Chapter 423:

Tango of tears

En Passant Grandmaster

Mimoko's gaze narrowed as she stared at the board, however, she still appeared to know what she was doing as she moved her pawn to g3 without so much as a second thought.

"Oh? That is quite the confidence you have, but a word of advice; haste makes waste," Chihuahua chuckled as she captured the pawn at g3 with her knight.

"And why should I hesitate when the only way forward is clear as day?" Mimoko glared as she captured the knight at g3 with her h-pawn.

"Your choice, has now led to the loss of your rook," Chihuahua stated as she captured the rook at h1 with her queen.

"And? You had to trade two knights for it," Mimoko retorted as she moved her bishop to e3.

"Going by material? I have two additional pawns, thus I have the edge on that front," Chihuahua glared as she moved her queen to e4.

"Then lets trade, shall we?" Mimoko glared back as she moved her queen to d4.

"Seeking a draw... You must have faith in the others... Very well."

And with that, Chihuahua captured the queen at d4 with her queen, setting off a series of trades. Mimoko captured the queen at d4 with her bishop, Chihuahua captured the pawn at d5 with her e-pawn. Mimoko closed out the trade by capturing the pawn at d5 with her c-pawn, yet Chihuahua was still a pawn up.

She prepared to launch another attack by moving her pawn t d6, prompting Mimoko to counter by moving her knight to f3. Chihuahua was set on making another trade though, and captured the pawn at e5 with her d-pawn. Mimoko naturally captured said pawn with her knight, but then came the odd, but highly effective move of pawn to a6 from Chihuahua.

"Now, what move will you make?" Chihuahua thought.

Meanwhile, significant action had also occurred in Barbro's game. Knight b5, knight c6, e3, e5, e captures d4, and e captures d4 had all been played, leading to what would ultimately be deemed the most critical moment of the game.

"Check. It's so sad, you just had to choose to resist, now your punishment will be harsher," Tristin cried as she moved her queen to e2.

With the roll of her eyes, Barbro moved her bishop to e6, and then it happened. Tristin moved her knight to g5.

"No! I didn't-"

"No takebacks," Barbro snarled as she captured the knight at g5 with her queen.

"No... Just kidding! I'll trade that worthless horse for a fine check and rook," Tristin creepily smiled as she captured the pawn at c7 with her knight.

Once more, Barbro rolled her eyes and moved her king to d7, allowing Tristin to capture the rook at a8 with her knight.

"Now if you'll excuse me, I have a game to win," Barbro thought as she moved her knight to f6.

Tristin wasn't about to let her gain the upper hand, and launched a counterattack in the form of queen b5. Barbro instantly captured said queen with her queen, but that appeared to be exactly what Tristin was hoping for.

"How sad, you just threw your queen into the river, just to take out mine," Tristin cried as she captured the queen at b5 with her bishop.

"No, it's called sacrifice. Now stop it with the crocodile tears, you'll need to spare your tear ducts for when I really beat you," Barbro snarled as she moved her knight to d5.

Tristin's face contorted in fury to resemble that of a hannya mask. "You dare belittle me!? I was in love, but my stupid children had already fallen in with a bad crowd, driving my lover away from me! So I did what needed done and eliminated them... BUT IT DIDN'T WORK! He further rejected me, calling the authorities on me... And then... I found myself wandering, filled with regret... And now... you belittle me... YOU BELITTLE ME, YOU UNRATEFUL CHILD!" she roared as she slammed her pawn down on c4.

Barbro let out a frustrated sigh. "'Ungrateful child'? Stop blabbering like you're my mother," she snarled as she moved her knight to f4.

As this game raged on, so too did Iori's game. After Fernanda escaped the check by moving her king to f8, Iori decided to take things down a line starting with knight f3. Queen e8 and queen h3 followed shortly after, but now it was Fernanda's turn to choose the path.

"I got some good options... How about king g8?" she thought as she did just that.

Knight e4 and queen f8 were next on the itinerary with knight captures c5 and queen captures c5 netting the players a bishop and knight, respectively. It was then that Iori made a misstep and moved her queen to h4. Fernanda leaped at the chance and moved her queen to e7, seeking a queen trade. However, those hopes were dashed as Iori simply moved her queen to g3.

"And you think you can launch a king's side attack on me? The number you see on my normal WWCF card is not reflective of my true skill. But the one on my true card... that's much closer to it," Fernanda thought as she moved her pawn to g6.

Back at Barbro's game, Tristin had decided to continue her attempts at kicking the knight away, this time by moving her pawn to g3, but that rage-fueled decision would ultimately lead to her undoing.

"Check," Barbro growled as she moved her knight to d3.

Tristin clicked her tongue in fury as she moved her king to e2, but after Barbro decided to move her bishop to f5 instead of capturing the bishop at c1, a deranged smile appeared on her face as she decided to make a gamble and moved her pawn to f3. With Barbro moving her bishop to d6, it looked like it was all going to pay off for Tristin.

"You blew your chance! Now if you take my bishop, I take yours," Tristin thought as she moved her pawn to g4.

"Now you can start crying. Check," Barbro growled as she moved her rook to e8.

"Why would I? You think I'm dumb enough to blunder into the king d1, knight f2, mate trap? Cease your belittlement of me, brat!" Tristin fumed as she moved her king to f1.

"All you did was avoid blundering into mate in one, but the moment you played g4, you blundered into a forced mate. Check," Barbro glared as she moved her rook to e1, forcing Tristin's king to move to g2. "Now things should be much clearer to you. Check," she snarled as she moved her knight to f4.

"What are you blabbering on about!? There is no mate in sight!" Tristin scoffed as she moved her king to g3.

"You don't see it now, you'll see it soon enough," Barbro growled as she moved her rook to e2.

"No, it's you that needs to see the bigger picture. Check," Tristin glared as she captured the knight at c6 with her bishop.

"Nice try. Your bluffs aren't gonna phase me, especially given how pissed off I am," Barbro glared as she captured the bishop at c6 with her king.

Sweat began to run down Tristin's cheek as she gritted her teeth and moved her king to h4. She was beginning to realize her situation was more precarious than she first thought, yet still believed she ultimately had the upper hand. After Barbro moved her rook to g2, Tristin attempted to create counterplay by moving her king to g5, but that was ultimately futile as Barbro simply moved her bishop away to d3, leading to Tristin moving her pawn to b3 in an attempt to protect her pawn at c4. However, she had more important pieces she should have been more focused on protecting, notably her king.

"Check," Barbro growled as she moved her pawn to f6, forcing Tristin's king to h4.

Reality finally hit Tristin as she dug her nails into her head. "No! No! This can't be happening!"

"It's what you get for pissing me off after what I went through today. Checkmate. Now how much longer will I have to deal with all this bullshit for?" Barbro snarled as she moved her pawn to g5, winning the game.

The full game:

White: Tristin Río (2594) Black: Barbro Zamenhofo (2700)

1. Nf3 d5

2. Nc3 d4

3. Nb5 Nc6

4. e3 e5

5. exd4 exd4

6. Qe2+ Be6

7. Ng5 Qxg5

8. Nxc7+ Kd7

9. Nxa8 Nf6

10. Qb5 Qxb5