Pairings plan

With the first round coming to a close, it was time for everyone to look at the standings.

"Well, it's only round 1, so the number of players tied for the lead is plentiful," Saloni declared as the standings popped up on screen. Thanks to tie break scores, Yumi was technically in the lead, while Mimoko was towards the bottom, but as stated, this was only round 1 of 7.

"Guess we should highlight some of the players that were invited over. All these folks have mixed Japanese heritage, with some having previously been registered with the Japanese chess federation before switching over. Turns out most of these folks also live in Japan and hold Japanese citizenship, but federation swaps don't require you to change nationalities, in fact, you don't even have to live in the country you're registered to represent, such is the case of Fedotav of Slovenia, who actually lives in Prussia," Daria stated.

"Slovenia? I hear nothing but bad things about them, especially their wacko ruler, who's apparently named, Nastia. But if memory serves me right, our next guest commentator will be Slovenia's DSPCM."

"Replacing me already? The views will drop," Xiu snickered.

"You've got an exhibition to prepare for, unless you feel like having a bunch of kids walk all over you," Daria scoffed.

"Already treating me like I'm gonna lose. I'm barely in adulthood too."

"I never said you wouldn't win, but I don't think you'd score a perfect victory."

"Wanna bet on it?"

"No."

"I'm starting to see why Xiao Lin finds you so insufferable."

Banter aside, the motley crew of commentators managed to close out the broadcast without much issue. Going their separate ways, Saloni chose to remain in studio to compile some information for the next broadcast, while Daria was eager to meetup with Mimoko. Rendezvousing at home, the two played a casual 960, yet the conversation they had with each other was quite serious.

"Move for move, you played the exact same game that just showed up in Mimoko Tanabe's database this morning," Daria scowled.

"What does that mean?"

"I don't know. But I don't have a good feeling about it. The games becoming available to view before the match is what truly disturbs me."

"Any idea who's behind it?"

"No. This is why Miga's competing, so that she can try and snuff things out. Speaking of which..."

"I'm playing her tomorrow. It's a bit of a surprise, but in tournaments like this, pairings can be kind of wonky."

"Normally, I'd be happy to give you some pointers on how to handle her, but with Mimoko Tanabe being a menace, I want you to try and go in blind, to truly see the extent of what's going on."

"So I'd need to formulate a plan on how to beat her myself. No problem."

Little did Mimoko know, but Miga wasn't truly slated to be her opponent tomorrow. Though she was seemingly paired up against Miga on paper, the reality was that at the last minute, the organizers were to reveal there was a mistake with the pairings, and issue a revision pitting Mimoko against someone closer to her in the standings. While Miga was also tied for the lead with Mimoko and many others, her tie-break scores placed her significantly higher in the standings than her, setting up grounds for a pairings revision. This was all planned out ahead of time by the WWCF in order to try and expose the secrets of Mimoko Tanabe.

"Now, let's see if "Mimoko Tanabe" can handle a last-minute pairings change," Daria thought.