Chapter 7:

Wakuta of the shadows

En Passant Grandmaster Volume 6

With the game at board 1 having ended in a quick draw, things naturally shifted towards the other boards. The game on board 2 started off simple enough with Okisato moving his pawn to e4 and Jern moving his pawn to c5. But knowing Okisato, the game was about to take an insane turn, and sure enough, king e2 was on the board.

Skaberghast glanced over and smirked while Jern stared in confusion for a bit before scowling. "That bastard making light of me? I said I hate this cuz there's too much thinking, but I ain't no idiot!" he thought as he moved his pawn to d5.

Okisato remained calm and moved his pawn to d3 as Jern followed up by moving his knight to c6. This gave Okisato the chance to capture the pawn at d5, but then...

"Check! See I got smarts, "grandmaster"," Jern sneered as he moved his knight to d4.

Okisato didn't care and moved his king back to e1, allowing Jern to capture the pawn at d5 with his queen. Okisato then moved his knight to c3, prompting Jern to deliver another check by moving his queen to e6. But yet again, Okisato effortlessly thwarted it by moving his c-knight to e2.

"Tch, bastard's annoying," Jern though as he unknowingly blundered by moving his pawn to b5.

Now Okisato could go on the attack, starting by moving his pawn to c3. Much to his joy, Jern didn't make the only viable move of knight f5, instead going knight c6. The humiliating defeat was a go.

Okisato continued the pace by moving his bishop to e3, causing Jern to think for a while before moving his queen to f5. He then moved his pawn to d4 as Jern brought his knight out to f6.

"Well look at you developing pieces. But it's too late," Okisato thought as he captured the pawn at c5 with his d-pawn.

Jern scowled and moved his pawn to e5, giving Okisato the chance to play knight g3, sending the queen to e6. But that wasn't even the true point of the plan, for after Okisato captured the pawn at b5 with his bishop, Jern began to get nervous.

"Shit, he pinned the knight, and I can't take the bishop... Guess I'll fix that!" he thought as he moved his pawn to a6.

The threat was empty as Okisato simply slid his bishop to a4, leading Jern to make the move of bishop e7 in desperation. But it was when Okisato moved his knight to f5 that Jern really got angry.

At first he thought it was a free knight, but he stopped himself just before he touched a piece. "Shit, I take it, he captures my knight... and gets a rook! Fucking bastard, I'll kill him," Jern thought as he moved his king to f8.

As for board 3, it had opened with e4, e5, and d4, a Center Game, which Ryonosuke decided to accept by capturing the pawn at d4 with his e-pawn.

"Kahkahkah! Old man fell for it! Now I can play the Danish!" Sommer thought as he giddily moved his pawn to c3.

Ryonosuke captured said pawn without hesitation with his d-pawn, resulting in Sommer's grin widening as he moved his bishop to c4.

"Why's he offering up a pawn?" Ryonosuke thought as he captured the pawn at b2 with his c-pawn.

"THIS IS WHY! Kahkakakah! I got two beaming bishops!" Sommer gleefully thought as he captured the pawn at b2 with his bishop.

"I see... How troublesome," Ryonosuke thought as he moved his knight to c6.

Boards 2 and 3 weren't the only places seeing action or tension between players as over on board 4, Mori was looking ready to snap. "Why do I gotta face the creeps?" he groaned in his mind as he finally decided to make his opening move, and moved his pawn to a3.

"A... new move?" Wakuta mumbled as he moved his pawn to c5.

"No, it's a Mengarini, you idiot," Mori thought as he moved his pawn to e4.

"Now... you face the true power... of the shadows," Wakuta declared as he moved his queen to b6.

"Arbiters, shut him up," Mori groaned as he raised his hand.

Miga sighed and shook her head. "No talking unless it's a check or checkmate. First warning."

"What!? You're not going to disqualify him!?"

"Not when he's playing fair. Punishment only comes when he loses. Those are the orders."

"Useless. Well fine, I'll be the one to shine the light on you and get you out of my sight," Mori huffed as he moved his knight to c3.

"With... a mask of light?" Wakuta asked as he moved his knight to c6.

"Uh, no," Mori cringed as he moved his bishop to c4.

Wakuta let out a growl and moved his pawn to d5, prompting Mori to capture it with his e-pawn. This allowed Wakuta to move his knight to d4, but Mori countered by advancing his pawn to d6.

"Then I shall... check," Wakuta declared as he captured the knight at f3 with his knight.

Mori expected the move, and countered by capturing said knight with his queen, while Wakuta opted to capture the pawn at d6 with his queen. This allowed Mori to move his knight to e4, sending the queen packing to c6, however, he failed to capitalize on his advantage and moved his pawn to d3.

Wakuta began to chuckle and captured the knight at e4 with his knight. "The shadows... are winning. They will consume you."

"The only shadows I want consuming me are ones from real 3D women. Check," Mori scowled as he captured the pawn at f7 with his queen.

Wakuta let out a frustrated growl as he moved his king to d8.

"Oh look, I'm winning," Mori thought as he captured the knight at e4 with his d-pawn.

"No! The shadows... will prevail!" Wakuta roared as he captured said pawn with his queen.

Mori simply slid his bishop to e3 as Wakuta growled in fury and captured the pawn at c2 with his queen, sending the piece flying off.

"Oi, no flinging pieces," Miga glared as she quickly retrieved the piece.

At this point, Mori had things in the bag and simply had to convert it. He started by moving his queen to d5, forcing Wakuta to move his bishop to d7 in order to keep his chances alive. He then moved his rook to d1 as Wakuta slid his queen to a4 in an effort to protect the targeted d7 square. Mori continued to press by capturing the pawn at b7 with his queen, forcing Wakuta to move his rook to c8. But it was all in vain for Wakuta as after Mori played the devastating bishop to b5, he moved his queen to g4, unknowingly blundering into mate.

"And that's that," Mori thought as he smirked and captured the bishop at d7 with his rook, completely surprising Wakuta.

"The... rook!? I... did not expect that," he mumbled as he moved his king to e8.

"And that's why you lost. You didn't see the mating line," Mori thought as he captured the pawn at e7 with his rook.

"A blunder? No... You are a great chess player. You should join me and my brothers... in the shadows," Wakuta chuckled as he moved his king to d8.

"No. Fuck you, chuuni, I wanna read my porn. Checkmate," Mori scoffed as he moved his rook to e8, winning the game.

And with that, Japan had drawn 1st blood, and were now leading the match 1.5-0.5.

The full game:

White: Morizane Moribe (2399) Black: Wakuta Ogeldax (2003)

1. a3 c5

2. e4 Qb6

3. Nf3 Nf6

4. Nc3 Nc6