Wet gunpowder

Shifting back to the men's section, things had begun to pick up in the game at board 2 between the masked man and Tvrtko. The masked man had moved his bishop to f3, inviting Tvrtko to bishop trade, which he accepted by capturing the bishop at g5 with his rook. The masked man promptly captured said bishop with his rook, but then Tvrtko made the head-scratching play of moving his king to c8.

The masked man showed little reaction though, instead focusing on moving his pawn to h4. As if mirroring him, Tvrtko moved his pawn to a5, setting up a race on the sides of the boards between the pawns. But it was clear who had the edge as when the masked man moved his pawn to h5, all that stood in it's way of promotion was the rook at h8. But on the other side of the board, Tvrtko moved his pawn to a4 to be met with an ambush from the pawn on b3, resulting in said pawn being captured by the b-pawn.

It was quickly avenged though, as the rook quickly captured the pawn at a4 that had felled it.Now Tvrtko would have to get a new pawn marching towards the back rank, but before he got the chance, the masked man moved his knight to e4, tempting him to move his bishop to c6. The masked man countered with an attack though, and moved his knight to c5, forcing Tvrtko to move his rook to a5. He kept up the pressure though and moved his bishop to g4, not only freeing it from the bishop's line of sight, but also putting immense pressure on the pawn at e6.

Tvrtko quickly retreated his bishop to d7 to help guard said pawn, but the masked man decided to bring a new guest to the party by moving his pawn to f4.

"Yeesh, another pawn? Well, now I can get my knight more active and make a play for his, all in one move," Tvrtko thought as he moved his knight to d5.

And to his surprise, and delight, the masked man captured the knight at d5 with his rook.

"Jajaja! Looks like you're starting to slip up. Must be the heat from that get-up you're wearing. All the more reason I'll help ya take it off once I've mated ya," Tvrtko thought as he captured the rook at d5 with his e-pawn.

But the masked man had a nasty trick in store, and it started with him capturing the bishop at d7 with his knight. Tvrtko could see the oncoming check, and responded accordingly by moving his pawn to c6. Then when the masked man actually delivered a check by moving his knight to e5, Tvrtko instantly moved his king to c7. But this was only the start of the masked man's plan.

Next, he moved his pawn to f5, to which Tvrtko scoffed at and moved his rook to e8. But the knight he was trying to attack, soon became a massive headache for him as it moved to g6, guarding two potential promotion squares.

"Tch. Damn knight got in," Tvrtko thought as he moved his e-rook to a8.

It appeared as if Tvrtko was abandoning the king's side, giving the masked man all the more reason to move his pawn to h6, but when Tvrtko moved his rook to a3, it became obvious he was just circling around to attack from behind. The masked man didn't seem to mind, in fac it seemed like he was welcoming of the idea as after he moved his pawn to f6, Tvrtko's rook cam storming in to g3.

"Artiljerija on demand! Now I just gotta wait to fire," Tvrtko thought.

However, his hopes began to get dashed as the masked man moved his bishop to f5, not only freeing it from the rook's line of fire, but also having it guard the now exposed knight.

"Tch, seems I have to go fire it off manually," Tvrtko thought as he moved his king to d6.

But the masked man moving his pawn to h7 further doused his flames, as now he felt he had no choice but to sacrifice his prized rook in order to try and save the game.

"Talk about a cold shower, at this point I'm tossing my prized artiljerija down a slope, all to take out your cavalry," Tvrtko dejectedly thought as he captured the knight at g6 with his rook.

The masked man quickly captured said rook with his bishop, but on the other side of the board, Tvrtko moved his pawn to b5 in a last-ditch attempt to try and turn things around. But the masked man simply moved his pawn to f7, and now there was no stopping mate.

"Jajaja! Well looks like I'm surrounded. But I'm the type of man that fights to the last breath!" Tvrtko thought as he grinned and moved his rook to f8.

The masked man nodded, acknowledging Tvrtko's tenacity as he moved his rook to e1. As Tvrtko continued his last-ditch attack by moving his pawn to d4, the masked man looked around. Noticing Okisato had yet to return, he decided to delay the mate just a bit by moving his king to h2. But after Tvrtko moved his pawn to d3, and Okisato still had yet to return, the masked man decided to just finish things as him winning could help boost Zago's psych, and possibly lower Ognjen's.

"Seems you'll just have to find out we're mounting a comeback after you get back, Tanabe," the masked man thought as he moved his rook to e8.

Tvrtko let out a heavy sigh and captured the pawn at f7 with his rook, allowing the masked man to capture said rook with his bishop. "There goes my artiljerija. At this rate, I'll be able to get a queen just before I'm mated. Talk about irony," he thought as he moved his pawn to d2.

But on the topic of queens, the masked man was about to get a new one, which he did upon moving his pawn to h8 and promoting it to a queen. Now Tvrtko had no choice but to flee, opting to move his king to c5, but the masked man was in hot pursuit, delivering a check by moving his queen to e5, leaving Tvrtko with little choice but to move his king to b6 to keep the game going.

But the masked man delivered another check, this time by moving his rook to b8. Now Tvrtko had his pick of which spot on the a-file to move his king to, ultimately choosing to move it to a5, but that square would ultimately be where his king would be mated as the masked man closed in on him by moving his queen to c5.

"So this is it. You really diffused me good. My hat goes off to ya," Tvrtko thought as he moved his pawn to d1 and promoted it to a queen.

"Checkmate. You played well," the masked man nodded as he moved his rook to a8, winning the game.

"Jajaja, all the more reason I wanna know who ya are. That way I can rematch ya. That was a real blast," Tvrtko smiled as he shook the masked man's hand.

Now the score was tied 1-1, but Tvrtko's loss, actually had the reverse psychological effect on Ognjen. "That idiot lost!? PERFECT! Now I'LL be the hero!" he thought.

But with arrogance flowing into his mind, he made a massive blunder, completely handing the game to Zago, a fact he realized only after Zago found the right move.

"No... NO! That's... That's mate in 3..."

Ognjen sunk his hands into his face for a god moment, before dejectedly reaching for the clock and resigning.

Despite Ginji's sabotage, Japan had bounced back, and now led 2-1. At worst, the team would draw, but the masked man had confidence Okisato would do his part when he came back and saw the score. He just needed to come back before his clock ran out of time.

"Now, let's go find Tanabe," the masked man thought as he handed in his scoresheet and began heading off.

The full game:

White: The masked man (101) Black: Tvrtko Artiljerija (2503)

1. e4 e6

2. Nf3 d5

3. d3 dxe4

4. Ng5 exd3

5. Bxd3 h6

6. Qh5 Qd7

7. Nxf7 Nf6

8. Nd6+ Kd8

9. Nf7+ Ke8

10. Ne5+ Nxh5

11. Bg6+ Kd8

12. Nxd7 Bxd7

13. Bxh5 Bd6

14. O-O Rf8

15. Nd2 Nc6

16. b3 Nd4

17. Bb2 Nxc2

18. Rac1 Nb4

19. Bxg7 Rg8

20. Bxh6 Nxa2

21. Rce1 Rh8

22. Bg5+ Be7

23. Re5 Nb4

24. Bf3 Bxg5

25. Rxg5 Kc8

26. h4 a5

27. h5 a4

28. bxa4 Rxa4

29. Ne4 Bc6

30. Nc5 Ra5

31. Bg4 Bd7

32. f4 Nd5

33. Rxd5 exd5

34. Nxd7 c6

35. Ne5+ Kc7

36. f5 Re8

37. Ng6 Rea8

38. h6 Ra3

39. f6 Rg3

40. Bf5 Kd6

41. h7 Rxg6

42. Bxg6 b5

43. f7 Rf8

44. Re1 d4

45. Kh2 d3

46. Re8 Rxf7

47. Bxf7 d2

48. h8=Q Kc5

49. Qe5+ Kb6

50. Rb8+ Ka5

51. Qc5 d1=Q

52. Ra8#