Chapter 354:

Halloween fun

En Passant Grandmaster

Mimoko smiled as she sat down across from Peter. "it's been a while sine we last faced off."

"That it has, which is why I'll take the chance to play you here and now," Peter grinned as he moved his pawn to e4.

"A shame we can't face each other in the tournament, but I suppose even if we could have mixed gendered teams, Tanabe-kun would be pushing to play you," Mimoko nodded as she moved her pawn to e5.

"Hoh? I hear he's got a new opening he's developed specifically to take me on," Peter nodded as he moved his knight to f3.

"Correct, he calls it the "Japanese gambit". I don't think it's very good, but he's insistent it will beat you," Mimoko stated as she moved her knight to c6.

"Yes, I recall the name. I believe it stems from the Anderssen opening," Peter stated as he moved his knight to c3.

"That's why I think it's not very good. The Anderssen opening is not the most sound opening," Mimoko pouted as she moved her knight to f6.

"But sometimes it's the dubious openings that win the day against the grandmaster, and as a bonus, they make the game more entertaining," Peter smirked as he captured the pawn at e5 with his knight.

Mimoko shot him a disappointed frown. "Peter-kun, are you really playing the Halloween gambit against me?" she glared as she captured the knight at e5 with her knight.

"If you think it's so bad, try to beat me," Peter smirked as he moved his pawn to d4.

Mimoko scowled as she moved her knight to c6. She knew exactly how this song and dance would go. "Pawn d5, knight e5, pawn f4, knight g6, pawn e5, knight g8, and bishop d3," Mimoko thought as all the moves played out just as she foresaw. "Now the question is what to do next. Bishop b4 is the best move, but Peter-kun is no slouch. He probably has a trick in store if he was willing to play the Halloween gambit against me. Hmm, I'll go for a more unorthodox line," she thought as she moved her bishop to c5.

"And there's the psychological warfare at work. If Mimoko goes down a line she's unfamiliar with, she'll be more prone to blundering. I doubt she's the type that's studied the Halloween gambit extensively," Peter thought as he moved his queen to e2.

And just like that, Mimoko moved her pawn to c6, instantly cupping her hands over her mouth as Peter pounced on the misstep and moved his pawn to d6. "Oh no, I was supposed to go to d6, now Peter-kun's there. I'm gonna have to work overtime to remedy this," Mimoko thought as she moved her bishop to d4.

"Seems your match today wore you out a bit. Otherwise you'd know that the moment you make a mistake, I pounce on it and never give you an inch back," Peter thought as he moved his knight to e4.

While the match against Xiu most certainly had taken a lot of thinking power out of Mimoko, she was still in top form. However, that one mistake on move 10 would ultimately be the bane of her existence for this game, as it led to her making more reckless moves than normal in order to try and get the advantage back. This time the move was knight to h6, giving Peter another chance to solidify his edge by moving his pawn to c3.

The short time control was also factoring in, as if Mimoko had more time, she probably could have found queen to a5, the best possible move she could've made, but instead she moved her bishop to b6. Though it wouldn't have made much of a difference as Mimoko's position was completely losing.

"Wow, Mimo-chan's gonna lose," Iori smirked Peter moved his pawn to h4.

"And I told her to wear a bikini too. Well, she's got a spare set of her Sakura attire," Daria shrugged as Mimoko castled king's side.

"She underestimated Peter. He's the master of unorthodox openings," Okisato sighed as Peter moved his pawn to g4.

"This is why she needs to at lest study those lines more extensively. Otherwise the unorthodox will get the edge on her," the masked man nodded as Mimoko moved her rook to e8.

As Peter moved his bishop to d2, Noa began to tremble. "Mimoko-nee is gonna lose. I can't believe it," she shuddered as Mimoko captured the pawn at h4 with her knight.

"Hey, it's part of the game. But on a different note, I'm pretty sure your older than Mimoko by a few weeks. Why do you refer to her as Mimoko-nee?" Golda asked as Peter castled king's side.

Noa began shifting awkwardly. "She feels more like a big sister than a little one. Besides, I just learned I was the older one a few hours ago."

"And?"

"... We both blushed. She even called me Noa-nee. I've never had a younger sister! Or any siblings for that matter! I don't mind being the younger sister, but if I'm the older sister, I have more responsibilities!"

"Eh, maybe we should just focus on the match."

"... Mimoko-nee doesn't mind if I'm older and I call her "Mimoko-nee"," Noa mumbled as she sat down in a chair and curled up into a ball.

Another person who wasn't too happy about Mimoko losing was Zsa Zsa, but not for the reasons one might expect. "NO! Foul bastard! If Mimoko loses, Zsa Zsa can't challenge her! Is there another usurper out there!?" she thought as Mimoko moved her pawn to a5.

The clouds in Zsa Zsa's world had begun to part, revealing her and Collette to be at the foot of a mountain occupied by various people Zsa Zsa deemed enemies, such as Okisato, Mimoko, and now Peter.

"Just how many will Zsa Zsa have to fell before she can regain her rightful place atop the mountain?" Zsa Zsa thought as Peter moved his pawn to g5.

Back at the board, Mimoko frowned as she moved her 6-knight to f5. Things just weren't turning around, making it more likely she was going to lose the game, and take a dip in the blueberry juice.

"Check. Sorry Mimoko, but I won't be giving you the chance to make a comeback. It's a shame that nice dress of yours is gonna get soaked in blueberry juice, but that's the name of the game when it comes to 6B," Peter smirked as he moved his knight to f6.

A smile began to form on Mimoko's face. "Concerned about my dress? How kind. You should be more concerned about what I've got planned for you next time we meet," she smirked as she captured the knight at f6 with her g-pawn.

"So you accept your defeat with grace then. Well I look forward to our next encounter. Do study up on the more dubious openings though as should you not, I'll punish you with them," Peter snickered as he moved his queen to h5.

"First you'll need to beat me here properly. Verbal resignation is forbidden you know," Mimoko smiled as she moved her pawn to h6.

"Eager to take a dunk? Well then allow me to escort you to mate," Peter chuckled as he captured the pawn at f6 with his g-pawn.

"Aha! You made a mistake! Bishop captures f5 was the move to make in order to achieve mate the fastest!" Mimoko proudly huffed as she moved her rook to e6.

"Perhaps I'm making things more interesting. Or maybe I'm beginning to tire from my long match today," Peter chuckled as he captured the knight at h4 with his rook.

"While you're on the verge of winning? Hmm... I think it was deliberate," Mimoko smirked as she moved her king to f8.

Peter began to smile. "And should that be the case, why would I deliberately make two mistakes in a row?" he asked as he captured the knight at f5 with his queen.

"Hmm, I have something in mind, but if I said it aloud, it would foil your scheme, so I won't," Mimoko giggled as she moved her bishop to e3.

"Hoh, hoh, so you want my supposed scheme to succeed. Well, I'm honored," Peter chuckled as he moved his queen to h7.

"But as compensation, I will be getting an obligatory check," Mimoko smiled as she stuck her tongue out and captured the bishop at d2 with her bishop.

"Then take your check, and have a good day," Peter smirked as he moved his king to b1.

"Our matches always are such fun, dare I say they're more fun than the ones I have against okaa-chan," Mimoko smiled as she captured the pawn at f6 with her queen.

"Oh is it now!?" Daria shouted and pouted as Peter laughed and captured the queen at f6 with his e-pawn.

"Mimoko, I too have the most fun whenever I play you. You truly are the incarnation of Caïssa herself," Peter smiled.

"Ah, you're making me blush," Mimoko giggled as she captured the pawn at f6 with her rook.

"As a compliment should. Checkmate. Now, become the first of many to swim in the blue sea by my hand," Peter snickered as he moved his queen to h8, winning the game.

Mimoko happily closed her eyes as the trapdoor opened beneath her, sending her plummeting into the blueberry juice. Just like Sejad, she ended up getting sucked through the whole room by the giant clear tubes before being spat out into the kiddie pool.

"Eyuck! I'm all sticky and blue. Well, they say blue is the color of youth after all," Mimoko happily shrugged as she got up and shook her hair around like a wet dog.

She then headed to the dance floor and began busting out her dance moves as Xiu watched from a distance. She had been enjoying seeing Mimoko lose, up until Mimoko accepted her loss with grace.

"You even lose more gracefully than me too, huh? That bastard Redfield should have dragged me to WWCF HQ instead. Then I wouldn't be stuck in this dump. Well, I guess I'll take my anger out on Xiao Lin in the dunk tank," she thought as she began to head for the stage.

"ATTENTION PLEASE! IT'S TIME FOR THE DJ SPECIAL! OUR FIRST ONE OF THE NIGHT! In it, it' DJ's choice for the format, but the prize pool is 10 million WWCF points! And this first round will be head n' hand team blitz! Do I have volunteers!?"

Iori's hand shot up, as did many others.

"Perfect! On team 1, we got... Iori and Fifi! And team 2... Xiu and... Red wax stache!"

"It's Ionuț, you dolt! And I want to play the boy I want to sue for ruining my dinner!" Ionuț fumed as he was escorted to the stage by arbiters.

"What? You think you can't beat us, so you're gonna run and hide, maybe have mommy style your stache with her breast milk too?" Iori taunted.

An aura of animosity erupted from Ionuț as he glared at Iori. "How DARE you! Alright! I'll take you on!"

The full game:

White: Peter Morphy (2900) Black: Mimoko Inoue (2809)

1. e4 e5

2. Nf3 Nc6

3. Nc3 Nf6

4. Nxe5 Nxe5

5. d4 Nc6