Four for four

The game at board 2 quickly picked up pace with Mimoko capturing the pawn at b4 with her a-pawn and Ishika returning the favor by capturing said pawn with her c-pawn. Mimoko then launched her pawn to d4 as Ishika made the aggressive pawn to b3 play, sending Mimoko's queen to b2.

She followed up by capturing the pawn at c4 with her bishop, but her aggression was clearly getting the better of her as now, Mimoko could play bishop to f4, winning a piece.

Ishika shot Mimoko a frustrated glare and slid her hands down her face before angrily moving her queen to b6, allowing Mimoko to capture the rook at b8 with her bishop.

Ishika captured said bishop with her queen, but Mimoko had the edge, and when you have the edge, you trade off your pieces, which is what Mimoko had in mind when she moved her knight to e5. Ishika captured it with her knight, and Mimoko captured said knight with her d-pawn. With the ball in her court, Ishika opted to retreat her knight to d7, giving Mimoko the chance to move her queen to d4.

"Damn you. Where the hell did you even come from!?" Ishika thought as she moved her pawn to e6.

With Mimoko's sudden rise, many top players were naturally frustrated that a virtual unknown had now vaulted into the top 10 ranked players in the world, not counting maestros and executive board members. Many nations were also upset that maestros could participate as they were quickly leading their respective nations to dominance, with an exception or two.

The US men's team appeared to be the only team that got a pass though, as even if they didn't have maestro Wiley Frisch, they'd still likely be the top team in the field as there were plenty of other talented players they could replace him with. But the team of Daria and Mimoko on Japan's women's team was too much as many who were frustrated with Mimoko's emergence now had a maestro to worry about too.

Ishika was one of those individuals. After putting in years of hard work and perseverance, she managed to earn the grandmaster title, but when she heard Mimoko was awarded it after just a single tournament and given a tarting rating of 2700, she was furious.

Yet the sobering reality was that Mimoko was fully deserving of her status, as she was completely dominating on the chessboard.

With bishop to c6 on the board, Ishika was left with little choice but to move her queen to c7, lest she face a brutal mate. Yet Mimoko maintained her tempo and captured the bishop at c4 with her queen, prompting Ishika to make a retreat and move her king to e7.

Mimoko then captured the pawn at c3 with her queen, giving Ishika the chance to capture her bishop at c6 with her queen. But the walls were closing in on Ishika as Mimoko captured the pawn at a7 with her queen.

Ishika retreated her king to e8, but Mimoko pilled on pressure to the d7 square by moving her rook to d1. Knight b6 was Ishika's only viable option, while Mimoko had many moves at her disposal, opting to go with knight c3.

Still desperate to turn things around, Ishika moved her knight to c8 as Mimoko moved her knight to b5. "Abandoning the rook!? Perfect!" Ishika thought as she nervously smiled and captured the rook at a7 with her knight, blundering into mate.

She only realized the fact after Mimoko captured the knight at a7 with her knight, causing her to sink her hands into her face.

"Damn you... The fact that you've got talent only makes it worse," Isihika thought before she stared Mimoko in the eye. "I resign."

With that, Japan had now won the match. Yet just as Ishika finished shaking hands, Azenira won her match against Mona, continuing Japan's perfect 4-0 victory streak.

"A 4-0 win for Japan!? Ugh," Indira groaned as she sunk to the floor.

While India's men's team had felled Japan's men's team 3-1, Japan had felled India's women's team 4-0. Thus, even though many would consider this result an overall tie, some would argue Japan won the overall bout 5.5-2.5. But that was not an official competition. What was official though was Japan's men's team had lost, and Japan's women's team had maintained their perfect win streak.

The full game:

White: Mimoko Inoue (2809) Black: Ishika Hirani (2590)

1. g3 Nf6

2. c4 c6

3. Nf3 d5

4. Bg2 dxc4

5. O-O Be6

6. Na3 Qd6

7. Qc2 b5

8. b3 Nbd7

9. bxc4 b4

10. Nb1 c5

11. a3 Rb8

12. axb4 cxb4

13. d4 b3

14. Qb2 Bxc4

15. Bf4 Qb6

16. Bxb8 Qxb8

17. Ne5 Nxe5

18. dxe5 Nd7

19. Qd4 e6

20. Bc6 Qc7

21. Qxc4 Ke7

22. Qxb3 Qxc6

23. Rxa7 Ke8

24. Rd1 Nb6

25. Nc3 Nc8

26. Nb5 Nxa7

27. Nxa7 (White won due to Black's resignation)

Match score:

Japan: 4 India: 0

Japan wins 4-0