Chapter 395:

Outclassed

En Passant Grandmaster

Going back in time to just before round 7 began, Mimoko made her way over to her board where all her other teammates were waiting.

"Just making sure, since I want to continue the sweep, but you're able to play, right?" Iori asked Azenira.

"Fit as a fiddle. But why isn't Ginji getting punished!? Bastard chloroed me and force-fed me something horrible that had me puking for hours! I nearly missed the Bermuda party because of that!"

"The matter is sadly more convoluted than you think. Hobou-san is still not in top shape despite being able to move around. That means we have to field Ginji in order to avoid playing a man down. I'm not a fan of it either, but on one hand, it's better to keep him in our sights, rather than let him run off and do his own thing," Okisato sighed.

"You're playing the Frenchies, right? Sweep em' good, Oki-kun," Iori grinned.

"Easier said than done. The maestro is playing, and even if the masked man somehow beats him, I doubt a sweep will be guaranteed thanks to Ginji."

"Oh, right. He'd throw just to screw you over... Well, 3-1 em then, I guess."

As Okisato headed off, the Estonian women's team arrived.

"Ah, we just missed Okisato. Well, not like we're playing against him. So, which one of you is Mimoko? I've got a date with your name on it," Õnne smirked.

"Over here, slut," Iori called out.

Õnne shot her a frown. "Sorry, Iori, but I know what Mimoko looks like, unless of course she got a last-minute makeover at the order of her boyfriend, but that doesn't look to be the case."

Mimoko began to frown. Now it was clear to her why Okisato was so insistent on her not playing against Õnne. But that was all the more reason Iori needed to push to play against her.

"So your team's whole plan is to try and 1-3 our streak by trying to takedown Mimo-chan? Lame. That means I get leftovers and an easy win. Guess that's not bad either. I'll have more time to dig up all those videos of you making out with your smartphone and make bank on the ad revenue I'll get for posting-"

"Oi, you want to fight me, that badly?"

"After trying to put the moves on Oki-kun, you fucking bet!"

A smile formed on Õnne's face. "Then come over here to board 2."

"Nope, I stay at board 4. You scared of lowering yourself to my level?"

Õnne scowled and headed over to board 4. "Our strategy was to disrupt your perfect streak, but who says I need to beat Mimoko to do it? It'd be far more satisfying if you become the first one to lose."

"In that case, whoever loses our game strips on the spot after mate, heck, maybe the winner will also strip too for the views, but only the loser gets the ethics complaint from the WWCF or whatever."

"Oh you're fucking on!"

Now the stage was set. With Õnne facing off against Iori, Maila was now up against Mimoko, while Tenju and Azenira were up against Külli and Virve on boards 2 and 3, respectively.

"Don't go thinking you've got it easy now that Õnne is facing Iori. This was all the plan from the start. Had your maestro played, we'd have been in trouble, but now it's smooth sailing as at the very least, I can't see us doing any worse than a draw," Valve thought as she shot Daria a smirk.

Daria didn't seem to pay her any heed, holding her fan to her face and walking away. Mimoko was a little surprised too, as Daria had been acting oddly distant with her and the others this morning.

"I wonder if something happened in relation to what she was doing yesterday. That's got to be it," Mimoko thought as the round began.

Almost immediately, Iori opened her game by moving her pawn to e4. Õnne responded by moving her pawn to e5, while Iori opted to move her pawn to f4, initiating the King's gambit.

"Hmm? She wouldn't, would she?" Õnne thought as she captured the pawn at f4 with her e-pawn.

She got her answer that yes, Iori would, as Iori moved her pawn to d4 with a smirk on her face.

"Trying to outsmart me at my own opening? Not going to happen. Check!" Õnne snickered as she moved her queen to h4.

Iori simply shrugged and slammed her king down on e2, but Õnne didn't give her so much as a second to relax as she quickly moved her pawn to b6. Queen to d2 was played next, but Õnne delivered another check in the form of bishop to a6, however, both her and Iori knew this would happen. Thus, king d1 was next, followed by Õnne capturing the bishop at f1 with her bishop, and Iori moving her knight to f3, all in accordance with one of the Villemson gambit's more drawish lines.

On board 2, Külli opened by moving her pawn to e4, to which Tenju responded to by moving her pawn to c6. Pawn d4 and pawn d5 followed, causing a smile to form on Külli's face as she moved her knight to d2. Tenju was unphased and captured the pawn at e4 with her d-pawn, prompting Külli to capture said pawn with her knight. But now, Tenju would have to make a critical choice, sending her into a deep think.

And on board 1, Mimoko opened the game by moving her knight to f3, to which Maila responded to by moving her pawn to c5.

"The Sicilian Invitation. I accept," Mimoko thought as she moved her pawn to e4.

Now back into a normal Sicilian Defense formation, Maila opted to play the old line and moved her knight to c6. Mimoko didn't mind in the slightest, and moved her pawn to d4, fully expecting Maila to capture said pawn with her c-pawn, which did in fact come to pass. Mimoko then captured the pawn at d4 with her knight, prompting Maila to bring her knight out to f6.

Mimoko immediately moved her knight to c3, so quickly in fact that it left Maila stunned at just how little time had past since the match began.

"... Just 3 minutes... No, this is all opening theory, so it's natural it goes by fast. Maila's just overthinking," Maila thought as she moved her pawn to d6.

But it was that small moment of hesitation that cued Mimoko in on just how nervous Maila truly was. "So she's intimidated by my playing speed... My apologies Maila-chan, but since this is a tournament game, I must play to the best of my abilities, even if it means overwhelming you," she thought as she quickly moved her bishop to c4.

Maila instantly moved her pawn o e6, but Mimoko kept up the pressure and moved her bishop to e3. The rapid pace of things quickly swept Maila up, so much so that she forgot this was a classical time control game, not even stopping to think for a bit as she moved her bishop to e7. Mimoko saw this and moved her queen to e2, provoking Maila to the point where she castled king's side without even letting a second tick down on her clock.

"She's truly in blitz mode now. And the faster you play, the more prone you are to blundering under pressure. Thanks to the debriefing last night, I know she's much lower-rated in blitz than classical, meaning she's not quite a master of faster time controls. And, I also know that she has a bad tendency of increasing her playing speed to match her opponent. Perhaps there's merits to that in blitz or bullet, but in classical it's just plain foolish to just move without thinking too much. And I know for a fact, Maila-chan is well below my level, so if she keeps up this pace, she'll be sure to crack soon," Mimoko thought as she castled queen's side.

Her theory was spot on, as Maila quickly moved her pawn to d5, her eyes focused solely on the board and not on the clock. But that would be her undoing, as now was the time Mimoko decided to move her king to b1, startling Maila, as she had not foreseen that move. Frantically darting her eyes around the board, she settled on moving her knight to e5, but that was a mistake, and worse, Mimoko saw it and promptly slid her bishop to b3.

Maila rapidly captured the pawn at d4 with her knight, and without thinking for a second, Maila captured said knight with her d-pawn. The bait had been taken. Mimoko immediately captured the pawn at e6 with her knight, but Maila didn't recoil in terror. Rather, she calmed down slightly and captured the knight at e6 with her bishop.

And then, Mimoko captured the queen at d8 with her rook, and Maila finally realized her big mistake. Her eyes widened in horror, but as she extended her hand, she suddenly retracted it upon taking notice of how much time was left on her clock. At this point, overwhelming devastation hit Maila as she began to bury her face in her hands.

"... Maila was playing like it was blitz... Mimoko tricked Maila! That's... That's... Maila's fault... Maila knew Mimoko was strong, but she let the nerves consume her. And now... Maila has lost again... I'm sorry," Maila thought as she tearfully stopped the clock and resigned on the spot.

Not even 15 minutes had past, but thanks to Mimoko's strategy, Japan now led the match 1-0. However, things were far from over.

The full game:

White: Mimoko Inoue (2809) Black: Maila Rõivas (2410)

1. Nf3 c5

2. e4 Nc6

3. d4 cxd4

4. Nxd4 Nf6

5. Nc3 d6

6. Bc4 e6

7. Be3 Be7

8. Qe2 O-O

9. O-O-O d5