Chapter 446:

Mongol milestone

En Passant Grandmaster

With news of Nyoan reaching the ears of all the arbiters, massive drama was about to befall the playing hall as a literal cat chase would soon break out.

"Talk about trouble. I bet she's gonna run wild and mess up a bunch of boards as we chase her," Léonce grumbled.

"At least it will be less barbaric then what happened with Mongolia. I still can't believe the president allows such things to happen to those that lose at chess," Arnaud scowled as he thought back to another incident that befell the playing hall.

...

Going back in time to the start of round 8, the New Empire of Mongolia's men's team found themselves pitted against Poland. To many, this would seem insignificant, but to the Mongolians, this was a huge chance to right a historical short falling, that being the Mongol Empire's failed attempt to conquer Poland. While the Empire had come close, the death of Ögedei Khan back home caused the Mongol forces to retreat.

But now, Jad had a chance to rectify that by crushing Poland at the chessboard. Pitted against Jarosław, he opened the game by moving his pawn to h3, to which Jarosław responded to by moving his pawn to d5. Jad countered by moving his pawn to d4, but then came Jarosław's grand attack of bishop f5.

"Now this is something I've never seen before," Danny stated as Jad moved his knight to f3.

"The engine says the position's dead even too. Given the skill levels of both these players, we're likely to see a draw play out," Nancy stated as Jarosław moved his knight to d7.

"Really? I think Jad'll win," Běla huffed as she scooted over to get a better look at Nancy's screen.

"And why would you think that?" Nancy glared as Jad moved his pawn to c4.

"Because he's on a rampage. His loss to Okisato in round 5 has awakened a true monster. Compared to his performance in earlier rounds, he's playing far more savagely, but also effectively. He's also not turning into Genghis Khan as much, which seems to be preserving his stamina levels. With all those factors taken into account, Jad will win," Běla proclaimed just as Jarosław decided to capture the pawn at c4 with his d-pawn.

"You're getting ahead of yourself, Jarosław is a 2700-level player. Plus if we take history into accord, the Mongols did come close to conquering Poland, but had to abandon the campaign after their leader died back at home. And if we take a look at the other boards in the match, it looks like they're all even across the board. Chess is not a game which can easily be predicted. Just look at some of the games we've seen thus far here that we thought would go one way, but went the complete opposite," Nancy countered as Jad moved his pawn to e3.

"Yes, and speaking of which, Nancy, we gotta focus back on the team Japan matches, but Běla, feel free to watch the Mongolia-Poland match on your own," Danny interjected.

Běla nodded and pulled up the game on her screen, just in time to see Jarosław move his knight to b6. "Hey Nancy, how much you wanna bet not only Jad will win, but Mongolia sweeps the match too?" she called out.

"If you're going to be stupid, sure. Fifty dollars."

"Uh, I don't think we can just bet-"

"Stay out of it, Danny. Nancy, fifty sounds good, but I'll throw in something extra. I get anything wrong about my prediction, I'll shave my head and eyebrows."

"Even better."

"Then with Danny and the chat as witness, this bet is sealed."

"I'm here too," Laila growled.

"But we all know you can't get in on this bet because of... you know what."

Laila shot Běla a glare and pulled up the Jad vs Jarosław game on her screen. In the time the bet had been made, Jad had moved his pawn to a4, but more significantly, Jarosław had moved his pawn to e5. Jad had then proceeded to capture said pawn at e5 with his knight, slightly worsening his position. However, Jarosław then made the play of bishop e6, all in a bid to defend his pawn.

"Урхи нь цацагдсан. Бид үргэлж чамаас илүү дээр байсан, гэхдээ одоо хэдэн зуун жилийн дараа энэ агуу богино богино хугацааг засч, бид таныг бүрэн байлгах болно [The trap has been sprung. We've always been superior to you, but now, after hundreds of years, we'll rectify this great shortcoming of our ancestors and conquer you completely]!" Jad thought as he moved his pawn to a5.

Jarosław scowled and moved his knight to d7, but despite that being the best move he could make, it did little to same him from Jad's attack of queen a4, pinning the knight and putting extra pressure on the queen's side.

"Jeszcze jeszcze nie zamieszałem, dlatego musi być taki lekkomyślny. To jest zabawa dziecka [I haven't even castled yet, which must be why he's being so reckless. This is child's play]," Jarosław thought as he moved his pawn to c6.

Then came the next major assault and moment of truth as Jad boldly captured the pawn at c4 with his bishop. Rather than recapture said bishop, Jarosław instead set his sights on the knight at e5, capturing it with his own knight. This play now put Jad at a crossroads, with his choices of either capturing the knight at e5 with his d-pawn or capturing the bishop at e6 with his bishop being what would ultimately determine the direction of the game. And without hesitation, Jad chose the former.

Laila scowled as she watched Jarosław move his queen to c7. "I swear, Běla's whole prediction better not be right. If it is, I'm going to be furious," she thought as Jad captured the bishop at e6 with his bishop.

While Jarosław did capture said bishop with his f-pawn, the fact that Jad had first captured the knight had made all the difference, but it was unknown if the players themselves knew this. After Jad moved his queen to b3, and Jarosław moved his queen to e7, both players castled, with Jad castling king's side and Jarosław castling queen's side.

Běla smirked as she watched Jad move his pawn to e4, before she decided to hide the eval bar and call Nancy over to look at the game.

"I don't see it. He can just go rook d4," Nancy grumbled as Jarosław did just that.

"But bishop e3?" Běla snickered as that very move was played.

"Rook takes e4."

And with Jarosław appearing to take Nancy's advice, Běla scowled and shooed Nancy away. But once Nancy was back at her own screen, engrossed in the matches she was focusing on, Běla let loose a malevolent grin as she turned the eval bar back on.

"Oh, just look at that white bar. It's whiter than your new sneakers, Nancy, and the shaving cream that'll be smeared over your head instead of mine," she thought as Jad moved his pawn to a6.

Jarosław was completely unaware of this and moved his rook to b4, thinking it would be his key to victory. Jad however, could now tell he was winning.

"Check. Польшийн тэнэг, та ямар ч үед байлдах болно [Polish fool, you'll be conquered in no time]," he proclaimed as he captured the pawn at b7 with his a-pawn.

Jarosław shook his head in annoyance and captured the pawn at b7 with his rook. "Teraz twoja królowa jest atakowana. Zostałeś przeciwny, Mongol Savage [Now your queen is under attack. You've been countered, Mongol savage]," he thought as Jad moved his queen to c4.

Feeling as though he had complete control over the board, Jarosław advanced his pawn to c5. Jad moving his knight to c3 gave Jarosław the confidence to assume his plan was succeeding, prompting him to continue his original plan of attack and move his rook to b4. However, Jad sidestepped the attack once more with a check via moving his queen to a6.

Jarosław let loose an audible, but quiet growl as he moved his king to b8. It would not be a one time thing as his growls got louder following Jad moving his f-rook to d1, forcing him to go on defense and move his rook back to b7. Jad moved his knight to b5, slowly encircling his prey. Jarosław's frustrations continued to boil as he made yet another defensive play in the form of queen to e8.

Then came his breaking point after Jad captured the pawn at a7 with his knight. "Pieprzyć cię! Nie opóźnię już mojego planu ataku [Fuck you! I will not delay my plan of attack any longer]!" Jarosław fumed as he captured the pawn at b2 with his rook.

And thanks to that rage, he had just blundered into mate.

Jad saw it immediately and moved his d-rook to b1, giving a reality check to Jarosław as he quickly realized his grave error. "Nie, nie, nie! To nie może być! To wina tego chłopca! Mój złamany nos utrudnił moje umiejętności myślenia! Pozwię go [No, no, NO! This can't be! It's that boy's fault! My broken nose hindered my thinking ability! I'll sue him]!" he thought as he moved his king to c7.

Now was the time for Jad to dawn the visage of Genghis Khan, as he knew converting the win would be easy. "Эцэст нь амжилтанд хүрэхийн тулд Польшийн үнэн байлдан дагуулах цаг [Time for the true conquest of Poland to finally be achieved]," he proclaimed aloud as he captured the rook at b2 with his rook.

Jarosław gritted his teeth in fury as he slid his queen to a8. "Myślisz, że to jest jak przeszłość! To tylko mecz szachowy [You think this is like the past! This is just a chess match]!" he shouted back as Jad moved his rook to d1. "[Forget it! I'll take your army down with me]!" he shouted as he captured the knight at a7 with his queen.

"Та надад хошигнол, шон [You humor me, Pole]. Check!" Jad cackled as he captured the queen at a7 with his queen.

Now faced with destruction no matter where he went, Jarosław covered his head with his hand and moved his king to c8.

"Бэлтгэх анхны хуйхыг нэхэмжилж байна [The first calp of the conquest has been claimed]! CHECKMATE!" Jad declared as he moved his rook to b8, winning the game.

And with that first win in the bag, the other Mongolians easily converted their wins, leading to them wiping out Poland 4-0.

Nancy stared at her screen with her jaw hung down, but bigger shock would come to all when the Mongols summoned their undead horses and tied the Poles to them before riding away, dragging the poor Poles with them. The Poles would later be found back at the hotel, battered, bruised, and crucified upside down naked in the front lawn. They were all still alive, but completely humiliated. Mongolia was back in the game.

The full game:

White: Genghis Jad (2804) Black: Jarosław Abgarowicz (2732)

1. h3 d5

2. d4 Bf5

3. Nf3 Nd7

4. c4 dxc4

5. e3 Nb6

6. a4 e5

7. Nxe5 Be6

8. a5 Nd7

9. Qa4 c6

10. Bxc4 Nxe5