Hundred-year hitchhiker

Back at the playing hall, Fernanda nervously watched Vonnie. Mexico had been paired up against Chile and with the score at 2-1 thanks to Fernanda's loss, the fate of the match all rode on Vonnie's game.

"Ugh, she better win this, otherwise Chi's gonna fuck me up," Fernanda thought.

...

Going back in time to the start of round 8, heads turned as the Mexican women's team all walked into the playing hall and sat down at their boards.

"Am I seeing this? It's sunny out, but the Mexican women's team is here, and they have a 5th member!?" Kisha gasped.

"Ah, the reporter that spread troubling rumors about us... Perhaps we'll need to have a discussion later," Chihuahua angrily smiled.

"An exclusive interview!? Perfect! My show will be back for the rest day tomorrow, so I'll slot you in for an interview!"

"Hold on, that's not-"

But Kisha was already long gone.

"How troublesome, but I suppose there is a need for some PR in this world."

"Well that sounds like a tough time," a voice snickered.

Chihuahua looked up to notice the Chilean women' team approaching. In addition to Onóra Daffey, there was a woman with wavy dark blue hair named, Iqra Loncón, a sporty girl with short light brown hair named, Iphigenia Briceño, a completely hairless woman with her face painted to resemble Jester named, Urraca Bufón, and a bald girl covered in scaly orange tattoos named, Uxue Gahona.

"Buha! We have opponents to face, all for our master... Jester," Urraca monotonously groaned.

The other Urraca glared as she laid eyes on Urraca. "You got the same name as me, and you're a fucking clown!? The fuck is wrong with you!?"

"Listen hun, anyone can name their kid anything. My name's Urraca, always has been. And I'm not a clown, I'm a cultist."

True to her word, Urraca Bufón was head of the Chilean chapter of Jester's honorary ninja cult. Originally a miserable young office lady, she quickly became an even more miserable cult leader after she found herself forced to join and head the Chilean Jester cult in order to secure a good source of income. While she had met Jester himself and considered all interactions with him and the things she did for him as just "business", the poor girl really hated that she had downgraded from overworked office lady to criminal cultist. Her only saving grace was that she could play chess well enough to make the national team.

"So I hear that girl you got is a ghost... Kay, I'm out of salt so no exorcism yet... Not like I can do that shit anyway. Alright! I'm playing... Checking my notes... Fernanda," Urraca grumbled as she sat down across from Fernanda at board 3.

"Then what about me?" Uxue asked.

"The ghost."

Uxue nodded and plopped down in the seat across from Vonnie at board 4. "So you're a ghost. I think I'd give more people a fright with all my tats. Uxue Gahona. I'm a tattoo artist if ya couldn't tell. So dedicated to the craft I shaved my head n' brows to make room for sick ink."

"Women's fashion sure has evolved oddly over the years... Very well, you shall be the first sacrifice of my comeback tour," Vonnie proclaimed.

As for the other matchups, Iqra was on board 2 against Tristin while Iphigenia was up against Chihuahua on board 1. That meant Urraca and Onóra were both sitting out the round.

Uxue opened the game by moving her pawn to d4, while Vonnie responded by moving her knight to f6. Uxue naturally countered by moving her pawn to c4, but that was exactly what Vonnie wanted as now she could play knight c6, the Black Knights' Tango, aka the Mexican Defense.

"Well ain't that a play. Though if I saw the news blurb right, this girl's a ghost from the mid 1920s. That means that she'd have been around when this opening was first made, but she shouldn't have any knowledge on proper theory. Easy grillings," Uxue thought as she moved her knight to f3.

This was Uxue's first big mistake. While Vonnie had been tethered to Budapest for nearly 100 years, she had witnessed countless chess players come and go, and as such, gained nearly 100 years of knowledge from watching them play.

"I've been roaming the air... for a near century. My craft has been honed," Vonnie thought as she moved her pawn to e6.

Uxue had every reason to feel confident, assuming she could hold the advantage. This is where her second flaw of the match came as she opted to move her knight to c3, which wasn't the most optimal move. It still left her with a slim advantage, but Vonnie knew how to respond, and moved her pawn to d5. Uxue captured said pawn with her c-pawn as Vonnie returned the favor by capturing said pawn with her e-pawn.

Then came the bold knight e5 play from Uxue, and suddenly, Vonnie had a slim advantage, but only if she could find bishop b4, which she did. This was by no means a definitive edge, as the game was still in draw territory, but that would change in an instant as Uxue made the seemingly natural move of pawn to a3, unaware that she had giving Vonnie a more significant advantage.

"Check. Ah, it feels so good to say that proper after so long," Vonnie gushed as she captured the knight at c3 with her bishop.

"Yeah, and clearly you being unable to play for a hundred years made you forget that this is standard, no, I'm getting a bishop for a knight, so that means I'm better," Uxue thought as she captured the bishop at c3 with her b-pawn.

Now it was Vonnie's turn to play aggressively as she captured the knight at e5 with her knight. Uxue promptly captured said knight with her d-pawn, but now Vonnie could gain more control of the board by moving her knight to e4. It was at this moment that Uxue decided to counter with aggression, and move her queen to b3.

This looked natural, and seemed natural, but to Vonnie who had accumulated nearly 100 years of experience, the play was nothing more than a mistake. "I've seen this in the line so many times. So computers are unable to train humans to remember proper in this time. Another win for the human mind," she thought as she castled king's side.

But the gift-giving season was only just getting started as Uxue's next move of pawn to f3 completely blundered away the game.

"Oh what a joyous occasion! My first match in so long... WILL BE A WIN! CHECK!" Vonnie maniacally grinned as she slammed her queen down on h4.

Uxue's smile quickly curved into a frown as she moved her pawn to g3, worsening as Vonnie captured said pawn with her knight. "If I hadn't already shaved my head, I'd do so in shame. Ugh, this is bad," she thought as she captured the knight at g3 with her h-pawn.

And with that, it was bye-bye rook as Vonnie instantly captured the rook at h1 with her queen. Uxue could tell she was losing at this point, yet she decided to play on, moving her bishop to e3. Vonnie knew how to win from this position though, and moved her bishop to h3, pilling more pressure on Uxue. She attempted to mitigate it by castling queen's side, but Vonnie didn't let up, capturing the bishop at f1 with her bishop.

"Hold on... I could work with this. Yeah, she pinned her queen, so if I attack, maybe she'll mess up and hand her queen. Yeah, that works," Uxue thought as she captured the pawn at b7 with her queen.

But a second later, Vonnie dashed all her hopes simply by moving her queen to g2.

"Ngh. Maybe I can get a draw?" Uxue thought as she moved her rook to d2.

"Nope, this position isn't the recipe for a repetition. Sorry, you'll have to settle for being the first sacrifice," Vonnie thought as she captured the pawn at e2 with her bishop.

"How about this then!?" Uxue thought as she moved her bishop to c5.

"NOPE! CHECK!" Vonnie cackled as she moved her queen to f1.

Uxue let out an audible groan and moved her king to c2, only inching closer to outright resigning as Vonnie moved her f-rook to b8. "Oh fuck it! I want to get a punch in. Check!" Uxue grumbled as she captured the rook at b8 with her queen.

Vonnie's grin only widened as she captured the queen at b8 with her rook. It was only a little further to go until mate. Uxue still clung on to hopes of salvaging things as she moved her bishop to b4, but Vonnie made that hard to do as she inched closer to victory by capturing the pawn at f3 with her bishop.

Uxue moved her king to b2 as Vonnie maneuvered her bishop to e4. Pawn c4 and pawn c5 were next, prompting Uxue to capture the pawn at d5 with her c-pawn. Vonnie wasn't the least bit concerned though as she now had a guaranteed path to victory before her.

"Check. It's all forced now," Vonnie chuckled as she moved her queen to b1.

Indeed it was as after Uxue was forced to move her king to c3, Vonnie put her a move away from mate by capturing the bishop at b4 with her rook.

"Mate... Might as well go down swinging," Uxue thought as she captured the rook at b4 with her a-pawn.

"You're so naughty. Punishment time! CHECKMATE!" Vonnie declared as she captured the pawn at b4 with her queen, winning the game.

And with that win, Mexico had defeated Chile 3-1.

"Guess ghosts really do have prowess. Er, real ones," Fernanda grumbled.

"Rich words coming from the one who lost her game," Chihuahua menacingly smiled.

"Um, I'm still getting used to-"

"Shave your head. Eyebrows too. Hmm, and I suppose eyelashes will have to go if we take the strict dress code into account for this upcoming event."

"Now that's just too cruel."

The full game:

White: Uxue Gahona (2123) Black: Vonnie Ottosopista (2104)

1. d4 Nf6

2. c4 Nc6

3. Nf3 e6

4. Nc3 d5

5. cxd5 exd5

6. Ne5 Bb4

7. a3 Bxc3+

8. bxc3 Nxe5

9. dxe5 Ne4

10. Qb3 O-O

11. f3 Qh4+

12. g3 Nxg3

13. hxg3 Qxh1

14. Be3 Bh3

15. O-O-O Bxf1

16. Qxb7 Qg2

17. Rd2 Bxe2

18. Bc5 Qf1+

19. Kc2 Rfb8

20. Qxb8+ Rxb8

21. Bb4 Bxf3

22. Kb2 Be4

23. c4 c5

24. cxd5 Qb1+

25. Kc3 Rxb4

26. axb4 Qxb4#

Match score:

Mexico: 3 Chile: 1

Mexico wins 3-1