Chapter 15:

Maestro Wiley Frisch

En Passant Grandmaster Volume 4

The next day, Mimoko called up everyone for a strategy meeting at the chess center to try and figure out how to solve Carol's problem.

"Why am I not surprised something Iori did created a mess?" Utami grumbled.

"Um, we mutually agreed to do the DNA test kit! Don't get mad at us for the results!" Iori fumed.

"You didn't need to stream it."

"Well... OK, fine! I'll give you that!"

"Broadstone... Carol, is one of your relatives named, Agatha?" Okisato asked.

"Yeah, she's my aunt. We're not that close though."

Okisato began to scowl, yet tempered his emotions. "I'm willing to bet she's the one orchestrating things."

"You know of her personality?"

"Yes, too well..."

The spike in bloodlust from Okisato made everyone go quiet for a good few seconds before Iori decided to try and ease the tension. "Anyway, the big thing seems to be Carol-chan's other shitty aunt is running for president, and doesn't want any scandals, so she's using her Broadstone connections to try and eliminate us."

"What's her name?"

"Fianna... Fianna Broadstone," Carol stated.

Daria began to scowl. "I've heard of her, and not good things. For one, her whole platform stems from anti-Japanese sentiment."

"WAIT! She's mega racist!? How the hell does she stand any chance of winning!?" Iori cried.

"She probably has charisma and a silver tongue that can brainwash minds into thinking racist beliefs aren't racist. That, or she's good at masking the true meanings of her statements. Add in the backing of the Broadstone family and you've got a recipe for a career politician," Okisato scowled.

"That's right. She's currently a senator, so clearly, she's got enough support to win elections despite her views," Carol frowned.

"But this DNA test can seemingly destroy her? Hmm, I don't think it's so simple. Even if the main idea is that she, a vehemently Japanophobic woman, is biologically Japanese, I'd imagine there's easy ways to dismiss such a fact. Remember, you took the test, not her, so she has plenty of options if it's just something like that. However, she's trying to have you eliminated. That means there must be something that you could do, that could threaten her career."

"But what?"

"That I can't answer. Though I do know someone who might know a bit more about Fianna."

Daria raised an eyebrow. "Well, you've beaten him before, so no issues in regards to rematches, but I'm sure you're aware of his personality."

"Then I'll have to do my best to try and appease him."

"His mood is worse than usual. Tread cautiously."

"Who exactly are you talking about?" Mimoko asked.

"Senator Wiley Frisch of Missouri, Fianna's main rival in the presidential race, who also just so happens to be America's maestro," Okisato stated.

"MAESTRO!? You've beaten another one!?" Yuusuke cried.

"Wiley was actually the first one I beat."

"So that means..."

"Yep, I've also beaten all the American SPCMs as well."

"So you've beaten 3 whole maestros!?" Iori gasped.

"Correct. Now let's call Wiley over to try and get some answers.

Once the points were exchanged, a well-dressed man with grey hair, warped in momentarily.

"Ah, it's you... I take it the maestro here blabbed a bit about my grievances," the man grumbled.

This was 59-year-old American Maestro, Wiley Frisch. In addition to being a maestro, he was also a US senator from Missouri as well as the leader of the Ratiocinatio party in the senate.

"Hey Wiley, I'm here for a game. This time you play as white, standard time control," Okisato nodded.

"Very well. Though I'd request you keep conversation to a minimum and avoid sensitive topics, unless your friends plan on giving us privacy," Wiley grumbled as he sat down.

"In that case, I'll compromise and play normally."

"What exactly do you wish to ask about," Wiley glared as he moved his pawn to c4.

"Your SPCMs," Okisato replied as he moved his pawn to e6.

Wiley glared as he scanned the room before moving his pawn to d4. "I'm not going to discuss such information publicly."

"Everyone present is qualified to hear about it," Okisato replied as he moved his pawn to f5.

"You're implying that they were all part of the group that solved the crisis with the maestro of Japan. Even so, that doesn't mean they're qualified to hear this," Wiley glared as he moved his pawn to g3.

"Then who would you deem qualified?" Okisato asked as he moved his knight to f6.

"Arguably, you're the only present that I'm confident could grasp the full gravity of the situation," Wiley replied as he moved his bishop to g2.

"I take it the problem is something that can't simply be solved by us simply uniting as a team to take down a group of enemies?" Okisato asked as he moved his pawn to c6.

"That is your opinion," Wiley replied as her moved his knight to f3.

Okisato began to scowl as he moved his pawn to d5. Wiley was a seasoned politician, and as such, probing him for information was a herculean task. Okisato himself was a good judge of character and could usually get a read on people. However, he often struggled to get a read on those smarter than him, though there were exceptions in some cases. Even if he knew a person really well like Mimoko, there would still be some areas where he would never be able to get a read on them, such as in chess, and Wiley was a person he didn't know too well, nor could beat easily in chess, at least when he played chess normally. If Okisato were to employ one of his typical dubious openings, he'd most likely win the match, but at the cost of upsetting Wiley and failing to get any information. Thus, the battle before him was less about winning, and more about learning of Wiley's problems.

Wiley moved his bishop to f4 in silence as Okisato began thinking. "He seems to believe that only I'm capable of handling his problem. That says he's willing to enlist outside help, but only trusts me. I imagine Fianna is likely the source of his ires. From what I know, the two are bitter political enemies and have been at each other's throats for years. I could try bringing up Fianna, but that might sour his mood. In fact, I should only press him on Fianna if he brings her up first," he thought as he captured the pawn on c4 with his d-pawn.

Wiley then castled king's side as Okisato moved his bishop to d6. He then moved his pawn to a4 while Okisato opted to capture the bishop on f4 with his bishop, prompting Wiley to capture said bishop with his g-pawn without haste.

"Do you feel as though my clubmates are not skilled enough chess players to handle the problem?" Okisato asked as he moved his knight to d5.

"This is not a matter that can simply be solved with a game of chess," Wiley grumbled as he moved his pawn to e3.

"Bingo. It's probably something political then. I'm aware that both Wiley and Fianna are running for president so I'm assuming that's the root of it," Okisato thought as he castled on the king's side.

Wiley moved his pawn to a5 while Okisato moved his knight to d7 and decided to take a gamble. "Just curious, but how much do you know about my clubmates?" he asked as Wiley moved his queen to c1.

"Simply their names," Wiley replied as Okisato moved his 7-knight to f6.

"So you've heard of them, then you know of their skill as chess players, yes?"

"I have not properly analyzed their performances," Wiley replied as he captured the pawn at c4 with his queen.

"Do you think any of them are capable of giving you a run for your money?" Okisato asked as he moved his bishop to d7.

"Why are you changing topics so suddenly?" Wiley glared as he moved his knight to e5.

"Don't politicians change topics on the fly all the time? Anyway, the reason I ask is because some of my friends wish to challenge all the maestros, but if your SPCMs are out of commission, then that means they won't be able to challenge you," Okisato stated as he moved his knight to g4.

Wiley went silent as he moved his knight to f3. Okisato decided to move his queen to e7 and waited for Wiley to move his b-knight to d2 before talking to him again. "I could always rematch them all, which would allow everyone here to at least get the option to challenge them without having to go to America," he mused as he moved his g-knight to f6.

Wiley began to glare as he moved his f-rook to c1.

"Looks like I got a hit. He seemed a bit upset at that proposal. Now I just got to figure out what's going on with his SPCMs. Hmm, I might need to bring up Fianna- No, there's an easier way," Okisato thought. "Did the Desperados corrupt your SPCMs?" he asked as he moved his queen to e7.

"I believe I requested that conversation be kept to a minimum," Wiley snarled as he captured the queen at b4 with his queen.

"So that's what happened. So requesting a rematch with them is off the table then," Okisato sighed as he captured the queen at b4 with his knight.

"You're attempting to get under my skin," Wiley snarled as he moved his knight to e5.

"I'm just inquiring about the well being of your SPCMs," Okisato shrugged as he moved his bishop to e8.

"Then let me assure you, they are fine," Wiley glared as he moved his rook to a3.

"So it's not the Desperados then. Perhaps its a personal problem, but what could be causing such a schism between Wiley and his SPCMs?" Okisato thought as he moved his rook to b8.

The others meanwhile, awkwardly watched the game.

"Wow, talk about feelin' unwelcome. That guy's been glarin' at us since he got here," Yuusuke groaned as Wiley moved his rook to b3.

"He should show more respect to Mimoko-sama," Utami glared as Okisato moved his f-knight to d5.

"Don't worry about me. Though I must say, conversation aside, the game has been quite intriguing," Mimoko stated as Wiley moved his bishop to f1.

"You're impressed with this guy? He seems kind of lame-o to me," Iori shrugged as Okisato moved his king to h8.

"I'm also impressed that Tanabe-kun is taking the game seriously. However, he's getting outplayed," Mimoko frowned as Wiley moved his bishop to c4.

"'Outplayed'!? No way! Oki-kun's supposed to be the one doing all that!" Iori pouted as Okisato moved his king to g8.

"The maestro hasn't been making the best possible moves either, however, that doesn't necessarily mean those moves were bad, more like good, but not the best," Mimoko stated as Wiley's eye twitched while he moved his d-knight to c4.

While it had been subtle, Okisato had noticed Wiley's reaction to Mimoko's comment. "Hmm, he seemed to take offense to that critique. I wonder," he thought as he moved his rook to h6.

"You are Mimoko Inoue, yes?" Wiley asked as he glared at Mimoko and moved his knight to d6.

Mimoko nodded in affirmation as Okisato moved his bishop to h5.

"Then Mimoko, allow me to counter your critique. It is the end result of the game that matters. While I may boast a rating of 3050 and be considered a maestro, I am still a human, and an aging one at that. You young people need to realize that you don't know everything there is to know in the world," Wiley glared as he captured the bishop at h5 with his bishop.

That line was all it took for Okisato to solve the mystery. A sadistic grin began to form on his face as he captured the bishop at h5 with his rook and stared Wiley in the eye. "So how are your poll numbers doing?"

Wiley scowled, but maintained his composure as he moved his rook to c4.

"Not the greatest I assume. And if I recall correctly, most of your SPCMs are younger than 30. I'm assuming you're upset because none of them are going to vote for you," Okisato snickered as he moved his knight to a6.

"That's nothing to get excited about!" Wiley shouted as he moved his knight to d7.

"Hit the nail on the head. So you're just embarrassed your own SPCMs don't wanna vote for you," Okisato taunted as he moved his pawn to b5.

"Brats don't get anything! Alright, I'm schooling you for this!" Wiley growled as he performed en passant and captured the pawn at b5 with his a-pawn.

"Uh oh, looks like I pushed too far," Okisato thought as he captured the pawn at b6 with his knight.

"What!? Oki-kun got en passanted? No way! That lame-o boomer stole his move!" Iori cried as Wiley captured the rook at b8 with his knight.

"Iori-chan, en passant is not exclusive to Tanabe-kun," Mimoko groaned as Okisato captured the knight at b8 with his knight.

Things were looking dire for Okisato. He was now down a rook and Wiley was enraged.

"You're not weaseling out of this one," Wiley snarled as he moved his rook to a4.

"Yeah, yeah," Okisato grumbled as he moved his 8-knight to d7.

Wiley then launched a massive attack, starting with him capturing the pawn at a7, prompting Okisato to move his king to f8. He then moved his knight to c4, prompting Okisato to swiftly capture said knight with his knight.

"Oi, he just hung a knight," Yuusuke trembled as Wiley captured the knight at d7 with his rook.

"Lol, poor timing dumbass. Guess that's why you're low elo-L," Iori snickered as Okisato moved his knight to d6.

"S- See? Just like I said, he hung the knight!" Yuusuke stuttered as he tried to mask his blunder.

"Lol, you thought the boomer hung his rook, Shouben-kun," Iori taunted as Wiley captured the knight on d6 with his rook.

Okisato moved his king to e7 in an attempt to salvage things, but Wiley made his defeat more imminent by capturing the pawn at c8 with his rook. He then slid his king to e7 as Wiley moved his rook to a6.

"So this is it. Well, at least I got some information out of him," Okisato thought as he moved his king to c7.

"Check," Wiley snarled as he moved his rook to c3.

Okisato sighed and moved his king to d8 as Wiley moved his rook to a7. "Well, guess I won't drag this out," he thought as he moved his pawn to g5.

"So he's resigned himself to his fate, not like he had much of a chance at salvaging things anyway Mimoko thought as Wiley moved his rook to b3.

From that point forward, things were pretty simple for Wiley. After Okisato moved his king to c8, Wiley moved his b-rook to b7. He then moved his pawn to g4 while Wiley moved his rook to g7. With little moves left, Okisato opted to move his king to b8 while Wiley moved his a-rook to e7. Now no matter what, Okisato would be mated, and with a loud sigh, he moved his king to c8.

"Checkmate. That's what you get for disrespecting your elders," Wiley snarled as he moved his rook to e8, winning the game.

The full game:

White: Maestro Wiley Frisch (3050) Black: Okisato Tanabe (2690)

1. c4 e6

2. d4 f5

3. g3 Nf6

4. Bg2 c6

5. Nf3 d5

6. Bf4 dxc4

7. O-O Bd6

8. a4 Bxf4

9. gxf4 Nd5