Chapter 1:

Noa the nervous

En Passant Grandmaster Volume 7

Budapest Hungary, September 18th, 2024...

In the Budapest Arena, the venue for the Chess Olympics, Japan's men's team had just won their match against the German Empire of Prussia. It was by no means an easy victory, though perhaps what was most memorable about the match was the disruption it caused when Prussian, Diederich von Richthofen decided to throw himself across the room upon his loss to Okisato, disrupting handfuls of games, and leading to him receiving a 3-round suspension from play.

One of the games he just so happened to have disrupted was a crucial game in a match between the women's teams of Czechia and the United States of America. With the score currently 1.5-1.5 each, the result of this remaining game would impact the match, however, following the incident, Czechia's Drahomíra Plešatý clearly had the psychological advantage over American, Noa Ben-Horin.

"So long, so voluminous... IT'S GONNA BE ALL SHAVED BALD WHEN I'M DONE WHOOPING YOUR ASS!" Drahomíra cackled as she stared at Noa's massive ponytail of long chestnut hair.

Born with alopecia and never having had a single hair anywhere on her body since birth, Drahomíra always felt ostracized, which led to her becoming one of the world's most infamous bald supremacists. Her mission in life was to make the entire world be devoid of hair, so that she could reign supreme as queen of the bald. Though she normally made it mandatory that whoever lost to her was shaved bald on the spot, prohibitions on DESPER use until the final round meant that Noa's hair was safe even if she were to lose to her. That being said, regardless of if her hair was on the line or not, Noa wanted to win this game.

The game had stared out with Noa opening with knight to c3, surprising Drahomíra, who responded by moving her pawn to c5. Noa decided to best go with something she knew and moved her pawn to e4, making the game a Closed Sicilian Defense one. Though Drahomíra seemed to know the traditional line, as she moved her knight to c6.

Noa then moved g-knight to e2, but became anxious after Drahomíra moved her pawn to d6. "I don't know this line... I think d4's best," she thought as she took her own advice and moved her pawn to d4.

Drahomíra let loose a deranged smile as she promptly captured said pawn with her c-pawn, but Noa kept her cool and captured said pawn with her knight.

"What a wreck! I can see you quaking in fear. YOU'RE JOINING THE BALD COMMUNITY TODAY!" Drahomíra thought as she moved her knight to f6.

While Noa was physically shaking, she could still think rationally and moved her bishop to g5, initiating an attack.

Drahomíra scoffed at the attempt, brushing it off as pointless flailing, and moved her bishop to d7. Even though no words had been spoken, Noa could understand Drahomíra was looking down upon her.

"She thinks I'm weak because I'm trembling... I'm not weak," Noa nervously thought as she captured the knight at f6 with her bishop.

Drahomíra blinked for a bit before mockingly tilting her head sideways, as if to ask, "Really? that's your best move?", before capturing the bishop at f6 with her g-pawn.

Noa shot her back a glare and moved her knight to f5, but it was clear by her trembling that she was afraid. Drahomíra decided to play off of that and brought her queen to b6, adding more tension to the playing field.

Noa went into thought, nervously tapping her foot before settling on moving her bishop to b5. Drahomíra countered by moving her pawn to a6, but Noa had already resolved on capturing the knight at c6 with her bishop, forcing Drahomíra to capture said bishop with her b-pawn.

Noa castled king's side, but was hit by a wave of nerves after Drahomíra captured the pawn at b2 with her queen. "Calm down, that's all she can do. I can move the queen out and the rooks will guard each other," Noa thought as she moved her queen to f3.

But it was then that after Drahomíra moved her rook to g8, Diederich came hurdling into the board, sending pieces everywhere. Both players were naturally shaken by the event, but for the already trembling Noa, this was overload.

"So long, so voluminous... IT'S GONNA BE ALL SHAVED BALD WHEN I'M DONE WHOOPING YOUR ASS!" Drahomíra cackled as she stared at Noa's massive ponytail of long chestnut hair.

"Oi, just cuz play was disrupted doesn't mean you can just start chit-chatting. The only thing I wanna hear from your lips is if this looks right," Miga glared as she gestured towards the board.

Drahomíra gave a nod. "Looks just like it did before that brute came flying in. I do hope you'll shear him as punishment, and your own head for allowing such a disruption-"

"Back to the board, or it's your ass that gets the penalty."

"Yes, yes, ma'am."

Noa, on the other hand was just struggling to remain conscious as her heart thumped rapidly. "Where was I going to move!? He just came flying in!? Ah, I... I need to breath! Water! Water!" she thought as she jittered viciously in place.

"Ah, she's gonna botch it. "This is why we shouldn't have all gone for draws," Agatha groaned as she sat in the spectator area with the other members of the American women's team.

"Want to bet your hair on it?" Elenora scoffed.

Agatha scowled and shook her head. "I'm not THAT stupid. I know Noa's a nervous wreck, but if she's able to calm down, she's a damn monster."

Back at the board, Noa finally managed to calm down after chugging through an entire bottle of water, and after reorienting herself with the state of the game, decided on moving her a-rook to b1.

"Well that took an eternity. Ugh, and you're still not under 10 minutes! Well, two more long thinks like that and I win!" Drahomíra thought as she captured the pawn at c2 with her queen.

Upon seeing the move, Noa got jittery. "This looks good... but what do I do!?"

Time began to tick down, but Noa managed to make the solid play of f-rook to d1, putting the ball in Drahomíra's court. Drahomíra wasn't the least bit concerned, moving her pawn to c5 without so much as thinking, hoping to put more time pressure on Noa.

Unfortunately for her, that move allowed Noa to move her knight to d5 with little hesitation.

"Oh no, she's coming in and going to fork my rook and king and get my rook... LET HER! I'll win if she does!" Drahomíra thought as she captured the knight at f5 with a sinister smile on her face.

Noa promptly captured said pawn with her e-pawn, but then, Drahomíra made the odd play of rook to a7. Noa stared in disbelief, trembling as her clock ticked down, but she soon nodded her head in confidence, and stopped her hand from trembling as she captured the pawn at f6 with her knight.

"Ch- Check!"

Drahomíra nearly burst out laughing at Noa's nervousness, but went silent as she realized she couldn't capture the knight with her pawn, lest she wish for a swift mate.

"Malá děvko [Little bitch]!" Drahomíra fumed in her mind as she moved her king to d8.

However, Noa didn't capture the rook at g8 with her knight, instead opting to move her queen to c6.

This brought a smile to Drahomíra's face as she captured the pawn at g2 with her rook. "CHECK! Am I scaring you!?" she taunted as she creepily began rubbing her smooth bald head and blinking her eyes rapidly.

That sight certainly did frighten Noa, even getting a small shriek out of her, but she didn't let that stop her from capturing the rook at g2 with her king, and inch closer to victory.

The move brought Drahomíra's creepy act to a halt as she slowly began to grit her teeth and snarl while slowly and menacingly moving her rook to b7.

Noa cast her a look of pity and moved her queen to e8 without hesitation. Now it was Drahomíra's turn to be nervous as her only legal move was king to c7.

"No... I'm not going to lose... I CAN'T lose, right?" Drahomíra nervously thought as she moved her king to c7. But lose, she most certainly would.

"Thank you all. Father, I shall mate her with your favorite piece," Noa thought as she reached for her knight. "Checkmate. Now never bother me again," Noa glared as she slammed her knight down on d5, winning the game.

Drahomíra's jaw hung open in disbelief before she angrily got up and stormed away. With this 2.5-1.5 win, the United States had now maintained their perfect match win streak heading into the 4th round. And the MVP was Noa, the nerve-ridden, but highly skilled, prodigy.

"We won. Japan won too. That means maybe, I'll finally get to face Mimoko-nee," Noa thought before collapsing to the floor in exhaustion.

The full game:

White: SPCM Noa Ben-Horin (2513) Black: Drahomíra Plešatý (2140)

1. Nc3 c5

2. e4 Nc6

3. Nge2 d6

4. d4 cxd4

5. Nxd4 Nf6

6. Bg5 Bd7

7. Bxf6 gxf6

8. Nf5 Qb6

9. Bb5 a6