Chapter 584:

Bongcloud blunder

En Passant Grandmaster

The game between Iori and Mimoko began with e4 and e5, which while fairly common, was met with scrutiny from arbiter and spectator alike.

"That fucking bitch thinks she can ruin my prep, I'll win this, then kick her ass!" Iori thought as she slammed her king down on e2.

"So you're going for this after all against me. Iori-chan, I can already sense how distraught you are, I'm sorry you're getting swept into this mysterious mess. Just try to take this match seriously," Mimoko thought as she moved her bishop to d5.

The move quickly changed Iori's attitude as a smile spread across her face. "That fucking heart exploder must think she's got us trapped in a "we scripted the whole thing ahead of time" thing, but now's where things go off the rails," she thought just as Emmie walked over. "Oh, look who it is. EAT SHIT, FUCKER!" she thought as she defied the prediction Emmie made and moved her knight to f3.

"Oh look at that, my prediction went to shit... But I'm not the only one who can make predictions, or rather, see the future," Emmie thought as Mimoko moved her pawn to d5.

Emmie lingered around just a bit longer, watching Iori move her knight to c3 and Mimoko capture the pawn at e4 with her d-pawn before heading back to her own board.

"Fucking bitch, Mimo-chan's not the kind of opponent I can afford to take on with a gutter mind. I need to focus now... Emmie's a bitch, scatslut69 is shit... Fuck. I've never been messed with this much!" Iori thought as she captured the pawn at e4 with her knight.

Up in the commentating booth, Ilmi stared at her screen with great glee. "Ah, näyttää siltä, että Iori häviää. Sitä saat, kun pelaat Bongcloudin kaltaista paskaa [Ah, looks like Iori's losing. That's what you get when you play shit like the Bongcloud]!" she laughed as Mimoko moved her bishop to b6.

"She is known for specializing in the unorthodox, but Mimoko's the type of player who can counter such trickery with ease. I imagine Iori wanted to go for a quick trip up versus a long and drawn out battle, but haste makes waste as they say, especially when it's classical time control," Daria smiled as Iori moved her pawn to d3.

"I bet that broadcast from Emmie messed with her. Just look at her face. I don't remember her ever sporting such an expression back in Budapest," Saloni frowned as Mimoko moved her knight to c6.

"This is easily the toughest match of her career, and she knows it, yet her psych was completely tormented by an old advisory. Sadly, the WWCF ruled Emmie broke no rules," Daria sighed as Iori moved her pawn to b4.

"Chess is mental, so that means you gotta brush off shit like this in order to get in the right headspace. Guess it shows her fortitude's weak," Ilmi sneered as Mimoko moved her pawn to f5.

"Careful, she's the type that does watch the broadcasts, and if I recall correctly, she can rematch you for just a point."

"Tch, she only rematched me because her win against me before didn't count for the DSPCM badge. But ultimately, her using me as a sandbag wouldn't do her much here considering I'm not in the tournament," Ilmi huffed as Iori moved her bishop to g5.

"And the eval bar's almost all black. Come to think of it, Iori just barely snagged a GM norm in Budapest due to the level of opposition she faced. I don't think she's actually beaten anyone above 2600 in a one-on-one," Saloni noted as Mimoko moved her g-knight to e7.

"Well, this is the top seed in the tournament, and also someone that knows her well. It's to be expected she face such stiff opposition. Still, I think this game can be used as a good learning experience for those watching as to why you should not play dubious openings against the best in the world," Daria scowled as Iori moved her knight to c3. "Ah, this is perfect. Take a look at the board everyone. With this, Iori's giving up the pawn on b4 to the knight, but will equalize later. Care to guess how?" she asked as Mimoko captured the pawn at b4 with her knight.

"Hmm, I actually can't see it."

"Don't look at me. I'm the sub-2300 perspective," Ilmi snarled.

"But you're closer to Iori's level than us. Thus, you might be able to get a better perspective. Ah, and she just moved her queen to b1. Mimoko responds almost immediately by retreating her b-knight to c6."

"And you're asking me to predict how I'd move when I've got the engine before me? Kind of- Huh? A4? That's the best move? Like hell I'd do that! I hate it when those random moves are always stated to be the best... Hmm, fucking king's still out like a perv letting it all hang loose standing in their front lawn. I'd move it back."

"How about you, chat?"

The chat flooded with numerous responses, but one in particular caused Daria's eyes to widen with shock. "Queen b3... no..."

"Hmm? Queen b3? Yeah, no way. Must be a-"

But Iori's very next move was queen b3, turning both Saloni and Daria pale for different reasons.

"Um, what's so bad about it?" Ilmi scowled.

Daria took a deep breath as Mimoko moved her pawn to e4. "I said there was going to be an equalization, but I never said it was going to be an equalization of the game. In fact, it's a trick question," she declared as Iori captured the pawn at e4 with her d-pawn.

"Huh? f captures e4 then knight captures e4- Wait! If that happens..."

"Yes," Daria sighed as Ilmi's predicted moves came to pass. "If you try to equalize here, it comes at a price that all stemmed from 2. King e2."

"Check," Mimoko stated as she moved her knight to d4, forking the king and queen.

For the first time in a long time, it looked like true utter despair filled Iori's face, before her usual malicious grin came roaring back in an instant. "GOTCHA!" she thought as she captured the knight at d4 with her knight.

Ilmi stared in disbelief. "Huh? I thought you were implying she was gonna lose her queen," she fumed as Mimoko captured the knight at e4 with her queen.

"Oh that's cute. If you were to look at the game, things would look even material-wise, but equal as a whole? Not thanks to the Bongcloud," Daria scowled as Iori moved her rook to e1.

"Check," Mimoko mumbled as she moved her bishop to g4.

Iori smugly moved her pawn to f3, but her grin quickly vanished after Mimoko castled queen's side. "Fuck. That fucking bitch just had to show a 70 move game last night... Fuck!" she thought as she moved her bishop to e3.

Mimoko somberly nodded and captured the knight at e4 with her queen. "That game that was shown was of high-quality despite the dubious opening, and with it lasting over 70 moves, it'll make this game feel like an insult to your intellect. I wish it wasn't like this, but at a chessboard during a tournament, I'm afraid mercy is not something I can offer you," she thought as Iori dejectedly moved her king to f2.

She then captured the pawn at f3 with her bishop, with Iori attempting one final stand by moving her bishop to d3. All that amounted to was a sidestep and check via queen h4, further dampening Iori's spirits as she captured the bishop at f3 with her king. In came another check via h-rook f8, and Iori was forced to move her king to e2, lest she face a forced mate. Yet mate was merely a matter of when in this scenario as Mimoko was clearly closing in on victory after capturing the bishop at e3 with her bishop.

"Ah fuck it! Check," Iori groaned as she moved her queen to e6.

Though the game went on after Mimoko moved her king to b8, this could be argued as the moment Iori truly gave up. Pride prevented her from resigning as she fought on with king d1. But as Mimoko moved her bishop to g5, Iori's state of resignation became more apparent as she moved her rook to e5.

"It's over. Mimoko will win in under 10 moves," Daria sighed as Mimoko moved her queen to a4.

"That soon?" Saloni gasped as Iori moved her rook to e3.

"Yes. When Iori realizes she's lost, pride prevents her from resigning, yet she's not the type that likes a long drawn out game. Thus, she'll resign by hastening mate on the board," Daria stated as Mimoko moved her knight to d5.

"Looks like you're right. Engine says mate in 8 maximum," Saloni noted as Iori moved her rook to h3.

"And she just cut it down to mate in 5. Even I can see a mate like this easy," Ilmi scoffed as Mimoko moved her queen to f4.

"Rook e3, knight captures e3, check, then it's a choice of where you want to be mated," Saloni frowned as the moves she predicted came to pass.

"Looks like Iori chose king c1, meaning knight d1, check is Mimoko's next move. Heh, that predicted game was 76 moves, but Iori's losing in 30. She really got overestimated," Ilmi smirked as things played out exactly as she foretold.

Though she had the chance to end things quickly, Iori decided to delay for just a single move more by moving her queen to e3. "Fuck, 30 moves... I wanna cry... I really wanna cry," she thought as Mimoko captured her queen at e3 with her queen, checking her and forcing her king to choose between either b1 or taking the knight at d1. "Well, fuck. Just finish it," she mumbled aloud as she opted to capture the knight at d1 with her king.

"I'm sorry I won under these circumstances. Checkmate," Mimoko frowned as she moved her queen to d2, winning the game.

Iori slowly rose, trembling as she sniffled her nose and tried to act normally as she walked out. But once she found a little alcove to inhabit, she began to cry.

"FUCK! FUCKING EMMIE! YOU RUINED IT! YOU RUINED MY SHOWDOWN WITH MIMO-CHAN! I HAD A FUCKING PLAN, BUT YOU... YOU RUINED EVERYTHING WITH THAT FUCKING VIDEO... WAAAAAH!"

Mimoko clenched her fist as she too began to tear up. "That girl... did she really need to do all that? Could she be behind Mimoko Tanabe? I think she was able to predict the future, so maybe, but then... Why deliberately make that false prediction video? To ruin our psychs? Possibly. But something tells me it isn't so simple," she thought.

The full game:

White: Iori Ishikiridokoro (2488) Black: Mimoko Inoue (2858)

1. e4 e5

2. Ke2 Bc5

3. Nf3 d5

4. Nc3 dxe4

5. Nxe4 Bb6

6. d3 Nc6

7. b4 f5

8. Bg5 Nge7

9. Nc3 Nxb4

10. Qb1 Nbc6