Chapter 355:

En Passant anniversary

En Passant Grandmaster

As everyone got in position, D.R. Passant explained the rules. In head and hand team chess, one person was the "head" and would call out the name of the piece they wished for their partner, the "hand" to move. It was forbidden to not only specify the square the head wished for the piece to be moved to, but they were also forbidden from specifying what specific piece they wanted moved. For example, if two knights could go to the same square, it was forbidden for the head to specify which knight they wanted moved. "Knight" would be the only word they'd be allowed to say. Castling was the only exception where a specific move could be said aloud. But in the event where both king's side and queen's side castling was possible, the head would naturally be forbidden from specifying which side they wished for the hand to castle on.

With the ground rules out of the way, it was on to the assignments. Iori and Fifi were White, with Iori being the hand, and Fifi being the head, while Xiu and Ionuț were Black with Xiu being the hand and Ionuț the head.

The game started simple enough with e4, e5, knight f3, and knight f6, all being played.

"A Petrov's defense, huh? Knight!" Fifi called out.

Ioiri nodded and promptly captured the pawn at e5 with her knight.

"Knight," Ionuț snarled as Xiu moved her knight to c6.

"The Stafford gambit? Hmm, I feel like that guy played the move without realizing what it meant. Knight!" Fifi called out, as Iori nodded and captured the knight at c6 with her knight.

"Pawn!" Ionuț called out as Xiu captured the knight at c6 with her b-pawn.

"Knight!"

Iori moved her knight to c3.

"Bishop!"

Xiu moved her bishop to b4.

"Pawn."

Iori smirked and moved her pawn to e5.

"Tch! Knight!"

Xiu frowned, but the rules required her to move the piece the head stated, thus, she moved her knight to d5. "Queen e7 was the best move," she thought to herself.

"Queen," Fifi smirked, eliciting a scowl from Xiu as Iori moved her queen to g4.

"Geh, castle!" Ionuț scowled.

A dumbfounded look spread across Xiu's face. "You can't be fucking serious!" she fumed in her mind.

As per the rules, once the piece was called out, the move had to be made. Sinking her hand into her face, Xiu castled king's side.

"Heh, knight," Fifi smirked as Iori began grinning maliciously while capturing the knight at d5 with her knight.

"Why do you scowl too!? My intellect is second to none! Pawn!" Ionuț huffed.

"Well geez, need to call me a pawn outload," Xiu snarled.

"I MEANT THE PIECE! Though I most certainly consider you a pawn!"

"Lovely," Xiu groaned as she captured the knight at d5 with her pawn.

"Queen," Fifi smirked as Iori gleefully captured the bishop at b4 with her queen.

"PAWN!" Ionuț shouted.

Xiu knew the best move was pawn to d6, but since Ionuț had screwed her over with the castle, she decided to get back at him by moving her pawn to h5.

"Queen."

Iori grinned and moved her queen to f4.

"Pawn!"

Xiu smirked and moved her pawn to h4.

"Pawn."

This time, it was Iori's turn to go off script and move her pawn to g4.

"No! I wanted her to go to d6!" Fifi thought.

"Pawn!" Ionuț scoffed.

"Alright! En passant!" Xiu snickered as she performed en passant and captured the pawn at g4 with her h-pawn.

But the drama wasn't over just yet. For as soon as Fifi called out for Iori to move her pawn, Iori captured the pawn at g3 with her f-pawn, instead of her h-pawn.

"Ugh, that was an obvious move!" Fifi fumed in her mind.

Ionuț once again called for Xiu to move her pawn, and this time, she finally moved it to d6. Iori also got on track and moved her bishop to g2 after Fifi called for her to move her bishop. The predictable "Pawn!" and d captures e5, as well as "Queen!" and queen f2 followed. "Pawn!" and f5, a somewhat predictable move, followed next, prompting Fifi to call out "Queen!" Iori got the message and moved her queen to c5, infuriating Ionuț to the point where he began to stop thinking critically.

"ROOK!"

Xiu let out a sigh and moved her rook to f6.

"Queen, if you please," Fifi smiled.

"Don't mind if I do. Check!" Iori grinned as she captured the pawn at d5 with her queen.

"PROTECT THE KING!" Ionuț fumed, causing Xiu to facepalm.

Thanks to that line, she was forced to move the king to h7, allowing Iori to capture her queen.

"Queen," Fifi smugly grinned as Iori captured the queen at d8 with her queen.

"AH!" Bishop! BISHOP!" Ionuț shouted frantically.

Xiu facepalmed and moved her bishop to e6. "Ugh, this better not count for beating me! No way I'm giving you my badge!"

"Too bad, I think it does count. Queen!" Fifi smirked as Iori captured the rook at a8 with her queen.

"NO! PAWN! TURN THIS AROUND!"

"Yeah, yeah," Xiu grumbled as she moved her pawn to f4.

It was clear the two were falling out big time, but on the other side of the board, Fifi and Iori were getting closer.

"Bishop."

"Check! I'd love to beat this bitch and get her badge!" Iori grinned as she moved her bishop to e4.

"BISHOP!" Ionuț shouted.

"YEESH! I can hear ya just fine!" Xiu snarled as she moved her bishop to f5.

"Bishop."

"Checkedy check!" Iori snickered as she captured the bishop at f5 with her bishop.

"ROOK!" Ionuț shouted.

"Yes," Xiu grumbled as she captured the bishop at f5 with her rook.

"Queen on demand," Fifi clapped.

"Comin' right up!" Iori replied as she moved her queen to e4.

"GEH! You're not comprehending my intellect! King!" Ionuț fumed.

Xiu's true face was beginning to show as she scowled and moved her king to h6. "You kidding me? These two are gonna get credit for beating me!? Is this why that bastard, Redfield, had me come here!?" she fumed in her mind.

"Can I have another queen?" Fifi asked.

"Order on up, cuz I've got something cooking!" Iori replied as she captured the rook at f5 with her queen.

"PAWN!" Ionuț shouted as Xiu moved her pawn to f3.

Now it was smooth sailing for the White team.

"Pawn," Fifi smirked as Iori moved her pawn to h4.

"PAWN!" Ionuț cried.

"Alright! Check!" Xiu grumbled as she moved her pawn to f2.

"King," Fifi smiled as Iori captured the pawn at f2 with her king.

"PAAAAAAAAAAAAAWWWWWWWWWWN!" Ionuț shouted frantically as he began ripping chunks of his hair out.

"I'd sure love to yank my hair out in fury," Xiu growled as she moved her pawn to e4.

"Pawn," Fifi smiled.

This time, a malicious grin spread over Iori's face as she moved her pawn to b3, shocking Fifi. "Hope you can see what I'm cooking. You're the only one that can tell me to move the bishop," Iori thought.

"PAWN! PAWN! MOVE THE PAWN, YOU GOOD FOR NOTHING PAWN!" Ionuț shouted as Xiu angrily moved her pawn to c5.

"Pawn," Fifi calmly stated as Iori moved her pawn to h5.

"PAWN!" Ionuț shouted as Xiu moved her pawn to c4.

Now came the moment of truth. It was mate in one, but Iori clearly had other plans. Fifi saw the mate, but hesitated, thinking about what Iori could be thinking. "Hmm, it's mate, but with the pawn structure the way it is... It's possible," she thought. "Bishop."

Iori's grin widened to maximum length as she moved her bishop to b2. "Thank you, Fifi!"

"WHAT ARE YOU THANKING HER FOR!? SHE SHOULD HAVE BEEN MY PARTNER INSTEAD OF THIS USELESS PAWN!" Ionuț fumed.

"UGH, I'VE GOT ENOUGH PROBLEMS ALREADY! STOP TAKING YOUR STUPIDITY OUT ON ME!" Xiu fumed as she moved her pawn to g5. "...! NO!"

"Too late! Pawn!" Fifi maliciously snickered.

"EN PASSANT ON THE HOUSE! CHECKMATE!" Iori grinned as she performed en passant and captured the pawn at g5 with her h-pawn, winning the game.

"ARE YOU KIDDING ME!? YOU HUMILIATED US!" Ionuț fumed.

"ME!? WE GOT IN THIS MESS THANKS TO YOU ORDERING ME TO CASTLE!" Xiu shouted back.

But before the two could throw hands, the trapdoor opened beneath them, plunging them into the blueberry juice below. And after a trip around the room, the two were spat out into the kiddie pool, blue and sticky.

"10 million WWCF points for the Iori-Fifi team!" D.R. Passant declared as the crowd roared with excitement.

"Not bad, you saw what I was cooking," Iori grinned as she fist=bumped Fifi.

"I had a feeling you'd go for something flashy. Though I don't quite like you as a person, I've always hated Xiu more. So it was nice to beat her with an en passant checkmate. Plus, we get the achievement badge for getting it, and I love me my badges."

It was all smiles on the White team, but the Black, or rather blue team, was miserable.

"EW! Get this stick out of my hair!" Ionuț cried.

"You're telling me. The hell did they put in this shit!?" Xiu grumbled as she got up.

The night was young, and the Bermuda party was only just getting started. Though who would end up becoming the grand winner of the 6B unofficial tournament remained to be seen. Though one confrontation was guaranteed not to happen, that being Peter vs Okisato, as both mutually agreed not to face each other as they wanted to play at their best during the main tournament. But that didn't mean others couldn't challenge the two. The night would go down in history as the Oni-Morphy big buck buster night. The reason being that the two vanquished all challengers that came their way. And that only further served to hype up their match in the tournament, assuming Japan and America would get the chance to play each other.

The full game:

White: Head: Fifi Bealieu (2400) Hand: Iori Ishikiridokoro (2444) Black: Head: Ionuț Bălașa (2490) Hand: Xiu Mei-mo (2720)

1. e4 e5

2. Nf3 Nf6

3. Nxe5 Nc6

4. Nxc6 bxc6

5. Nc3 Bb4

6. e5 Nd5

7. Qg4 O-O

8. Nxd5 cxd5

9. Qxb4 h5

10. Qf4 h4