Chapter 17:

Spirit of Genghis Kahn

En Passant Grandmaster Volume 7

Going back in time to the start of round 4...

In the playing hall, Poland's men's team found themselves pitted against the New Empire of Mongolia. To many, this would seem insignificant, but to the Mongolians, this was a huge chance to right a historical short falling, that being the Mongol Empire's failed attempt to conquer Poland. While the Empire had come close, the death of Ögedei Khan back home caused the Mongol forces to retreat, but now, they had a chance to rectify that by crushing Poland at the chessboard.

Still massaging his broken nose from the night prior, Jarosław glared at the man garbed in Mongol armor and a horse skull that was seated across from him. This was Genghis Jad, the New Empire of Mongolia's leader. Said to have the power of necromancy, Jad was able to resurrect millions of past Mongol warriors. He could even summon the spirit of the great Genghis Khan, and envelop himself in it, giving him the power of the world's greatest conqueror.

As soon as the round began, Jad opened the game by moving his pawn to h3, to which Jarosław responded to by moving his pawn to d5. Jad countered by moving his pawn to d4, but then came Jarosław's grand attack of bishop f5.

"Now this is something I've never seen before," Danny stated as Jad moved his knight to f3.

"The engine says the position's dead even too. Given the skill levels of both these players, we're likely to see a draw play out," Nancy stated as Jarosław moved his knight to d7.

"Really? I think Jad'll win," Danny shrugged.

"And why would you think that?" Nancy glared as Jad moved his pawn to c4.

"Because he's on a rampage. His teammates might be struggling to get wins, but he himself is undefeated," Danny proclaimed just as Jarosław decided to capture the pawn at c4 with his d-pawn.

"You're getting ahead of yourself; Jarosław is a 2700-level player. Plus if we take history into accord, the Mongols did come close to conquering Poland, but had to abandon the campaign after their leader died back at home. And if we take a look at the other boards in the match, it looks like they're all even across the board. Chess is not a game which can easily be predicted. Just look at some of the games we've seen thus far here that we thought would go one way, but went the complete opposite," Nancy countered as Jad moved his pawn to e3.

"True, true," Danny frowned and nodded as he watched Jarosław move his knight to b6. "Hey Nancy, how much you wanna bet Jad will win?"

"If you're going to be stupid, sure. Fifty dollars."

Thus, with chat as witness, the bet was sealed. In the time the bet had been made, Jad had moved his pawn to a4, but more significantly, Jarosław had moved his pawn to e5. Jad had then proceeded to capture said pawn at e5 with his knight, slightly worsening his position. However, Jarosław then made the play of bishop e6, all in a bid to defend his pawn.

"Урхи нь цацагдсан. Бид үргэлж чамаас илүү дээр байсан, гэхдээ одоо хэдэн зуун жилийн дараа энэ агуу богино богино хугацааг засч, бид таныг бүрэн байлгах болно [The trap has been sprung. We've always been superior to you, but now, after hundreds of years, we'll rectify this great shortcoming of our ancestors and conquer you completely]!" Jad thought as he moved his pawn to a5.

Jarosław scowled and moved his knight to d7, but despite that being the best move he could make, it did little to same him from Jad's attack of queen a4, pinning the knight and putting extra pressure on the queen's side.

"Jeszcze jeszcze nie zamieszałem, dlatego musi być taki lekkomyślny. To jest zabawa dziecka [I haven't even castled yet, which must be why he's being so reckless. This is child's play]," Jarosław thought as he moved his pawn to c6.

Then came the next major assault and moment of truth as Jad boldly captured the pawn at c4 with his bishop. Rather than recapture said bishop, Jarosław instead set his sights on the knight at e5, capturing it with his own knight. This play now put Jad at a crossroads, with his choices of either capturing the knight at e5 with his d-pawn or capturing the bishop at e6 with his bishop being what would ultimately determine the direction of the game. And without hesitation, Jad chose the former.

Nancy scowled as she watched Jarosław move his queen to c7. "I swear, Běla's whole prediction better not be right. If it is, I'm going to be furious," she thought as Jad captured the bishop at e6 with his bishop.

While Jarosław did capture said bishop with his f-pawn, the fact that Jad had first captured the knight had made all the difference, but it was unknown if the players themselves knew this. After Jad moved his queen to b3, and Jarosław moved his queen to e7, both players castled, with Jad castling king's side and Jarosław castling queen's side.

Danny smirked as he watched Jad move his pawn to e4, before he decided to hide the eval bar and call Nancy over to look at the game.

"I don't see it. He can just go rook d4," Nancy grumbled as Jarosław did just that.

"But bishop e3?" Danny snickered as that very move was played.

"Rook takes e4."

"Hmm, sure, but the eval bar's a single color at this point, and not quite the color Jarosław might want it to be," Danny thought as Jad moved his pawn to a6.

Jarosław was completely unaware of this and moved his rook to b4, thinking it would be his key to victory.

Jad however, could now tell he was winning. "Check. Польшийн тэнэг, та ямар ч үед байлдах болно [Polish fool, you'll be conquered in no time]," he proclaimed as he captured the pawn at b7 with his a-pawn.

Jarosław shook his head in annoyance and captured the pawn at b7 with his rook. "Teraz twoja królowa jest atakowana. Zostałeś przeciwny, Mongol Savage [Now your queen is under attack. You've been countered, Mongol savage]," he thought as Jad moved his queen to c4.

Feeling as though he had complete control over the board, Jarosław advanced his pawn to c5. Jad moving his knight to c3 gave Jarosław the confidence to assume his plan was succeeding, prompting him to continue his original plan of attack and move his rook to b4. However, Jad sidestepped the attack once more with a check via moving his queen to a6.

Jarosław let loose an audible, but quiet growl as he moved his king to b8. It would not be a one time thing as his growls got louder following Jad moving his f-rook to d1, forcing him to go on defense and move his rook back to b7. Jad moved his knight to b5, slowly encircling his prey. Jarosław's frustrations continued to boil as he made yet another defensive play in the form of queen to e8.

Then came his breaking point after Jad captured the pawn at a7 with his knight. "Pieprzyć cię! Nie opóźnię już mojego planu ataku [Fuck you! I will not delay my plan of attack any longer]!" Jarosław fumed as he captured the pawn at b2 with his rook.

And thanks to that rage, he had just blundered into mate.

Jad saw it immediately and moved his d-rook to b1, giving a reality check to Jarosław as he quickly realized his grave error. "Nie, nie, nie! To nie może być! To wina tego chłopca! Mój złamany nos utrudnił moje umiejętności myślenia! Pozwię go [No, no, NO! This can't be! It's that boy's fault! My broken nose hindered my thinking ability! I'll sue him]!" he thought as he moved his king to c7.

Then slowly, the visage of Genghis Khan, began to enshroud Jad as he knew converting the win would be easy. "Эцэст нь амжилтанд хүрэхийн тулд Польшийн үнэн байлдан дагуулах цаг [Time for the true conquest of Poland to finally be achieved]!" he proclaimed aloud as he captured the rook at b2 with his rook.

Jarosław gritted his teeth in fury as he slid his queen to a8. "Myślisz, że to jest jak przeszłość! To tylko mecz szachowy [You think this is like the past! This is just a chess match]!" he shouted back as Jad moved his rook to d1. "Zapomnij! Zabiorę twoją armię ze sobą [Forget it! I'll take your army down with me]!" he shouted as he captured the knight at a7 with his queen.

"Та надад хошигнол, шон [You humor me, Pole]. Check!" Jad cackled as he captured the queen at a7 with his queen.

Now faced with destruction no matter where he went, Jarosław covered his head with his hand and moved his king to c8.

"Бэлтгэх анхны хуйхыг нэхэмжилж байна [The first scalp of the conquest has been claimed]! CHECKMATE!" Jad declared as he moved his rook to b8, winning the game.

Nancy stared at her screen with her jaw hung down, but bigger shock would come to all when after beating Poland 2.5-1.5, the Mongols summoned their undead horses and tied the Poles to them before riding away, dragging the poor Poles with them.

...

In the present, Okisato scowled as Shira finished telling him of the incident. "Seems this mysterious Jad is more troublesome than I thought. Probably a good time to learn Mongolian," he thought.

"These guys are still alive, but when Shira saw what those monsters were doing to them, she tried to confront them," Golda growled.

"And well... My apologies, but as you know, my actions backfired on me," Shira frowned as her hand began to tremble again.

"You should have just called for an arbiter given your state," Okisato sighed as he pulled out his WWCF card.

"You're right... I can't act like I'm still... the old me..."

Okisato closed his eyes and shook his head. "Now I remember. Shira was once a peace activist hailed as the second coming of Gandhi, but after being kidnapped and held captive for months, she was broken to the point where she was forced to retire after she ended up killing a person in a panic attack shortly after she was rescued. And here she is trying to act brave," he thought to himself. "You're strong for pushing through like you do, but recognize your limits," he sighed aloud as he finished summoning the arbiters.

A few seconds later, Raymond and some arbiters arrived.

"Hmm, so they got a bit too barbaric after their win. We'll have them healed up for the round tomorrow," Raymond nodded as he warped away with the four Poles.

"Seems my job here is done. Now I think it's time I head back to my team. If they aren't too mad at me for something I said, I should have a meal waiting for me," Okisato waved.

"I understand. We too have teammates we need to return to dining with. I thank you for your help," Shira nodded as she and Golda began following Okisato back to the restaurant.

...

In a hotel room, Jad seethed with fury as Jochi strolled in with Möge. "Зүчи, чи хаана байсан юм бэ [Jochi, where have you been]!?"

"Зүгээр л гаремаа тэлэх гэж оролдож байна уу, эсвэл тэмүүлж байна [Just trying to expand my harem, or trying to]," Jochi smirked.

An aura surrounded Jad as a large visage of Genghis Khan appeared around him. "МИНИЙ эмэгтэйтэй [With MY woman]!?"

"Үгүй, үгүй. Би сая харсан охин, гэтэл нэг япон новш саад болсон; Түүнийг Окисато Танабе гэдэг байв [No, no. I just saw a girl, but some Japanese bastard interrupted me; Okisato Tanabe was his name]."

"Япон уу? ...Тэд сул дорой. Бид тэднийг энд ч, газар дээр нь ч амархан дарж чадна. Бид Солонгосыг байлдан дагуулж дуусмагц тэдний арал дараагийнх болно [Japan? ...They are weak. We can crush them with ease, both here and on their lands. Once we complete our conquest of Korea, their island is next]!" Jad glared as he stared at the pairings for the 5th round.

...

Upon reaching the restaurant, Okisato decided to check to see if the pairings were up, and upon doing so, raised an eyebrow. "Could this have been the president's work? Well, I guess they are even in points, but still, this is too coincidental," he thought as he stared at the pairings for the next round. The next opponent for Japan's men's team... was Mongolia.

The full game:

White: Genghis Jad (2804) Black: Jarosław Abgarowicz (2732)

1. h3 d5

2. d4 Bf5

3. Nf3 Nd7

4. c4 dxc4

5. e3 Nb6

6. a4 e5

7. Nxe5 Be6

8. a5 Nd7

9. Qa4 c6

10. Bxc4 Nxe5