When the lights come back on

Going back in time to the start of round 2, things had started out normally in Miga's game with a French Defense: Classical, Burn, Morozevich Line consisting of e4, e6, d4, d5, knight c3, knight f6, bishop g5, d captures e4, knight captures e4, bishop e7, bishop captures f6, and g captures f6. "Mimoko" had then moved her knight to f3, prompting Miga to counter by moving her knight to d7. Then came knight c3, which should have been the first sign something was amiss, as Mimoko wasn't the type to play a shaky move like that against a high-level opponent, or against any-level opponent unless for instructive purposes.

Miga thought nothing of the play though and moved her knight to b6, but then came queen d3. "What? Is she deliberately going for a draw? I won't complain, but I thought she was the type that would go for the win," she thought as she moved her bishop to d7.

A queen's side castle from "Mimoko" further confused Miga as she moved her pawn to c6, but not as much as king b1.

Moving her queen to c7, Miga began to scowl as "Mimoko" moved her bishop to e2. "What is wrong with her? I watched all her games in Budapest, and she never played like this," she thought as she castled queen's side.

But angst quickly turned to disappointment following the plays of h4, c5 and knight e4. "This... This is a losing position. How disappointing, you must not be at your best," Miga thought as she moved her bishop to c6.

She spoke too soon as "Mimoko" then moved her pawn to b3, completely disgusting her. "You... I had respect for you," Miga angrily thought as she captured the knight at e4 with her bishop.

"Mimoko" captured said bishop with her queen, but quickly found herself at risk of a triple fork after Miga moved her knight to d5. Thus, she seemingly countered it by moving her rook to d3, but all this amounted to was worsening her position. Miga moved her pawn to f5, sending the queen packing to e5. If "Mimoko" thought this would lead to a queen trade, she was disappointed to learn nos such thing would happen as Miga moved her bishop to d6.

The queen fled to g7, but the h-rook was there at g8 in a flash, prompting "Mimoko" to resort to pawn snatching by capturing the pawn at h7 with her queen. the rook quickly retreated to h8, and the queen to g7, but once the d-rook arrived at g8, the queen was trapped. Thus, "Mimoko" decided to try and minimize her losses by capturing the rook at g8, putting the king in check, but not uttering a word as Miga instantly captured said queen with her remaining rook.

Desperate to flip the tables, "Mimoko" launched a counterattack by moving her pawn to c4, but ironically for her, the plan blew up in her face as Miga moved her knight to b4, setting off a rook chase. "Mimoko" moved her rook to d2, but it was quickly on it's way to b2 after Miga moved her bishop to f4. With a path to victory before her, Miga captured the pawn at d4 with her c-pawn, resulting in one final desperate counterattack from "Mimoko" as she moved her pawn to g3.

Miga slid her bishop back to h6, but "Mimoko" opened an attack on the other front by moving her pawn to a3. Miga responded with a threat of her own by moving her pawn to d3, but "Mimoko" called her out on it and captured the knight at b4 with her a-pawn. Miga retaliated by capturing the bishop at e2 with her d-pawn, but "Mimoko" seemingly came out on top as she captured said pawn with her rook. That was until Miga guaranteed herself at least three more points worth of material by moving her queen to c6. "Mimoko" chose to protect her rook and move it to h2, allowing Miga to capture the knight at f3 with her queen.

Now, it was mate in 6, though "Mimoko" went down kicking and screaming. Rook b2, rook d8, king a2, rook d1, rook c2, bishop g7, rook b2, queen c3, king a3, and Miga could put the finishing touches on her win, starting with a check via rook a1, forcing rook a2 from "Mimoko".

"Check. I'm disappointed, Mimoko Inoue," Miga snarled as she captured the rook at a2 with her rook.

"Huh? How so? With yourself?" Mimoko's voice rang out as "Mimoko" captured the rook at a2 with her king.

"Huh? What are you- Never mind."

"Checkmate!" the two said simultaneously as Miga moved her queen to b2, winning the game.

It was then that the mysterious fog cleared, leaving Miga horrified.

"Huh? Wh- Why am I playing you!?" Ina stammered as she found herself sitting across from Miga.

"I... I was playing Ina this whole time? How... How did I not realize it?" Miga trembled as she clutched her head.

The full game:

White: Ina Kirikawa (1800) Black: Miga Kirikawa (2702)

1. e4 e6

2. d4 d5

3. Nc3 Nf6

4. Bg5 dxe4

5. Nxe4 Be7

6. Bxf6 gxf6

7. Nf3 Nd7

8. Nc3 Nb6

9. Qd3 Bd7

10. O-O-O c6

11. Kb1 Qc7

12. Be2 O-O-O

13. h4 c5

14. Ne4 Bc6

15. b3 Bxe4

16. Qxe4 Nd5

17. Rd3 f5

18. Qe5 Bd6

19. Qg7 Rhg8

20. Qxh7 Rh8

21. Qg7 Rdg8

22. Qxg8+ Rxg8

23. c4 Nb4

24. Rd2 Bf4

25. Rb2 cxd4

26. g3 Bh6

27. a3 d3

28. axb4 dxe2

29. Rxe2 Qc6

30. Rh2 Qxf3

31. Rb2 Rd8

32. Ka2 Rd1

33. Rc2 Bg7

34. Rb2 Qc3

35. Ka3 Ra1+

36. Ra2 Rxa2+

37. Kxa2 Qb2#