Chapter 661:

Counter challenge

En Passant Grandmaster

Five days later on December 15th,

With Christmas now 10 days away and Winter break in session, focus was naturally being given more to that than anything. That being said, not all members of the chess club had given up on the Troitsky problem.

Sitting at the Kawaguchi chess center early in the morning, Okisato and a student from the club tried their best to make sense of the puzzle. Mimoko, Utami, Iori, Yuusuke, and Rodeo then showed up.

"Any luck?" Mimoko asked.

"No, the AI just keeps going on tangeants and saying, "This is fascinating". Really stupid," Okisato grumbled.

Rodeo then shuffled up to the front. "I wanna challenge the vice-president... for the position..."

Everyone was taken aback.

"Gorou-kun? Why now? It's Winter break, so-"

"It was here the position was put on the line. I wanna get it back for Yuusuke."

"You wanna be vice-president for me!? Right-on, man. Accept the challenge!" Yuusuke grinned as he patted Rodeo on the back before glaring at Okisato.

Okisato let out a sigh but accepted the challenge. "What makes you think you can beat me?" he asked as he opened the game by moving his knight to c3.

"... Cuz now, I got training," Rodeo mumbled as he moved his pawn to c5.

"You're still the weakest SPCM," Okisato scowled as he moved his pawn to e4.

"... You're a snake," Rodeo snarled as he moved his pawn to a6.

"Hmm, the a6 line. Not as common, but it has some good versatility. Unfortunately, this is Tanabe-kun you're up against," Mimoko thought as Okisato moved his pawn to d4.

To his credit though, Rodeo had done some research as he correctly chose to capture the pawn at d4 with his c-pawn. After Okisato captured said pawn with his queen, he further proved his knowledge by moving his knight to c6.

However, after Okisato moved his queen to e3, Rodeo slipped up a bit by moving his pawn to b5. It wasn't the worst mistake as even after Okisato moved his pawn to a4, Rodeo was still able to spot queen a5, a solid move, and keep things afloat. He continued to play solidly by countering Okisato's play of knight f3 with pawn e6, yet after Okisato moved his bishop to d3, Rodeo began to slip up and moved his g-knight to e7.

Okisato pounced on the misstep and moved his knight to d2, yet Rodeo managed to find the perfect counter in the form of pawn to b4. Then again by responding to knight c4 with queen c7. Knight d5, e captures d5, then e captures d5, yet Rodeo continued to counter perfectly by moving his knight to a5, prompting Okisato to capture said knight with his knight, and forsake said knight to Rodeo's queen.

"Fuck. Tanabe's got an edge, but Rodeo's countering beautifully. Wish he was winning, dammit," Yuusuke scowled as Okisato moved his pawn to d6.

"He is. It's a shame it's Tanabe-kun he's up against. His perfect counters show he knows what he's doing," Mimoko frowned as Rodeo moved his bishop to b7.

While Rodeo was doing a good job keeping even as best he could, he was quickly reaching his limit. After a king's side castle, queen d5, and queen g3, Rodeo blundered and moved his pawn to g6. Okisato saw it instantly and moved his rook to e1, while poor Rodeo only continued to collapse by moving his rook to c8.

"No! He had him!" Yuusuke cried as Okisato moved his bishop to g5.

"Uh, he was just not failing until just now," Iori scoffed as Rodeo moved his bishop to g7.

"Iori!"

"No, she does have a point. Gorou-kun was countering perfectly, but in a game of perfect counters, one mistake and it's over," Mimoko frowned as Okisato delivered a powerful check by capturing the knight at e7 with his rook.

"YO! That check! Rodey-kun's in for a hog-tyin!" Iori cheered as Rodeo moved his king to f8 in frustration.

"Iori-chan, we're not hog-tying anyone," Mimoko angrily smiled as Okisato moved his a-rook to e1.

"Still, Tanabe defended his crown, and displayed fine chess without violating decorum," Utami noted as Rodeo moved his king to g8.

"He hasn't won yet," Yuusuke snarled as Okisato checked Rodeo by moving his rook to e8.

"Now he has," Utami huffed as Rodeo captured the rook at e8 with his rook.

"Yes, the game is pretty much over now as Gorou-kun has walked into a mate trap," Okisato stated.

"I don't see no mate," Rodeo glared.

"Check. Bishop f3," Okisato scowled as he captured the rook at e8 with his rook, forcing bishop f3 just as foretold.

He then moved his bishop to h6, giving Rodeo some choices. "So, want to at least lose with style?"

"I ain't dancin' to your strings. Check," Rodeo glared as he captured the pawn at g2 with his queen.

"Alright tsundere, style it is," Okisato grumbled as he captured the queen at g2 with his queen.

"I ain't no tsun," Rodeo snarled as he captured the queen at g2 with his bishop.

"Guess you just didn't see it then. Checkmate," Okisato shrugged as he captured the bishop at f8 with his rook, winning the game.

Rodeo stared dumbfounded at the board for a good minute before slowly covering his face in shame. "Sorry Yuusuke, couldn't avenge ya."

"That being said, your accuracy for this game was quite high. Why don't we try to get you to remember the proper line, since you seem to have a good memory," Mimoko smiled.

"... They say my mind's like a pig's, but I don't see it," Rodeo mumbled.

"Then let me show you how this line could have gone. Back at move 16, you needed to long castle. You're still at a disadvantage, but with perfect play, you could theoretically get a draw."

"'Theoretically'?"

"Yes, we still have yet to prove it, but I feel it could be possible. I'll run it by Okaa-chan for our game tonight."

"How many moves you think it might be?"

"Hmm, well over 30, maybe 40?"

Rodeo began to get uneasy.

"Don't be intimidated, some of the moves might be easy to spot."

"We won't know though..."

Okisato shook his head. "In theory... We still know so little about Troitsky-Vogt. And Christmas is coming up fast..."

The full game:

White: Okisato Tanabe (2810) Black: SPCM Himitsubo (Rodeo Gorou) (1070)

1. Nc3 c5

2. e4 a6