Holding the line

While the Iori and Agatha battle had played out on board 4, on board 1, Elenora had decided to open the game by moving her knight to c3, hoping it would catch Daria off guard. That wasn't the case though as d5 and e4 were played, it was a Scandinavian Defense: Closed, an opening Daria could easily handle. She advanced her pawn to d4, frustrating Elenora as she was now forced to move her c-knight to e2. Daria quickly gained a foothold over the center by moving her pawn to e5, but Elenora struck back by moving her knight to g3.

"She's only moved that knight and that one pawn thus far. I guess she has something in mind, no matter how good it actually is," Daria thought as she moved her bishop to e6.

A bold plan was certainly on Elenora's mind as she launched her pawn to c4. "En passant. I dare you," she thought.

But Daria was no idiot and moved her pawn to h5, eliciting a scowl from Elenora as she moved her pawn to d3.

"You'll need to keep your face encased in beauty cream for a week straight if you want to erase the wrinkles your getting from all that scowling," Daria snickered as she moved her pawn to h4.

"My beauty regiment is quite rigorous as is. Yet it hasn't failed me once in my many years," Elenora scoffed as she moved her 3-knight to e2.

"Hmm, your makeup makes you look a tad older though. Maybe ditch the eyeshadow if you're going for the youthful look. Or I guess shaving your head might also do the trick," Daria shrugged as she moved her pawn to f5.

"I prefer the mature look. Also, I'd never shave my head willingly under any circumstances," Elenora glared as she moved her knight to f3.

"Not even if we swept ya?" Daria grinned as she captured the pawn at e4 with her f-pawn.

"Why would I humor such a bet?" Elenora glared as she captured the pawn at e4 with her d-pawn.

"If we don't sweep ya, I'll shave my head n' brows and jeep em shaved for the month. I'll also give you some WWCF points, say... 100,000?" Daria mused as she moved her queen to f6.

"No. I'm no gambler, so keep your bets to yourself. I only put down money when victory is 100% guaranteed, or when Agatha forces me into a casino and sits me down at a table where I'm forced to ante up against my wishes," Elenora growled as she moved her bishop to d2.

"Guess your 2802 rating isn't for show," Daria chuckled as she moved her knight to c6.

"And neither is my grandmaster title," Elenora huffed as she moved her queen to b3.

"And you're America's top female player too. Pretty impressive, though I don't think you've ever beaten a maestro," Daria noted as she castled queen's side.

"You'll be the first," Elenora glared as she moved her bishop to g5.

"Check. So would you bet on it? Say, fail to beat me and you shave your head and eyebrows?" Daria taunted as she moved her bishop to b4.

Elenora scowled in silence as she moved her knight to c3.

"Well?" Daria asked as she moved her queen to f8.

Elenora stared at the board before smiling malevolently and capturing the rook at d8 with her bishop. "No, because I'm going to beat you."

"Seems you're intelligence is beseeched with arrogance. No problem for me," Daria thought as she captured the bishop at d8 with her knight.

Agatha then launched an attack by moving her pawn to a3, making her intent to capture the bishop painfully obvious. Daria slid her bishop to a5, but Elenora gave chase and moved her queen to a4.

"Really want my bishop gone, huh," Daria thought as she moved her knight to c6.

Indeed she did as she reaffirmed the fact by moving her pawn to b4.

"I'll take your knight then," Daria thought as captured the knight at c3 with her d-pawn.

Elenora didn't care, and captured the bishop at a5 with her b-pawn. But the moment Daria moved her knight to c6, Iori won her game against Agatha.

"You've got to be kidding me!? That idiot lost!? I'm going to ink her damn head up and keep her bald for an eternity!" Elenora fumed in her mind as she moved her pawn to c5.

"And another one down," Daria thought as she moved her knight to g4.

Elenora then moved her bishop to c4, initiating a bishop trade, which Daria gladly accepted by capturing said bishop with her bishop.

Elenora naturally captured the bishop at c4 with her queen, but the moment Daria moved her knight to d4, her eyes were alit with malicious glee. "Finally! You've let your guard down, maestro, and now I, Elenora Broadstone, shall claim the honor of being the first from my family to fell a maestro," she thought as she captured the knight at d4 with her knight.

"Check. That's 2-0 for us," Daria smirked as she captured the pawn at f2 with her queen.

Elenora's jaw dropped in utter shock as her consciousness began to fade. "I... I blundered to mate in 2!? No... I'm 2800-level," she stuttered as she barely managed to muster the strength to move her king to d1 before fainting.

"Checkmate. You got too greedy with minor pieces, and now you'll pay the price in hair and eyebrows," Daria huffed as she moved her queen to d2, winning the game.

And over on board 3, Azenira prevailed over Katie, giving Japan a 3-0 lead and the match victory.

"Like, unreal. We're going to get swept," Katie trembled.

But despite the match victory, there was still immeasurable tension erupting from board 2 as Mimoko and Kuon played a ferocious game. Quickly, it became apparent that move-for-move, it was playing out exactly like the game between Daria and Xiao Lin from round 6. For Mimoko, this couldn't have been any better, as now, at the exact same point Daria was at when Xiao Lin resigned, Kuon was forced to play on, meaning she could soon be subject to a humiliating execution upon the chessboard.

...

Over in the men's section, Randy had opened his game against the masked man by moving his pawn to b3. The masked man responded by moving his pawn to e5, and all seemed normal with bishop b2, knight c6, e4, and knight f6 following. But then Randy made the more risqué play of bishop d3. To his part, the masked man decided to humor him and played bishop c5. Knight c3 and a6 followed before another bold play from Randy, knight d5, was in play.

"Randy's certainly stepping out of his comfort zone. Perhaps he's a tad intimidated by me and trying to catch me off guard," the masked man thought as he moved his pawn to d6.

"Check. This time you're getting the rug pulled out from under ya," Randy declared as he captured the knight at f6 with his knight.

"As I thought, but you're nowhere near my level," the masked man thought as he captured the knight at f6 with his queen.

The action picked up again with knight f3, g5, a king's side castle, and bishop d7 occurring before Randy made the decisive blunder of the game by moving his queen to e2. He quickly realized his mistake the moment the masked man moved his pawn to g4, but decided to stick it out. However, after knight e1, g3, h captures g3, h5, queen d1, a queen's side castle, b4, and knight captures b4, Randy had enough and resigned.

"I thought I could trip you up, but I ended up tripping over my own feet," Randy smiled as he shook hands with the masked man.

Despite being down a player, the masked man and Zago had rallied to give Japan a 2-1 lead, though whether or not a match win or draw was on the table all centered on how quickly Okisato could deal with Ginji.

The full games:

White: Elenora Broadstone (2802) Black: Maestro Himitsu (Daria Inoue) (3200)

1. Nc3 d5

2. e4 d4

3. Nce2 e5

4. Ng3 Be6

5. c4 h5

6. d3 h4

7. N3e2 f5

8. Nf3 fxe4

9. dxe4 Qf6

10. Bd2 Nc6

11. Qb3 O-O-O

12. Bg5 Bb4+

13. Nc3 Qf8

14. Bxd8 Nxd8

15. a3 Ba5

16. Qa4 Nc6

17. b4 dxc3

18. bxa5 Nf6

19. c5 Ng4

20. Bc4 Bxc4

21. Qxc4 Nd4

22. Nxd4 Qxf2+

23. Kd1 Qd2#

White: DSPCM Randy Report (2723) Black: The masked man (101)

1. b3 e5

2. Bb2 Nc6

3. e4 Nf6

4. Bd3 Bc5

5. Nc3 a6

6. Nd5 d6

7. Nxf6+ Qxf6

8. Nf3 g5

9. O-O Bd7

10. Qe2 g4

11. Ne1 g3

12. hxg3 h5

13. Qd1 O-O-O

14. b4 Nxb4 (Black won due to White's resignation)