Chapter 487:

The 6B finals

En Passant Grandmaster

With Japan winning their division, they had ensued they'd be in the final 8. However, the other divisions still had yet to finish, though some had already been mathematically decided.

Agatha let loose a muffled cackle as she moved her pawn to f3. Her opponent, Crina, moved her pawn to e5, while her teammate, Katie had tied to play normally against her opponent, Ionica, who had opened by moving her pawn to b4, prompting Katie to move her pawn to e5. But the match wouldn't last long as Agatha then moved her pawn to g4, giving Crina an easy mate in the form of queen to h4.

"Mmph [Checkmate]," Crina glared.

Even though tam USA had lost the match, it didn't matter as they had already achieved the top spot in the division with a round to spare.

"Like, not cool. This is why I can't stand you. Like, you're not compassionate at all," Katie angrily thought.

In Division 2, Prussia easily dominated despite Edeltraud's shattered ego and status. As for Division 6, China was pitted against Poland for the final round, though had already clinched the division.

"Ah, they're in last place. Guess everyone knows how to wreck Jadwiga easily!" Xiu thought as she took full advantage of Jadwiga playing as White to employ the Jadwiga Gambit against her, leading to an easy win for China.

There were also no surprises in Division 7, with Hungary easily mopping up the field. The other three divisions were where the sparks were flying. Like Division 3, an underdog had risen in each to match the favorite on wins, leading to an all-decisive final round match to settle it all.

The first notable one was the somewhat-predicable India vs Israeli Kingdom of Simien match. India put up a good fight, but Noa was simply too good and easily strung Golda along in her march to victory.

"We did it... We got into the top 8. But why was that stylist so concerned about us?" Noa thought.

Over in Division 8, Belgium had managed to miraculously win 6 matches in a row, with the only problem being that Ukraine had also done the same.

"Yup, time to wreck em," Anastasia thought.

However, Belgium managed to eek out a victory by the skin of their teeth, making it into the finals.

The final surprise came in Division 4. Both tied at 6 wins each, Mexico and Norway found themselves squaring off.

"This woman, she's under 2000, yet she sure doesn't play like one. In fact, she's almost on par with Amelia... I fear this might be difficult," Jaana thought.

And sure enough, Mexico beat Norway, setting the stage for the finals.

"And it's decided! The 8 teams moving on are Japan, Mexico, Belgium, China, the Israeli Kingdom of Simien, the United States of America, the German Empire of Prussia, and the host nation, Hungary!" Kisha declared as she and Nancy commentated from another room.

"This was so stupid. Why did we actually have to shave our heads for this, or even be here? We could have just done this remotely," Nancy fumed.

"No shit, but the girl running it is deadest on increasing the bald girl population by any means necessary," Kisha snarled.

"As for the matchups, on one side we've got Japan vs China and the Israeli Kingdom of Simien vs Mexico, and on the other, The German Empire of Prussia vs Hungary, and the United States of America vs Belgium. Let's get right into the action."

As all the focus shifted towards the final 8, conspiracy was amidst in the shadows.

"Phew, they all made it, both friend, and treasure... Best scenario I could ask for, but now Japan's gotta win, otherwise I can't spring this on them?" Melisha thought as she prepared to give a speech to the players that didn't make it to the finals. "As for all you losers, you're in for hell. It doesn't matter how many points you have now, this is deathmatch elimination! To get out of this alive, all you gotta do is win, do that and you get out of this. Lose, and you gotta keep playing, but when we get down to the final 8, the four teams that lose..."

...

The final 8 teams grunted in surprise as their seats began flying out and up towards the veranda of Esztergom Basilica.

"Nice view, ain't it? Fitting for the final. Now, you all are safe... but if you want that sweet 10 million euros, you gotta win it all. Can the favorite win it or will their be an upset? I hope not because I don't wanna be upset," Melisha's voice crackled on the loudspeaker.

The finals began with Japan facing off against China, Simien against Mexico, Hungary against Prussia, and Belgium against America. Japan easily made short work of China, much to the dismay of both Xiu and Xiao Lin. Mexico put up a decent fight, but in the battle of wits, Noa proved to have the edge leading to Simien's victory. This set up rematch between Mimoko and Noa, but with Daria on the board against Golda, Japan managed to dominate and seal their spot in the finals.

On the other end of the bracket, Hungary easily routed Prussia, while Belgium shocked America to advance to the semifinals. Then came an even bigger shock when Belgium managed to swindle Hungary out of a victory by the skin of their teeth, infuriating Zsa Zsa to no end as the blame for this was squarely on Jolan's shoulders. Thus, the final was to be between Japan and Belgium.

Mimoko opted to mix things up by opening her game with g3, while Petronella responded with e5. C4, bishop b4, bishop g2, and knight f6 followed, while on the other board, Drahomíra and Daria had opted to play a Berlin, consisting of e4, e5, knight f3, knight c6, bishop b5, knight f6, a king's side castle, knight captures e4, d4, knight d6, bishop captures c6, d captures c6, and d captures e5.

Mimoko meanwhile, moved her knight to f3 as Petronella castled king's side. She quickly captured the pawn at e5 with her knight, prompting Petronella to move her pawn to h6.

On the other board, Daria moved her knight to f5, opening up an avenue to a check for Drahomíra, who promptly took it and captured the queen at d8 with her queen. At the same time, Mimoko had moved her queen to c2, with Petronella not getting the queen in time to consider it's proper placement, leading to her instead moving her knight to e8, under stress.

And that was it as after Daria captured the queen at d8 on her board, Mimoko dropped said queen on h7, winning the game.

"Mmph [Checkmate]."

While Petonella and Drahomíra had truly practiced as much as possible in order to dominate in the bughouse format, Mimoko and Daria were just too strong a team. And with that, team Japan had won it all.

"And we have a winner!" Kisha declared.

"That truly was a spectacle. Not worth shaving my head for, but worthy of the chess history books nonetheless," Nancy smiled.

"You're telling me. Now, how soon until the awards ceremony?"

"I think Melisha's standing by now on the balcony."

Indeed, Melisha had appeared before Daria and Mimoko on the balcony, but not to give them any sort of prize.

"This is perfect. PERFECT! My girls survive, and you win it all. Now begins the true final!" Melisha cackled.

"Mmmph- Peh! What do you mean by that?" Daria scowled, now able to fully talk again.

"Ah, the glue wore off. Not like it matters. Your screams won't save you against me."

"What do you mean by that?"

Melisha menacingly smirked as she closed her eyes and clutched her face, ripping off what appeared to be a latex mask. but she didn't just rip latex off her face, she ripped it off her entire body revealing a hairless and deformed specimen covered almost entirely in stitches. The reveal naturally took everyone aback, save for just two people.

"I- Is this your true face?" Daria trembled.

"Petty hideous, but no. This is my now face. My real face... Looked something more like this," Melisha stated as Chaya suddenly materialized in front of her.

Noa and Golda went pale with shock. "Ch- Chaya-chan!?"

"No, she's dead... Long dead... I'm all that remains," Melisha sighed.

"Th- Then who are you!?"

Petronella and Dahomira both clutched their fists as tears rolled down their cheeks.

"Didn't I tell you as Chaya, I had a twin sister. Her name was Kaylee. But she died too, or rather... became the Frankenstein stitch chimera before you. That's right, the true face of the infamous Melisha Kamaleon was Kaylee Shamir all along. Now, before we begin, how about I tell you a quick story about how I got these scars," Kaylee smirked as she opened her eyes revealing nothing but Deep Blue eyes with gold pentagram rings within.

The full games:

White: Agatha Boradstone (2666) Black: Crina Mătăsos (2022)

1. f3 e5

2. g4 Qh4#

White: Ionica Frâncu (1922) Black: SPCM Katie Knox (2389)

1. b4 e5

Move reserve:

United States of America: None

Moldova: None

White: Mimoko Inoue (2809) Black: DSPCM Petronella Roos (2202)

1. g3 e5

2. c4 Bb4