Chapter 396:

Fools of the day

En Passant Grandmaster

Maila dejectedly remained seated as Mimoko rose and began to head out, seeking to get a better look at some of the other games going on.

"Lol, Mimo-chan just wrecked that bitch. Now it's time for us to continue the sweep," Iori thought as she returned her focus to the board.

Õnne had opted to move her queen to g4, allowing Iori to capture the bishop on f1 with her rook. Õnne then made the odd play of bishop to d6, giving Iori a moment of pause before eventually moving her pawn to h3. Õnne retreated her queen to g6, while Iori decided to attack, and moved her pawn to e5.

This resulted in another retreat from Õnne in the form of bishop f8, allowing Iori another turn of attack. "Really running scared. Shit's gonna be a breeze at this point," Iori thought as she moved her knight to c3.

"Don't think things will be so simple. You may be feeling confident thanks to Mimoko's victory, but despite all the bluster about Maila being a savior, the reality is that the strongest one here, is the demon seated across from you," Õnne thought as she moved her bishop to b4.

Upon seeing the move, Iori blinked for a bit before scowling. "Ah, I could have just captured. Well, guess I can still get away with it, so let's do it now," she thought as she captured the pawn at f4 with her queen.

Now it was Õnne's turn to scowl. "I saw that video of you and that American politician, so I know how messed up you are. But don't go thinking someone that hasn't killed can't be more messed up than someone that has," she thought as she captured the knight at c3 with her bishop.

Meanwhile, Mimoko had just reached the men's section when three men in red robes suddenly bolted past her. "Ah! Wait, those three... Aren't they from the Spanish team? Why were they in such a hurry? Don't tell me they're running late! If they don't get to the board in the next few seconds, they'll forfeit on time!"

...

Going back in time to just before the 7th round began, a man clad in a judges robe and wig sat anxiously before his opponent. This man was Francisco Patxi of the Spanish men's team, and much to his angst, his teammates weren't all here yet, and the only other one that was present, didn't want to play today.

"Frank, please, we can't risk losing the match due to a triple forfeit!" Francisco begged.

A mustachioed man in a savvy blue suit gazed up from the book he was reading. "My apologies, but we agreed beforehand today is my rest day."

This was Frank Lingua, Spain's 2800-rated sleeping giant. He marched to the beat of his own drum, so getting him to cooperate was always a challenge, but that didn't mean he was weak. In fact, his strength was what allowed him so much freedom in the first place, as thanks to his strength, none could make him yield to them.

This was bad for team Spain as currently, round 7 was about to start, but Francis, Franko, and Franklin were not at the venue yet. This was great news for their opponents, team China, who would gladly welcome an easy win.

"I didn't expect the Spanish Inquisition to be late," a young man chuckled.

This was Dan Delong, the current World Chess Champion. While he had been a talented and skilled player in the past, ever since becoming World Chess Champion, Dan Delong had entered a slump, with his last win being back in January during the famed Tata Steel Chess tournament in Wijik ann Zee, Netherlands.

"A shame you decided to take a rest today, you could have finally snapped your winless streak," Fen chuckled.

"No, if I want to snap it, I'll do it properly," Dan Delong smiled back.

As for the three missing Spaniards, it turned out the had overslept and had missed the bus, leading to them running through town attempting to hail a cab. Their efforts were failing, leading to them desperately deciding to commandeer a nearby limousine.

Back at the playing hall, Francisco's game had opened with a standard Ruy López Opening: Morphy Defense, Exchange, Normal Variation, consisting of e4, e5, knight f3, knight c8, bishop b5, a6, bishop captures c6, d captures c6, and a king's side castle. Wei Bo followed up with queen f6, to which Francisco responded to with d4. From there, things continued down the top engine line with e captures d4, bishop g5, queen d6, knight captured d4, bishop a7, and bishop e3.

As for the other boards, Qiang was giddily bouncing in his seat the longer his opponent didn't show up, while his teammate, a man in a red jumpsuit named, Jiao Shijia, had even got up to walk around after the clock began ticking, as he didn't expect his opponent to arrive in time to avoid forfeiting.

Noticing Francisco was getting ever more anxious by the lack of his teammates' presence, Wei Bo decided to make the bold play of knight to f6, just as the 15 minute time limit was about to expire. Then a second later, Franklin, Francis, and Franko all burst into the playing hall.

"Nobody expects-"

"You three arrived too late, and thus forfeit on time," Raymond stated.

"Oh, bugger," Franklin groaned.

And with that, China had now won the match, with the question now simply being by how much. And thanks to his teammates showing up and causing a scene, Francisco's concentration took a massive hit, and he ended up moving his queen to d3.

Wei Bo immediately moved his knight to g4, and then, Francisco blundered and moved his bishop to f4.

"No! Damn you three. I'll be waking you all up personally from now on... But I suppose... I have only myself to blame for this... Still... Damn you three for ruining my psych," Francisco thought as Wei Bo captured the bishop at f4 with his queen.

Completely dejected, but refusing to resign verbally, Francisco moved his knight to f5, allowing Wei Bo to win the game by capturing the pawn at h2 with his queen.

"Checkmate," Wei Bo stated as he shook hands with a very dejected Francisco.

China had now won the match 4-0, but the troubles didn't end there for team Spain. Thanks to the three inquisitors commandeering a limousine, the team was naturally getting fined for it, which would only further complicate things for Francisco and the others as Sophia's temper was sure to erupt when she heard of everything that transpired with them.

The full game:

White: Francisco Patxi (2678) Black: Wei Bo (2763)

1. e4 e5

2. Nf3 Nc6

3. Bb5 a6

4. Bxc6 dxc6

5. O-O Qf6

6. d4 exd4

7. Bg5 Qd6

8. Nxd4 Be7

9. Be3 Nf6

10. Qd3 Ng4