Chapter 660:

Double stalemate

En Passant Grandmaster

While Okisato began his match with Peter via the internet, Mimoko also decided to phone a friend, though this friend happened to be able to warp over.

"Mimoko-nee!" Noa smiled as she warped in.

"So good to see you again. Now for this match, I want to try figuring something out."

"Ah, it's the puzzle. Someone here solve it?"

"Yes. Yuusuke-kun did, and now that we know..."

"...You need someone to play the sequence with. Welp, I wouldn't mind getting that badge, but you'll have to make the right move, otherwise I won't play along."

"Seems you've got the sequence memorized then."

"Hey, we all had to go under strict embargo for this, but now that the cat's out of the bag, should you request it in a rematch, we'll play along with the double stalemate sequence. The only rule is that for the color you choose to play as, you must make the right move, otherwise, we punish you."

"A lovely challenge. Alright, I'll play as Black."

"That's the Mimoko-nee I know," Noa smiled as she opened the game by moving her pawn to c4.

Mimoko smiled back and moved her pawn to d5, but then came the real test as Noa moved her queen to b3.

"What a precarious position, but for compositions like this, those are needed to prove the theory," Mimoko smiled as she moved her bishop to h3.

"Hope you know your Minerva, because if you mess up, it's mate for you," Noa giggled as she captured the bishop at h3 with her g-pawn.

"I should have recognized this when I first saw the puzzle, thus, I'm challenge-punishing myself by playing as Black for this," Mimoko smirked as she moved her pawn to f5.

"'Challenge-punishing'? That's incredible! Oh, and I get you mean it in a professional, improvement sort of way," Noa smiled as she captured the pawn at b7 with her queen.

"Unlike one of my friends," Mimoko responded as she side-eyed Iori and moved her king to f7.

"Laugh now, but I'm watching this game," Iori shrugged as Noa captured the pawn at a7 with her queen.

"But you'll need to find someone trusting to play against. With how volatile the positions can be, someone could easily take advantage to notch a win," Noa stated as Mimoko moved her king to g6.

"Exactly, just look at where Noa-chan's queen is," Mimoko nodded as Noa moved her pawn to f3. "The rook can take it with ease, but if you want to get the double stalemate, you have to keep your temptations in check, and make the right risky move," she stated as she moved her pawn to c5.

"It takes guts to play, but us SPCMs and DSPCMs have things memorized. The maestros do to. Or at least, most of us," Noa chuckled as she captured the pawn at e7 with her queen.

"Not everyone has it memorized?" Mimoko asked as she captured the pawn at a2 with her rook.

"Well, it's not easy to memorize something like this, even for the grandmasters," Noa chuckled as she moved her king to f2.

"I guess you're right," Mimoko nodded as she captured the pawn at b2 with her rook.

"Check. Not to mention, there's reports of a certain maestro taking advantage of this to try and notch petty wins," Noa frowned as she captured the pawn at g7 with her queen.

"Xiao Lin, right?" Mimoko scowled as she moved her king to h5.

"No honorifics!?" Noa gasped as she captured the knight at g8 with her queen.

"From what Okaa-chan's told me of her, and what she's done that effects me, I can only savor the moment I humiliate her with a reset mate," Mimoko glared as she captured the knight at b1 with her rook.

"Well, she's not exactly the best of people. Even complains non-stop about how my win against her back in Budapest should be annulled," Noa nervously chuckled as she captured the rook at b1 with her rook.

"Speaking of which, how goes your norm quest?" Mimoko asked as she moved her king to h4.

"Ah, I just got my final one last tournament, so I'm a grandmaster now," Noa smiled as she captured the rook at h8 with her queen.

"How the hell do norms work? I've been doing well, but my rating hasn't really notched up," Iori pouted as Mimoko moved her pawn to h5.

"Might be because you can only get norms at classical tournaments. The ones we've been participating in since the start of November have been mostly rapid and blitz," Mimoko stated as Noa moved her queen to h6.

"Ah come on!" Iori cried as Mimoko captured the queen at h6 with her bishop.

"This position really is crazy. Even with the queen gone, it's still mate in 2 for Black," Noa smiled as she captured the knight at b8 with her rook.

"Check. That's the beauty of these compositions," Mimoko smiled back as she moved her bishop to e3.

"Yup, it's torture to the poor eval bar though," Noa giggled as she captured the bishop at e3 with her d-pawn.

"It sure is," Mimoko giggled back as she captured the rook at b8 with her queen.

"What a chaotic month it's going to be once word of this challenge spreads," Noa smiled as she moved her king to g2.

"Ah, speaking of which, you celebrate Hanukkah, right? Isn't it an 8-day celebration?" Mimoko asked as she moved her queen to f4.

"Yes it is, but this year it year it doesn't start until the night of Christmas, so things won't be too hectic in that regard," Noa nodded as she captured the queen at f4 with her e-pawn.

"I wish you the best then. Ah, and looks like we've reached the conclusion of this little puzzle," Mimoko smiled as she moved her pawn to d4.

"Still have to make one more move though," Noa smiled as she moved her bishop to e3.

"But that's an easy one," Mimoko smiled back as she captured the bishop at e3 with her d-pawn, ending the game in stalemate.

"Beautiful! A double stalemate, meaning we both get the badge," Noa clapped.

Okisato and Peter also managed to finish their game around the same time, naturally achieving the same result.

"So uh, who's gonna pair up with me? Tami-chan?" Iori nervously asked.

Utami rolled her eyes, but decided just this once to humor Iori.

The full game:

White: DSPCM Noa Ben-Horin (2548) Black: Mimoko Inoue (2870)

1. c4 d5

2. Qb3 Bh3

3. gxh3 f5