Jittery nerves

Going back in time to the start of the round, the game had started enough simple enough with knight f3 and knight f6 being played before c4, c6, d4, d5, and e3 made the game a Slav Defense: Modern, Quiet Variation one. Noa opted for the Schallopp Defense, moving her bishop to f5, but Jolán wasn't rated slightly under 2600 for nothing. She followed up immediately with knight c3, ensuring e6 and knight h4 followed.

At a crossroads between bishop e4 and bishop g6, Noa chose the former, with Jolán choosing to respond to it by moving her pawn to f3. Now it was best of both worlds, as Noa moved her bishop to g6, but now was the time for Jolán to make the bold play of queen to b3.

Noa responded well by moving her queen to b6, but this was only the start of Jolán's gambit. "Let's see if this girl's got talent, or if her match with Mimoko was just a fluke," Jolán thought as she captured the bishop at g6 with her knight.

Noa naturally captured said knight with her h-pawn, but the true peril of the trap came when Jolán moved her pawn to c5. "Now, where will you go?" Jolán thought as Noa began tapping her foot nervously.

After a long hard think, she finally settled on moving her queen to c7. This put the ball back in Jolán's court, but she knew what to do. Bishop d2, b6, c captures b6, a captures b6, but then came e4. It was another attempt to try and make Noa slip, but Noa was beginning to find her focus and moved her bishop to e7.

"You've got to be kidding me. Well, guess we'll try again later," Jolán thought as she castled queen's side.

But the move caused Noa's eyes to widen as she began to visibly shake. "The castle... It was a mistake. But how do I capitalize on it? Castle? Seems good," Noa thought as she reached for her king.

However, her nerves began to overwhelm her to the point where she accidentally touched the b-pawn. She began to protest, but a nearby arbiter quickly affirmed she needed to move the piece she touched.

"Well, that's sad, but it's the game. Trust me, I'm teammates with Rózsa so I know nerves are bad. But you got to control them, especially when they make you shake about frantically," Jolán thought as Noa was forced to move her pawn to b5.

Despite her warm and caring persona off the board, on the board, Jolán was ruthless. She showcased this trait perfectly by moving her pawn to e5, sending Noa into a jittery frenzy before she stood up and began walking around.

The strategy seemed to work as it calmed Noa down and allowed her to refocus and move her f-knight to d7 when she returned to the board. And ironically enough, it was Jolán who suddenly got nervous as she realized something. "Her moving her pawn to b5 was actually a good move. Ugh, not good," she thought as she moved her pawn to a3.

Noa came to the realization as well, calming her down further, and allowing her to move her queen to a7 with confidence. "Mimoko-nee has faith in me. I can't disappoint," she thought as Jolán moved her knight to e2.

Now was the time for the king's side castle Noa had meant to do a few moves ago. While Noa's confidence was improving and her nerves were easing, it was the opposite for Jolán. She was starting to get nervous and second guess herself, leading to her making the very dubious play of king to b1. Noa capitalized on the misstep, moving her pawn to c5, and awaiting Jolán's response.

After some thinking and foot tapping, the latter of which leading to the cameras zooming in on her sneakers before Nancy reprimanded Kisha for emulating Danny, Jolán moved her bishop to e3.

Noa began to tremble, but these were more so nerves of excitement. "I can win her queen, maybe even trick her into mate," she thought as she steadied her wrist before reaching out and moving her pawn to c4.

Jolán immediately captured the pawn at b5 with her queen, but raised an eyebrow when Noa moved her knight to c6. "Well that's a free knight. Guess this marks the turnaround. You played well, but you're still just a kid," she thought as she captured the knight at c6 with her queen.

And then the trap was sprung. Noa moved her f-rook to c8, causing Jolán to scowl as she stared at the board. "I'm not letting you get my queen. Where to move it? B5 looks to be the only open square," she thought as she grabbed her queen. But as she placed it on b5, she realized the trap she was walking into. Since she hadn't taken her hand off the piece, she was still allowed to move it anywhere it could be legally moved to, opting to captured the rook at a8 with it.

Noa promptly captured said queen with her rook, and now had a battering ram lined up to go for mate. Jolán wasn't about to let that happen though, and moved her knight to c3, but Noa had a backup plan and moved her rook to b8. Jolán had a countermeasure for that too though, moving her rook to d2, but Noa went ahead with her plan and captured the pawn at a3 with her bishop.

Jolán gritted her teeth in frustration and moved her rook to c2, prompting Noa to capture the pawn at e5 with her knight in hopes of eventually weakening Jolán's defenses. The plan worked like a charm, leaving Jolán confused as what to do next. And after a short think, she settled on moving her knight to d1, allowing Noa to move her knight to d3 and put more pressure on the b2 pawn.

Jolán promptly captured the knight at d3 with her bishop, but Noa saw that coming and captured said bishop with her c-pawn. Jolán tried to counter by moving her rook to d2, but Noa knew what to do and moved her queen to a6. Desperate, Jolán moved her bishop to f4, but Noa sidestepped that simply by moving her rook to a8. Now the only move to keep the game going was knight f2, but Jolán didn't see that, instead frantically moving her bishop to b8 in hopes that doing so would give her more time to think. But Noa saw the mate and promptly moved her bishop to b4.

"Ugh, why did I make such a move!? I have time on the clock... Seems even I have failed to quell my nerves despite my prestige," Jolán thought as she moved her bishop to a7.

This was Jolán's final stand. If Noa didn't see through it and captured the bishop with he queen, the game would go on. But that was not meant to be, as Noa captured the bishop at a7 with her rook. Now all Jolán could do to delay the mate was to capture the pawn at d3 with her rook.

"Check!" Noa nervously trembled as she captured the rook at d3 with her queen.

Even though she was on the verge of victory, her nerves had returned. Jolán noticed this, and decided to make her one remaining legal move of king to c1, instead of resigning. "Come on, mate me proper. Don't let the nerves consume you," she thought as Noa reached for her rook.

However, Noa ended up accidentally touching her bishop, causing tears to well up in her eyes as this meant she was now forced to move it. "No... NO! I was so close to mate! But now, I have to move the bishop. Where to? WHERE TO!?" she thought as she frantically darted her eyes around the board. But it was then that she realized she was perfectly fine. "I can mate... I CAN MATE! Checkmate!" she tearfully declared as she moved her bishop to d2, winning the game.

Jolán warmly smiled and shook Noa's hand, before getting up and patting her on the shoulder. "You did good. Keep fighting back those nerves. You've got a grandmaster title ahead of you."

Noa's trembling eased as she tearfully smiled and nodded her head. Though despite Noa's win, Hungary had still won the match 2.5-1.5. Still, it was a small victory for Noa herself, who now took another step forward towards reaching her full potential.

The full game:

White: Jolán Zsigmondy (2598) Black: Noa Ben-Horin (2052)

1. Nf3 Nf6

2. c4 c6

3. d4 d5

4. e3 Bf5

5. Nc3 e6

6. Nh4 Be4

7. f3 Bg6

8. Qb3 Qb6

9. Nxg6 hxg6

10. c5 Qc7

11. Bd2 b6

12. cxb6 axb6

13. e4 Be7

14. O-O-O b5

15. e5 Nfd7

16. a3 Qa7

17. Ne2 O-O

18. Kb1 c5

19. Be3 c4

20. Qxb5 Nc6

21. Qxc6 Rfc8

22. Qxa8 Rxa8

23. Nc3 Rb8

24. Rd2 Bxa3

25. Rc2 Nxe5

26. Nd1 Nd3

27. Bxd3 cxd3

28. Rd2 Qa6

29. Bf4 Ra8

30. Bb8 Bb4

31. Ba7 Rxa7

32. Rxd3 Qxd3+

33. Kc1 Bd2#

Match score:

Hungary: 2.5 New Kingdom of Simien: 1.5

Hungary wins 2.5-1.5