A great miracle

It was off to the races starting with king e7 and king c2. Mimoko moved her pawn to g6, mirroring Noa's g3 pawn, but Noa decided the king needed to be on clean-up duty and moved it to d3 instead of pushing any pawns.

Mimoko promptly moved her king to d6, but now was the time Noa launched her attack, flinging her pawn to b4.

C6, knight d4, king d5, knight e2, f5, the pieces were flying all over he place, but a check from knight f4 slowed things down, but only momentarily as Mimoko only paused for a second before moving her king to e5.

"That's one of the advantages to getting checked. With limited moves, you don't have to waste as much time thinking," Danny stated as Noa moved her king to c4.

"Still, what a thriller. With little action on the board on board 4, it looks like this game will be the deciding factor for the match, assuming it ends in a draw or victory for Mimoko," Nancy added as Mimoko moved her pawn to g5.

"How do you think it'll end?" Danny asked as Noa delivered another check in the form of knight to d3.

Nancy paused and waited until Mimoko moved her king to e4 before giving her thoughts. "Based on what we've seen so far, I'd put my money on Mimoko. But human mistakes can happen in a tense endgame. I don't think she'd blunder into mate, but a draw by repetition could be in the cards."

"Like Armageddon, and Mimoko's even got the black pieces!"

"Yes, in that sense it really is like Armageddon except for the fact that both players have the same amount of time. This is completely skewed in Mimoko's favor."

Despite not being able to hear the commentators thoughts on the match, Noa could sense things were in Mimoko's favor, but she didn't give up. "Even if I draw and we lose the match, at least I can say I did the best I could. But if I win, that would be a miracle in of itself," she thought as she moved her knight to c5. "Check."

Mimoko began smiling as she moved her king to e3. "She's really taking me head on, making me work for the win. I'm glad. Glad there's someone like you here, Noa-chan," she thought as Noa moved her knight to e6.

Back in the commentator's booth, Danny decided to zoom in on the shoes of the players rather than the game. "Tap, tap, tap! Noa's snazzy white running shoes already look like they're running. Mimoko's white sneakers are equally snazzy, in fact I think both hers and Noa's shoes are Mizuse Niimi brand."

"Well, you sure know a lot about shoe brands, now cease the fetishism, and focus on the game! Massive developments just happened on f4 while you were zooming in on their sneakers."

"Like what?"

"Oh, just f4, g captures f4, g captures f4, KNIGHT captures f4!"

"Knight captures? But wait, that would mean-"

"Yes, Danny dearest. King captures f4 and Mimoko's now up a minor piece. This game is hers."

Back on the board, Noa began to get nervous and tapped her foot more furiously than before. While Danny and the chat appreciated the fan services, Noa was busy trying to figure out how to salvage this mess.

"Why did I sack the knight!? That was horrible! Ngh, I'm gonna have to try and get a passed pawn, but easier said than done with that dark-squared bishop still on the board," she thought as she moved her king to c5.

Sensing an opportunity after Mimoko moved her king to g4, Noa captured the pawn at c6 with her king, but quickly went pale as Mimoko moved her pawn to h5. "Oh no, she'll queen on h1. Shit!" she thought as she frantically moved her pawn to a4.

The race was now on, but Mimoko had a massive head start as king h3 inched her ever closer to promotion and victory. Noa moved her pawn to a5, and had a brief moment of hope when Mimoko made the odd play of bishop f6, allowing her to advance her pawn to b5. Bishop to d8, furthered Noa's optimism as now she could get her king to b7, targeting the pawn at a7. But her hope was dashed just as fast as Mimoko captured the pawn at a5 with her bishop.

"Oh no! I forgot she could take! This is bad!" Noa thought as she captured the pawn at a7 with her king.

Things only got worse to her as Mimoko captured her pawn at h2 with her king, paving the way for an easy pawn promotion. Noa had no choice but to commit to the queen's side and try and promote her pawn, a task easier said than done as after king a6, Mimoko moved her bishop to c7, completely halting the pawn's progress.

Desperate, Noa moved her king to b7, and seemingly caught a break as Mimoko moved her bishop to e5. Now she could move her pawn to b6, but Mimoko was also pining fora promotion, moving her pawn to h4. Noa moved her king to a6, with Mimoko making a similar themed play in the form of king to g3, but things were far from even thanks to that dark-squared bishop.

"Dammit! I can't promote, and there's no way to reach that bishop... I think this might be it," Noa thought as she moved her king to a7.

Indeed it was as Mimoko moved her pawn up to h3, inching ever closer to promotion. Noa dejectedly moved her king to a8 as Mimoko's pawn continued onward to h2. There was no stopping it now, but Noa played on, moving her king to b7.

"You've played well, but now it's time to end this. Queen and check," Mimoko smiled as she moved her pawn to h1 and promoted it to a queen.

Even though she was about to lose, Noa couldn't help but smile as she moved her king to a6, her nerves slowly calming down as Mimoko continued to smile back at her while moving her queen to c6.

"Mimoko, you're really nice. I knew it was right to play you. I feel like this will be the start of a long and cherished friendship," Noa thought as she moved her king to a7.

The game wouldn't last much longer as queen a4, check forced Noa's king to b7. After that, it was bishop f4, teetering over the edge of a stalemate chasm, but king c8 prevented that. Then queen c6, check, king d8, and it was over.

"Checkmate. You played very well, Noa-chan. Would you like to go over the game to review where you made mistakes?" Mimoko smiled as she moved her bishop to g5, winning the game.

Noa smiled back and nodded, shaking Mimoko's hand. But it wasn't all smiles at board 4, as Shoshana found herself in an abysmal situation.

"Ugh, we lost... Whatever, I'm not going to win this. I resign."

And with that, Japan had defeated the New Kingdom of Simien, 4-0, extending their unprecedented perfect victory streak.

"Wow, another perfect 4-0 victory. Gonna be oh so satisfying if I end up being the one to stop it," Xiu thought as she strolled on by.

Once the board was reset, Mimoko and Noa both headed for the press area since they would be allowed to exchange some words there. Noa in particular wanted to give something to Mimoko.

"What is this?" Mimoko asked as Noa handed her a dreidel.

"It's a dreidel, but this one's special. Instead of shin, pe's on the dreidel making the message, נֵס גָּדוֹל הָיָה פֹּה."

"What does that mean?"

"A great miracle happened here. It refers to the miracle of the cruse of oil. After the Maccabean revolt led to the liberation of the Temple of Jerusalem, a jar of oil was found and used to light the lamp there. Many thought the lamp would only stay lit for a day, but it lasted 8, which served as the origin for Hannukah and why it's 8 nights. As such, these dreidels were common in Israel as that was the land where the miracle occurred. My father has a different interpretation of these dreidels though. Whenever he encounters an event he believes to be of great achievement of humanity's potential, he'll leave a pe dreidel at the site of it. It does earn him some ire amongst the super religious folk, but he's always getting ire from them so it doesn't matter."

Mimoko nodded in confusion, not quite understanding the context behind everything. Though she most certainly understood what Noa meant to do by giving her this dreidel.

"You're saying a great miracle on the form of us meeting happened here, yes?"

"Correct, I met you, someone who not only calmed my nerves, but gave me a great game. Even though I lost, I feel like I'll only improve from here. I also sense we have the potential to form a great friendship, if you want to of course."

Mimoko stared down at the dreidel and smiled. "Noa-chan, a great miracle truly did occur here today; I finally found a girl that isn't upset about my talent, ready to face me head on despite the odds against her, and make me earn the win. You actually had me thinking in the first 15 moves. That's a feat only okaa-chan and perhaps Peter-kun are capable of."

"Peter-kun?"

"Peter Morphy. He's playing here, but sadly we're in different sections so I can't face him. Tanabe-kun might though."

"Tanabe- ah, Okisato. He's your boyfriend, right?"

Mimoko immediately went red in the face, frantically denying the allegation as Noa couldn't help but laugh.

"Ah mo... whatever. As for you, Noa-chan, I sense you have great potential. Keep honing your skills, and you'll become my greatest rival."

"You want that?"

Mimoko smiled and patted Noa on the shoulder. "That's why I said a great miracle occurred here; I found someone worthy of keeping me from dominating things on the women's side. To often, I've been faced with women furious with my rise, deeming it unfair that I have the skills to instantly rise to the top. But if there's girls like you out there that can give me a run for my money, that's good for all."

Tears began trickling out of Noa's eyes as she smiled and happily embraced Mimoko in a hug. "Then here's to our long prosperous friendship."

As the two hugged, Kisha silently watched as the camera crew filmed everything. She waited until the two were done hugging to spring the revelation on them.

"Rivals, ya say? Care to elaborate!?"

"Huh? What do you- WAIT! You were filming!?"

"Uh, yeah?"

Both Mimoko and Noa went red in the face. Now the entire chess world knew about the exchange and Mimoko's new rival.

The full game:

White: Noa Ben-Horin (2052) Black: Mimoko Inoue (2809)

1. d4 d5

2. Nf3 Bf5

3. c4 e6

4. Nc3 Nf6

5. cxd5 exd5

6. Qb3 Nc6

7. e4 dxe4

8. Ne5 Be6

9. Qxb7 Nxd4

10. Bb5+ Nxb5

11. Qxb5+ Nd7

12. Qc6 Be7

13. Nxd7 Bxd7

14. Qxe4 O-O

15. Bf4 Rb8

16. O-O-O Rb4

17. Qe3 Re8

18. Qd2 Rxf4

19. g3 Rf6

20. Qxd7 Rxf2

21. Qxd8 Rxd8

22. Rxd8+ Bxd8

23. Re1 Kf8

24. Re2 Rxe2

25. Nxe2 Ke7

26. Kc2 g6

27. Kd3 Kd6

28. b4 c6

29. Nd4 Kd5

30. Ne2 f5

31. Nf4+ Ke5

32. Kc4 g5

33. Nd3+ Ke4

34. Nc5+ Ke3

35. Ne6 f4

36. gxf4 gxf4

37. Nxf4 Kxf4

38. Kc5 Kg4

39. Kxc6 h5

40. a4 Kh3

41. a5 Bf6

42. b5 Bd8

43. Kb7 Bxa5

44. Kxa7 Kxh2

45. Ka6 Bc7

46. Kb7 Be5

47. b6 h4

48. Ka6 Kg3

49. Ka7 h3

50. Ka8 h2

51. Kb7 h1=Q+

52. Ka6 Qc6

53. Ka7 Qa4+

54. Kb7 Bf4

55. Kc8 Qc6+

56. Kd8 Bg5#

Match score:

Japan: 4 New Kingdom of Simien: 0

Japan wins 4-0