Smothered all along

Everyone stared as Kuon breathed heavily and glared at Mimoko.

"Uh, my apologies, but I think I'm gonna have to raise my voice a bit on this one. What the hell, lady!? What did you slug Minoo for!? She's not feeling well!" Umida fumed.

Kuon didn't even hear her, or register her presence. All she could see was the bloodied Hagemi and Mimoko.

"N- Naya-chan, what-"

"DON'T GET FRIENDLY WITH ME, YOU BITCH! I HATE YOU! I HATE YOU! THIS WAS GOING TO BE MY GRAND STAGE TO BEAT HAGEMI, BUT YOU BROKE HER... YOU BROKE HER!"

Sadness slowly overtook Mimoko's face as she stared down at Hagemi.

"She's still alive... But I don't know if she'll wake up ever again," Miga frowned.

"NO! WAKE HER UP! I NEED TO BEAT HER!"

"That appears to be impossible at the current moment," Raymond stated as he strolled over. "Taking a look at her match history, she lost to a certain individual who seemed to assume that the only one that would ever beat her would be you, Kuon. But since Mimoko has beaten her, it appears something has went wrong. It's as if she has corrupted data so to say, though the reason for this appears to be outside of my knowledge."

"Then, could it be because of Yuusuke?" Okisato asked as he approached with Zago and the masked man.

"Yuusuke? Do explain."

Okisato nodded and did just that, explaining how he had memories of Yuusuke even though no one else seemed to.

"Hmm, then that must be the answer. Her bet was made while Yuusuke still existed, but now that he no longer exists and her conditions for the wager have encountered an unaccounted for factor being Mimoko's victory over her, it seems. I'd theorize that to fix the problem, Yuusuke must be brought back into existence."

Kuon bit her lip, but shook her head. "Skaberghast told me. That Yuusuke is Hagemi's son. I don't need that trash getting between me and Hagemi. When I beat her, she'll become my permanent house cat, and from what I've heard of Yuusuke, he's unsuitable to be a proper house bred cat! Plus he just said doing so would return Hagemi to normal, as in how she was before she lost to Phantom. I can't have that. I need to beat her. They need to fix her and get her ready- That's right! Prussia lost! If America loses, we'll play them the day after tomorrow, and I'll beat Hagemi proper! This was nothing but a fluke. A good two day's rest and Hagemi will be back in order to face me," Kuon thought as her anger subsided slightly.

She still shot Mimoko deathglares as she strutted away, but now she had some hope her grand plan could be salvaged. However, it was all false hope, a fact she'd only come to learn in two day's time.

As Kuon began to head back to her board, Agatha and Elenora arrived at the scene. They had managed to catch the tail end of Kuon's outburst, but other than that, they knew nothing.

"Hmm, 4-0. They won... Ugh, I guess that means Kuon's gonna throw in order to increase our chances of playing Prussia next round," Agatha groaned as she headed for the exit.

"Like she'd need to throw after that pitiful display from you," Elenora scowled.

"Um, who was it that lost to a rookie again?"

Elenora clicked her tongue. "She was a seasoned veteran. Though her rating might be low, it's not a true reflection of her strength. Those Norwegians were all trained by their maestro. The very one you INSISTED on playing."

"Hey, it's strategy. But well, maestros are maestros for a reason, much as I hate to admit it," Agatha grumbled as she thought back to her game against Amelia just a few short minutes ago.

...

Going back in time to the start of round 8, Agatha smirked as she stared down Amelia and her teammates.

"And why are you standing before our opponents like a gallant fool? Sit down at the board," Elenora growled.

"Why, you ask? Intimidation! I want them to tremble in fear before the grand with that just got the keys to America. Now what's my name? Agatha, baby!"

"If you think your ego shower will make me soil myself, you'll have to cast a stronger spell of delusion on yourself. Unni, you play Kuon," Amelia glared.

"H- Huh? B- But she's a bit out of my league... don't ya think?"

"Not at all. I expect you'll do well, now sit down before her."

Unni nervously did as Amelia ordered. As she turned to look at Kuon, she was met with complete indifference, and agitation. Kuon's mind was completely focused on Hagemi's match with Mimoko. A fact that would be reflected when the round began and Kuon got up and left after making just a single move.

As for the others, Agatha had insisted on taking on Amelia on board 1, meaning Elenora was sent down to board 3 to play Janna. That left Sherbert at board 4 against Maya, while Katie and Tove were sitting out.

"Hah! I get White, meaning I get first dibs. I'm sure Okisato is aware of my participation, but what he doesn't know is that I'm no longer the rookie that blunders into smothered mates. Now I'm Agatha Broadstone, the 2666-ratedgrandmaster! What? If you want to be a grandmaster in politics and ruling the world, you should also be a grandmaster at chess as well, is my motto," Agatha thought as she opened the game by moving her pawn to d4.

Amelia responded by moving her pawn to d5, to which Agatha countered by moving her pawn to c4, attempting the Queen's Gambit. Amelia declined it with a Slav Defense by moving her pawn to c6, but Agatha wasn't frustrated in the slightest and moved her knight to f3 without her smug grin vanishing or showing any signs of fading.

"Well she's certainly confident, but confidence doesn't beat me, only pure skill can even come close to that," Amelia thought as she moved her knight to f6.

Agatha then brought her knight out to c3, prompting Amelia to finally capture the pawn at c4 with her d-pawn.

"Oh? Had your eye on that pawn the whole time, huh? Well I was too! Alapin Alpineus!" Agatha thought as she moved her pawn to a4.

"The Alapin... I'll make Lucie's day and go for the Czech variation," Amelia thought as she moved her bishop to f5.

Now Agatha's grin finally vanished as she scowled and went deep into thought on how best to proceed. "Never been to Czechoslovakia. I know how this variation works though. Can't beat the classics as they say," Agatha thought as she moved her pawn to e3.

"The Classical System it is then. She might have a slight advantage, but I can easily make that up and draw at worst," Amelia thought as she moved her pawn to e6.

"And now the best part of this opening; the delayed Queen's Gambit strat!" Agatha thought as she captured the pawn at c4 with her bishop.

Amelia let out an audible sigh as she moved her b-knight to d7. She was a maestro, she knew how to counter this in her sleep and then some.

Agatha interpreted her sigh much differently though. "She's getting flustered! That means I'm winning!" Agatha thought as she castled king's side.

While she did have an advantage, it was a very slim one, and only held at this very moment, for once Amelia moved her bishop to g6, Agatha moved her bishop to d2, erasing her advantage and leveling the playing field.

"And just as predicted. Seems you need to focus more on foresight via brainpower than clairvoyance via a spherical hunk of glass," Amelia thought as she moved her pawn to a5.

Amelia was still on cloud 9 though, and moved her rook to e1 without so much as stopping to think of whether she had just made a mistake or not. This was good news for Amelia who knew what she was doing by moving her bishop to b4. Agatha then made the seemingly harmless, but potentially devastating play of pawn to e4, which Amelia saw instantly and took advantage of by capturing the knight at c3 with her bishop.

Then hook, line, and sinker, Agatha fell into the trap and captured the bishop at c3 with her bishop. Now Amelia was free to capture the pawn at e4 with her knight, but Agatha could care less as she had her eyes on a certain pawn and possibly a rook, a fact she made obvious by moving her queen to b3. Amelia decided to seemingly let her have it though as she opted to castle king's side.

"Free pawn for me!" Agatha giddily thought as she captured the pawn at b7 with her queen.

"And your greed has just become your undoing," Amelia thought as she moved her knight to b6.

Agatha thought nothing of the move and moved her bishop to b3. Amelia moved her knight to d6, but Agatha still saw no reason for worry and simply captured the pawn at c6 with her queen. It wouldn't take any longer for reality to finally hit Agatha though as once Amelia moved her rook to c8, Agatha saw it all.

"FUCK! I'm gonna lose my queen! No, no, NO! I can't beat a maestro down a queen!" she thought as she attempted to consolidate her loss by moving her queen to c5.

While the move didn't prevent Amelia from capturing said queen with her rook, it did allow Agatha to capture said rook with her d-pawn.

"And now it's a question of how many more moves you'll flounder for," Amelia thought as she moved her knight to e4.

Now a bit frustrated, Agatha bit her lip as she captured the knight at b6 with her c-pawn. Said frustration mitigated a bit though as Amelia decided to capture the pawn at c6 with her queen, instead of eyeing a more valuable prize like a bishop.

"Lucky, I get a free move to turn this around," Agatha thought as she moved her knight to d4.

But it was anything but, as Agatha knew how to perfectly counter this, which she showcased by moving her pawn to e5. Agatha wasn't aware of this though and continued to get in close by moving her knight to b5.

Now it was time for Amelia to attempt to land a devastating blow against Agatha, which she initiated by capturing the pawn at f2 with her knight. And Agatha's genius response, capturing the pawn at e5 with her bishop.

"And thus the berserker stands tall upon the bridge. Check," Amelia proclaimed as she moved her knight to h3.

"Gah! Double check! Grr, now I have to move my king," Agatha thought as she moved her king to h1.

"Check once more," Amelia stated as she moved her queen to g1.

"Hold on... You're giving away your queen! And it's forced too! Oh, thank you so much! Guess maestros really are just paid actors that'll let you win in order to become a legend," Agatha thought aloud as she captured the queen at g1 with her rook.

"AHEM! Did you realize you were saying such scandalous slander aloud?"

Agatha narrowed her gaze in annoyance. "Um, yeah? You just gave up your queen, meaning now I'm back in the game."

"Only if I were one of those "paid actors", but sorry, my skills are the real deal, and you've just branded yourself a fool. Checkmate," Amelia glared as she moved her knight to f2, winning the game.

Amelia's jaw dropped in shock. "No... ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME!? NOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

Though some might think she was being overdramatic, being humiliated with a smothered mate really was a sore spot for Agatha. And to make matters worse, she was the first to lose on the team, though ultimately, all of her remaining teammates would lose their games as well, meaning Norway would prevail over the United States of America 4-0.

Back in the present, Unni trembled as she finished setting the pieces back up. She couldn't believe Kuon had not only resigned, but did so after making just one move. This meant she'd now get the elo for the win, though that didn't mean the win felt right with her.

"Feel you're underserving? Not at all. This was strategy, and the fact that you won, proves our strategy was airtight. And since they lost, they reap all that they sow," Amelia declared as she patted Unni on the shoulder.

"Still..."

"If you're unsatisfied, spend the rest day in the library training."

Unni frowned, but ultimately agreed to Amelia's proposal.

The full game:

White: Agatha Broadstone (2666) Black: Maestro Amelia Stavanger (3300)

1. d4 d5

2. c4 c6

3. Nf3 Nf6

4. Nc3 dxc4

5. a4 Bf5

6. e3 e6

7. Bxc4 Nbd7

8. O-O Bg6

9. Bd2 a5

10. Re1 Bb4

11. e4 Bxc3

12. Bxc3 Nxe4

13. Qb3 O-O

14. Qxb7 Nb6

15. Bb3 Nd6

16. Qxc6 Rc8

17. Qc5 Rxc5

18. dxc5 Ne4

19. cxb6 Qxb6

20. Nd4 e5

21. Nb5 Nxf2

22. Bxe5 Nh3+

23. Kh1 Qg1+

24. Rxg1 Nf2#

Match score:

Norway: 4 United States of America: 0

Norway wins 4-0