Zsa Zsa Zsa

Japan had emerged triumphantly on both the men's and women's side. However, the round was far from over. One notable match everyone had their eyes on was the France vs Hungary match on the women's side, but not for the reasons one might think. At the start of the round, an incident occurred when France first showed up...

...

Fifi wearily got off the bus with her teammates and trudged inside the venue. Morale for the team was at an all-time low. While they had bounced back from their 1st round loss, and hadn't lost a game since, they were now down their top player, courtesy of Rasputin.

The loss last night had left Collette feeling woozy, leading her to rest at the hotel. She had been able to eat fine, alleviating any fears of starvation, but her absence would cause a problem, not just for her team, but ironically enough, their opponents for the round, team Hungary.

"What!? Why is Collette not playing!? A woman with long red hair fumed.

"She's not feeling well," Mimosa stated.

"LIES! I know Collette! She would never hide from Zsa Zsa! Zsa Zsa will go see her in person!"

"Oi, you can't just leave! We got a match!" a woman with long brunette hair fumed.

"Tünde can sub in Rózsa!" the red-haired woman fumed as she stormed off.

"And there she goes, well now we're down a top player too. But looking at the line-up, I think we still have the advantage, a blonde-haired woman, named Jolán Zsigmondy, sighed.

"She'd better come back though. The weather's so bad we might end up waiting around here even long after the games are finished," a woman with short orangish hair, named Piroska Hajnal, growled.

"She better! Rózsa's the type that performs poorly when asked to play last-minute," Tünde Jávor, the brunette-haired woman scowled.

As for the woman in question, Rózsa Görög was a young woman with a short light blue pixie cut and a rating of 2399. She was a WWCF master, and like Noa, often struggled to play efficiently due to nerves. The big difference between the two was their age with Noa only having turned 18 back at the start of July, while Rózsa had turned 30, coincidentally in July as well.

Newly minted as Debrecen's DSPCM, Rózsa was hoping the role world help calm her nerves and help her finally achieve the international master title that had alluded her throughout her career. It seemed to be working as she had reached her peak of 2399 once more, but that still didn't mean she had conquered her nerves.

Thanks to the eccentric whims of her teammate, Zsa Zsa Gál, she was often forced to play last-minute as if Zsa Zsa wasn't interested in her opponent or just didn't feel like playing, she'd up and leave. The infuriating thing was that Zsa Zsa was a grandmaster and a highly skilled one at that, but her ego hindered her from reaching her full potential. And so far, Zsa Zsa had refused to play for three straight games, leaving it to the others to work overtime just to break even.

Rózsa had been playing for 4 straight rounds having won one, lost one, and drawn the other 2. Zsa Zsa was meant to play today, seeking to play a great game against her close friend, Collette, but with no Collette, Zsa Zsa refused to play. But thanks to the storm, she was unable to return to the hotel, and forced to remain at the venue. And this time, her team had little tolerance for her ego.

Forcibly dragging her back, Tünde shoved Zsa Zsa into the seat at board 1 across from Fifi. "Rózsa's been covering for your ass this whole time. She needs a break, dammit. Especially thanks to getting spooked by those damn Mongols."

"Zsa Zsa REFUSES to play any other than Collette!"

"Well too bad, them's how the pairings work. Now shut up and pull your weight."

Before Zsa Zsa could protest further, the round began and the clock started ticking. Zsa Zsa attempted to reach for it, but a hard kick to the shin from Tünde, who sat next to her at board 2, stopped her. At least, from outright resigning that is.

"Zsa Zsa will make you all pay for forcing her to do things against her wishes," Zsa Zsa thought as she moved her pawn to g3.

Fifi moved her pawn to d5, while Zsa Zsa made the predictable play of bishop g2, fianchettoing the bishop. "Guess that's why the Hungarian opening's often dubbed the King's Fianchetto opening. You fianchetto that bishop, then wait to see Black's response before deciding what opening you want this to morph into," Fifi thought as she moved her pawn to e5.

But Zsa Zsa's next move was a never before seen play; King to f1!

The move made eyeballs bulge out of skulls of all present, as well as the commentators that just so happened to be checking in on the board.

"Um, Laila? You seeing this?" Běla asked.

"Yes, Běla, I am. Think we should have Danny and Nancy join in the discussion as well?"

"They're busy covering the Japan games. Let's see how Fifi reacts to this ourselves."

The reaction was bewilderment, but also caution. The stinging loss Alice had suffered at the hands of Iori proved dubious openings could triumph against high-level players, but as Fifi moved her knight to f6, Zsa Zsa's near immediate play of bishop to e4 made her intentions all to clear.

"Um... Is she feeling alright? She's a grandmaster, right?" Fifi nervously though as she captured the bishop at e4 with her knight.

And then came king g2, and the moment the commentators let out a disappointed sigh. Zsa Zsa was protesting in the form of throwing her game.

"Well that's a disappointment. I've heard Zsa Zsa's a fickle woman, but this? This is an insult. To the game, to her opponent, to her team, to everyone watching," Laila scowled.

Perhaps the only ones more upset with this development were Zsa Zsa's teammates, Tünde in particular, who's teeth looked ready to crack in shatter with how ferociously she was gritting them. "Zsa Zsa... You FUCKING BITCH!" she fumed in her mind as Fifi nervously moved her knight to f6.

Both Fifi and her teammates, who had decided to glance over at the game, were stunned by what they were witnessing. Was a top player like Zsa Zsa really going to throw an important game like this? Hungary was not only the 7th seed based on average rating going into the tournament, but during the tournament, they had managed to win all their matches up to this point, despite Zsa Zsa's fickle ego. But this time, they were up against a solid team in the form of France, with an early loss threatening their win streak.

Zsa Zsa didn't care though. She was upset that not only could she not play Collette, but she was forced to play when she didn't want to. And since Tünde had stopped her from even resigning outright, she decided to protest this way.

As Zsa Zsa moved her king to f3, Fifi sighed and moved her pawn to d4. "It feels wrong to win like this. I know a win's a win, but to win like this... just doesn't sit right with me," she thought.

Once again, Zsa Zsa didn't care, reflecting that in her play of g4, allowing for the powerful queen d5 check. Yet Fifi felt no joy in playing said move, nor did she feel any excitement when Zsa Zsa moved her pawn to e4, allowing her to perform en passant. Nonetheless, she put on a smile and a show for the crowd.

"En Passant! Check that out, you egotistical hag!" she smirked as she performed en passant, capturing the pawn at e4 by moving her d-pawn to e3.

Zsa Zsa once more didn't care, tuning out even the insult as she captured the pawn at e3, blundering, or to be more accurate, intentionally walking into, mate in 1.

"Checkmate. I'm very disappointed. I hope your team disciplines you for this," Fifi frowned as she moved her queen to e4, winning the game.

With a quick handshake, Zsa Zsa rose and began strutting away. Fifi meanwhile just sat at the board, depressed by what had unfolded, causing her teammates to boil with anger as they unfairly blamed the rest of the Hungarian team for Zsa Zsa's ego. As a result, they showed their own form of disrespect to the Hungarians in the form of playing drawish openings, further frustrating the Hungarian team. If all the games ended in draws, France would win, which was exactly what ended up happening.

Disciplinary action was most certainly a go as thanks to Zsa Zsa's loss and the rest of the French team being angered, Hungary suffered it's first loss of the tournament, as France had prevailed 2.5-1.5.

"The next time I see that bitch, I'm gonna beat her black and blue so bad, she'll be so ugly she'll never be able to model again," Tünde growled as she and the others walked away from the boards.

The full game:

White: Zsa Zsa Gál (2508) Black: Fifi Bealieu (2400)

1. g3 d5

2. Bg2 e5

3. Kf1 Nf6

4. Be4 Nxe4

5. Kg2 Nf6

6. Kf3 d4

7. g4 Qd5+

8. e4 dxe3+

9. Kxe3 Qe4#

Match Score:

France: 2.5 Hungary: 1.5

France wins 2.5-1.5