Chapter 35:

The aggressive Alien Gambit

En Passant Grandmaster Volume 3

As Carol faced off against Sorcha, Iori faced off against Medeucesa. "So I'm playing as white? In that case, I hope I get lucky and I get to play something good while I'm alien smooth," Iori thought as she moved her pawn to e4.

"Hope you aren't thinking of trying anything funny," Medeucesa glared as she moved her pawn to d6.

"The Carro-Kann Defense. Iori-chan better be on her guard," Mimoko thought as Iori moved her pawn to d4.

Medeucesa followed by moving her pawn to d6 while Iori moved her knight to c3. She then captured the pawn at e4 with her e-pawn, prompting Iori to capture said pawn with her knight.

"So far so good. After knight f6 and a knight trade, they'll be in a Carro-Kann Defense: Tartokower Variation. From there, Iori should have the advantage," Mimoko thought as Medeucesa moved her knight to f6.

Iori however grinned and moved her knight to g5 instead of capturing the knight at f6.

"What is she doing- No, she's playing that new gambit that's becoming a trend, the Alien Gambit! " Mimoko thought as Medeucesa stared in confusion.

It was then that Carol managed to win her game against Sorcha.

"Here that, Deucesa? You lose, I'm shaving those prized dreads of yours!" Sorcha called out.

"Shut up! I need to concentrate here!" Medeucesa shouted back as she moved her pawn to h6.

"LOL, guess trading my hair for bald luck really paid off," Iori grinned.

"What are you babbling about?" Medeucesa grumbled.

"You played just how I wanted you to, and now while I look like an alien, I can play... THE ALIEN GAMBIT, MOTHERFUCKER!" Iori shouted as she captured the pawn at f7 with her knight.

Medeucesa stared in shock for a few minutes before scowling and capturing the knight at f7 with her king. "Aliens? What rubbish. Shit isn't real."

"That nasty fork is though," Iori snickered as she moved her knight to f3.

Mimoko began to scowl. "C5 can ruin her plans, but if her opponent doesn't know that, Iori-chan will win," she thought.

Medeucesa moved her bishop to g4, causing Iori to grin manically. "YO! Dumbass just fell for the big trap. Check!" she snickered as she moved her knight to e5.

Medeucesa's face began to contort in anger as she realized the fork she was in. She cursed in Greek before slamming her king down on g8, and watching Iori capture her bishop on g4 with her knight. She promptly captured said knight with her knight, but Iori moved her bishop to c4 and forced her to move her king to h7.

Now Iori was free to capture the hanging knight on g4 with her queen, forcing Medeucesa to move her pawn to g6 to avoid mate in 2. She then moved her bishop to d3 while Medeucesa moved her rook to g8. Iori didn't give up on her attack though and moved her pawn to h4, prompting Medeucesa to bring her queen out to d7. Iori quickly slid her queen to e2 as Medeucesa moved her pawn to e5, prompting her to capture it with her d-pawn.

Growing more, and more frustrated, Medeucesa decided to put Iori in check by moving her bishop to b4. "CHECK! HOW YA LIKE THAT!?"

"Lol, lame-o," Iori scoffed as she slid her pawn to c3, sending the bishop back to c5.

Iori then resumed her attack on the king's side by moving her pawn to h5. Medeucesa quickly moved her queen to e6, but that did little to stop Iori's attack.

"Back in check, bitch!" Iori snickered as she captured the pawn at g6 with her h-pawn.

"Will you stop with the checks!? These aren't the kinds I like receiving!" Medeucesa fumed as she moved her king to h8.

A sinister smirk formed on Iori's face as she moved her queen to h5.

"Looks like she realized it. She's smarter than she seems," Mimoko thought as Medeucesa hastened her demise by capturing the pawn at g6 with her queen.

"Ugh, guess we trade queens... PSYCH!" Iori taunted as she captured the queen at g6 with her bishop.

Medeucesa began to go pale and sweat. "NO! I can't lose now! If I do, Sorcha might really shave my head!" she thought as she captured the bishop at g5 with her rook.

Iori began to chuckle as she captured said rook with her queen, leaving Medeucesa with little choice but to move her bishop to f8.

"You really think that would work?" Iori taunted as she captured the pawn at h6 with her bishop.

"No... Please have mercy! I don't wanna be bald!" Medeucesa begged as she moved her knight to d7.

"Lol, shouldn't have challenged me then. Checkmate! Have fun going bald n' browless!" Iori laughed as she captured the bishop at f8 with her bishop and gave Medeucesa the middle finger as the game ended in her victory.

The arbiter squad quickly dispersed as Sorcha maneuvered behind Medeucesa and restrained her. "NO! NOT MY HAIR!"

"Ara, but the ad revenue from your makeover would pay back all your gambling debts and then some," Sorcha chuckled as she dragged Medeucesa into the salon and threw her into an open chair.

Medeucesa quickly found her wrists and ankles restrained along with her mouth glued shut, as Sorcha took off her beanie and stroked her prized indigo dreads.

"Ara, ara. Time for you to join the bald girl community," Sorcha giggled as she flicked on the clippers and began shearing the sobbing Medeucesa.

As she did, Mimoko managed to sneak over to the drawer where Sorcha had pulled her gag ball from, and opened it up to find a bunch of keys. "I hope these are universal," she thought as she grabbed one and tried it out.

To her delight, they were, and her mouth was free, and with Sorcha preoccupied with lathering Medeucesa's head in shaving cream, she managed to sneak out.

"All right! We got the third smooth sneaker sister here!" Iori cheered as Mimoko approached her and Carol.

"What?"

"Smooth sneaker sista! We all smooth, rockin' sneakers, and sisters!" Carol grinned.

Slap! Slap!

"That's for allowing me to awaken a bald fetish," Mimoko angrily smiled.

"Wait, you serious?" Iori snickered.

"Unfortunately, I'm loving this bald sensation. But first chance I get, I'm getting all my hair back! Now, Iori-chan, why'd you go for an Alien Gambit of all things?"

"You upset? It's solid if you know how to use it."

"She fell for the big trap, but if she played c5 instead of bishop g4, you would have had problems."

"I knew she wouldn't though. The fact that she took nearly 3 minutes to think after I captured the pawn at f7 showed she'd never encountered the gambit properly."

"True, though there was still the chance that despite that, she'd find the right counter."

"And if he did, I'd beat her anyway. So you upset?"

"About the opening, no. Recently, both Okaa-chan and I have begun exploring some of the more unconventional openings and gambits."

"Really!?"

"Yeah, and it's honestly given me a whole new outlook on chess as a whole..."

...

A few days ago, Mimoko scowled in confusion as she stared at the chessboard before her. She had just headed down for breakfast and was playing a casual game at home with her mother. However, Daria had made the odd choice of opening the game by moving her pawn to f4.

"Okaa-chan, are you planning to throw the game?" Mimoko scowled.

"Not in the slightest. In fact, I want you to play very seriously," Daria glared.

"Why?"

"Because I'm trying to learn all the odd and uncommon openings and gambits so I'm best prepared to counter them."

"Is this because of your loss to Tanabe-kun?"

"That was the trigger, but ultimately, the incident with Michiko truly made me realize this was a necessity. I need to learn everything so I can be best prepared to take down any challenge that goes my way. The same could be said for you."

"But I'm able to see-"

"Doesn't matter if you can see the moves. Depending on the time control, an odd move could take ya off guard and cost ya the game. Not to mention, I think both of us need to learn to respect these odd moves a bit better."

"What do you mean?"

"Recently, I've come to the conclusion that the Bongcloud might be a solid opening for highly skilled players."

Mimoko let out a horrified gasp, causing Daria to chuckle. "Oh quite your gasping. I'm not gonna start playin' Bongclouds as my go-to opening. But there is some credence to support that it's not as disastrous as one might think. For example, Grandmaster Hikaru Nakamura, one of the best players in the world embarked on a challenge where he exclusively played the Bongcloud and other variants of it. And wouldn't ya know it, he did really well. Then there's Peter who effortlessly wins tournaments by playing crazy Bongcloud openings and other uncommon openings and gambits. Point is, serious players like you and me need to truly learn the ins and outs of these moves both to better counter them, and better respect them."

"'Respect them'?"

"Yeah. We both tend to cringe whenever someone plays a questionable move like the Barnes opening. However, even though some openings are bad, they can still win games if the one playing them is insanely good. Today I want to focus on the Bird Opening since I recently had a conversation with Himitsudono about it."

"What's this about birds?" Ichimitsu asked as he read his paper.

"Want us to teach you?" Mimoko growled.

"Nah... Stocks are my life."

Mimoko let out an annoyed groan before returning her focus to Daria.

...

In the present, Mimoko let out a chuckle. "Perhaps maybe I'll attempt this Alien Gambit against Okaa-chan in our next friendly," she thought.

The full game:

White: Iori Ishikiridokoro (1188) Black: Medeucesa Indikó (2406)

1. e4 c6

2. d4 d5

3. Nc3 dxe4

4. Nxe4 Nf6