Chapter 592:

Martian mayhen

En Passant Grandmaster

Back at the venue, Muazzez chuckled as the last few games of the round ended. "Well, that was a bust... for me. Y'all know I sometimes get deprived of catching great moments, but good thing we got recordings, so to drag out the airtime and extend my pay period, let's take a look at a game that already ended. How about... Iori vs Arina. That looks like a good one."

...

Going back in time to the start of round 4, Iori opened up her game against Arina by moving her pawn to e4, to which Arina responded to by moving her pawn to c6.

"Caro-Kann? Alright, I'll try for one of the intergalactic wormholes," Iori thought as she moved her pawn to d4.

Arina was willing to humor her as she moved her pawn to d5, allowing Iori to advance towards the desired gambits by moving her knight to c3. Arina captured the pawn at e4 with her d-pawn, with Iori eagerly capturing said pawn with her knight. But then came bishop g5 from Arina.

"Heh? Won't get a pure Alien, huh? Let's got to Mars then!" Iori thought as she moved her knight to g5.

Against a grandmaster, the chances of Iori's desired gambit being possible were pretty slim, yet not impossible as Arina moved her bishop to g6, fulfilling the final major prerequisite needed for the gambit to be a go.

"So close, but with g6 down, h6 should come naturally and then we landing on Mars," Iori thought as she moved her 1-knight to f3.

And sure enough, Arina moved her pawn to h6, meaning the mission to Mars was on.

"BLAST OFF! Coming outta the wormhole, it's the Martian Gambit!" Iori thought as she grinned and moved her knight to e6.

"Ara, ara. What a reckless attack, but I'm sure you thought hard about it. Better luck next time," Arina thought as she captured the knight at e6 with her f-pawn.

"NOPE! Trap starts NOW!" Iori thought as she moved her knight to e5.

Arina's face winced as she frowned and slowly moved her bishop to f7.

"Yup, run n' hide, the Martians are here," Iori thought as she moved her bishop to c4.

Arina didn't need to run for the hills just yet as she comfortably moved her knight to f6, but Iori would test her resolve starting with a king's side castle.

"Hmm, I don't think that was the right play. Castling really can be a double-edged sword at the higher levels," Arina thought as she moved her pawn to b5.

Iori didn't feel nervous in the slightest as she moved her bishop back to b3, awaiting Arina's next move. "The castle might've been a stumble, but you fell flat right after me with that," she thought as Arina moved her b-knight to d7. "Yeah, I could've been in trouble if you played that a move earlier, but you didn't, so Imma go for the lunar, er, Martian landing," she thought as she captured the bishop at f7 with her knight.

This left Arina with little choice but to capture said knight with her king, lest she wish to be a major piece down. With the king lured out a bit, Iori began lining up the cannons for an attack by moving her rook to e1. It clearly intimidated Arina as she slowly began to frown and think a bit before hesitantly moving her pawn to g5.

"Oof! Martian lasers got her brain good," Iori thought as she moved her pawn to a4.

Arina then moved her king to g7, allowing Iori to capture the pawn at b5 with her a-pawn. Then came the head scratcher of the game as Arina opted to move her pawn to c5 rather than capture.

"Oh, well blood you want, blood you gonna get," Iori thought as she smirked and captured the pawn at e6 with her bishop.

Arina scowled ever slightly as she retaliated by capturing the pawn at d4 with her c-pawn. "So aggressive. You really should take a meditation class," she thought as Iori moved her pawn to b4.

Little did she know Iori meditated at least 10 minutes each day as part of her ninja training.

"I'm calmer than you think. How about you throw the first punch so I can dodge and counter," Iori thought as she moved her bishop to b2.

With an audible sigh, Arina captured the pawn at b5 with her a-pawn, allowing for a trade of rooks starting with rook captures a8 and ending with queen captures a8. Iori managed to snag an extra pawn from the deal though as she captured the pawn at d4 with her bishop.

"I'm still up two pawns, but what can I do now? Perhaps retreating is best," Arina thought as she moved her queen to e8.

"Bunching up? Lol, the Martian Gambit comes with Martian lasers that can turn your kingside into the crater of mate," Iori thought as she captured the knight at d7 with her bishop.

Now panic finally made it's way to Arina as she now found herself down by a pawn and in a precarious position. "Oh no, I played too cautiously and bunched everything up. And if I capture that bishop, I lose my queen. I hope I can get out of this. I don't want to lose two games in a row," she thought as she moved her queen to b8.

"And the bishop gets away! Not like you could capture it anyway with your lame-o king pinned up like a cushion," Iori thought as she flashed Arina a smug grin while slowly sliding her bishop to f5.

Sweat pouring down her face, Arina nervously moved her pawn to h5, but that would prove to be a fatal mistake as Iori now had a laser cannon all lined up for mate.

"BOOM, CHECK! Your ass just got blasted by Martian lasers!" Iori grinned as she captured the knight at f6 with her bishop.

Arina let out a dejected grunt and captured said bishop with her king.

"Uhp, we reloading. CHECK!" Iori laughed as she moved her rook to e6.

"Ngh, I can't capture... I have to run," Arina thought as she moved her king to f7.

"She not resigning? Does she not see the mate? Eh, it'll be over soon anyway so who cares," Iori shrugged in her mind as she moved her queen to d5.

But Arina could now clearly see mate was inevitable, yet continued to struggle by moving her queen to e5.

"Lol, I'm getting my norm points. Check," Iori grinned as she captured the queen at e5 with her rook.

"Maybe she'll botch this," Arina thought as she moved her king to g7.

Her hopes were quickly dashed as Iori moved her rook to e6, perfectly aware of how to end the game from here.

"Ah, no dice. One more roll, maybe?" Arina thought as she moved her rook to h6.

Iori captured said rook without hesitation with her rook.

"Ah, bishop vs queen and bishop. I'm done... Might as well let it play out since it's so close. Some do prefer mates on the board vs resignations," Arina thought as she captured the rook at h6 with her king.

And after Iori moved her queen to f7, all Arina could do was make an obligatory move before the curtains closed. With a soft smile, she nudged her pawn to e5.

"And you've been conquered by the Martians! Checkmate!" Iori snickered as she captured the bishop at f8 with her queen, winning the game.

"Ah, so aggressive. Hah, two losses in a row for me. I'm going to be an under-2500 grandmaster if this keeps up, Arina sighed.

The full game:

White: Iori Ishikiridokoro (2488) Black: DSPCM Arina Mimmi (2500)

1. e4 c6

2. d4 d5

3. Nc3 dxe4

4. Nxe4 Bf5

5. Ng5 Bg6

6. N1f3 h6

7. Ne6 fxe6

8. Ne5 Bf7