Chapter 10:

Maestro Xiao Lin

En Passant Grandmaster Volume 2

A series of red handprints adorned Okisato's face as he sat on the train.

"I can't believe you. I was worried sick about Utami-chan, and look at her! She's exhausted! The first round starts at 9:30, you know," Mimoko glared as she rested Utami on her lap.

"It's just the blitz. The first round of the main tournament doesn't start till 2," Okisato mumbled.

"Which is exactly why she needed proper sleep! Those rounds will go by quickly."

"But I trained her-"

"To the back of the train, you're banished from the group!"

"Yes ma'am," Okisato sighed as he got up and headed towards a different train car.

The car Okisato entered was completely empty aside from one man who was reading a book.

"Well you look depressed," Peter snarled as Okisato sat down.

"Ah, Peter. I got banished for acting recklessly.”

"I happened to gaze at your match data for your game against Kazuya. So what was with the reckless moves?"

"It was an odds game, but one of my juniors was trapped in the b-pawn so I had to keep her from being captured or she'd die. She'd also die if she got promoted."

"Because the pawn itself is technically removed from play, yes?"

"Yeah, though I figured he wanted me to promote Utami-chan's pawn in order to mate me with my own victory."

"But you were able to read his mind."

"Yeah, plus in the event where he was fooling me all along, I had an airbag placed on the ground and made sure the punishment was simply just jumping off the roof of the school."

"So you were playing 3D chess in a sense."

"Sadly it ended in a draw as Tsar Grigori was able to retrieve his allies and get away. Though in the eyes of the court of public opinion, we did land a blow to some of our fiercest critics at the school by exposing Kazuya as a Desperado."

"I see. Well then allow me to air some of my grievances to you as I'm in a fowl mood.

"Ugh, are you gonna gaslight me too?"

"No, I'm referring to my terrible trip to China and my bout with that despicable woman..."

...

A few days ago on Jade Shadow Mountain in Lijiang, China, a large man with a pigtail and mustache smirked as he stared down Peter.

"My patience has vanished. Never have I ever been so irritated by someone supposedly good at chess," Peter snarled.

"How bout you hand over your valuables now then? It would save us both the trouble when you lose the bout," the large man sneered as he cracked his knuckles.

"If you want to beat me, then do it at the chess board."

"Sorry, Maestro's rules state you gotta beat me in a kung-fu variation of chess boxing, so tough luck. Though we are considering allowing folks to request custom challenges, for a fee of course."

"So your maestro is consumed by greed, which is why they propose such outrageous challenges. A shame you don't propose normal kung-fu chess as at least that is a fun discipline."

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"Kung-fu chess is a variant where you can move pieces simultaneously. It's completely different from regular chess, but more strategy-based then the maestro's current favored approach. At least there were a few decent SPCMs that decided to have chess 960 be their challenge, but enough prattle. Let's start with the kung-fu and get this over with."

"Giving up your advantage!? Well Master Xiao Lin will have it easy then. Prepare to be crushed by SPCM Qiang Bai!"

As soon as the first round began, Peter immediately knocked the man out with a single punch. "I said my patience has vanished, now where is the maestro!?"

"Dear Peter, patience is a strong virtue, especially for a chess player," a woman's voice rang out.

Peter turned to see a beautiful woman with green hair clad in a jade dress and kung-fu shoes standing on a rock in the middle of a lake.

"And are you the maestro?"

"Yes, my name is Xiao Lin, and I am the secret chess maestro of China. I rank 5th among the 7, both skill-wise, and the order in which you've found us."

"And the order I'll beat you. Now, I believe I have enough points, so let's begin the match. I have a tournament I need to be at and I will NOT take a bye."

"So impatient. My trial is the kung-fu chess I'm sure you're all too familiar with."

"All the other maestros simply played a game of chess. Sure they implemented things like requiring you to play a certain color or had fast time controls, but they were still pure chess games at the end of the day, so why are you different?"

"I believe a strong mind should also be accompanied by a strong body. Now, we shall duel along the stones. Falling into the water will result in instant loss. Though make it to the central island, and you will get to play me for 5 minutes before we finish things off with kung-fu."

"And I can't pay to make this a simple chess match?"

"Not in the slightest since that would go against WWCF policy. Now before we begin, allow me to show you my card.

Peter stared as Xiao Lin summoned a black WWCF card before her. Her rating was listed as 3020, proving that she truly was a maestro, however that only frustrated Peter more as to why he couldn't simply play her in a game of regular chess.

After exchanging the points, Peter immediately darted for the island, hopping over the stones.

Xiao Lin attempted to take him out with multiple attacks, but he managed to avoid disqualification by the skin of his teeth and make it to the island.

"Well, you nearly hit the water, but now as promised, no more than 5 minutes of nothing but chess. You may go first, honored challenger," Xiao Lin bowed as she landed gracefully while Peter quickly moved his pawn to e4. "Oh by the way, when the 5 minutes are up, the game ends regardless of how much time we have left or close we are to winning," Xiao Lin snickered as she moved her pawn to e6.

"Don't you dare run down the clock for your own benefit," Peter snarled as he moved his pawn to d4.

"I would not," Xiao Lin snickered as she slowly moved her queen to h4.

"I will not have a chess match stripped from me due to your underhanded tactics!" Peter roared as he quickly moved his knight to c3.

"I said 5 minutes, did I not? Well, our play clocks are each 5 minutes, therefore, I only need to outlast the game timer to avoid losing. Then, the bout will be settled over kung-fu," Xiao Lin mused as she slowly moved her bishop to b4.

"I came to play chess. You are a chess maestro are you NOT!? Then play the game proper!" Peter roared as he moved his bishop to d3.

"Oh but I am," Xiao Lin mused as she slowly moved her knight to c6.

"If the game gets good, will you play till the end?" Peter calmly asked as he moved his knight to c3.

"Nope, I said 5 minutes overall, and should I so choose to let my clock run down, I would still have time left, and not be disqualified. In fact, we will only be able to play chess for 3 more minutes, then we settle the bout in one-on-one kung-fu. There won't be any more rounds after that," Xiao Lin mused as she slowly moved her queen to f6.

"DO NOT DEPRIVE ME OF A GOOD CHESS GAME! I WON'T ALLOW YOUR DELIBERATE STALLING TO SAVE YOU FROM MATE!" Peter roared as he rapidly moved his bishop to e3.

Xiao Lin began to scowl. "You truly scorn patience. Patience is a-"

"CUT THE BULLSHIT AND MOVE! PATIENCE DOESN'T MATTER WHEN THERE ISN'T TIME TO BE PATIENT!"

"Very well, you shall incur my wrath then," Xiao Lin scowled as she moved her pawn to e5, just as the clock went down to 2 and a half minutes.

Peter immediately castled on his king's side as Xiao Lin now began moving just as fast as him and captured the pawn at d4 with her e-pawn. He immediately moved his knight to d5 prompting Xiao Lin to move her queen to d8. Peter then captured the pawn at d4 with his knight as Xiao Lin moved her bishop to f8.

Rather than trading knights, Peter moved his bishop to f4 prompting Xiao Lin to counter by moving her bishop to d6. He immediately captured the bishop at d6 with his bishop, as Xiao Lin captured said bishop with her c-pawn. Peter then moved his queen to g4, forcing Xiao Lin to move her pawn to g6. Then, the decisive move happened; Peter moved his knight to f5.

"An impatient fool makes a harsh destructive choice that sets them on the path of ruin," Xiao Lin thought as she captured the knight with her g-pawn.

Peter, however, was undeterred as he moved his queen to g7.

Xiao Lin's eyes widened in shock. "No, I was a fool! ... I can only do my best to outlast him, and the clock," she thought as she moved her queen to e7.

Peter didn't hesitate in capturing the queen at e7 with his knight, as Xiao Lin immediately captured said knight with her c-knight.

"Don't you DARE stall," Peter glared as he captured the rook at h8 with his queen.

"I intend to, but not by slowing my physical movements," Xiao Lin snickered as she moved her king to c7.

Peter quickly moved his a-rook to e1 as Xiao Lin moved her pawn to b5.

"She's stalling, but she's through. I'll move faster than a second to force her to move," Peter thought as he captured the pawn at b5 with his bishop.

Xiao Lin moved her king to b6, prompting Peter to move his pawn to a4. She then smirked and slid her king to c5. Peter, however, was through with her games and moved his queen to c3.

"My, only a minute left. Just because I'm in check doesn't mean we'll go past 5 minutes," Xiao Lin sneered as she moved her king to b6.

"Then I'll mate you before time's up!" Peter yelled as he moved his pawn to a5.

"Doo dee doo dee doo," Xiao Lin hummed as she slowly moved her king to b7. "45 seconds," she sang as Peter moved his pawn to a6.

Xiao Lin slowly began walking her fingers along the board and moved the king to b6. Peter then slammed his queen down on b4, eliciting a sigh from Xiao Lin.

“So impatient. Why do you seek to void a kung-fu face off. Do you fear your imminent defeat at my hands, or should I say feet, since I am known for my kicks, oh 20 seconds left-"

"MATE IN 7, MOVE THE DAMN PIECE!"

Xiao Lin scowled and moved her king to c7. "I do hope you know that you SHOULD have better respect for an esteemed woman like myself," she scoffed as Peter moved his queen to a5.

"Less talk, move! Mate in 6!"

"Fine, 6 moves, IF they are within the time limit!" Xiao Lin sneered as she moved her king to b8.

Peter immediately moved his queen to d8 in under a half-second as Xiao Lin followed suit and moved her knight to f6.

As the match entered its final 10 seconds, Peter quickly captured the knight at e7 with his rook, sending it flying. Xiao Lin scowled and gently moved her pawn to d5 while Peter once again sent a piece flying as he captured the pawn at d7 with his bishop.

"Be more gentle, rudeness is a negative," Xiao Lin glared as she gently captured the bishop at d7 with her knight.

Peter didn't care, he was already well past his boiling point and for the third time, sent a piece flying; the knight he captured at d7 with his rook. "Mate in 1, now move," he snarled as the timer ticked down to 3 seconds.

Xiao Lin smirked and began to slowly move her hand towards a pawn and moved it to d4, just as the clock ticked down to the final second.

"Looks like time's-"

"CHECKMATE!" Peter roared as he moved his rook to b7 stopping the overall play clock with only a millisecond left.

Xiao Lin scowled. "Well, it seems the unvirtuous Impatience has won. You managed to best me within 5 minutes despite my stalling. Very well, your victory shall stand. Regrettably, this means you shall receive my badge as I acknowledge that you have truly and legally bested me, though in a rather rude manner. You also gain 1,000 points and the right to rematch me either in kung-fu chess, or normal chess. Now vacate the premises."

"WITH PLEASURE! You were by far the worst maestro I've faced!"

"And why is that?"

"Your challenges prioritize physical fighting over chess!"

"A maestro has every right to choose their own chess themed battle. Did the other's you face not have similar challenges?"

"No, in fact the only restrictions they placed were locking me to a certain color and/or time control FOR NORMAL CHESS! All your SPCMs save for Xiu and Tao attempted to goad me into some form of martial arts chess! I've swung my fist more than I've moved pieces! "You truly are a disgrace. Perhaps my expectations were raised after I fought the maestro of Japan."

Xiao Lin went quiet and began to bite her lip in frustration.

"Maestro Himitsu truly is a worthy rival, yet she claims she’s 'second only to one'. Therefore, I assume one of the maestros I have yet to face bested her, since she mentioned I’m only the 2nd person to ever beat her. But it seems that person clearly wasn't you!"

"I see. Now go. You have soured my mood by bringing up that woman."

"Very well."

The full game:

White: Peter Morphy (2880) Black: Maestro Xiao Lin (3020)

1. e4 e6

2. d4 Qh4

3. Nc3 Bb4

4. Bd3 Nc6

5. Nf3 Qf6

6. Be3 e5

7. O-O exd4

8. Nd5 Qd8