The SPCMs competing in the tournament

Welcome back! Now for this segment, we've got something juicy planned for ya," Kisha grinned as she motioned towards a smartboard. "You've heard that SPCMs, DSPCMs, and even maestros are participating, but how many are there exactly? Well, we'll be answering that right now!"

Images of Tenju, Fifi, Alice, Fleur, Xiu, Bao, Jia, Tao, Bai, Feng, Sherbert, Katie, Unni, Tove, Inga, Jaana, Alya, Galina, Katryana, Col Vladilen Moskal, a creepy looking bald mime, and a bald man in a beret, named Alouette Baguette, all flashed on screen.

"These are all the SPCMs we know are competing, but it's possible there are more. Anyway, we'll go through all of them, starting with SPCM Himitsuue, formerly known as SPCM Himitsutan, Tenju Kuroshiro!" Kisha declared as the screen zoomed in on Tenju's picture.

"Her story is pretty sad. She and the other Japanese SPCMs ended up falling victim to the plot of ex-SPCM, Michiko Azami, which led to her getting her entire body burned, while her younger twin sister, Taira, the original SPCM Himitsuue, perished. Apparently Japan still has yet to fill the SPCM spot vacated by the late and great, Mizuse Niimi, following her death at the hands of Michiko, so Japan technically has just 6 SPCMs. But more shocking is the fact that Tenju appears to be the only one competing. It's deceptively logical though as the two male SPCMs from the country are both rated well under 1500, while the women ended up being selected via a last-minute qualification tournament organized by the Japanese Chess Federation. Clearly, Japan's talent doesn't lie entirely with it's maestro and SPCMs as Mimoko Inoue, Iori Ishikiridokoro, and the rookie, Azenira-chan, are all making the case why they're the future of chess itself. Tenju's also been pulling her weight, and notably scored a massive victory over China's Chen Bao, paving the way for Japan's 4-0 victory over China. And speaking of which, next up is China!"

Tenju's image vanished as the Chinese SPCMs' pictures took over the screen.

"Unlike Japan, China's got all it's SPCMs and maestro competing. The two big stories are Huang Fen, who managed to get his rating above 2200 in only a few weeks thanks to non-stop battle, and of course, Xiu Mei-mo's temper tantrum. Well, naturally everyone wants to focus more on the second one, but sadly, Xiu's been avoiding us like we're sick, which is funny considering France's SPCMs are the sick ones, or at least one of them is."

The Chinese SPCMs' images vanished from screen as the French SPCMs' images appeared.

"Turns out there is some drama between Team France and Team Japan. The story goes Iori assaulted Mimosa Utsugi, twin sister of SPCM Alice Utsugi, resulting in her, and subsequently, Alice, catching Iori's cold. Team Japan naturally has a different take, but it looks like it might be more in line with the truth. Apparently, Iori launched herself through the window of the bus, and as a result, bumped into Mimosa, pinning her to the ground, and accidentally planting a kiss on her lips. The verification for this actually comes from two separate sources, DSPCM Anastasia Olynik of Ukraine, and SPCM Alya Masayeva of Russia. Speaking of which..."

The French SPCMs' images vanished from screen as the Russian SPCMs' images appeared.

"These ones are some of the more controversial participants, especially the Moskals. Some of the stuff they say is downright evil. But here in Budapest, all that matters is chess prowess, according to WWCF president, Raymond Redfield. As for Alya, seems like the poor girl's stuck between a rock and a hard place. Here's hoping she can patch things up with her friend. And speaking of friends, the two American SPCMs competing are good friends with each other."

The Russian SPCMs' images vanished from screen as the American SPCMs' images appeared.

"From America, it's just Katie Knox and Mililani "Sherbert" Paina. Katie's gotten a buzzcut, shedding her prized dreads, but I heard it was due to some freak DESPER incident. Sherbert's still the same as before, but I feel like her and Katie are getting shafted by the team. Speaking of which, the American team recently signed Kuon Nanya of Japan, who just barely missed out on qualifying for the team. And based on how well her and America are doing, Japan might come to regret that decision, but then again, they're on a historic run, and so is Norway."

The American SPCMs' images vanished from screen as the Norwegian SPCMs' images appeared.

"Like China, Norway's got all it's SPCMs competing along with it's maestro. And while I'd love to dive into the maestros, the staff are telling me to cut to commercials. That means we'll be taking another quick break. When we come back, we'll talk about the maestros!"