Chapter 664:

A Troitsky-Vogt take for Christmas

En Passant Grandmaster

Nervously, Mimoko sat down next to Okisato as he summoned a chessboard with his WWCF card. "We'll set this as a practice match. So, you want to be Troitsky or Vogt?"

"Troitsky."

"Then open with a4."

Mimoko stared in disbelief, but silently complied as Okisato moved his pawn to e5. "E4 is next I hope," she grumbled.

"Yes it is, actually."

"And how does "Vogt" respond?" Mimoko growled as she moved her pawn to e4.

"D6," Okisato stated as he moved his pawn there.

"And if I go knight f3?"

"That's what I thought, and the response is h5.

Mimoko began to shake her head as she moved her knight to f3.

"Hey, it's 1896. Theory was different back then. Knight c3's your next move," Okisato declared as he moved his pawn to h5.

"And yours?" Mimoko asked as she moved her knight to c3.

"H4. Remember, we're trying to achieve the position that sets up the stalemate," Okisato stated as he moved his pawn to h4.

Mimoko stared at the state of the board before shaking her head. "I see now. H3 is the best counter, but in the final position, the h-pawn remains on h2. Thus, the next best move of d4 seems likely," she stated as she moved her pawn to d4.

"Yes, that is correct," Okisato nodded as he captured the pawn at d4 with his e-pawn.

"H- Hold on! It's pawns on e4 and e5 in the final position!"

"Just keep playing. Knight e2."

Mimoko's skeptical frown returned as she moved her knight to e2 and watched as Okisato moved his pawn to h3.

"Now you capture the h-pawn," Okisato stated as Mimoko did so with her g-pawn. "Now next move for you is to take on d4 with the queen," he nodded as he captured the pawn on h3 with his bishop.

"Why my queen and not my knight?"

"Because things would get messed up if you took with the knight. Black also has both bishops, so capturing a bishop is off the table."

"Well, this might not be the greatest of play, but for the sake of the puzzle, I guess it makes sense," Mimoko sighed as she captured the pawn at d4 with her queen.

"To prove a position, you must often make mind-boggling moves," Okisato proclaimed as he moved his knight to c6.

"Unfortunately this is where even I get lost."

"Understandable. The double stalemate puzzle proves that top chess players will often make the best possible move in the situation if they see it, not necessarily one that achieves a unique phenomena. Also, Troitsky wasn't exactly a grandmaster-level player, and with how little we know of Vogt, it's doubtful he's anything noteworthy either. Hence, these plays might be closer to reality than you think. Queen c3.

Mimoko sighed and made the move as requested, while Okisato moved his bishop to d7.

"Knight g3. Don't need to worry about moving that knight anymore," Okisato declared as Mimoko complied and moved her knight to g3.

He then baffled her further by moving his knight to h6, and requesting she move her bishop to b5. After Okisato moved his knight to e5 though, she began to catch a glimmer of how things could go.

"Knight captures e5, then d captures e5. That's how we get pawns on e4 and e5, yes?"

"Correct."

And thus, the e5 trade occurred, followed up by Okisato requesting Mimoko move her bishop to c4. Then came knight g4 and more questions.

"Why couldn't I just move my bishop to e2 at the start if it was going to end up there anyway?" Mimoko asked as she moved her bishop to e2 as Okisato requested.

"There's a method," Okisato vaguely responded as he moved his pawn to a5. "Now capture the knight with your bishop."

Mimoko let out a sigh as she captured the knight at g4 with her bishop. "And you recapture on g4, yes?"

Okisato nodded and captured the bishop on g4 with his bishop. "Next is bishop d2."

"Ah, because I can't touch the pawn on e5, yes?" Mimoko nodded as she moved her bishop to d2.

"You're starting to get the hang of this," Okisato nodded as he moved his queen to f6. "Now can you guess by process of elimination what White's move should be?"

"Hmm, can't capture c7, can't move the knight or h-pawn, queen d3," Mimoko declared as she made that very move.

"Very good. Now pawn c4," Okisato stated as he moved his bishop to d7.

"Would not have guessed that, for obvious reasons," Mimoko grumbled as she moved her pawn to c4.

"And I doubt you'd be able to guess pawn c5 next instead of bishop c5," Okisato huffed as he castled queen's side.

"Why would I- Ah, so bishop can take it," Mimoko grumbled as she moved her pawn to c5.

Then just as predicted, Okisato captured said pawn with his bishop. Pawn to b4 was next, with Okisato's play of bishop b6 cluing Mimoko in to move her pawn to b5.

"And now I'm on the verge of losing," Mimoko grumbled as Okisato moved his rook to h3.

"Queen e2 saves you."

"Don't need to tell me twice," Mimoko growled as she moved her queen to e2.

"Now bear with me and go king f1," Okisato nodded as he moved his rook to h4.

Mimoko let out a sigh, but did as requested without question. Okisato then moved his rook to h3, requesting Mimoko move her king to g1. Once again, she complied, but with a scowl on her face.

"Almost there. Just a few more moves. Bishop e1," Okisato declared as he moved his h-rook to h8.

"I sure hope we are," Mimoko grumbled as she moved her bishop to e1.

"Why the sour mood? Santa bring you coal?" Okisato asked as he moved his rook to h6.

"No, but you always seem to sour my mood for some reason," Mimoko sighed as she moved her rook to c1.

"Must be my personality," Okisato sighed as he moved his rook to g6.

"Perhaps. I don't know why, but you always seem to fluster me more than anyone," Mimoko frowned as she moved her queen to c2.

"Not sure I know how to respond to that. Other than with... Merry Christmas, Inoue-senpai," Okisato smirked as he moved his queen to f3.

It was then that Mimoko took notice of the state of the board and gasped. "M- Move 28... Some say the game was played in 30 moves..."

"And the AI said this position was 'illegal, and not possible to achieve under normal conditions'."

Mimoko began to laugh as she moved her rook to d1. "Oh, Tanabe-kun, how long did this take you to find?"

"After I got tired of the AI's stupidity? 15 minutes," Okisato happily shrugged as he moved his bishop to h3.

"And you were all sour last night at the party. Check," Mimoko smiled as she captured the rook at d8 with her rook, forcing Okisato to capture said rook with his king.

"Hey, Iori-chan and Carol weren't the only ones putting on a great act."

"And I, the one who's actually starred as an actress in a professional- Professional-like play, is deemed the worst actress of the bunch. Check," Mimoko chuckled as she moved her queen to d1.

"Hey, practice makes perfect. Hope you enjoyed my take on Troitsky-Vogt for Christmas, Inoue-senpai," Okisato smiled as he captured the queen at d1 with his queen, ending the game in stalemate.

"I can't believe I'm seeing a full game with the Troitsky stalemate. Tanabe-kun... Thank you," Mimoko smiled before pecking a kiss on Okisato's cheek.

"Iori-chan will be jealous," Okisato called out.

"That's what your lips are for, ba-ka," Mimoko snickered as she stuck her tongue out before warping back home.

Okisato exhaled and stretched back in the chair. "It really was hard hiding this. She has no idea how overjoyed I felt when I got a working game so quickly. We know not if it's the very moves Troitsky and Vogt played in 1896, but at least now, we know the famous stalemate is 100% possible in 30 moves. I wonder how the chess world will take this discovery."

The full game:

White: Mimoko Inoue Black: Okisato Tanabe

1. a4 e5

2. e4 d6

3. Nf3 h5

4. Nc3 h4

5. d4 exd4

6. Ne2 h3

7. gxh3 Bxh3

8. Qxd4 Nc6

9. Qc3 Bd7

10. Ng3 Nh6