Chapter 365:

Check again, witch doctor

En Passant Grandmaster

Not a second after the team match had concluded, it was time for another DJ challenge. This time, it was back to 10 million WWCF points with the format being regular chess.

As D.R. Passant scoured the room, everyone's attention was drawn to some shouting.

"GET OFF ME! SOMEONE, HELP!" a bespectacled girl with long white hair, red eyes, and light colored skin cried as a bald girl with dark skin pinned her down and attempted to jab a knife-like object into her hand.

"YASMEEN! Stop trying to hurt Lindi!" a dark-skinned girl with wavy black hair cried as she ran up.

"How many time do I have to tell you? Whitey here has special properties, which is why I gotta grind her down into the finest talisman, for all our sakes," the bald girl snarled.

This was Tanzania's infamous witch doctor, Yasmeen Mgimwa. Becoming a witch doctor in hopes of making her and her family financially solvent, Yasmeen was dedicated to her profession, so much so that she often engaged in some of it's more controversial aspects, notably the belief that those with albinism held special spiritual properties, which could be fully utilized by others if said person was killed and converted into a wearable talisman.

This led to the girl pinned beneath her fearing for her life as Yasmeen and other radical witch doctors constantly threatened her life. This girl was Lindi Matumaini, a Tanzanian girl born with albinism. Cast aside by her own parents, she often found herself alone in the world, until Raymond decided to tour the nation, searching for chess talent, and discovered her. Showing prowess in Chess, Lindi quickly found herself in the WWCF's protection in order to further hone her chess, and live a better life. She was a WWCF official, but like the SPCMs, DSPCMs, and maestros, was allowed to compete for her country if she so chose to do so.

As she had made friends in the form of Tanzania's DSPCM and Yasmeen's younger sister, Aisha Mgimwa, and Tanzania's celebrated 2766-rated grandmaster and fellow WWCF official, Dr. Roxanne Marji, she decided to compete for Tanzania so long as those two would too. They did, however, Yasmeen also managed to make the team along with a mean-spirited girl named Linet Kaseke.

Linet was a girl with short pinkish-purple side shaved hair, and a desire to watch others suffer. She was sadistic in it's purest sense, though notably preferred to watch people suffering, rather than taking actions to try and cause more suffering. This was true in the present as she was off to the side grinning as she watched Yasmeen try to slice off Lindi's finger, with Aisha desperately trying to stop her.

"Alright, that's enough. You've already got all eyes on you, and I don't want to do more paperwork in regards to complaints against you, Yasmeen," a bespectacled dark-skinned woman with wavy green hair scowled.

This was Dr. Roxanne Marji, a WWCF official and grandmaster. Hailing from the United States, but claiming to have Tanzanian origins, Roxanne had moved to Tanzania in hopes of building it up to first world status, and to make it a formidable force in the chess world. Her efforts were in the early stages though, but with her at the helm, Tanzania's future at least appeared to be looking bright.

Yasmeen didn't care about her status though, and attempted to complete her task, before she suddenly found herself yanked into the air.

"Do refrain from violence. If you have a dispute, settle it in chess. D.R. Passant, these two shall be the next participants," Raymond declared.

D.R. Passant shrugged, but naturally rolled with it. Yasmeen wasn't thrilled about this, but with no way of going against Raymond, she begrudgingly agreed to the match. Lindi on the other hand was terrified, but willing to play, as beating Yasmeen here could hopefully get her to back off her for the time being.

Once the two were seated, Yasmeen opened the game by moving her pawn to d4, while Lindi moved her pawn to c6. She then moved her pawn to c4 as Lindi moved her pawn to d5, opting to play the Slav defense.

"Well go on, take it. I know enough about this game that the Queen's gambit is the best. Once you accept it, you lose, and when that happens, you're all mine!" Yasmeen thought as she moved her knight to f3.

But Yasmeen was wrong on two accounts. First, this was not a DESPER match with the worst possible fate befalling the loser an emptier pocket and 24 hours of having blue hair and skin. And second, the opening that had been played was NOT the queen's gambit.

"My, I bet she's thinking she played the queen's gambit, and that it's the best move in the game. Oh how adorable," Roxanne thought as she licked her lips and watched as Lindi moved her knight to f6.

Yasmeen began to scowl as she moved her pawn to e3. "Oi, the hell you not capturing for? It's a free pawn!"

Lindi simply tensed up, refusing to say a word as she moved her bishop to f5.

Slam!

"Oi, whitey! The hell you trying to play at by ignoring me and my gambit!?" Yasmeen snarled as she slammed her knight down on c3.

Lindi only became more afraid and tensed up as if she was expecting to be hit. But she didn't let her fear hinder her gameplay, and moved her pawn to e6.

"Well, guess it makes sense for you to get quiet, when I turn you into a talisman, I don't want to hear your voice squeaking at every waking hour of the day," Yasmeen sneered as she moved her knight to h4.

Aisha began to scowl and clenched her fist. "That was too far, sister! Must you continue to view Lindi as subhuman simply because of how she was born!?"

Both Lindi and Yasmeen went silent and turned their gazes down towards Aisha.

"Aisha... Thank you," Lindi thought as she shot Aisha a meek smile before moving her bishop to g6.

"Aisha, if I thought of whitey as subhuman, why the hell would I want to turn her into a talisman? Talismans are meant to be imbued with strength, not weakness. She was born with white hair and skin, a sign that she holds great spiritual properties, how is that subhuman?" Yasmeen glared a she slammed her bishop down on e2.

Fury consumed Aisha's face as she stared up at Yasmeen. "You want to murder her and desecrate her body just for the sake of some deluded philosophy!"

Linet then waltzed up and clamped her hand down on Aisha's shoulder. "Girl, you're shouting waaay too much. How bout we go watch elsewhere," she snickered as she began dragging Aisha away.

Roxanne remained and stared at the state of the board, impressed by what she was seeing. After Lindi moved her b-knight to d7, Yasmeen castled king's side. What was impressing Roxanne though was how well Yasmeen was playing. Even after Lindi moved her bishop to d6, and Yasmeen moved her pawn to c5, things were still pretty even, which for a player like Yasmeen who was rated 533 points below her opponent was impressive.

Lindi was also showing great nerves of steel, as despite being terrified of Yasmeen, she wasn't letting it affect her gameplay, and continued to hold her ground, moving her bishop to c7. Yasmeen kept up the pressure and moved her bishop to d2.

But after Lindi moved her knight to f4, a malicious smile spread across Yasmeen's face. "GETTING SCARED, AREN'T YA!? WELL TOO BAD, YOU'RE ABOUT TO BECOME MY BEST HANDYWORK YET!" she cackled as she captured the bishop at g6 with her knight.

The intention of the shouting was to try and frighten Lindi, yet to Yasmeen's shock, it appeared to have the opposite effect, as Lindi's trembling had eased significantly. To the skilled chess player, it was easy to see why.

"Well, seems I handed out my internal praises too soon; Yasmeen is still far from being a competent chess player," Rozanne thought.

"Ch- Check," Lindi stuttered as she captured the pawn at h2 with her bishop.

Yasmeen shot her an unamused glare. "Really? This is why you got so calm? Give me a break, even babies know this is just mindless flailing," she scoffed as she moved her king to h1.

"Th- Then check again," Lindi trembled as she captured the pawn at f2 with her knight.

Once again, Yasmeen shot her an unamused glare and captured the knight at f2 with her rook, prompting Lindi to capture the knight at g6 with her h-pawn. "More flailing? Well I- Tch, well I'm up a piece anyway," Yasmeen grumbled as she took notice of the fact that the bishop on h2 was protected by the rook on h8, and moved her rook to f3.

And that was it, as Lindi immediately moved her bishop to g3, checking the king and forcing it to g1. Next she delivered another check by moving her rook to h1, eliciting laughter from Yasmeen.

"What an idiot!" You're just throwing away pieces! So earrings or a necklace, which are you feeling more?" Yasmeen sneered as she captured the rook at h1 with her king.

"I would love to have earrings and a necklace, not become them myself. Check," Lindi glared as she moved her queen to h4, newfound courage enveloping her.

"And why you suddenly acting all smug? I'm up a rook and bishop," Yasmeen snarled as she moved her king to g1.

"Then check again, because your defeat is imminent," Londi declared as she moved her queen to h2.

Yasmeen began to grit her teeth. "Whitey, your entire existence is to be a talisman. So don't start spouting shit like that, CUZ YOU SURE AS HELL AIN'T BEATING ME!" Yasmeen fumed as she slammed her king down on h1.

"Now it is you who has flailed aimlessly. Checkmate," Lindi glared as she moved her queen to h1, winning the game.

"Huh? I just- ...!"

Yasmeen went pale as she realized there was nothing she could do to escape the check. "NO! I-"

But before she could finish, airhorns blasted out as the trapdoor opened beneath her, plunging her into the blueberry juice. She flailed around in terror as she sunk and was sucked through the room, before being spat out into the kiddie pool, sticky and blue.

As she slowly rose, her eyes widened in horror as she stared at her hands. "I- I'm blue... MY SKIN! WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO ME!?"

As she began to have a panic attack, Aisha and Linet watched. Aisha let out a sigh, concerned for her sister's mental state, but fully in the belief that she deserved this punishment for all she had put Lindi through. Linet meanwhile, was relishing in Yasmeen's panic attack, showing her allegiance lied with none other than sadism itself.

"Splendid performance as always," Roxanne clapped as Lindi made her way to her.

Lindi was happy that she had won, and humiliated Yasmeen, but seeing Yasmeen all blue began to make her sad. "If I had become blue, would she have finally stopped trying to have me killed? Would I finally be able to live in Tanzania without fear of my life?" she thought.

As Yasmeen caught sight of Lindi, rage consumed her. "I'm gonna kill her, first chance I get for doing this to me!" she thought as she began to storm over.

However, a fateful encounter then occurred as a woman with light skin, red eyes, long white hair, and long pointy ears crossed Yasmeen's path.

The woman paid no heed to Yasmeen, but Yasmeen most certainly paid heed to her, stopping in her tracks with her jaw hung open. "... Divine... ABSOLUTELY DEVINE! Screw you, whitey, I've just found the ore for the ultimate talisman!" she thought as she scanned the woman with her WWCF card. "Leah Ae- Huh? How the hell you pronounce that!? Well whatever, I know your face."

Yasmeen now had a new target, but despite said target being less skilled and lower rated than Lindi, simply approaching her would be difficult as she was New Zealand's de facto leader, Leah Ælfheah. But for Lindi, she was now free from Yasmeen for the time being.

The full game:

White: Yasmeen Mgimwa (1466) Black: Lindi Matumaini (2010)

1. d4 c6

2. c4 d5

3. Nf3 Nf6

4. e3 Bf5

5. Nc3 e6

6. Nh4 Bg6

7. Be2 Nbd7

8. O-O Bd6

9. c5 Bc7

10. Bd2 Ng4