Chapter 350:

Artiljerija smidje

En Passant Grandmaster

As soon as the match between Estonia and Serbia had ended, everyone received word that the buses had arrived.

"Whelp, time to head back to the hotel. We'll want to eat dinner fast if we want to enjoy the Bermuda party," Daria smiled.

"Ah yeah, time to party!" Iori grinned.

"Aren't you still sick though?" Mimoko asked.

"Nope! I'm feeling-"

"ACHOO!"

Mimoko shot Iori a skeptical glare.

"That wasn't me! I feel great!"

"Iori-chan, you-"

"ACHOO!"

Mimoko raised an eyebrow, but something was clearly off. Despite seemingly sneezing, Iori hadn't displayed any of the motions for it, making it hard to believe she had been the one sneezing.

Mystified, Mimoko looked around, and it was then she noticed Mimosa and Alice rubbing their noses with their sleeves.

Sweat began to run down Iori's face. "Well, off to the buses!" she nervously laughed as she began running off.

Mimoko's glare narrowed. Iori was hiding something, but she didn't know what.

"Are you two alright?" Fifi asked Mimosa and Alice.

"No. We just started feeling congested. It must have been that bitch, dammit. She got us sick when she violated Mimosa's lips!" Alice fumed.

And with the incriminating evidence gathered, Mimoko began marching out after Iori.

While team Japan's matches had concluded, along with most in general, there were still some notable matches occurring in each section. One of those was the German Empire of Prussia vs China match on the men's side, where the score was tied 1.5-1.5, but another notable one was the Belgium vs Bosnia and Herzegovina match on the women's side.

Just like the Prussia vs China match, only one game remained with the score currently standing at 1.5-1.5. This game was at board 1 between Jasmina Artiljerija and Kaylee Shamir, but to understand everything, it was necessary to go back in time to the start of the round.

...

Just before round 6 began, the Belgian and Bosnian teams introduced themselves.

"Jasmina Artiljerija," Jasmina stated as she sat down across from Kaylee.

"Tea bagging Chaya. Ready to get fucked?" Kaylee smirked.

"Ugh, there she goes with her libido," a pink-haired girl named Rhie Mi-rae grumbled as she sat down across from Esma.

"Oh, she has a libido? So did that libido drive her to remake Belgium into her own little harem world?" a bespectacled girl with long purple hair sneered.

This girl was Šejla Hodžić, one of Bosnia's three co-presidents. She had the most diverse background of the three being born to a Bosniak father and a Bosnian-Croat mother and growing up in Banja Luka. In fact, she was Banja Luka's DSPCM much to the angst of Bosnian Serbs who believe one of their own should have gotten the spot. Šejla was an ambitious woman, seeking to become not just the sole president of Bosnia and Herzegovina, but also one of the most powerful women in Europe and the world over.

"Shut up. This bitch just up and usurped eberything, we hate her," a magenta-haired girl, named Petronella Roos, grumbled.

"Wait, you seriously say 'eberything'?" a girl with short pink hair, named Azra Varešanović, snickered.

"Azra, don't tease someone over the way they pronounce words," a girl wearing a yellow headscarf, named Mirsada Nadarević, sighed.

"Drahomíra agrees! Don't tease Petro, she's Kaylee's main girl!" a bald girl, named Drahomíra Plešatý, pouted.

Petronella scowled and sat down across from Mirsada. "Just for that, you sit out for the round."

"Drahomíra wants to play!"

"And you will. I'm sitting out," a girl with green hair, named Janneke Oey, huffed.

Ultimately, the minor dispute was resolved quickly and the round began.

But one person who was not calm was Jasmina. "Bitch tryin' to mess with me? I'll show her," she thought as she opened the game by moving her pawn to e4.

Kaylee responded in kind by moving her pawn to e5, to which Jasmina responded to by moving her knight to f3. Then the gloves were off as Kaylee moved her king to e7.

"You wanna brawl with me, huh!? Well you're getting a brawl!" Jasmina fumed in her mind as she slammed her knight down on c3.

Kaylee got the message loud and clear and responded by smirking and moving her king to e6, further angering Jasmina.

"You're cruisin' for a bruisin' now!" Jasmina fumed in her mind as she slammed her pawn down on d4.

"Come get me," Kaylee thought as she smirked and moved her king back to e7.

Jasmina gritted her teeth and captured the pawn at e5 with her d-pawn as Kaylee continued the taunting dance, and moved her king back to e8. "Now the game begins," she thought as Jasmina moved her queen to d5.

Kaylee cracked her knuckles and moved her pawn to c6, sending Jasmina's queen back to d2. Next came pawn to h4, to which Jasmina responded to by moving her bishop to c4. Knight h6 followed, as did a king's side castle, but Jasmina was still winning.

"Any clue as to how Kaylee gets out of this?" Kisha asked as Kaylee moved her pawn to b5.

Only one; her opponent messes up, and she plays perfectly," Nancy declared as Jasmina moved her bishop to b3.

And that was Kaylee's plan. Jasmina was not the kind of player who could hold an advantage like this, especially if Kaylee played perfectly, so went the theory.

Knight a6 was next on the board, followed by a4. B4 came next, but Jasmina responded perfectly and moved her knight to e2. Kaylee moved her knight to c5, and this time, things began to swing her way as Jasmina captured the pawn at b4 with her queen. Kaylee could see a crack, and decided to try widening it by moving her bishop to a6, and it appeared to work as bishop g5 was Jasmina's next play, slowly eroding her advantage.

"Yup, figured a sub-2500 player like you would botch this. Now have fun. One wrong move and I'm winning," Kaylee thought as she moved her knight to e6.

In this position, queen captures f8, check, was the only viable move for Jasmina. But naturally, there was no way she'd see that, nor sacrifice her queen. But if she did find that move, it would perhaps be the move of the round. Sadly, she didn't and moved her queen to d2, eliciting groans from the commentators as the eval bar instantly swung towards Kaylee.

"Dammit Jasmina, you had to sac the queen! You would have been famous, but now, ugh," Laila groaned as Kaylee captured the bishop at g5 with her knight.

"You're not a fan of your own countrywoman?" Kisha asked as Jasmina captured the knight at g5 with her knight.

"If it weren't for her, I'd be down there competing, instead of stuck up here commentating," Laila glared as Kaylee captured the knight at e2 with her bishop.

"Sounds like a scoop. So down for an interview?" Kisha grinned as Jasmina moved her f-rook to e1.

Laila paused for a moment before shaking her head. "No, I don't want to think of her," she growled as Kaylee moved her bishop to g4.

"But aren't ya thinking of her while watching her game?" Kisha asked a Jasmina moved her pawn to h3.

"That's a technicality. If I have the option, I never want her to enter my headspace. I hate her. I HATE her!" Laila fumed as Kaylee moved her bishop to e7.

Down on the board, Jasmina still believed she was winning, and moved her pawn to f4. Kay;ee then moved her bishop to e6, prompting Jasmina to move her king to h2, further infuriating Laila.

"Swap that idiot out with me, dammit!" Laila fumed as Kaylee captured the bishop at b3 with her bishop. Jasmina did capture said bishop with her c-pawn, but Kaylee had all the momentum on her side, moving her rook to b8.

Jasmina moved her a-rook to d1, hoping to mount an attack. But Kaylee was the one doing the attacking, illustrated by her move of bishop to b4. Jasmina scowled and moved her queen to c2, allowing Kaylee to gleefully capture the rook at e1 with her bishop.

This was the moment Jasmina truly became frustrated, and felt her win was in jeopardy. "Shit! Now she's up a rook! I can't lose, not after she taunted me like that at the start!" she fumed in her mind as she captured the bishop at e1 with her rook.

Kaylee on the other hand, was on cloud 9 as she moved her queen to b6. "Keep on chocking," she thought as Jasmina moved her queen to c4. "Hmm, will she trade?" she thought as she captured the pawn at b3 with her queen.

Jasmina clearly wasn't down for trading queens, as she moved her queen to a6.

"Ah, too bad! Check," Kaylee sneered as she moved her knight to g4.

Jasmina gritted her teeth and moved her king to g1, but Kaylee relentlessly pursued her, moving her queen to g3. At this point, Jasmina was already teetering on the edge of mate, but she finally toppled over by moving her rook to e2. Now it was a forced checkmate, but rather than move, Kaylee just sat there smirking. She knew she had won, but she didn't feel like moving.

"I got an hour left. Let's run the clock down and see if she resigns in the timespan," Kaylee thought.

This naturally infuriated both Jasmina and Laila, with both hoping this ploy would backfire on Kaylee. But as her timer ticked down to it's final seconds, Kaylee moved her queen to h2.

"Check-"

Instantly, Jasmina moved her king to h1, but Kaylee already had her hand ready to move her queen to h1. "Checkmate. You lose," Kaylee taunted as she moved her queen to h1, winning the game.

Just 1 second remained on her clock, but she had most certainly won. And better yet, her victory meant Belgium had beaten Bosnia and Herzegovina 2.5-1.5.

Fury, but also frustration, spread itself on Jasmina's face. "I hate you," she snarled as she got up and stormed away.

"My, and I gave you the perfect chance to be a hero. Your fault for not seeing that queen sac back on move 15. Now, you just get added to the "humiliated" pile," Kaylee thought.

The full game:

White: Jasmina Artiljerija (2093) Black: Kaylee Shamir (2408)

1. e4 e5

2. Nf3 Ke7

3. Nc3 Ke6

4. d4 Ke7

5. dxe5 Ke8

6. Qd5 c6

7. Qd2 h5

8. Bc4 Nh6

9. O-O b5

10. Bb3 Na6