Chapter 24:

An intro to 4-way chess

En Passant Grandmaster Volume 2

With the awards ceremony over and plenty of time before the rapid tournament, the chess club returned to the secret puzzle cafe. With Michiko currently engaged in a match, Himitsudono had been summoned to temporarily man the counter.

"I see some have gained some elo from the blitz tournament. So, what do you wish to do?" Himitsudono asked.

"How about trying some 4-way chess," Mimoko smiled.

"So you're going to attempt some 4-way chess then. Allow me to give you all some pointers then," Himitsudono bowed. "First off, there are two major variations of this; free for all, and teams. We'll start with free for all rules after going over the basics. There are 4 different colored armies on the board; red, blue, yellow, and green. Red always goes first, followed by blue, yellow, and lastly green. Now allow me to discuss the board. It is numbered 1 to 14 going from red to yellow and lettered A through N going from blue to green. This also means that some squares such as a1, a2, a3, a12, a13, a14, and so forth don't exist due to the board being an 8x8 with 3 rows of 8 cells extending from each side. The board's nature also means that pawns will promote on your 8th rank or file. For red, it is the 8th rank, blue the h-file, yellow the 7th rank, and green the g-file. Keep in mind that pawns will automatically promote into queens, and will still only be worth a point if captured in their promoted state."

"Points?" Mimoko asked.

"Yes, in free-for-all, the winner is not the last player standing, but rather the one with the most points. Like in normal chess, pawns are worth 1 point, knights are worth 3, rooks are worth 5, and queens are worth 9. However, bishops are worth 5 points rather than 3 due to them having far more power than a knight on this type of board. Kings are also worth 20 points, and can be captured, though mating a king will get you 20 points as well. You are also able to get additional points for putting multiple kings in check at once. In teams, the rules are a bit different than free-for-all. Teammates sit across from each other and are tasked with mating a member of the opposing team. Points don't matter, nor are king captures allowed. Teammates can also aid each other in both getting out of check, and putting the other team in check. Any further questions?"

"Yeah, can we challenge maestros to this?" Iori asked.

"Only if you yourself have beaten them, and in the case of team 4-way, only if both you and your teammate have done so. SPCMs and DSPCMs are a bit different. Normally, the challenge they normally put forth is what must be adhered to when challenging for your first win, but should they agree to it, or rather, you pay extra in points, an exception could be made."

"Like us deciding we wanna gang up on you for pissin' us off," Safumi snarled as she appeared with Doraaki.

Unlike before, Safumi was now riding in a scooter, prompting everyone to wonder why.

"Tch, my legs are shit, always have been. I can't walk for too long before they start wobblin' and making me tumble," Safumi growled.

"I hear you want to challenge us to 4-way, and since I'm the only one that would ever think to pair up with this lunatic, I tagged along when she said she wanted to 'kick the twintail's ass'," Doraaki snickered.

"I'll run your ass over!"

"So who feels like challenging us as a team?"

"Twintails needs to be one, or this is a no-go!"

Yuusuke quickly volunteered.

Once the points were exchanged, the teams then sat down at the board. Yuusuke was playing as red, Safumi as blue, Mimoko as yellow, and Doraaki as green.

"Just follow my lead, Inoue," Yuusuke grinned as he moved his pawn to h4.

"The thing about 4-player chess, is that knights are drastically nerfed in terms of power. Not to mention, the opening move theories from normal chess go out the window. That means genius here can't be relying on Ruys or whatever the hell they're called," Safumi grinned as she moved her pawn to c6.

"RUY LOPEZ! And you call yourself a grandmaster," Michiko scoffed as Mimoko moved her pawn to g11 without saying a word.

"All I need to remember is the lines. Besides, 960's got none of that shit," Safumi scoffed as Doraaki silently moved her pawn to k8.

Yuusuke then moved his pawn to f3, but as soon as Safumi moved her pawn to c5, he began to grin. Mimoko smiled back at him and nodded before capturing the pawn at b8 with her queen.

"Well you're jumpin' the gun," Doraaki chuckled as she moved her queen out to m8.

"Nah, we're winnin' this," Yuusuke grinned as he captured the pawn at c5 with his queen.

"More like hanging pieces," Safumi scoffed as she captured the queen at b8 with her queen.

"From your perspective," Mimoko smiled as she moved her bishop to g13.

"Her perspective is 2500-level," Doraaki smirked as she moved her queen to i4.

The next turn saw a chain reaction occur at b8. First, Yuusuke captured the queen with his bishop, then, Safumi captured said bishop with her own bishop, and finally, Mimoko captured Michiko's bishop with her bishop.

"You really are focusing everything on Safumi. Check," Doraaki smirked as she captured the pawn at h4 with her queen, prompting Yuusuke to move his knight to h2.

This allowed Safumi to capture the bishop at b8 with her knight, prompting Mimoko to move her pawn to d11.

"My, and you were so confident, but unfortunately that check threw a wrench in your plans," Doraaki chuckled as she moved her queen to c4.

"What do you mean? I'm the hero and the hero always wins!" Yuusuke grinned as he moved his queen to b6.

"Nah, you and twintails will get mated," Safumi snarled as she moved her knight to d7.

"Not in my plans," Mimoko huffed as she moved her pawn to d10.

"Well they're in mine," Safumi glared as Doraaki moved her queen to b5.

"My plans have me winning," Yuusuke grinned as he moved his queen to d8.

"As if I'd let you get a freebie win off me because of my partner," Safumi scoffed as she moved her knight to b8.

"What do you mean!?" Yuusuke asked as Mimoko moved her pawn to d9.

"I'm only 2206 compared to the oh so might 2559 across from me," Doraaki groaned as she moved her bishop to h3.

"That sounds good for us," Yuusuke grinned as he moved his pawn to e4.

"Nah, I'm gonna carry this shit," Safumi growled as she castled king's side.

Mimoko's eyes widened as she paused for a bit before moving her rook to d10.

Doraaki immediately began to scowl. "Oi Safumi, the hell are you doing!?" she snarled as she captured the bishop on f1 with her queen.

"It's strategy. Now back me up, boyfriend," Safumi growled as Yuusuke captured the queen at f1 with his knight.

Doraaki's whole demeanor seemed to shift as immense rage and resentment overtook her face. "YOU BITCH! YOU KNOW DAMN WELL I HATE BEIN' CALLED A BOY! I DON'T CARE IF MY FAMILY TRIED TO RAISE ME LIKE ONE, I'M A GIRL, DAMMIT!"

Ever since she was born, Doraaki had been raised as a boy by her father. The reason being that her father wanted a son, but ended up with a daughter instead. At first, Doraaki didn't seem to mind, and happily helped out at her family's lumber company. However, once she started school, she began to get teased. At first, she brushed it off, and didn't care about what others said. However, that all changed when she hit puberty.

Before she knew it, Doraaki suddenly had a mature feminine body, which not only led to her being treated differently by her peers, but also her family. Now, her father was telling her to focus more on making herself more womanly instead of helping out at the company. Her male peers also began more openly flirting with her, while some of her female peers, jealous of how beautiful she became and how all the boys were starting to flirt with her, began to harass her. The most stinging insult that was hurled at her was being called a boy.

Doraaki tried her best to ignore them, but one day, she couldn't take much more and ended up slugging one of the bullies in the face. To make matters worse, the girl she hit was the daughter of an influential man. Rather than seeking to just punish Doraaki though, the man opted to go after not just her, but her entire family and their company, and before anyone knew it, the company Doraaki's family ran had gone out of business. Things didn't end there though as the man continued to harass Doraaki and her family which eventually resulted in them being thrown in prison on beefed up charges.

However, Maestro Himitsu ended up learning about her and her circumstances. It was thanks to her that she ended up getting a second chance at life and was introduced to the world of chess, eventually managing to become a SPCM.

"Calm down, it was just some teasing," Safumi grumbled as she moved her pawn to c9 while Rodeo moved his knight to d12.

Doraaki suddenly calmed down and returned to how she was before. "Yeah, I get it. And hey, you want me to wear the suit, I'll wear it, honey. Oh, but with how much bigger my tits are than yours, coupled with your violent personality, the suit would look so much better on you," she grinned as she moved her bishop to b9.

"YOU'RE FUCKING DEAD FOR THAT! MY TITS ARE WAY BIGGER THAN YOURS!" Safumi roared as Yuusuke captured the pawn at c9 with his queen. "You see this maiden mane!? Wanna talk about wearing the dress instead of me, grow out your hair till it gets to my length!" she fumed as she moved her king to a11.

Mimoko simply remained silent and captured the pawn at b10 with her rook.

"Nah, long hair sucks. I'd rather be bald like Mizuse than have hair down to my ankles," Doraaki smirked as she moved her bishop to a10.

Yuusuke meanwhile didn't seem to care about Doraaki and Safumi's banter as he gazed at the board then back up at Mimoko "We got this, Inoue. Let's do it!" he grinned as he captured the rook at a9 with his queen.

Doraaki immediately began to go pale as Safumi moved her pawn to c11. "And why are you panicking? We're trapping them," Safumi snarled as Mimoko captured the bishop at a1 with her rook.

"YOU IDIOT! NOW WE'RE SCREWED!" Doraaki cried as she dejectedly slammed her pawn down on j8.

"What do you-"

"Checkmate! Guess it was a complete victory for our team," Yuusuke grinned as he moved his queen to b10, winning the game.

Safumi's eyes twitched before bulging in rage. "ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME!? DORAAKI, YOU FUCKING IDIOT!"

"ME!? YOU messed up!"

"Now, now, calm down you two. How about this? Safumi gets a rematch, but with me as her partner," Mizuse smiled.

A malicious grin spread across Safumi's face. "Sure, I'll take it. Unlike bitch boy over there, you're actually a competent player."

A vein burst on Doraaki's forehead as she readied to slug Safumi here and now.

"First, give the winners their prize," Himitsudono warned.

"Yeah, yeah. Badge, rematch rights, points, yada, yada, yada," Safumi grumbled.

"Ditto," Doraaki scowled before she angrily plopped down on the couch.

"Mimoko, are you fine with the rematch? You would technically need to pay a standard fee since you haven't beaten me yet, but I'm sure your winnings just now cover it," Mizuse smiled.

"I accept," Mimoko smiled.

"Shall your partner be the same?"

Mimoko paused. "No, if it's alright, I'd like Utami-chan to swap in. Is that alright, Shousen-kun?"

"Eh, I actually got two SPCM badge things already. Besides, I already beat blondie, so I got no reason to face her again," Yuusuke shrugged.

"HUH!? YOU WANNA GO TOO!?" Safumi roared.

Yuusuke instinctively recoiled in terror as Hagemi flashed before him.

"Enough of the shouting. Safumi, let's settle this. I assume Utami is willing to play?" Mizuse asked.

Utami stepped forth, a stern glare on her face. "For Mimoko-sama, I'll destroy you both."

The full game:

Red: Yuusuke Shousen (1512) Blue: SPCM Himitsusan (Safumi Bouzi) (2559) Yellow: Mimoko Inoue (2714) Green: SPCM Himitsukun (Doraaki Soten) (2206)

1. h4 c6 g11 k8

2. f3 c5 Qxb8 Qm8