Duck, duck, chess

As September 1st rolled around, thousands of female chess players arrived at the Ryokoma hotel. Within a few hours, the field for the next round was set with favorites like Cinnamon easily cruising through. Carol and Tenju also managed to make it through as did Utami.

"Well, I tried," Yuzuha sighed as she sat down on a sofa at the secret puzzle cafe.

"No shame. Lil' Yumi wasn't able to advance either," Rika smiled as she bounced Yumi on her lap.

"I'm sorry. I was playing, and I won," Cinnamon sniffled. 

"Well look on the bright side, the baby got 4 rounds of elo fodder and ended up losing to a freak monster maestro," Iori grumbled.

"Indeed, her rating should jump above 2200 now and she'll be looking at a candidate master title before she's even a year old," Daria nodded.

"What does that mean?" Rika asked.

Daria went on to explain the various titles a chess player could get. The lowest ranked one was Candidate Master, CM, which was awarded to those who reached a rating of 2200 or reached 2000 and showed great potential. Next up was WWCF Master, WM, which was awarded upon reaching a rating of 2300. Then there was International Master, IM, which required a rating of 2400 along with 3 IM norms. Finally, there was Grandmaster, GM, which required a rating of 2500 along with 3 GM norms. There was also the title of Maestro, MT, which was awarded only to the players with ratings above 3000. However, there were currently only 7 maestros in the world, and all of them had been barred from tournament play until just recently. Though that was merely due to their strength. Before they became maestros, all those players were some of the top grandmasters in the world.

There was also the title of National Master, NM, which was usually awarded to aspiring players by their host nations, typically when they reached a rating of 2000. Titles exclusive to women such as Women's National Master (WNM), Women's Candidate Master (WCM), Women's WWCF Master (WWM), Women's International Master (WIM), and Women's grandmaster, WGM. WGM was easier to obtain than the grandmaster title as it only required a rating of 2300 and 3 norms, however, said title would naturally be replaced with the grandmaster one should a woman fulfill all the necessary conditions needed for it.

"Damn, sucks she got knocked out. Imagine if she became a grandmaster before her first birthday," Rika sighed.

"There is still time. Assuming enough grandmasters come to the tournaments on the next 3 weekends, and of course she secures the norms, your daughter will very much make history," Daria stated.

"Hear that? You still got a shot."

Yumi responded with happy babbles as Rika held her in her arms.

"Can I be a graham cracker?" Cinnamon smiled. 

"Do well, and yes, you'll get a norm. Maybe even raise your rating high enough if you beat the right people," Daria stated. 

The proclamation instantly jolted Iori.

"Really got traumatized by young talent. Though I really don't think it's fair that all who fell to me are eliminated," Daria sighed.

"They should have given you a pass to the 2nd part of the qualifiers," Mimoko sighed.

"I can see their angle. They want to justify my strength to everyone. Though in Yumi's case, perhaps it is for the best I beat her. She is just a baby, and the traveling might have been a bit much on her."

"Yeah, no need to rush things. Besides, we'll make sure the next Chess Olympics are right here in Tokyo," Rika smiled as she began to head off to put Yumi down for a nap.

As soon as she left, a buff bald woman clad in sportswear and covered completely in tattoos entered the secret puzzle cafe. "So the heathen has expanded into chess too. Damn her."

Upon noticing Carol sitting at one of the tables, the woman approached her. She scowled as she noticed a chessboard with a small rubber duck piece on it. "And just what childish prank is this?"

"Duck chess! You play it with a duck!"

"'Duck chess'?"

"Yeah, see after you make your move, you move the duck to any square on the board. You can't move past it, or capture it, but that means there's no checks and ya don't have to move your king all the time when ya get checked."

"So it acts as a blocker then. Very well, I'll challenge you to this as a cool-down."

"Got the points? I'm actually an SPCM."

The woman scowled in shock before shaking her head and anteing up the points. The woman, whose name was Mahi Makihara, drew black, meaning Carol got the 1st move and opened by moving her pawn to e4 and placing the duck on d6. Mahi gazed skeptically at the duck and moved her pawn to e5 before begrudgingly moving the duck to e3. "Must the blocker be modeled after a children's toy?"

"Hey, to the inventor go the spoils, and the inventor said the blocker will be a rubber duck, thus Duck chess!" Carol grinned as she moved her knight to f3 and the duck to d6.

"I'll admit there is strategy in introducing a blocker to chess, but I despise the immaturity of designating a rubber duck as such a piece," Mahi snarled as she moved her knight to c6 and the duck to c3.

"It helps it's popularity though. Heck, I hear we're gonna be setting up a tournament for this soon with a respectable prize pool," Carol grinned as she moved her bishop to c4 and the duck to f6.

"I am not interested," Mahi snarled as she moved her pawn to d6 and the duck to d5.

"Just thought I'd tell ya," Carol sighed as she moved her knight to g5 and the duck to e7.

Mahi scowled and moved her bishop to e6 and the duck to d5, prompting Carol to counter by moving her pawn to d3 and the duck to e7. Mahi quickly captured the bishop at c4 with her bishop and moved the duck to d5, as Carol captured said bishop with her d-pawn and moved the duck to h6.

"How annoying," Mahi snarled as she moved her knight to d4 and the duck to d3.

"Annoying's the name of the game!" Carol snickered as she moved her queen to h5 and the duck to g6.

Mahi scowled as she realized what Carol had done. "I curse that we must move this children's toy even if it's disadvantageous of us to do so," she snarled as she moved her pawn to f6 and the duck to f7.

"Hey, you're the one that moved the pawn to f6, not me," Carol shrugged as she moved her knight to e6 and the duck to d7.

"You're NOT getting my queen!" Mahi glared as she moved her queen to e7 and the duck to f7.

"Nah, I got something better, a rare CHECK!" Carol grinned as she captured the pawn at c7 with her knight and moved the duck to d7.

"You think I care about my rook? Take it," Mahi scoffed as she moved her pawn to g6 and the duck to h4.

Once she took her hand off the duck, Carol burst into laughter. Wow, I know I said you aren't forced to move the king if it's in check, but lol, checkmate!" Carol snickered as she captured the king at e8 with her knight, winning the game.

Mahi scowled and clicked her tongue before storming off. 

The full game:

White: SPCM Himitsunohi (Carol Cooke) (1069) Black: Mahi Makihara (1584)

1. e4 Θd6 e5 Θe3

2. Nf3 Θd6 Nc6 Θc3

3. Bc4 Θf6 d6 Θd5

4. Na5 Θe7 Be6 Θd5

5. d3 Θe7 Bxc4 Θd5

6. dxc4 Θh6 Nd4 Θd3

7. Qh5 Θg6 f6 Θf7

8. Ne6 Θd7 Qe7 Θf7

9. Nxc7+ Θd7 g6 Θh4

10. Nxe8#