Chapter 316:

You don't know modern opening theory

En Passant Grandmaster

Shifting back to the men's side, the game at board 1 had seen some major action with f4, 5-knight c6, g4, and a king's side castle completely shifting things one way.

Jad took notice of some players gathering around the board, and smiled as he moved his bishop to b5. "Do they think the boy is winning? Think again! I'm the one on the attack!" he thought as Okisato moved his knight to g6.

Indeed, Jad's next play was aggressively capturing the knight at c6 with his bishop, with b captures c6 being his most anticipated move from Okisato. But Okisato saw something better. Something that could allow him to let his sadism seep through.

"Check. Time for some payback for everyone you spooked on the bus," Okisato sadistically grinned as he captured the pawn at e3 with his rook.

Jad immediately burst into laughter, completely ignoring the no-talking rule outside of checks, checkmates, and offering draws. "They were scared by me and my army? GOOD! We are to be feared! Mongolia is the conqueror of the world!" he proclaimed as he slammed his king down on f2.

"Whoa, breaking the no-talking taboo?" Okisato snickered as he captured the knight at f3 with his rook.

"You think they'll forfeit my game over that!? We are at war, I won't remain silent if you challenge our might!" Jad roared as he violently captured the rook at f3 with his queen, sending the piece flying off.

"Suit yourself. Check!" Okisato smirked as he moved his queen to h4.

"What is that!? A ploy to try and make yourself look tough!?" Jad scoffed as he moved his queen to g3.

"It's called trading off pieces when you're ahead. But guess you wouldn't know that since all you do is lose," Okisato taunted as he captured the queen at g3 with his queen.

Lightning flashed causing the lights to flicker on and off, causing some screams to be heard. But what was more terrifying than the lightning was the aura of dark green underworldly bloodlust emitting from Jad at the snide from Okisato.

"Би чамайг амьдаар нь зүсэж, мянган жадаар гадаах болно! [I'm going to flay you alive and impale you with a thousand spears]!" he roared as he violently captured the queen at g3 with his king, sending the piece flying off to join the rook embedded in the wall 30 feet away.

It was at that point Okisato allowed his sadistic smile to stretch as far as it could go. "Өө нээрээ [Oh really]?" he snickered as he captured the pawn at f4 with his bishop.

Jad angrily scowled in confusion. "Та хэзээ монголоор ярьж сурсан бэ [When did you learn to speak Mongolian]?" he snarled as he moved his king to f2.

But Okisato remained silent, adhearing to the no-talking rules while capturing the bishop at c6 with his b-pawn. Though that didn't keep his sadistic smirk from vanishing. Now Jad was tarting to get angry, which was good for Okisato.

Meanwhile on board 2, Ögedei had finally moved his pawn to a6, with the masked man decided to go for a tricky line with e3. It appeared to be working as things ticked ever so slightly back to his favor, but the game was still Ögedei's to lose.

Standard moves like c4, knight f6, knight e2, and knight c6 followed, before the masked man once again opted for a more risqué line in the form of bishop g3. Ögedei responded with a king's side castle, allowing the masked man to go knight c3, which turned out to be a good move as Ögedei then flung his queen to b4.

"Well that's a nasty ploy, you've got Mr. Khan. But it's only nasty if I don't go queen d2," the msked man thought as he moved his queen to d2.

With his plan foiled, Ögedei let out a growl and moved his bishop to e6. Twas the time for the spilling of blood next as the masked man captured the pawn at d5 with his c-pawn. Ögedei captured said pawn with his knight, but the masked man had other areas he wished to attack and captured the pawn at e4 with his knight, opening the floodgates for a potential queen trade.

Yet Ögedei hesitated, opting to double his defenses of his queen with pawn a5, allowing the masked man another chance to cause some disruption, this time with bishop to c4. And this time, Ögedei's response would have consequence as him moving hi d-knight to e7 evened out the game, which against someone like the masked man, was a bad thing.

Things only got worse for Ögedei as after the masked man made the seemingly wasted move of bishop d3, he went knight d5, giving the masked man a slight advantage.

"And now, we put you back to rest," the masked man thought as he moved his knight to g5.

Annoyed by this development, Ögedei moved his pawn to h6, to kick the knight out, which worked, but at the cost of the bishop at e6. Furious, Ögedei captured the knight at e6 with his f-pawn, but the masked man had all the momentum now, further solidified by his knight c4 play.

Things did appear to even out after Ögedei found knight b6, and remained so following knight captures b6, c captures b6, queen captures b4, a captures b4, bishop b5, f-rook c8, and king e2. But that was as far as it went as the masked man's king e2 play gave Ögedei a sense of overconfidence, leading to him moving his knight to a7, and that was it.

"As I thought, you don't quite know modern opening theory. And if you don't know that, there's no way you know mid and end game theory," the masked man thought as he moved his bishop to d7.

With a confident grin on his face, Ögedei moved his rook down to c2. "Шалгах [Check]!"

The masked man simply slid his king to d3, allowing Ögedei to snatch up the pawn at b2 with his rook, but it mattered not. He could have the pawn. After all, the masked man was about to get something better.

"Check," he stated as he captured the pawn at e6 with his bishop.

With an audible snarl, Ögedei moved his king to h8, but took pause as the masked man moved his rook to c1Тэр миний бэхэлсэн хамгаалалтыг харахгүй байна уу? Тэр намайг тэр дэгээгээр шалгааж чадахгүй [Does he not see my fortified defenses? He can't checkmate me with that rook]," he thought as he moved his pawn to b5.

The masked man certainly had a plan for his rook, c7 to be precise. And it worked like a charm as Ögedei ignored it in favor of capturing the pawn at a4 with his b-pawn.

"Well you do that. I'll do this," the masked man thought as he moved his bishop to e5.

Not liking the bishops taking aim at his weak defenses, Ögedei moved his knight to c6, but that was a fatal flaw.

"And that's the end. Check," the masked man declared as he captured the pawn at g7 with his bishop, forcing the king to h7.

But bishop e5, check, was the move that really set Ögedei off as now he couldn't capture that pesky bishop with his knight, instead forced to either move his knight to e7 or his king to g6. He chose the latter, prompting the masked man to follow up with rook g7, check, forcing the king to h5. But the forced moves didn't end there as bishop g4 was next, forcing the king to h4.

"Хараал идсэн масктай дайчин [Damn masked warrior]," Ögedei snarled aloud as the masked man gazed at the board.

Bishop g3 would win the game, as would bishop f6, but pawn g3 was the most satisfying option, thus the masked man moved his pawn to g3, winning the game.

"Checkmate. Sorry, but you can't quite conquer the world like you did in your time," the masked man proclaimed.

Japan now led the match, 1-0.

The full game:

White: The masked man (101) Black: Ögedei Kgan (2229)

1. a4 e5

2. Ra3 Bxa3

3. Nxa3 d5

4. d4 e4

5. Bf4 a6

6. e3 Qe7

7. c4 Nf6

8. Ne2 Nc6