Chapter 714:

Derpy defenses

En Passant Grandmaster

At Ryokoma, Iori scowled as she found Cinnamon smiling before her. "What do you want, Derpy?"

"I wanna play!"

"Don't-"

"Hmm, she's now around the same rating as you, yet nearly 15 years younger. How about an exhibition match to raise awareness for the team?" Harumi smiled as she popped up.

"M- Milfmilk!?"

And thus, Iori found herself in a rapid game against Cinnamon.

Cinnamon opened the game by moving her pawn to c4 as Iori began to scowl. "Fuck, I'm not losing again... Fine, I'll go for an opening I know that Mimo-chan won't kill me for playing," she thought as she moved her pawn to g6.

Though her intention was the Great Snake, d4 and d6 morphed things to a standard Modern Defense in an instant.

"Yay, now they can all be in a line," Cinnamon thought as she moved her pawn to e4.

"Fucking baby, you're really pissing me off with that derpy smile of yours," Iori thought as she moved her pawn to e5.

Said pawn was quickly captured by Cinnamon's d-pawn, and recaptured soon after by Iori's own d-pawn. But after that came more annoyance due to Cinnamon's word choice.

"Checkers!" Cinnamon smiled as she captured the queen at d8 with her queen.

"Every fucking time!" Iori fumed in her mind, struggling to contain the outburst from leaking out her mouth, as she captured the queen at d8 with her king.

Cinnamon's next move of knight c3, however, caused sweat to run down Iori's face. "Brat's gonna play perfect, meaning I gotta play perfect. Ugh, I'm way more in the groove when I play something dubious, but here, she's got control, and I don't wanna lose," she thought as she moved her bishop to h6.

Cinnamon quickly captured said bishop with her bishop as Iori recaptured said bishop with her knight before it was time for more "checkers".

"Checkers! The king spun with the castle," Cinnamon smiled as she castled queen's side.

With a scowl, Iori moved her bishop to d7. Cinnamon continued setting the pace by moving her pawn to c5, prompting Iori to follow up with pawn c6. Knight f3 was the next sharp turn, forcing Iori into a think to find pawn f6 and not get flung off the ride. An even sharper turn awaited in bishop c4, causing Iori to grit her teeth in fury as she wracked her brain around it.

"I've never had to think this much ever! It's like Derpy's tied me to the back of a truck and is driving down a winding mountain path!" Iori thought as she moved her king to e7.

Cinnamon wasn't done yet with the surprises as pawn b4 sent Iori back into thinking mode, taking some more time off the clock before she moved her pawn to b5.

"A present!" Cinnamon smiled as she performed en passant and captured the pawn at b5 with her c-pawn.

"You little... Ngh," Iori scowled as she caught herself from saying anymore before capturing the pawn at b6 with her a-pawn.

With Cinnamon's play of pawn a4 leaving Iori little room for attack, she offered up her knight for trade by moving it to a6. Cinnamon accepted and took it with her bishop, which was instantly captured by Iori's rook. She then moved her rook to c2 as Iori, struggling to find any openings, moved her rook to c8.

"Huh? The king wants to go see? Yay!" Cinnamon thought as she moved her king to b2.

"Tch, I can't find anything! And if I don't hunker up, I get raided! Fuck!" Iori thought as she moved her knight to f7.

Nothing frustrated Iori more than not being in control of the pace, especially against a prodigy with a derpy face like Cinnamon. With Cinnamon moving her h-rook to d1, Iori was forced to defend by moving her bishop to g4. Though it looked like counterplay at first, pawn h3 revealed the true end route behind the play as Iori moved her bishop to e6.

Cinnamon then decided to move her knight to e1 as Iori moved her a-rook to a8, clearly intending to form a battering ram. No big trades would happen though as Cinnamon moved her pawn to h4, leading Iori to shift her focus king's side as well and move her pawn to f5. Cinnamon didn't take the bait though and moved her pawn to f3, prompting Iori to move her pawn to h5.

Then came knight f2, and a huge sigh from Iori. "Fuuuck, my time, and it's only move 23. But this here... Think I can draw... Ugh, I hate drawing, but if we continue, I might get cooked," she thought as she moved her king to f6.

Cinnamon began going down the draw line by moving her rook to d3, with Iori doing her part by moving her rook to a7. Knight a3 naturally followed, paving the way for Iori to go for a threefold by moving her a-rook to a8. Cinnamon didn't seem to fight it as she moved her knight to c2, but after Iori moved her rook back to a7, she hesitated a bit.

"Huh? Weren't we here before? Oh well, we must be going round like a merry-go-round," Cinnamon thought as she moved her knight back to a3.

Iori instantly moved her a-rook back to a8, but all would be for not if Cinnamon refused to move her knight to c2. Luckily for Iori, Cinnamon moved her knight to c2, and thus, the game ended in a draw by threefold repetition.

"Ah, we had to stop," Cinnamon frowned as she shook hands with Iori.

"Buh, blug, ugh," Iori mumbled as sweat streamed down her face and her consciousness wavered.

This really had made her think hard for the first time in a while, though largely in part due to her past trauma of being one-twoed by Yumi and Cinnamon.

"Ugh, the things we do for views," Iori groaned.

The full game:

White: Cinnamon Ryono (2523) Black: Iori Ishikiridokoro (2504)

1. c4 g6

2. d4 d6

3. e4 e5

4. dxe5 dxe5

5. Qxd8+ Kxd8

6. Nc3 Bh6

7. Bxh6 Nxh6

8. O-O-O+ Bd7

9. c5 c6