Chapter 291:

Latvian blunder

En Passant Grandmaster

Back on the men's side, Diederich could barely contain his excitement as Okisato decided to play the Baron Buster gambit.

With a deranged smile, he ripped off his eyepatch as his delusional Arena der Blitzhölle arose in his mind. "Your death begins with a blitzkrieg snipe!" he shouted as he landed on g4 with his bishop.

Okisato simply sighed, as did the arbiters, as he moved his pawn to f3. Now there was no stopping Diederich's delusional onslaught.

"You think a pawn can stop a bishop!? What do you think I have pawns for!? Now sacrifice yourself for the Fatherland!" Diederich shouted as he hurled his e-pawn into the pawn at f3.

"Ugh, he's worse than I thought. Well, at least he'll shut up after this," Okisato thought as he captured the pawn at f3 with his knight.

But his hopes were just that, hopes.

"You think I didn't study this!? FOOL! Now I'll send forth the Valkyrie of the lightning herself!" he shouted as he extended his hand, sending his queen to d5.

"Ugh, no wonder the arbiters are looking miserable. Welp, at least it's motivating me to kick his ass even more!" Okisato thought as a scowl formed on his face while he moved his king to f2.

"That's a nice look, but I'll make it even nicer with some more bruises and humiliation," Diederich sneered as his pawn slowly moved to e5.

Okisato ignored the provocation and moved his knight to c3, but Diederich wouldn't let him ignore him.

"Oi, has my sheer might made you speechless? Surely you're not afraid of a mortal arbiter that you'd refrain from selling your blood to battle. SO WHY SO SILENT!?" Diederich shouted as he slammed his queen down at c5.

"Ugh, could he quiet down? I need to think," Volkner thought as he stared at his board.

The game at board 4 between Volkner had opened simply enough, with e4, e5, and knight f3, but then the masked man played pawn to f5, completely throwing Volkner for a loop. This was known as the Latvian gambit, an aggressive, but rarely encountered move. Thus, Volkner was unsure of how to proceed.

"Both pawns are hanging, but there's gotta be a catch... Hmm..."

After a long think, he opted to capture the pawn at e5 with his knight, which was in fact the best move. However, the Latvian gambit hid many tricks and traps, especially to those that had never encountered it.

The masked man brought his queen out to f6, giving Volkner pause, before he instinctively moved his queen to h5. "Check. Pardon the noise from the neighboring board, but sadly we both have to deal with it.

The masked man nodded as though he understood and moved his pawn to g6. Volkner promptly captured said pawn with his knight, but once again, a disruption came from board 2 as Okisato had moved his pawn to d4.

"Your pawns are nothing in the face of my lightning!" Diederich shouted as he electrified his pawn and hurled it towards the pawn at d4, sending it flying off.

Volkner scowled and returned his focus to his board, noticing that the masked man had taken the liberty of capturing the knight at g6 with his h-pawn. "And that's a rook. Seems I was worried for nothing," he thought as he captured the rook at h8 with his queen.

But he quickly went pale as the masked man immediately captured said queen with his queen. He had just blundered away the game.

Volkner let out a heavy sigh and sunk his hands into his face. He wanted to resign on the spot, but he didn't as he noticed Red Reaper angrily staring his way. Resigning was not an option; he had to play on. Yet no hopes of even a draw came his way. Bishop c4, knight c6, knight c3, d5, e captures d5, knight d4, and knight b5, yet still no hope for Volkner. In fact, he was beginning to slip up even more.

"Check, seems the noise, or perhaps your lack of proper sleep got the best of you. I'd rest up proper for tomorrow," the masked man nodded as he captured the pawn at c2 with his knight.

Volkner wanted to cry at this point as he knew that not only was he about to lose a rook, but that there would be no way he'd be getting any sleep following his loss. He couldn't even resign, even though he was losing, and thus continued play by moving his king to d1.

As expected, the masked man captured the rook at a1 with his knight, prompting Volkner to move his pawn to d4.

"Poor fellow, I hope his kaiser doesn't make him bare the brunt of his team's failure," the masked man thought as he moved his bishop to d7.

"You attack my queen by moving your knight to e4!? HAH! I just shove her aside to f5," Diederich's voice rang out.

"Check... Would you SHUT UP!?" Volkner shouted as he moved his rook to e1 and turned to face Diederich.

Since he was losing, he didn't care if the arbiters intervened. He just wanted to air his grievances aloud. Okisato tried to take advantage of the distraction by sneaking in bishop to d3, but Diederich noticed it.

"Oh? You think mere Volkner's shouting can thwart my concentration? NOT IN THE SLIGHTEST!" Diederich shouted as he encased his bishop in lightning and threw it at the knight on f3, destroying it in an electrifying explosion, at least in his mind.

In reality, it simply flew off, nearly hitting another player in the head, had Miga not been on out fielding duty. Volkner was also really pissed off with Diederich in reality, and began ranting about him as soon as the masked man moved his king to d8, allowing him to deliver a check with bishop to g5.

The masked man briefly put a halt to the ranting by moving his bishop to e7, but it was back on after Volkner captured said bishop with his bishop.

"Huh!? You trying to piss me off too!? Well I'll kick your ass then!"

The threat was empty as the masked man simply captured the bishop at e7 with his knight, retaining his overwhelming edge. Volkner, still a bit agitated, moved his pawn to d6. The masked man simply captured said pawn with his c-pawn, while Volkner returned the favor by capturing said pawn with his knight.

Yet Volkner's agitation peaked after the masked man captured the pawn at d4 with his queen. "101 elo!? Like hell! Who is this guy, and why is he even allowed to play!?" he thought as he moved his king to c1. "AH!"

"Check. No takebacks I'm afraid," the masked man stated as he captured the knight at d6 with his queen.

Volkner quickly began trembling and moved his rook to d1, but after the masked man moved his queen to f4 and delivered a check, Volkner blundered into mate in 3 by moving his rook to d2. Said rook was promptly captured by the masked man's queen, and at this point, Volkner was at his limit.

"No more, it's mate anyway... I give up," he thought as he meekly slid his king to d1.

"And that's checkmate. In case you were interested, that was the King's pawn Opening: King's Knight, Latvian Gambit Accepted we just played. I hope that eases some of your burdern," the masked man nodded as he moved his queen to f1, winning the game.

Volker groaned, but quickly regained his composure. Even though the match was now tied 1.5-1.5, he had faith in Diederich.

"That asshole may not know how to shut up, but he's strong. And with that dubious opening that guy played, Diederich's got all the power on his side," Volkner thought as lightning flashed, illuminating the maniacal grin plastered upon Diederich's face.

The full game:

White: Volkner Keiner (2743) Black: The masked man (101)

1. e4 e5

2. Nf3 f5

3. Nxe5 Qf6

4. Qh5+ g6

5. Nxg6 hxg6

6. Qxh8 Qxh8

7. Bc4 Nc6

8. Nc3 d5

9. exd5 Nd4

10. Nb5 Nxc2+