Chapter 654:

Demonstration match

En Passant Grandmaster

Once school got out, the chess club convened in Maida's classroom.

"Alright, now today we're going to start off with our traditional challenge the president challenge. Who wants to play against me today?" Mimoko smiled.

Yuzuha raised her hand.

"Alright. Zenihara-chan, come up to the board."

For lectures, Mimoko had a chess demonstration board attached to a stand, allowing all to see the game. She also used this board whenever she engaged in what she dubbed, the president challenge. Following the Chess Olympics, and Okisato becoming Vice-president of the chess club, Mimoko decided to allow a challenger a day to try and face her in a rated match at the start of club time. Though elo was on the line, the mood was very casual as Mimoko viewed it more as a teaching experience if anything.

"Now my first move will be g2, how do you respond?" Mimoko asked as she moved her pawn to g2.

"Hmm, d5?" Yuzuha shrugged as she moved her pawn to d5.

"Hmm, it's fair," Mimoko nodded as she moved her pawn to d4.

However, Yuzuha's next move of queen d7 got her a disapproving head shake.

"Nope, that's not a good move. Now I can develop my knight. If you want to stay afloat, you'll need to move something to a certain square on the 6th rank. Any idea?" Mimoko asked as she moved her knight to f3.

"Hmm, f6?" Yuzuha guessed as she moved her pawn to f6.

"Mm, not quite. E6 was the best move, though knight f6 and knight c6 would have worked too," Mimoko stated as she moved her bishop to g2.

"Knight c6, got it," Yuzuha nodded as she moved her knight to c6.

"You should have played that a move ago, but you are still afloat," Mimoko nodded as she castled king's side.

"I should try turning the tide then," Yuzuha smiled as she moved her pawn to e5.

"Ah, a pawn trade. I take on e5. What do you take back with? Pawn or knight?" Mimoko asked as she captured the pawn at e5 with her d-pawn.

"Pawn?" Yuzuha guessed as she captured the pawn at e5 with her f-pawn.

"Yes!" Mimoko smiled as she moved her pawn to c4.

"Ah, not out of the woods yet though," Yuzuha sheepishly chuckled as she moved her pawn to g6.

Mimoko began to grimace.

"D- Did I do something wrong?"

"Yes. That move just now opens you up to c captures d5," Mimoko stated as she captured the pawn at d5 with her c-pawn.

"How's that bad?" Yuzuha asked as she moved her c-knight to e7.

"I'll let you see for yourself," Mimoko frowned as she captured the pawn at e5 with her knight.

Yuzuha frowned in confusion and moved her queen to d6.

"Now, check," Mimoko declared as she moved her queen to a4.

"Can't I do this?" Yuzuha frowned as she moved her pawn to c6.

"No, because I can take," Mimoko stated as she captured the pawn at c6 with her d-pawn.

"But can't I take the knight," Yuzuha asked as she captured the knight at e5 with her queen.

"You could, but then I win a rook via a discovered check," Mimoko stated as she captured the pawn at b7 with her c-pawn.

"Can't I- Oh, it's the queen not the pawn... Hah," Yuzuha sighed as she moved her king to f7.

"You can still make good moves even though you're losing," Mimoko smiled as she captured the rook at a8 with her b-pawn and promoted it to a queen.

"With two queens on the board? I don't think I can," Yuzuha somberly smiled as she moved her knight to f6.

"You never know. You could be like Troitsky on the verge of mate, when suddenly, your last-ditch effort goads Vogt into a stalemate trap," Mimoko smiled as she moved her knight to c3.

"Troitsky's the one that made those puzzles, right?" Yuzuha asked as she moved her bishop to g4.

"The endgame ones I showed you a few weeks ago? Yes. Good job remembering," Mimoko beamed as she moved her bishop to e4.

"Now if I could just remember how not to lose," Yuzuha chuckled as she captured the bishop at e4 with her knight.

"Sometimes losing is the best teacher. Now how do you respond to this check?" Mimoko asked as she moved her 8-queen to e8.

"Uh, this?" Yuzuha nervously guessed as she moved her king to g5.

"Nope, that's mate in 5," Mimoko frowned as she moved her bishop to h6.

"Ah! What if I capture?" Yuzuha asked as she captured the knight at c3 with her knight.

"Then it's checkmate," Mimoko smiled as she captured the bishop at f8 with her queen, winning the game.

"Ah, still so much to learn," Yuzuha sighed.

"And that concludes the challenge and introductory lesson. Now onto the main topic to discuss, which I'm sure many of you science majors will love," Mimoko smiled.

The full game:

White: Mimoko Inoue (2870) Black: Yuzuha Zenihara (550)

1. g3 d5

2. d4 Qd7

3. Nf3 f6

4. Bg2 Nc6

5. O-O e5

6. dxe5 fxe5

7. c4 g6

8. cxd5 Nce7

9. Nxe5 Qd6

10. Qa4+ c6