Chapter 25:

Beauty and the bitch

En Passant Grandmaster Volume 2

Once the points were exchanged, everyone got in position. Safumi was now playing as red this time with Mimoko on Blue, Mizuse on yellow, and Utami on green.

"I'll show you what happens when I've got good brains to work with," Safumi snickered as she opened by moving her pawn to h4.

Everyone else decided to move a pawn as well with Mimoko moving hers to d5, Mizuse moving hers to g11, and Utami moving hers to k8.

On the next move, Safumi moved her knight to k3 while Mimoko moved her knight to c6.

"Oh my, you're wide open. Check," Mizuse giggled as she captured the pawn at b8, putting Mimoko in check.

"You scum! How dare you attack Mimoko-sama!" Utami roared as she moved her queen to m8.

"Them's called strategy, dumbass. Why wouldn't we go after the stronger- Nah, here, Twintails is the dumb one since everything is different from regular ole chess here," Safumi scoffed as she moved her queen to h2.

"I'm well aware of 4-way chess teams rules, or did you deliberately erase your loss just now," Mimoko grumbled as she captured the queen at b8 with her queen.

"That was just cuz of my lousy partner! Mizuse's a grandmaster like me!"

"Not to mention we have a strategic advantage from playing and supervising so many 4-way chess games," Mizuse noted as she moved her bishop to g13.

"Mimoko-sama can easily adapt and win, as will I for her sake," Utami glared as she moved her queen to j11.

"Well aren't you a riot. Check," Safumi snarled as she captured the queen at b8 with her queen.

Mimoko promptly captured said queen with her bishop, before Mizuse captured that very bishop with her own bishop.

"Bishops have increased strength in 4-way chess. This is why they're worth 5 points instead of 3 like in normal chess," Mizuse stated as Utami moved her bishop to m8.

Safumi then gazed at the board for a moment before shrugging and moving her pawn to h5, allowing Mimoko to capture the bishop at b8 with her knight. Neither Mizuse or Safumi seemed phased as Mizuse moved her pawn to k12.

"Check, you vile hairless aristocrat," Utami glared as she captured the pawn at g11 with her queen.

"Ara, you sure do love your Mimoko-sama," Mizuse giggled.

"Utami-chan, I get you respect me, but I respect Mizuse-sama greatly. Don't go insulting her like that," Mimoko frowned.

"M- My apologies, Mimoko-sama," Utami bowed.

"Safumi-chan? She's in need of some humbling, but I ask again that you be respectful at the board."

"Yes, ma'am..."

The SPCM team didn't seem phased by the state of the board as Safumi promptly captured the knight at b8 with her bishop, prompting Mimoko to capture it with her other knight. Mizuse meanwhile moved her knight to g13, prompting Utami to rethink her strategy and move her pawn to k7. Safumi then took the opportunity to castle on the king's side, as did Mizuse after Mimoko moved her pawn to d7. Utami thought for a moment before opting to move her bishop to k6.

As soon as Safumi moved her pawn to g4, Mimoko captured the pawn at e2 with her bishop. “My aren’t you getting aggressive,” Mizuse chuckled as she moved her knight to i12.

“Don’t think you’ll be able to do as you please,” Utami glared as she moved her queen to g10.

“That’s my line, bitch!” Safumi snarled as she captured the bishop at k6 with her bishop.

“So you’re abandoning your rook then,” Mimoko scowled as she captured the rook at d1 with her bishop.

“Don’t need it,” Safumi snarled as Mizuse moved her pawn to h11.

“Then I guess you don’t need this bishop either,” Utami huffed as she captured the bishop at k6 with her queen.

“YOU BITCH!” Safumi roared as she slammed her pawn down on g5.

“So that’s how it will be then,” Mimoko sighed as she captured the pawn at h5 with her bishop.

Mizuse began to get a little nervous as she moved her knight to e12, while Utami appeared to be getting more confident as she moved her knight to l9.

“THE HELL YOU GETTIN’ ALL SMUG FOR!? YOU AIN’T EVEN CLOSE TO WINNING!” Safumi shouted as she slammed her rook down on h1.

Mimoko began to smile. “She’s lost her cool,” she thought as she moved her bishop to c10.

“Why is she so confident? Even I can’t foresee her victory, but nonetheless, I must be weary as I press for victory,” Mizuse thought as she moved her pawn to d11.

Utami seemed to understand exactly what Mimoko’s plan was as she smiled and castled on the queen’s side.

“THE HELL YOU BOTH SMILIN’ FOR!? STOP ACTIN’ LIKE YOU’RE WINNING, CUZ YOU’RE NOT!” Safumi roared as she slammed her rook down on h10.

“SAFUMI, NO-”

“Too late,” Mimoko grinned as she slid her bishop down to h5.

“The hell were you shoutin’ about, Mizuse!? Her dumbass is just tryin’ to act tough-”

“Safumi, Look at the board. Do you realize what you’ve just done?” Mizuse sighed.

Safumi’s eye twitched as she scowled and looked at the board. A few seconds later though, her eyes widened in terror as she began to go pale. “No… NO! MIZUSE! DO SOMETHING YOU IDIOT!”

“I can't. There's nothing to be done,” Mizuse sighed as she moved her knight to d10.

“And with that, you have been humbled twice in a row by Mimoko-sama. Checkmate,” Utami huffed as she moved her queen to f1, winning the game.

Doraaki covered her mouth to try and contain her laughter, but it didn't matter in the long-term.

"THE HELL YOU LAUGHING AT!? YOU WANNA GO A ROUND OF CHESS BOXING AT WWCF HQ!?" Safumi roared as she shot up out of her scooter.

"No, seeing you lose-"

"FUCKING BOYFRIEND SHITHEAD!"

"YOU'RE FUCKING DEAD!"

And with that, Safumi and Doraaki warped away to WWCF HQ.

"Safumi forgot her scooter... Hah, I'll bring it to her. Oh, but first, my badge is yours and you also get points and rematch rights. Just two more SPCMs for you and you'll be able to challenge the maestro," Mizuse winked as she warped away with Safumi's scooter.

"Those two are like oil and water. I imagine this bout of theirs will lead to them both spending a few nights at the WWCF medical facility," Himitsudono sighed.

"There's a medical facility?" Mimoko asked.

"Why yes. WWCF HQ is located entirely on a large island off the coast of Antarctica. It contains the main WWCF building, a hotel with playing hall, a medical facility, and... a holding area."

"A holding area?"

"Yes, it's primarily for those that commit chess-crimes, the most common being cheating. But many are also criminals that lost high-profile chess matches and were forced to serve sentences as a result of said loss. As for those two, the WWCF HQ also has numerous rooms designated for some of chess' more extreme disciplines such as chess boxing and dive chess. All secret puzzle cafes have a room which links players to those facilities should they wish to partake in them."

"I don't think I'm suited for chess boxing, but dive chess, maybe I'll give it a try one day."

"I'll await that moment."

"Say Inoue-senpai, would you want to team up with me for team 4-way against SPCMs Himitsutan and Himitsuue?" Okisato asked.

Mimoko shot him a skeptical scowl. "What's with this all of a sudden?"

"I just thought you'd want to face off against more SPCMs since that would put you closer to facing the maestro."

"I appreciate the sentiment... Ugh, fine. I get you want to try and get back in my good graces after what you did with Utami-chan."

"Then I'll pay the points right away."

The full game:

Red: SPCM Himitsusan (Safumi Bouzi) (2559) Blue: Mimoko Inoue (2714) Yellow: SPCM Himitsusama (Mizuse Niimi) (2599) Green: Utami Enoki (1035)

1. h4 d5 g11 k8

2. Nk3 Nc6 Qxb8+ Qm8

3. Qh2 Qxb8 Bg13 Qj11