Power of the pyramids

With just one game left to go, Okisato shifted his attention there and began reviewing the moves. Refik was playing as Black, while Wakuta was playing as White.

"That's the guy Zago played back in round 1. If I remember correctly, he tends to play worse as White," Okisato noted.

"That doesn't mean he'll lose," Mimoko countered.

"I never said that. But let's see what led up to the current move. D4, d5, bishop f4.

"A Queen's Pawn Opening: Accelerated London System."

"E6, g3, c6... Well that was easy."

"Hmm? What do you mean?"

"I've got my read on Refik," Okisato replied as he shifted his focus elsewhere.

"You're not going to watch the rest of the game?"

"The next few moves were bishop captures b8, rook captures, b8, queen d2, and bishop d6. I'm sure you can visualize that formation yes?"

Mimoko frowned, but did as she was asked, and upon doing so, realized what Okisato was implying.

"He likes making pyramids, and he had a cone-shaped head... But Tanabe-kun, it's still solid chess. Pawn pyramids are quite powerful."

"I know, but I also know how to crush them. And with that I'm going to look at some other games. If you want to continue watching that one, feel free to do so."

"At least tell me why you refuse to watch it any further."

"Because the 6th moves were e4 and d captures e4. And I'm pretty sure after that the two will follow the main line that goes, knight c3, f5, f3, e captures f3, knight captures f3, knight f6, and so forth."

Sure enough, Okisato's prediction was spot on as the very moves he listed had in fact been played. But rather than continue down the main line by moving his bishop to g2, Wakuta instead opted to move his bishop to d3, worsening his position. Refik had also capitalized on it and moved his pawn to b5, showing that he was not one to let an opportunity slip away from him.

As Okisato began shuffling away to get a look at some other games, Mimoko decided to keep reviewing the Refik vs Wakuta game as there were still some moves left to go over before she was caught up. "Hmm, queen e2, a king's side castle, a4, and that invites a6 which is exactly what happened. And then Ogeldax-kun went knight e5. That's bad as next comes queen b6, and then- no! Knight f3 is horrible. And naturally Osmanagić-san capitalized on it with pawn c5. Ogeldax-kun is only rated slightly above 2000 while Osmanagić-san is rated above 2300. I feel a little bad for poor Ogeldax-kun."

"Huh? Someone talking Roboticle!?" a voice squealed.

Mimoko turned to notice the blonde girl from before, now with a more bruised up face, alongside a goth girl with short black and purple hair.

"You're the one-"

"Oh, I'm not the nerd, that's her," the blonde-heired girl smiled as she nudged the goth girl forward.

"Jasmina!"

"What? You know my motto. A girl can love and do what she pleases, and shouldn't need to feel ashamed about any of it. And if haters harass ya, clobber em."

"I don't agree with the latter half of your motto."

"Anyway, you look sexy, girl, so let's chillax together," the blonde-haired girl grinned as she sat down next to Mimoko and wrapped her arm around her.

"Uh, my apologies, but you are getting a bit too close-"

"Relax, I ain't into girls romantically. In fact, it pisses me off when everyone thinks I'm a lesbian whenever they see me getting touchy with other girls. Girls can have skin-to-skin contact and not be gay about it."

The revelation relaxed Mimoko slightly, but she still didn't like the girl being so close to her. Especially since her grip was starting to hurt her a bit.

"Enough. You're clearly intimidating- no, hurting the girl with your grip," the goth girl snarled.

"Really? My bad. Though guess she really is doing recon on your old man," the blonde girl shrugged as she released Mimoko.

The goth girl began scowling, though it wasn't directed at Mimoko. Rather, it seemed to have been triggered by the mention of the match.

"You said her father was playing? Which one is he?" Mimoko asked.

The goth girl remained silent, but the blonde-haired girl immediately revealed it was Refik.

"The cone-head man!? But you-"

"Ugh, he did it to himself! Now buzz off!"

"I was here first though. But, I can kind of understand why you might be embarrassed. Just look at my mother," Mimoko smiled as she gestured towards Daria.

That action seemed to resonate with the goth girl as her eyes bulged out in shock. "H- Hold on, SHE'S your mom!?"

"Yes. Eccentric off the chessboard, but quite serious on it. Frustrates me to no end that I have more losses to her than wins."

The goth girl nodded and slowly pulled out her WWCF card, which initially appeared red before it turned turquoise with the wave of the girl's hand. It wasn't fast enough to escape Mimoko's gaze though.

"That color, are you an SPCM?"

"DSPCM... Ugh, well cat's out of the bag now. Esma Osmanagić, DSPCM of Visoko. And she's Jasmina Artiljerija, Bosnia's most infamous tomboy," the goth girl sighed as she pointed at the blonde-haired girl.

"'Artiljerija'? Like-"

"My brother and old man? Yup, though I'm the independent one of the family. Anyway, Esma's a big Roboticle nerd. She's embarrassed to admit it, but she's real into it. You should see her- Mmph!?"

"And enough about me!" Esma fumed as she cupped her hand over Jasmina's mouth.

It turned out to be a bad move as Jasmina's animalistic instincts triggered and she began wrestling with her, much like she had been doing with Miralem.

As the two rolled away, Mimoko returned back to watching the game. Wakuta had finally made his next move, which was a king's side castle, but at this point all it did was worsen his position.

"The shadows... I must play as the shadows," Wakuta thought as Refik moved his pawn to c4.

"Now, I'm sure you're thinking it's ironic that I'm moving my pawn to c4, but if you look closely at the board, my shadowy friend, you'll notice not only the bishops, which radiate lesser pyramid energy than the pawns, are positioned behind the pawn at c4. And if you look even closer, you'll notice said pawn completes one side to a pawn pyramid. The pyramid power is so overwhelming, your shadows don't stand a chance," Refik thought as Wakuta moved his pawn to a5. "Aha! A mistake. Now, I can send the pyramid powered pawn to capture the bishop at d3. And now, it's trade or capture. The power of the pawns is not to be underestimated," he thought as he captured the bishop at d3 with his c-pawn.

Wakuta had a few options, but chose to capture said pawn with his queen, allowing Refik to move his queen to the safety of c7. Not liking that, Wakuta moved his knight to e2, but Refik kept up the pressure by moving his bishop to b7. Wakuta moved his knight to g5, and seemed to catch s break as Refik opted to move his b-rook to e8, allowing him the chance to create counterplay by moving his knight to f4.

It seemed like things would end in an even trade as Refik captured the knight at f4 with his bishop, and Wakuta captured said bishop with his g-pawn. But therein laid the flaw in Wakuta's plan, as it was now Refik's move. With a happy grin, Refik moved his pawn to h6, sending Wakuta's knight to f3.

"And now, your pawn is finished, but mine are all linked. The core foundation of pyramid power," Refik thought as he captured the pawn at f4 with his queen.

Wakuta grew frustrated by this setback, letting out an audible growl as he moved his pawn to a3.

"Aha! You've made an error, my shadowy friend. Check!" Refik exclaimed as he moved his queen to g4.

Another growl escaped the lips behind Wakuta's mask as he moved his king to h1. Refik remained giddy as ever though and moved his pawn to e5, but this very move gave Wakuta a light of hope, ironically enough.

"Ah, the pawn cannot win the trade. Your tale ends here, cone hero," Wakuta thought as he captured the pawn at e5 with his d-pawn.

"Ah, but look more closely, my shadowy friend. It is not a win for you. I don't sacrifice pawn pyramids lightly," Refik thought as he captured the pawn at e5 with his rook.

Wakuta giddily reached for his knight, but upon realizing it was pinned thanks to the bishop all the way on b7, he let out a frustrated roar and slammed his fist down, before dejectedly moving his rook to g1.

"Poor Ogeldax-kun. He really is getting pummeled," Mimoko frowned as Refik moved his queen to f4.

"Yeah, Wakuta deserves better. Nata Mui was full of shit and shouldn't have won. Wakuta had everything planned out perfectly," Esma cried.

Mimoko turned around and gasped at the state of Esma's face. Countless bruises now littered it along with a black eye and bloody nose.

"Are you alright?"

"Huh? Oh, this is just our stupid tomboy at work. Besides, I got a mask of shadows with me," Esma smiled as she put on a mask that looked identical to Wakuta's. "Now I am one, with the shadows..."

Mimoko nervously smiled and returned her focus to the game. "I guess she's a chuuni," she thought as Refik moved his queen to f4.

Furious, Wakuta decided to forgoe strategy and go for a check. "Check! You will suffer is the sea of Dermisproto!" he snarled as he moved his queen to b3.

But that check ultimately cost him the game, as Refik saw the path to victory and moved his king to h7. Wakuta angrily moved his pawn to c4, but that did him no good, as Refik sent moved his rook to e2, inching ever closer to mate. Wakuta tried to counter by moving his rook to g2, but Refik simply moved his rook to e1, delivering a nasty check.

Wakuta reached for his knight, but stopped as he realized capturing the rook at e1 with it would lead to an instant mate. "No, I cannot lose! The light... I was stuck with the pieces of the light. I must have the shadows," he thought as he moved his rook to g1.

But after Refik moved his knight to g4, frustrations took over, and Wakuta captured the rook at e1 with his rook, blundering into mate and one.

Refik smiled and rose, picking up the queen before leaping into the air and pulling his fist back. "ARHEOLOGIJA [ARCHAEOLOGY]!" he shouted as he captured the pawn at h2 with his queen, winning the game and sending said pawn bouncing away behind him. "And that's checkmate. Never underestimate one such as myself, who wields the power of the Bosnian pyramids."

And with that Bosnia and Herzegovina had officially beaten Denmark 3-1, increasing the likelihood that they'd play Japan next round.

The full game:

White: Wakuta Ogeldax (2003) Black: Refik Osmanagić (2365)

1. d4 d5

2. Bf4 e6

3. g3 c6

4. Bxb8 Rxb8

5. Qd2 Bd6

6. e4 dxe4

7. Nc3 f5

8. f3 exf3

9. Nxf3 Nf6

10. Bd3 b5

11. Qe2 O-O

12. a4 a6

13. Ne5 Qb6

14. Nf3 c5

15. O-O c4

16. a5 cxd3

17. Qxd3 Qc7

18. Ne2 Bb7

19. Ng5 Rbe8

20. Nf4 Bxf4

21. gxf4 h6

22. Nf3 Qxf4

23. Ra3 Qg4+

24. Kh1 e5

25. dxe5 Rxe5

26. Rg1 Qf4

27. Qb3+ Kh7

28. c4 Re2

29. Rg2 Re1+

30. Rg1 Ng4

31. Rxe1 Qxh2#

Match score:

Bosnia and Herzegovina: 3 Denmark: 1

Bosnia and Herzegovina wins 3-1