the clock for 22 hours already," he thought as he moved his pawn to a5. And sure enough, as soon as the masked man captured the rook at d7 with his queen, Stressaður resigned before getting up and mumbling, "I hate chess."

He didn't even take a step before he collapsed in exhaustion, prompting arbiters to call medical personal.

"And that's why health is important to chess players. So remember kids, if you got a major tournament, get a good night's sleep and eat a healthy meal," Danny stated.

But thanks to the masked man pulling through, the score was now tied 1-1 between Japan and Iceland.

Mimoko began to relax, but quickly became jittery after turning around to find Laura standing behind her.

The look on Laura's face said, "I thought you stood me up. Oh how happy I am to have found you still here."

It irked Mimoko that she had an inkling of what Laura's thoughts were, but more importantly, the fact that Laura was here meant she made her move, meaning Mimoko's clock was the one ticking down.

Mimoko took one last glance at the boards before scurrying off back to her board with Laura close behind.

The full game:

White: The masked man (101) Black: Stressaður Starfsmaður (2504)

1. Nf3 Nf6

2. Nc3 d5

3. d4 Qd6

4. g3 Ne4

5. Bg2 Nxc3

6. bxc3 Bf5

7. O-O Qc6

8. Ne5 Qxc3

9. Bxd5 Qxa1