The marquee's opening act

Okisato took a deep breath before opening the game by moving his pawn to a3.

"So you're emanating Anderssen. Then I shall emanate my ancestor once more and beat you again," Peter thought as he moved his pawn to e5.

"He's allowing it. Here goes nothing," Okisato thought as he moved his pawn to e3.

"I remember this from a few weeks ago. You also played this last round against Rasputin, and to great success," Peter thought as he moved his pawn to d5.

"That look on your face, you've prepared for this, haven't you," Okisato thought as he moved his pawn to d4.

"Why wouldn't I? I was privy to you unveiling this back in Tokyo, so naturally I would assume you planned to use this against me," Peter thought as he moved his knight to c6.

"He's going for the Tokyo Variation. Of course he would, that's the top line according to the engine," Okisato thought as he moved his knight to f3.

"The Japanese Opening: Tokyo Variation... That's the name Tanabe-kun dubbed this opening. I will admit, this is very solid, but will it be enough to throw off a player like Peter-kun? That I don't know," Mimoko thought as she watched.

"Quite the gallery forming before us. They have reason to gawk, for this is the moment, the script gets flipped," Peter thought as he smiled and moved his bishop to g4.

Okisato leaned back in his seat and sighed as he slid his hands down his face. "Always thwarting my prep. I hope I remember enough of how this line went," he thought as he moved his bishop to e2.

All this match would be was difficult for Okisato. Sensing his unease, Peter capitalized on it by capturing the pawn at d4 with his e-pawn, drawing first blood and sewing confusion. Okisato captured said pawn with his e-pawn, but Peter kept up the tension by moving his knight out to f6. Okisato also decided to develop his pieces, moving his knight to c3, but Peter had an edge in that field as now all his minor pieces were out after he moved his bishop to d6.

Okisato didn't let him hold that edge for long though as he moved his bishop to g5, getting the last of his minor pieces out in the open. The board was now nearly symmetrical, with the only discrepancy being the pawn at a3 having no mirror counterpart at a6. The hopes of said perfect mirror were dashed as Peter moved his bishop to e6, with Okisato going on the attack by moving his knight to b5.

"It was an aesthetically pleasing picture, perhaps they can use that as the cover image for a new chapter in my book. But whether it will truly be worthy of memory remains to be seen," Peter thought as he castled king's side.

...

On the women's side, things kicked off with the marquee match opening with Daria moving her knight to f3.

"Starting with your strongest as expected," Amelia thought as she moved her knight to f6.

While the two were simply playing chess, in their minds this was more than that. It was like a war. In the realm of imagination, Daria found herself in ronin attire facing down an Amelia clad in Viking armor and wielding an axe. Thus began their battle of Stanford bridge in their minds and on the board.

D4, e6, c4, b6, g3, bishop a6, b3, then...

"Check. Himitsu, no, Daria. I'm not going to let you or your nation have glory here," Amelia declared as she moved her bishop to b4.

"Try. You mixing up the line-up actually alleviated my worries. I had no issues with you, all my worries were on the lower boards. But now, I'm confident enough to focus everything on finally beating you," Dara thought as she moved her bishop to d2.

Over on board 2, Mimoko's game opened with her moving her pawn to d4, and with Inga's response of d5, a London System was soon on the board following knight f3, c6, bishop f4 and knight f6.

"That bitch goaded me into a fucking London. I'll kick her ass!" Inga thought as Mimoko moved her pawn to e3.

Over on board 4, Iori had just finished finalizing how she planned to humiliate Jaana.

"Hmm, a Danish would probably piss her off since she's Norwegian, let's go with that!" Iori thought as she opened her game by moving her pawn to e4.

Jaana would not give her the chance though as her next move was pawn c5, preventing the Danish gambit from being played.

"Fucking lame! Well fuck you, Imma try rolling for it anyway," Iori thought as she moved her pawn to d4.

"A Smith-Morra? Naivety beseechs you if you think that'll work against me," Jaana thought as she captured the pawn at d4 with her c-pawn.

"Guess this is a reverse Scandinavian of sorts... Would've preferred a Danish, but I know better than anyone beggars can't be choosers," Iori thought as she captured the pawn at d4 with her queen.

Knight c6 was next on the board, sending Iori's queen back a space to d3. Jaana continue developing pieces by moving her knight to f6, with Iori also developing things on her end by moving her knight to c3. At this point, things were dead even, but that quickly changed when Jaana made the bold play of pawn e5.

"Well someone's getting aggressive," Iori thought as she moved her bishop to g5.

"Victory doesn't come to those that play passively. I may act stern and orderly, but at my core, I've always been a rambunctious punk. That's why I can't fault Inga too much for her attitude; she gets it all from me," Jaana thought as she moved her bishop to c5.

Then came another decisive moment in the game as both players opted to castle on the 6th move with Iori castling queen's side and Jaana castling king's side, which resulted in one of the players getting a slight advantage, which would quickly snowball into a winning position.

"Guess you're one of the cooler milfs if you're willing to throw down n' get dirty despite the stern veil you try and hide behind. Wish Mei was secretly some punk delinquent, but sadly I don't think that's true. Gonna suck for her kids if she even has them," Iori thought as she moved her knight to d5.

"Snapping back? I'll have you know my sternness is rooted in my youth where I disciplined the streets with my fists and kicks," Jaana thought as she moved her bishop to e7.

"You know, I really hate how we can only talk when giving checks. I feel we'd have a real epic back n' forth if we were talking proper," Iori smirked as she captured the bishop at e7 with her knight.

A smirk also found it's way to Jaana's face as she captured said knight with her queen. "True, I'd love to say "Fuck You!" right to your edgy face, but I'm a mature woman... literally, now. But don't think I won't discipline you. That's the one realm where I can get away with harsh repercussion while maintaining my mature woman image," she thought.

"See, this is why it'd be so much better if we could talk; the banter would be golden," Iori thought as she moved her queen to f3.

"I can read your thoughts just by your facial expressions. Sorry to say, but silence is the rule here. But if you can read my thoughts as well, then there's no need to fret. I've got nothing but trash to spew about you, ya slime-smearing exhibitionist edgelord wannabe! I actually went through shit on the streets, so don't try and act like you've had shit rough your whole life. Just being poor is paradise compared to what I went through," Jaana thought as she moved her pawn to a6.

If only Jaana really did know everything about Iori, she'd retract that statement in a second. Though luckily for her, Iori couldn't read her thoughts perfectly and could only make assumptions.

"I saw a slight scowl. Probably thought something bad about me. Guess that's typical. My rep is pretty bad outside my fanbase," Iori thought as she captured the knight at f6 with her bishop. "And that's why I got no problem being the anti-hero. Anti-heroes are edgelord supreme!" she thought as Jaana captured said bishop with her queen.

Without hesitation, Iori accepted the queen trade and captured the queen at f6 with her queen, to which Jaana naturally responded to by capturing said queen with her g-pawn. However, the action didn't end after the trade as Iori looked to gain more from her deal by moving her rook to d6, however, Jaana decided to get her king in on the action by moving it to g7.

"Working the king? Lol. I wish it had more power too, but it's lame-o for a reason," Iori thought as she moved her knight to e2.

Jaana then moved her rook to e8 while Iori opted to move her knight to g3, preparing to set up something nasty for Jaana. Jaana's focus was elsewhere though as she opted to move her pawn to b5, baffling friend and foe alike.

"Lol, guess we can say you got knight-blindness. Check!" Iori laughed as she moved her knight to h5.

Jaana simply smirked, flipped off Iori, and nudged her king forward to g6 with said middle finger.

"That was pretty cool. Too bad it ain't getting ya out of CHECK!" Iori laughed once more as she captured the pawn at f6 with her rook.

This time, a frown really did form clearly on Jaana's face as she quickly realized her predicament. "Oh wait... I can just make you eat your own words," she thought as a smile returned to her face while she captured the knight at h5 with her king.

In this position there was only one winning move, pawn to h4. It was simple, but easily missable. Not to Iori though who played it instantly.

The frown quickly returned to Jaana's face as she scrunched her brow with her hand and thought for a good 5 minutes before finally moving her knight to d4.

"Lol, someone's getting cooked," Iori thought as she grinned and moved her pawn to f3.

Jaana let loose an audible sigh and tongue click as she shook her head and captured the pawn at f3 with her knight.

"Oof. Ever try a pin up, cuz if you didn't I've got a pin right here for ya," Iori snickered in her mind as she moved her bishop to e2.

Jaana angrily shook her head in frustration and without thinking, moved her king to g4. No sooner did she take her hand off the piece did she cup her hands over her face in anguish. She had every reason to for now, it was mate in 2 and Iori saw it too.

Without mercy, Iori moved her rook to h3, leaving Jaana with the choice of resigning on the spot or letting the mate play out. She ultimately chose the latter and moved her pawn to h5.

"And a fourth of the way to the sweep. Checkmate," Iori snickered as she captured the knight at f3 with her bishop, winning the game.

"Seems I forgot the king isn't a fighter like the other pieces," Jaana smiled as she shook hands with Iori.

"It was kind of hardcore, but there's a reason the king's always lame-o."

"Ahahaha. The king is "lame-o". If I was still in the prime of my youth, we'd probably get along well."

"You can pass for it."

"I thank you for the compliment, but I'm now a single mother in her mid 30s. I may be able to pass as a college girl in her early 20s, but in my current role, I have an image to uphold... for my daughter's sake... But there's no denying that once a punk, always a punk."

"You're a punk?"

Jaana nodded and rolled up one of her sleeves, revealing an arm covered in tattoos.

"Damn, you're more hardcore than I thought."

"I had it rough growing up, but for Inga's sake, I cleaned myself up."

"Heh, I think I got some more respect for you."

"If you want to talk more, then we can do it elsewhere. The others are still playing."

"Ah, guess it'll be a while then. I wanna still roam the floor to see some more games."

And with that, Japan had drawn first blood, leading the match 1-0. But of course, the day was still young.

The full game:

White: Iori Ishikiridokoro (2444) Black: SPCM Jaana Øksendal (2501)

1. e4 c5

2. d4 cxd4

3. Qxd4 Nc6

4. Qd3 Nf6

5. Nc3 e5

6. Bg5 Bc5

7. O-O-O O-O

8. Nd5 Be7

9. Nxe7+ Qxe7

10. Qf3 a6

11. Bxf6 Qxf6

12. Qxf6 gxf6

13. Rd6 Kg7

14. Ne2 Re8

15. Ng3 b5

16. Nh5+ Kg6

17. Rxf6+ Kxh5

18. h4 Nd4

19. f3 Nxf3

20. Be2 Kg4

21. Rh3 h5

22. Bxf3#