Chapter 17:

The unstoppable Coca-Cola Gambit

En Passant Grandmaster Volume 3

With the match in jeopardy for the Stanford team, Jackie confidently opened the game by moving her pawn... to g4.

"The Grob Opening? Is she trying to pull off some massive disrespect?" Okisato thought as nearly all of Jackie's friends let out a collective groan.

"Why the groaning? Grob's got it's merits," Skaberghast yawned.

"Indeed it does. In fact, it is the ultimate grandmaster killing opening. The only way to counter it is with a Double Grob," Numakawa boastfully declared as he moved his pawn to g5.

"You naive man, now I can play the most powerful and unstoppable gambit ever invented; the Coca-Cola Gambit!" Jackie proudly declared as she moved her pawn to f4.

"T- 'The Coca-Cola gambit'!? I- I thought only I knew of it's power! But in the name of science... I must face it head on!" Numakawa declared as he accepted the gambit and captured the pawn at f4 with his g-pawn.

Jackie smirked and moved her pawn to d4 as Numakawa moved his pawn to h5.

"Good thing Utami won her game. This idiot's probably going to lose," Okisato thought as Jackie moved her pawn to g5.

Numakawa went into full focus mode and moved his pawn to e5. Jackie quickly captured said pawn with her d-pawn, but Numakawa put her in check by moving his bishop to b4. She countered by moving her pawn to c3, but then...

"Hahaha! Behold the grandmaster killing Coca-Cola Countergambit Bongcloud!" Numakawa declared as he slammed his king down on e7.

Jackie went pale with horror. "T- The Bongcloud!? Only Grandmasters can use that powerful move! What should I do!?"

Jackie panicked for a bit before finding that capturing the pawn on f4 with her bishop was a safe move. Numakawa then proceeded to move his pawn to d5, causing Jackie to jump with joy.

"I can do it! The on-past-font," she giggled as she performed en passant and captured the pawn at d5 with her e-pawn.

"NANI!? I- Impossible! How could I make such a blunder!" Numakawa cried as he captured said pawn with his c-pawn.

"And now I checky the king with the bishop," Jackie giggled as she captured the pawn at d6 with her bishop, and watched it immediately get captured by Numakawa's queen. "AAAAH! I BLUNDERED! NO! TAKE-BACK! TAKE-BACK!" she cried as she captured the bishop at b4 with her c-pawn.

Numakawa began to chuckle and adjusted his glasses. "You've fallen into my trap, now behold the check!" he shouted as he captured the pawn at b4 with his queen.

Jackie immediately began crying and throwing a tantrum before finally calming down enough to move her knight to c3. Numakawa, now feeling emboldened, proceeded to capture the pawn at b2 with his queen, causing Jackie to freak out.

"NO! STAY AWAY! CHECK!" she desperately cried as she nearly threw her knight at d5.

"Hmmph! Now the bongclouded king shall show its true power," Numakawa smirked as he marched his king to e6.

Jackie quickly lost all reason and frantically moved her rook to c1, while Numakwa continued to advance his king, this time to e5. "NO! I DON'T WANNA GET MATED!" she cried as she moved her knight to f3.

"Seems I have discovered a new counterplay for my grandmaster killing arsenal," Numakawa smirked as he moved his king to e4.

"NO! STAY AWAY!" Jackie cried as she smacked her queen down on d3.

"Not yet, I-"

"Oi, you know that's mate," Skaberghast growled.

"Huh?" Numakawa and Jackie both gasped in unison.

"Oi, you both didn't realize it?"

It took a few seconds, but the two finally realized what had happened.

"NO! The Coca-Cola Gambit is too powerful!" Numakawa cried.

Jackie meanwhile began celebrating. "Looks like this is gonna be a draw. Mona's our strongest player aside from the professor, and oh, she's already in the endgame, and about to mate your scrub. Guess we'll find out if you'll be going big brain soon."

With the chess club narrowly leading 3-2, whether they won or drew the match all depended on Yuzuha's game. However, that game looked to be over in an instant as with mate just a few moves away and Mona being a 2400-rated international master, Yuzuha had the odds against her from the beginning.

As Mona reached for her queen, Okisato spotted something odd about the formation of the pieces. "Hold, on, this sequence... Could it be?"

And as it turned out, his assumption was right, for this game was no ordinary game. No one had seen it as they were all focused on both their own games and watching every game but Yuzuha's, but as the game started, Mona's eyes began to glow as she swayed to and fro. And soon, Yuzuha was doing the same.

"Shit, of all the times for that trance to activate. And considering how that girl's under 800, the success of the trance effecting her is 100% guaranteed," Skaberghast thought to himself as Mona opened the game by moving her pawn to e3.

He quickly shifted his attention to the other matches as while he didn't see the game, he knew every move that was going to be played hencefort. A5, queen h5, rook a6, but then the shocking queen captures a5, and the even more baffling pawn to h5. To any unaware, this would seem like pure madness, but thanks to an experiment Skaberghast performed on Mona, Mona now had a condition where she would randomly be consumed with a hypnosis spell that would attempt to have her and her opponent draw in 10 moves. The chances of success varied by her opponents rating. If they were rated higher than her, or exactly the same, the chances were 0%. 1 to 100 points lower rated, a mere 1% chance of success. But 1000 or more points below, 100% rate of success. That being said, there were exceptions such as a player lower-rated with grandmaster-level prowess or anyone the DESPER-induced condition deemed to be smarter than Mona. As a result, once activated, Mona and her opponent would be under the trance until the 10th move when the game was over.

But even knowing how the magic worked didn't make it any less shocking to witness. Queen captures c7, a-rook h6, then pawn h4. It was pure madness that would make any sane person reel with contempt, but there was a method to this idiotic tango.

"F- F6," Yuzuha mumbled as her eyes glowed green and she swayed to and fro in her seat.

"Check," Mona mumbled, also green-eyed and swaying to and fro, as she captured the pawn at d7 with her queen.

Yuzuha took her king and moved it to f7, yet Mona continued to make questionable moves just like her by capturing the pawn at b7 with her queen. Yet after Yuzuha moved her queen to d3, Mona's play of queen captures b8 didn't leave her at a disadvantage. In fact, things were completely dire for Yuzuha now, especially after moving her queen to h7, allowing Mona to snack on her bishop on c8 with her queen. Then after Yuzuha moved her king to g6, mate was inevitable, if it weren't for Mona's curse that is.

With no hesitation, she grabbed her queen and slammed it down on e6, resulting in the game ending in stalemate.

"The fastest possible stalemate. I bet this is Skaberghast's doing," Okisato thought as he glanced Skaberghast's way.

However, the two wouldn't be able to have any moments together as with all the games concluded, the chess club had managed to win 3.5-2.5. At first, all the boards vanished, but then Abigail suddenly began clucking and flapping her arms like a chicken.

"Huh, can still move around, and you all are still here. Guess that means we all gotta wait until the minor punishments are done," Skaberghast shrugged as Maria suddenly found herself restrained in salon chairs.

She immediately began crying and screaming, but quickly had her mouth sealed with hot wax. Olga on the other hand quickly found herself naked.

"KYAAAAAH! NOT AGAIN!" Olga cried as she covered herself up.

"Welp, guess I'd better document everything for science," Skaberghast smugly shrugged as he began recording just Maria with his phone.

"I wish she wasn't crying so much. Otherwise it'd be more watchable and sexy," Okisato grumbled as he too recorded the entire ordeal on his phone.

"Do you perverts want to get beaten?" Utami glared as she angrily cracked her knuckles.

"I'm only recording for Iori."

"I'm doing it for science."

Slap! Slap!

Once the shave was over, and Maria was as hairless as could be, her and her friends found themselves unable to move as the members of the chess club warped away.

"Tch, guess the minor punishments didn't take affect thanks to them winning. And now I'll need to do an additional experiment... and manual labor," Skaberghast grumbled as he cracked his shoulders and began moving around just fine.

"So you had insurance the whole time. What a devious man. I can see why you're one of the league's most infamous," Daria scowled.

"Oh yeah, you two are here. So? How'd you feel about your boy?" Skaberghast smirked at Hagemi.

"Pissed. That idiot's getting locked in a dungeon until he can maneuver out of the Double Muzio, oh, but I'm not mad at you. You did make things non-lethal, but if you hadn't and Yuusuke somehow died, your ass would be fucking dead!" Hagemi glared.

"Guess you really do care. Better hope his daddy doesn't find out about him though," Skaberghast waved as he warped away.

"So he can warp to secret puzzle cafes... And he left his students..."

"Eh, Miga can handle them," Daria shrugged.

"Still, Yuusuke ended up getting sent to London... That fucking shit better not get his ass brainwashed."

"Even if he does, one punch from you and he'd be back to normal. Now, ready to begin our secret attack?"

"Don't think Ina's got the chess center set up yet, so I guess we'll have to wait around until we get the signal."

And as the two headed to grab a bite to eat, Svetlana was escorted out of security by two guards. "Unfortunately, that sledgehammer of yours will need to be checked. I don't care if you're a foreign royal or not. No sledgehammers allowed as carry-on," one guard glared.

"And no trying to weasel your way with this," the other chimed as he held Svetlana's DESPER.

"Tch, what a trial. Must my father deprive me of the royal jet just for that failure a week ago?" Svetlana thought.

However, she was in for a bigger surprise when she found all her friends frozen in place and unable to be moved by anyone.

"Where is the professor? And Olga, why are you naked, and- AH! MARIA, YOUR HAIR! That pervert! What did he do now! Guards, my sledgehammer immediately!"

The guards rolled their eyes and tasered Svetlana on the spot, immobilizing her just like her friends. "This will be a long day..."

The full games:

White: Jackie Egghead (1000) Black: Syouma Numakawa (400)

1. g4 g5

2. f4 gxf4

3. d4 h5

4. g5 e5

5. dxe5 Bb4+

6. c3 Ke7

7. Bxf4 d5

8. exd6+ cxd6

9. Bxd6+ Qxd6