Urusov major

Back at the board, the masked man moved his knight to c3. "You've done it now," he thought as Ian moved his pawn to d5.

Without hesitation, the masked man captured the pawn at d5 with his bishop, prompting Ian to counter by moving his bishop to e6.

"Going for a trade? Sweeten the deal up a bit, then we'll talk," the masked man thought as he moved his bishop to f4.

Ian responded to the move with a scowl, and by moving his queen to d4.

"So you obliged. Trade away then," the masked man thought as he captured the bishop at e6 with his bishop.

"Check. I've always hated you. Don't think this match will be easy. I'm playing my best, win or draw," Ian declared as he captured the pawn at f2 with his queen.

"'Win or draw'? Well I guess that arrogance is affirmation of your commitment to play your best," the masked man thought as he moved his king to h1.

And with that, the trading kicked off with Ian capturing the queen at f3 with his queen, leading to said queen being captured by the masked man's g-pawn. The next target for Ian was the knight at c4, which he swiftly captured with his own knight. And after the masked man captured said knight with his b-pawn, the trading was over as Ian's next move saw him moving his bishop to d6. However, this was merely a setup for the next round of trading as the masked man wasted no time in capturing said bishop with his bishop. And to close out the trading session for real, Ian captured said bishop with his c-pawn, though he wasn't exactly thrilled about how this trade had concluded.

"I'm down two pawns. No, it's more like a bishop. That will be a pain, especially since-"

"Check,"

"THAT is on the way," Ian thought as the masked man captured the pawn at f5 with his bishop.

With a heavy sigh, Ian moved his king to f7, and began to sink his hands into his face as he came to the realization of how the game was truly going.

"So he's finally realized it. My apologies, but it's far too late for that. You'll have to beat yourself up over f5 after I beat you again. Now how many times will this be?" the masked man thought as he moved his bishop to e4.

Desperate to create counterplay, Ian moved his a-rook to c8, hoping to try and pick off some pawns. But a check in the form of bishop d5 forced him to instead move his king to g6. Another check in the form of rook e6, once again delayed Ian's plans as now he had to move his king again, this time to h5. And to add insult to injury, the masked man moved his pawn to c4, completely protecting it and foiling Ian's plans.

"This is why I've always hated you. Every time, you get under my skin and do lasting damage!" Ian fumed in his mind as he scowled and moved his rook to c7.

As for the masked man, he was contemplating whether he'd be able to mate Ian in under 30 moves as he moved his a-rook to e1. That looked to be a possibility as Ian decided to move his pawn to g5, further inching him towards a potential mate. The masked man didn't think that would be the case, but certainly tried to go for it as he moved his rook to f6.

At this point, frustration overcame Ian, and without thinking, he moved his pawn forward another space to g4.

"And you just keep giving me gifts. Perhaps you're training for Halloween. Check," the masked man taunted as he captured the pawn at g4 with his f-pawn.

Now faced with three possible moves, only one of which not leading to a forced mate, Ian showcased his 3150-level prowess as he found the right move and moved his king to h4. Yet no sooner did the masked man move his rook to e4 that Ian decided to be aggressive and move his king to g5, blundering into mate in 6.

"And thus, despite internal sabotage, we equalize and achieve the psychological high-ground," the masked man thought as he moved his e-rook to f4.

Ian sunk his hands into his face as he sat motionless for a solid 5 minutes. He knew he was going to lose, and he hated it. Pride forbid him from resigning, but he was in no mood to drag things out. Thus, he hastened things to mate in 3 by moving his rook to e8.

"Thank you kindly for that. Check," the masked man nodded as he moved his 4-rook to f5.

Ian chose to go down swinging and captured the pawn at g4 with his king, but that would be his last capture of the game, for after bishop f3, check, he was on the verge of losing and chose to move his king to h4 as his final move of the game.

"And that's checkmate. You've lost to me yet again," the masked man stated as he moved his rook to h5, winning the game.

Japan had comeback from Ginji's sabotage to draw the match, but that didn't mean all was well. In a rare show of emotion, frustration was plastered on Okisato's face as he stared down Ginji.

"Fuck you! If you weren't sabotaging us, we might have been able to score a win. But thanks to you sidelining Hobou-san, we're stuck with you, and at such a critical time! I unleashed my secret weapon, the one I've been hiding to use against Peter, but thanks to you, I may have just weakened myself by showing my hand for nothing!" he angrily thought.

Both Rasputin and Grigori had taken notice of Okisato's anguish, causing malicious smiles to form upon their faces. "And you were singing and dancing just a few minutes ago. Yet look at you! You're pathetic! Nothing but a crying boy, and cry you shall after tomorrow night!" Rasputin proclaimed.

Okisato thought nothing of the provocations at the time, but as everyone would come to see, Rasputin's threats were real, for he was furious about his loss, and as such, he was going to ensure members from Japan's women's team were swept into a nefarious conspiracy with their lives on the line.

The full game:

White: The masked man (101) Black: Maestro Ian Kimovich (3150)

1. e4 e5

2. Bc4 Nf6

3. d4 exd4

4. Nf3 Nxe4

5. Qxd4 Qe7

6. O-O Nc6

7. Qd1 Ne5

8. Nxe5 Qxe5

9. Re1 Bc5

10. Qf3 f5

11. Nc3 d5

12. Bxd5 Be6

13. Bf4 Qd4

14. Bxe6 Qxf2+

15. Kh1 Qxf3

16. gxf3 Nxc3

17. bxc3 Bd6

18. Bxd6 cxd6

19. Bxf5+ Kf7

20. Be4 Rac8

21. Bd5+ Kg6

22. Re6+ Kh5

23. c4 Rc7

24. Rae1 g5

25. Rf6 g4

26. fxg4+ Kh4

27. Re4 Kg5

28. Ref4 Re8

29. R4f5+ Kxg4

30. Bf3+ Kh4

31. Rh5#

Match score:

Japan: 2.5 Russia: 2.5

Match drawn 2.5-2.5