Chapter 398:

Artiljerija der Blitzhölle

En Passant Grandmaster

Just after Tenju and Azenira won their games, Iori smirked as she saw the score, finally deciding to make her move after keeping Õnne waiting for so long. "Talk about dominance. No way I'm gonna blow it all now. Time to grind you down to perv powder," she thought as she moved her queen to d5.

Around the same time all this had played out, Mimoko had just finished checking up on Okisato and the others and was making her way back to the women's section to check up on Noa before looping back to her teammates. However, the match between the German Empire of Prussia and Bosnia and Herzegovina quickly drew her in.

"It looks like this one is about to end decisively..."

...

Going back in time to just before round 7 began, Red Reaper scowled as he sat down at board 1 across from Sejad.

"Oi, why the scowl, gramps? That guy should be easy fodder for you," Diederich smirked as he sat down at board 2.

"Diederich, anything less than success-"

"I know, I know. As long as we win the match, that's a success, right?"

Red Reaper confirmed that was the case, causing Diederich to let loose a malicious smile. "Then it's settled. My victory is guaranteed."

"Well someone's feelin' confident. Guess that means I just gotta blast it up with some good ole artiljerija," Miralem grinned as he sat down across from Diederich.

"Not fielding that Volkner guy? Guess you don't want to win," Tvrtko snickered as he sat down at board 4 across from Ubel.

"And why are you having your weakest man serving as a sacrificial lamb to our kaiser? Strategy, that's why!" Hans-Ulrich declared as he sat down at board 3 across from Ognjen.

"Sejad ain't weak. He's our tactical command center. And who's to say he can't draw against your reaper of a leader?"

"Playing for draws is boring though, pops," Miralem grumbled.

"Still young. Draws are a common occurrence in chess and life. Well, play your best."

As the round began, Diederich opened the game by moving his pawn to e4, to which Miralem responded to by moving his pawn to e6.

"Hoh? A mere French attack in the face of my might? Hardly worth my time," Diederich mockingly scoffed aloud as he moved his knight to c3.

Arnaud rolled his eyes and decreased the distance between him and the board as Miralem moved his pawn to d5. Yet Diederich decided to behave and silently move his pawn to d4.

"Think that taunt would get me? I did some readin' on ya. You drop your guard with a French, cuz all ya think of it is a draw opening. Well here comes the attack!" Miralem thought as he moved his bishop to b4.

True to his theory, Diederich didn't appear to be taking the match as seriously as he had yet to even discard his eyepatch. In fact, he appeared as though he didn't mind going the tame route here, as he moved his pawn to e5, causing Miralem to scowl in annoyance as he moved his pawn to c5.

"He's going for a draw line. You can't be serious," Miralem thought as Diederich moved his pawn to a3. "Huh? You LVM or Anish Garry? Draws are the most boring shit in the game. Check!" Miralem snarled aloud as he captured the knight at c3 with his bishop.

Diederich responded with a silent smirk as he captured said bishop with his b-pawn.

"Asshole. I ain't here to play for draws," Miralem snarled in his mind as he moved his knight to e7.

But it appeared he was about to get his wish for more excitement, as Diederich moved his queen to g4.

"Hoh? Now we're talking," Miralem thought as he captured the pawn at d4 with his c-pawn.

Diederich let loose a maniacal grin and captured the pawn at g7 with his queen, but Miralem saw that coming a mile away, and instantly moved his rook to g8. To that, Diederich simply captured the nearby pawn at h7 with his queen, prompting Miralem to move his queen out to c7.

Diederich then got up and took a quick look around. "They're all holding strong. Mission success then, because victory is assured, or at the very least, my contribution to it," he thought as he sat back down and moved his rook to b1.

"Really tryin' to make this boring, but I ain't gonna let ya. Check!" Miralem shouted as he captured the pawn at e5 with his queen.

Diederich let out a soft chuckle as he moved his knight to e2. It was only a few more moves until he could claim his victory. Miralem, completely oblivious to Diederich's master plan, captured the pawn at c3 with his d-pawn. And then came bishop f4, the crux of Diederich's master plan.

Miralem simply moved his queen to f6, but after Diederich moved his pawn to h4, Miralem fell into the trap by making the seemingly harmless play of moving his b-knight to c6.

"And that's the match," Diederich thought as he moved his bishop to g5.

Miralem scowled in confusion and moved his queen to e5, but when Diederich moved his bishop back to f4, it all became clear.

"You fucking bastard. My best move is to repeat, dammit!" Miralem fumed in his mind as he moved his queen back to f6.

Sure enough, Diederich moved his bishop back to g5, once again sending Miralem's queen back to e5. Bishop f4 once more, followed by queen f6, and Arnaud stepped in to rule it a draw by repetition.

"A shame, but sometimes, you need to suppress your urges in order to win a war," Diederich chuckled.

It was then that Miralem saw the grander picture. Thanks to this draw, Prussia was now likely to win the match as Red Reaper had already won his game on board 1 against Sejad, while Hans-Ulrich was just moves away from beating Ognjen.

"So you played smart, dammit," Miralem scowled.

"Not the worst deal for you. I lost the elo, even though my team will win the match, which should be made official... right about now."

And with Ognjen's resignation, the German Empire of Prussia had won the match 2.5-1.5. Diederich had done his part, but it would still be a long haul for him to make up for the effects of his suspension.

"Talk about an intense match. I'm glad I saw the end of it. Now let's go check up on Noa-chan," Mimoko thought.

But by the time she arrived at the board, Noa's game, and the Israeli Kingdom of Simien vs China match in general, had already ended.

"Huh, a perfect score for Simien. That means Noa-chan beat the maestro. A shame I missed it live, but I guess I can always get the details from Noa herself. Now let's go check back in with the girls," Mimoko thought.

The full game:

White: Diederich von Richthofen (2704) Black: Miralem Artiljerija (2548)

1. e4 e6

2. Nc3 d5

3. d4 Bb4

4. e5 c5

5. a3 Bxc3+

6. bxc3 Ne7

7. Qg4 cxd4

8. Qxg7 Rg8

9. Qxh7 Qc7

10. Rb1 Qxe5+