Chapter 430:

Catgirl chess recollection

En Passant Grandmaster

In the secret puzzle cafe, Nyoan sighed as she sat at a table and sipped her warm milk. Her gaze was fixated on Carol, who was on duty manning the cafe.

"Nya, I couldn't even beat her... That curly-haired woman from earlier was also useless, even though I beat her, nya... All I want is to see Kuon-sama again, but I can't get close to her unless it's in the playing hall, nya. But I'm not skilled enough to beat the higher-ups, even with odds, nya."

She then pulled up her point menu and sighed as she realized she didn't have enough points to rematch Carol. "Nya, guess all I can do is remember the humiliation as I sip my milk, nya."

...

Back during Streama festivalen, Nyoan had encountered Carol who was traveling with sisters, Serika Midoriya and Yuni Furikawa, along with famous streamer, Astrid Kageyama. Cornering the four in a rundown hotel in a town beseeched with never-ending rainfall, she challenged Carol to a chess match.

Nyoan opened the game by moving her pawn to d4, while Carol responded by moving her pawn to d5.

"Nyahaha! Nyow, you face the best move in the game, nya," Nyoan huffed as she moved her pawn to c4.

"Seriously? The Queen's gambit is overrated. Easy to stop to," Carol scoffed as she moved her king to d7.

Serika's eyes widened in horror. "Oi! You throwing the game!?"

"Nyahaha! A blunder! Nyow you can't castle, nya! Check, nya!" Nyoan laughed as she moved her queen to a4.

"Relax, I saw a video on how to do this," Carol smirked as she moved her pawn to c6.

The play worked wonders as it not only stopped the check, but convinced Nyoan to move her queen back to d1. Carol herself was surprised at the play, but was more than willing to accept it, taking the chance to move her king back to e8. But Christmas wasn't over just yet, as Nyoan moved her pawn to g4, allowing Carol to just capture it with her bishop.

"I think Carol's winning," Yuni whispered to Serika as Nyoan moved her pawn to b3.

"Well no shit, the catgirl just lost a pawn," Serika grumbled as Carol moved her knight to d7.

"Nya! I can hear you, nya! I'm not losing, nya!" Nyoan fumed as she moved her pawn to h4.

"Debatable. I'm no chess expert, but I know Agneta Cronholm, who most certainly does know chess," Astrid shrugged as Carol moved her pawn to e6.

"Who's that?" Yuni asked as Nyoan moved her pawn to c5.

"A chess streamer. She's better than me, but not great overall. Her mother's a grandmaster, though," Astrid replied as Carol captured the pawn at c5 with her knight.

"Nyahaha! Free knight for me, nya!" Nyoan laughed as she captured the knight at c5 with her d-pawn.

"Funny, I should be the one laughing," Carol grinned as she moved her queen to f6.

"Why, nya?" Nyoan asked as she moved her knight to h3.

"THIS is why!" Carol exclaimed as she captured the rook at a1 with her queen.

"Nyo! Nyot my rook, nya!" Nyoan cried as she moved her pawn to a3.

"Then how about your knight too?" Carol taunted as she captured the knight at b1 with her queen.

Nyoan began to tear up as she moved her bishop to d2.

"Check. Feel like resigning? Oh wait, you can't when DESPERs are active. My bad," Carol smirked as she captured the queen at d1 with her queen.

Nyoan scowled and began hissing as she captured the queen at d1 with her king.

"And now you can't castle either," Carol smirked as she moved her knight to f6.

Nyoan's hissing intensified as she moved her rook to g2, but Carol wasn't intimidated in the slightest, and captured the pawn at c5 with her bishop. Nyoan countered by moving her bishop to b4, but Carol simply captured it with her bishop. Nyoan captured said bishop with her a-pawn, hoping this was enough to thwart Carol's plan. But now Carol could move her pawn to a5, threatening to get her rook more involved. Nyoan didn't seem to realize that though, as she moved her knight to g5, allowing Carol to capture the pawn at b4 with her a-pawn.

Nyoan began hissing once more, moving her rook to h3. Carol did a double take before shrugging and moving her rook to a1. "Another check for me."

"This isn't over, nya !" Nyoan fumed as she moved her king to c2.

"But it will be soon," Carol grinned as she captured the bishop on f1 with her rook.

"Nyo, I can't accept that, nya!" Nyoan fumed as she moved her rook to f3.

"Too bad. Check!" Carol smirked as she moved her bishop to f5.

"I think that's a forced mate," Yuni declared as Nyoan moved her king to b2.

"Oh now you're a chess expert?" Serika grumbled as Carol moved her kin to e7.

"Well, you're wrong, nya! I'm going to win, nya!" Nyoan fumed as she moved her knight to h3.

"Nope. Check!" Carol smirked as she moved her rook to b1.

Nyoan let out a scream as she moved her king to a2. "NYOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

"Checkmate, I win!" Carol smirked as she moved her rook to a8, winning the game.

...

Nyoan sighed as she finished recalling the game. "That led to me getting stuck in space, and nearly trapped there forever, nya," she thought as she headed out.

As she was walking, she happened to spy Iori dragging an unconscious Francie and Myrtle withe her.

"Nya? Is she kidnapping them, nya? Kidnapping... That's it, nya! I just gotta kidnap someone and take their place in order to get into the playing hall, nya!"

And with that, a new headache was about to find it's was to the WWCF.

The full game:

White: Nyoan Nyakuoji (999) Black: SPCM Himitsunokimi (Carol Cooke) (1069)

1. d4 d5

2. c4 Kd7

3. Qa4+ c6

4. Qd1 Ke8

5. g4 Bxg4

6. b3 Nd7

7. h4 e6

8. c5 Nxc5

9. dxc5 Qf6