A portal to International Chess Day [Season 8 Intro]

In Kawaguchi, Saitama, Japan, there exists a school known as Shogikawa gakuin. Founded by an ambitious shogi player from a vast shogi lineage, shogi was meant to be the school's entire theme, but now it's more famous for it's chess club. A chess club with members who have now won gold at the Chess Olympics, both individually and as a team. Okisato Tanabe, Iori Ishikiridokoro, and of course Mimoko Inoue are the big three standout names. Growing talent such as Azenira-chan and Zago-kun also catch eyes as does Utami Enoki, who's steadily rising through the ranks. There's even a member who's also an SPCM on the side for Japan's secret chess maestro, Maestro Himitsu, Mimoko's own mother and formerly known as one of the chess world's biggest monsters, Daria Inashiki. Perhaps the only member of note with nothing to their name despite their lineage would be Yuusuke Shousen, the son of top chess player, Hagemi Shousen. But perhaps his time to shine could come soon...

...

Mimoko yawned as she descended down the stairs to the dining room. With the Chess Olympics over, school was now her primary focus at the moment as she now had to make up all the work she had missed while away in Budapest.

"I hear the school's finally getting a new principal. Hope it's someone better than the lard you had before," Daria huffed as she served Mimoko some eggs on rice.

"I'm surprised it's taken this long," Ichimitsu grumbled as he read his newspaper.

"I think it was because the old principal had full control over everything, so finding a successor proved difficult. Utami-chan would seem lime the heiress, but since she's only 16, and doesn't have any academic standout feats, the school board likely won't allow her to take over," Mimoko stated.

"She tell ya all that? Come to think of it, haven't seen her for a while."

"She nearly glomped me when I returned to school yesterday. Apparently she's also been trying to hold down the fort at the chess club while we were away."

"That reminds me, any updates on it?"

"Well, actually yes. It seems new member applications are through the roof. Everyone now knows we got gold, and have been hounding us non-stop. It's even crazier than the time when I first got my rating."

"You are the hot item of the week."

"More than that. We've apparently made national TV throughout the tournament."

"N- National TV?"

The slight tinge of anxiety in Daria's voice gave Mimoko pause, however, Daria brushed it off as simple surprise. All attention was then diverted to the TV as Daria flipped on the Chess channel.

"How's it going? Brett Finesilver, GM. Here with me is Levon D'Rook. Say hi," a middle-aged man grumbled.

"Ladies and gentlemen... Have you ever wanted to take a portal back in time? Well today we will. This game was from an International Chess Day celebration in Vilnius and Lublin back in 2021. To give some context, there exist these sculptures called "Portals". These have 24-hour livestreams of different locations wherever a sculpture like it is. The first two portals in Vilnius and Lublin were set up on May 26th, 2021. Nearly two months later, the WWCF had a collab with the makers of the sculptures to host a little chess tournament with them on International Chess Day. Here's the appetizer to start you off," a younger man stated.

The scene then changed to show two people. One was a man named, Žygimantas Vilčinskas, sitting in front of the portal sculpture in Vilnius, while the other was a woman named, Izolda Yagoda, sitting in front of the portal sculpture in Lublin.

Izolda opened the game by moving her pawn to c4 as Žygimantas responded by moving his knight to c6. She then moved her pawn to e4, to which Žygimantas mirrored her by moving his pawn to e5. Then came the wild play of queen h5, which was met with a typical knight f6.

Then came the truly crazy part as Izolda decided to move her pawn to c5, allowing Žygimantas to capture the queen at h5 with his knight. Izolda still breamed with confidence though as she moved her bishop to c4, yet reality quickly set in for her as Žygimantas moved his knight to f4. She frantically moved her knight to c3, but it was no use.

"Check. It's too late to regret your actions now," Žygimantas declared as he captured the pawn at g2 with his knight.

"I thought they said you'd go easy," Izolda stuttered as she moved her king to e2.

"This is not my trial; this is an exhibition with pride and rating on the line. Check," Žygimantas glared as he moved his knight to f4.

"No... I heard... I heard you could be beaten easily," Izolda stammered as she moved her king to f3.

"No, you heard completely wrong. Blame whoever gave you the information for your woes. Check," Žygimantas scoffed as he moved his knight to d4.

All Izolda could do now was grit her teeth in frustration as she moved her king to g3.

"Checkmate. You have lost," Žygimantas declared as he moved his queen to g5, winning the game.

And after that, the commentators began analyzing the game.

Mimoko shrugged as she finished her breakfast and began to head out. "I was hoping I'd get to catch something a bit more intricate, but I guess sometimes you catch games like that."

"Have fun at school," Daria waved as Mimoko headed off.

Once Mimoko was gone though, Daria began to frown.

"Worried about all the press you're going to get?" Ichimitsu asked.

"No helping it. But I'm more worried about news reaching THEM," Daria sighed.

The full game:

White: Izolda Yagoda (n/a) Black: DSPCM Žygimantas Vilčinskas (2616)

1. c4 Nc6

2. e4 e5

3. Qh5 Nf6

4. c5 Nxh5

5. Bc4 Nf4

6. Nc3 Nxg2+

7. Ke2 Nf4+

8. Kf3 Nd4+

9. Kg3 Qg5#