Chapter 436:

Mother's mettle

En Passant Grandmaster

While Okisato had managed to draw first blood on the men's side, first blood was also about to be drawn on the women's side.

"I get White again, huh? In that case, I can implement a humiliation like no other," Iori thought as she opened the game by moving her pawn to e3.

Sibylle moved her pawn to e6, cautious as to what Iori might have planned. Then came King e2, and the veins of wrath upon Sibylle's pretty face.

"Are you screwing with me? You want an asswhipping that bad? Well I'll give you a full-body flogging then," Sibylle snarled in her mind as she moved her knight to f6.

The answer to that question was "Yes", evidenced by Iori's next move of king to d3, further angering Sibylle.

She gritted her teeth in fury as she moved her knight to c6. "That bitch, she's looking down on me. I'll- ...!?"

Sibylle's jaw hung open as she stared at the board. Iori had moved her king to c4, further taunting her, but also making things much more favorable to her. "Oh... Why was I mad? This girl's an idiot! Your arrogance will be your downfall!" she thought as a maniacal smile spread across her face while she moved her knight to d5.

"And we just caught a horse. Time to reel it in," Iori thought as she retreated her king to d3.

"As if I'll let you leave!" Sibylle thought as she moved her queen to h4.

But retreating was completely on the menu as Iori moved her king to e2. Sibylle didn't mind, now completely free of the anger that once consumed her as she prepared to fianchetto her bishop by moving her pawn to b6.

"How obvious can you be? Well, it works out for me. I'd love to see Mimo-chan's reaction to this, but I doubt I'll get anything solid out of her for the next 24 hours. Guess I'll have to settle for the commentators freaking out over how playable this shit is," Iori thought as she moved her king back to it's original starting position of e1.

On board 2, Mimoko had opened by moving her pawn to d4, while Hannelore had responded by moving her pawn to d5.

Mimoko clenched her fist as she was met with Hannelore's soulless gaze. "Shosen-chan... This time I won't mess up. I'm going to save you, and I'll do it with my best," she thought as she moved her bishop to f4.

This was the Accelerated London System, one of Mimoko's bet openings as White. And to that, Hannelore met it with knight c6, setting up another intense fight between the two.

As for board 1, Edeltraud opened by moving her pawn to e4, to which Daria responded to by moving her knight to c6.

"Huh? A Nimzowitsch? Who does she think she is? Oh wait, she must not be back at full percent yet! Now I'll be the first to beat a maestro here at the tournament! That girl beating the Chinese "maestro" doesn't count because anyone could beat that joke of a woman," Edeltraud scoffed in her mind as she moved her pawn to d4.

Daria moved her pawn to d5, appearing to clutch her head in fatigue, but that was nothing short of an act. "I bet she thinks I'm not at full percent. But that will be her undoing. With the Nimzo, she'll likely play more aggressively, and that will lead to her undoing," she thought as Edeltraud moved her pawn to e5.

Daria then moved her bishop out to f5, and sure enough, Edeltraud came barging in with bishop b5. Rather than force the trade of minor pieces, Daria instead moved her pawn to e6, and as a result...

"She's not playing perfectly! My bishop can stay there for the foreseeable future now! You tired old fool! I bet you've got a puddle of face paint glued to your face to cover all your decrepit wrinkles!" Edeltraud cackled in her mind as she moved her knight to c3.

Her mood only improved when Daria decided to move her queen to d7.

"Now your queen is pinned! Oh move that knight why don't you!" Edeltraud gushed in her mind as she moved her knight to f3.

But Daria was playing perfectly. In fact, the eval bar now stated that she had a slight advantage.

"How a little body language can fool someone. Now, lets see how much you trip and tumble when I strike from your blind spot," Daria thought as she moved her pawn to a6.

Edeltraud clicked her tongue at the move and proceeded to capture the knight at c6 with her bishop, resulting in Daria naturally capturing said bishop with her queen. Still feeling confident, Edeltraud castled king's side, to which Daria responded to by moving her pawn to h6. This caused Edeltraud to take a break from the aggression as she made the defensive move of pawn to h3, but after Daria moved her knight to e7, it was back to aggressive plays like pawn a4. And with Daria choosing to castle queen's side, the aggression would only continue with bishop d2.

However, now it was Daria's turn to launch an aggressive assault, which she did by moving her pawn to g5. Then hook, line, and sinker, Edeltraud brushed the play off and continued her aggression by moving her pawn to b4. And that right there was her biggest mistake.

"You got too greedy and aggressive. Now begins your downfall," Daria thought as she moved her pawn to g4.

Edeltraud wasn't worried in the slightest though, and immediately captured the pawn at g4 with her h-pawn. Daria captured said pawn with her bishop, pinning the knight to the queen, but Edeltraud countered by moving her pawn to b5, threatening Daria's own queen. It was smoke and mirrors though, as Daria was simply able to move her queen to c4, leading Edeltraud to change targets and capture the pawn at a6 with her b-pawn.

Daria promptly captured said pawn with her b-pawn, while Edeltraud took a break from the aggression to fortify her defenses by moving her knight to e2. Seeing an opening, Daria moved her knight to c6, but Edeltraud was quick to jump back on the attack with bishop f4. However, rook g8 from Daria forced her to move her king to h1 as a defensive counter, causing a scowl to form upon Edeltraud's face.

She did not like that she was slowly losing ground in the center and forced to make more defensive plays. Daria couldn't be more thrilled though, and pilled on to Edeltraud's foul mood, moving her bishop to e7 in preparation for a major assault. Edeltraud moved her pawn to c3, both to defend and attack at the same time. But then came confusion as Daria moved her king to d7.

"Huh? What was that supposed to do? Damn bitch is getting on my nerves. She's supposed to be weakened, so she should stop trying to exude dominance around me!" Edeltraud fumed in her mind as she moved her rook to b1.

"Seems the grandmaster with a rating over 2700 has much to learn," Daria thought as she moved her pawn to h5.

Edeltraud's eyes zeroed in on the h-pawn. She didn't like how it was starting to march towards her king, and promptly moved her rook to g1 in hopes of stopping it. But Daria pressed forth, moving the pawn to h4. Madness overtook Edeltraud as she gritted her teeth and moved her king to h2.

"Are you serious? She's trying to stop the pawn with the king? And she thinks I'm the one with a fried brain," Daria scoffed in her mind as she moved her pawn to h3.

But now came the method to the madness as with a deranged grin on her face, Edeltraud captured the pawn at h3 with her g-pawn. "You thought you had me!? Think again! I'm the highest-ranking woman in Prussia! I'm a mastermind, an elite, AN UBERMENSCH! You claim to be the most gifted of minds in the field of chess, but you're nothing but a glorified fetch quest to keep grandmasters' attention spans! All you-"

Smack!

Edeltraud's thoughts were halted by the sound of Daria capturing the knight at f3 with her bishop. Hatred boiled up in her eyes as she stared down Daria.

"You dare to provoke me? I'll have you stripped and whipped in a prison," she snarled in her mind as she captured the rook at g8 with her rook.

"Don't take your anger out on me. You're the one that made all the bad plays," Daria thought as she captured the rook at g8 with her rook.

"Oh for the love of... WILL YOU JUST CRACK ALREADY!?" Edeltraud shouted aloud as she slammed her queen down on b3.

Everyone turned to look as Edeltraud huffed and puffed, a demented and possessed look gurgling in her eyes.

"No. There's no need for me to crack when I'm about to win. Check," Daria huffed as she moved her rook to g2.

Edeltraud glared and moved her king to h1, but the moment Daria delivered another check in the form of capturing the pawn at f2 with her rook, a new emotion wove it's way into Edeltraud's psych as she was forced to move her king to g1.

"... ...! NEIN! NEIN, NEIN, NEIN, NEIN, NEIN! It's mate in one! It's mate in one! I'm going to lose! I'm going to be the first to lose! NEIN! NEIN, NEIN, NEIN, NEIN! I can't fall first! I have to stall! Yes, I just need to try and find a way to get out of this!" she thought as Daria checked her once more by moving her rook to g2. "THAT'S IT! THERE IS A WAY OUT! Oh, I got so caught up in the moment. It's not mate in one, it's a guaranteed draw by repetition!" she desperately thought as she moved her king to h1.

"No, this is not a forced draw, it's a forced mate. Check," Daria glared as she moved her rook to g4.

"NEEEEEEEEEEEEEIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIN! NEIN! NEIN, NEIN, NEIN, NEIN!" Edeltraud shouted aloud, unable to contain it any longer.

Her eyes were now bulging in terror, color had all but vanished from her face, and she had become a geyser of sweat. Her brain had also begun to fry for real as in her frenzied state, she attempted to make an illegal move in the form of knight to g2. However, the nearby arbiter immediately caught her and forced her to make her only legal move of king h2.

"And you thought I'd be the one cracking. Seems you came ill prepared and only further humiliated yourself. Checkmate," Daria smirked as she captured the knight at e2 with her queen, winning the game.

Now on both the men's and women's sides, team Japan had taken the lead in the match, 1-0. However, things were still in there early phases as now things would get much more difficult for both teams.

The full game:

White: Edeltraud Ulbricht (2739) Black: Maestro Himitsu (Daria Inoue) (3200)

1. e4 Nc6

2. d4 d5

3. e5 Bf5

4. Bb5 e6

5. Nc3 Qd7

6. Nf3 a6

7. Bxc6 Qxc6

8. O-O h6

9. h3 Ne7

10. a4 O-O-O