An elite challenger [Side Story 10 Intro]

Mimoko yawned as she came down the stairs.

"Morning. So, wanna hear how a challenge went?" Daria asked.

"I'm awake enough to play you," Mimoko mumbled.

"Analysis is part of the training. Not to mention, this was between me and one of the staffers at WWCF HQ."

"Like Bruno-kun?"

"Yes, just like him..."

...

A few days ago, Daria found herself challenged by a WWCF staffer. That said, this staffer was a grandmaster known as, Irit Inbar. Due to her antisocial personality, she currently resided in a remote village just north of Birobidzhan, but was constantly playing online chess. She would occassionally be spotted at WWCF HQ for meetings, as well as to get meals from the snack machine. It was during one of these instances that Daria decided to challenge her for fun, offering to buy her a lifetime of snacks if she won in order to tempt her into playing.

The game began with Daria stylishly opening her game with knight f3, while Irit let out a soft groan as she moved her pawn to d5. "She's opening with the Zukertort, dammit. That's her favorite opening, dammit," she thought as Daria moved her pawn to d4.

"As a WWCF staffer, you'd know of just how good I am, which should make getting in your headspace much easier," Daria thought as Irit moved her knight to f6.

C4, c6, Knight c3, d captures c4, a4, and bishop f5, later, the game was a Slav Defense: Modern, Alapin Variation, Czech Variation. A bit on the uncommon side, but far from unfamiliar territory for Daria.

"Now lets see how you handle the Krause Attack," Daria thought as she moved her knight to e5, sending Irit into a think.

She finally decided to move her b-knight to d7, but quickly found herself sent back into another think after Daria captured the pawn at c4 with her knight. "Ugh, age isn't doing a damn thing to her thinking skills. Oh who am I kidding, this woman's a monster," she thought as she moved her knight to b6.

Daria followed up by moving her knight to e5, with Irit quickly playing pawn to a5 in response.

"Hmm, looks like she knows how to navigate this line," Daria thought as she moved her pawn to f3.

Indeed, Irit did as she quickly moved her f-knight to d7, but after Daria captured the knight at d7 with her knight, she made a slight misstep and captured said knight with the bishop instead of the knight.

Daria slowly began to smile as she reached for her e-pawn and moved it to e4. "When you give me an advantage, I don't let go of it. Mimoko, Peter, and of course my dreamboat are the only ones that can make me cede an advantage to a draw or loss," she thought as Irit began anxiously scratching her head.

"Shit, I saw that smirk. She sees something, or is she messing with me!? Fuck, this is why I hate playing against players like her," Irit thought as she moved her pawn to e6.

Daria continued to hold the advantage with bishop e3, bishop b4, bishop e2, and both players castling king's side leaving Irit with little to work with. "Ngh, I've gotta try something to throw her off, but maybe that's what she's counting on... Ngh, how about a safe move," Irit thought as she moved her pawn to f6.

Daria's gaze narrowed as she moved her queen to b3. "Seems she's beginning to clam." she thought as Irit moved her rook to c8.

"Ugh, I spent too much time thinking! Now my clock's getting low on time!" Irit fumed in her mind as Daria moved her knight to a2.

Following Irit moving her pawn to c5, Daria initiated a trade by capturing the bishop at b4 with her knight, resulting in Irit capturing said knight with her c-pawn. Daria then moved her bishop to f2, while Irit decided to move her rook to e8.

"Hmm, setting up a battering ram. Though perhaps you forgot the pawn is pinned," Daria thought as she moved her f-rook to e1.

Clearly she was on to something as Irit proceeded to move her rook to e7, however, after Daria moved her bishop to d1, it turned out that Irit's battering ram was actually elsewhere as she moved her queen to c7.

"Trying to sneak around? Not working against me," Daria huffed in her mind as she moved her bishop to g3.

Irit clicked her tongue as she moved her queen to d8. "Dammit, she's sending me running. It feels like I'm losing, but by how much?" she thought as Daria moved her queen to d3. Sensing now was the time to attack, Irit boldly moved her knight to c4, but was met with queen e2, confusing her. "Don't I just guard with b5? No, wait... Yes, that's right," she thought as she moved her pawn to b5.

Daria nodded at the play and moved her bishop to b3, with her mood improving even more after Irit played queen b6. "You're capable of finding decent moves, but sadly, you're already waist deep in quicksand with only one free arm. And I'm not tossing you the rope," she thought as she moved her bishop to f2.

That said, Irit did impress Daria with her counter of bishop e8, as it was a somewhat bold move to play in this situation. Daria still had things down pat though as she moved her a-rook to c1, forcing Irit to increase the guard on the c-file with e-rook c7.

"Now look at that, you got your c-file battering ram after all," Daria thought as she moved her e-rook to d1.

Not seeing any opportunities to break through, Irit opted to play defensively by moving her pawn to h6. Daria on the other hand, decided to rattle her with an attack by moving her pawn to d5. Irit had anticipated that though, and moved her queen to d6 with little doubt in her mind.

Next came a trade at e6, with Daria starting things off by capturing the pawn there with her d-pawn, and Irit recapturing said pawn with her queen. Daria then decided to go for another trade by setting things up with bishop g3, to which Irit agreed to abide by via moving her rook to d7. Thus, Daria captured said rook with her rook, and Irit captured said rook with her bishop. Daria then moved her pawn to h4, with Irit entering a long think before deciding to move her king to h7.

"Hmm, just a little more, then she might opt to resign if I'm lucky," Daria thought as she moved her pawn to e5.

Irit quickly took the pawn at e5 with her f-pawn, but before she could catch her breath, Daria moved her king to h2. "King h2... Guarding h3... Ngh, my time's starting to run low. I can't be thinking too long," Irit thought as she moved her pawn to g6.

And that very move was what Daria had been waiting for this whole time. Letting loose a smug grin, Daria moved her pawn to h5, which naturally unnerved Irit. And with her low time also a factor, Irit ended up making a reactionary move in the form of pawn e4, which she quickly realized spelled trouble after Daria pounced on her with rook to d1.

"Shit! She could win my bishop!" Irit thought as she frantically moved her rook to c5.

"Sorry, but I've had you in my palm for quite a while now. Check," Daria smirked as she captured the pawn at g6 with her h-pawn before fanning herself with her fan. "Poor thing must be more stressed than usual since this is a team event," she thought as Irit decided to capture the pawn at g6 with her queen. "Check again. Care to continue?" she asked as she captured the bisdhop at d7 with her rook.

Irit scowled, but played on by moving her king to g8.

"Very well. I applaud your fighting spirit," Daria thought as she captured the pawn at e4 with her f-pawn.

"Ngh... Check," Irit grumbled as she moved her rook to h5.

"Nice try, but I'm not a maestro for nothing," Daria thought as she nudged her king to g1.

Irit let out a loud groan as she sunk her hands into her face. "Ugh, it's mate. It's mate, isn't it?" she thought as she moved her rook to g5.

Thanks to now passing the 40th move, both players now had additional time on their clock. However, the game didn't last longer than a couple minutes as both players, aware that mate was inevitable, decided to speedrun to it. A captures b5, rook c5, bishop captures c4, check, king f8, queen f2, check, king e8, bishop f7, check, king captures d7, bishop captures g6, rook c1, check, king h2, a4, queen f7, check, king c8, then with bishop f5, check, Irit's king was forced to go to d8, leaving Daria with the choice of how to mate.

"I could go for the bishop, but you did decide to allow mate on the board, so I'll give you the standard. Checkmate," Daria nodded as she moved her queen to d7, winning the game.

...

"And that's how it went," Daria smirked.

"Hmm, she was playing well, but made some notable blunders. It was nice to analyze," Mimoko nodded.

The full game:

White: Maestro Himitsu (Daria Inoue) (3200) Black: Irit Inbar (2736)

1. Nf3 d5

2. d4 Nf6

3. c4 c6

4. Nc3 dxc4

5. a4 Bf5

6. Ne5 Nbd7

7. Nxc4 Nb6

8. Ne5 a5

9. f3 Nfd7

10. Nxd7 Bxd7

11. e4 e6

12. Be3 Bb4

13. Be2 O-O

14. O-O f6

15. Qb3 Rc8

16. Na2 c5

17. Nxb4 cxb4

18. Bf2 Re8

19. Rfe1 Re7

20. Bd1 Qc7

21. Bg3 Qd8

22. Qd3 Nc4

23. Qe2 b5

24. Bb3 Qb6

25. Bf2 Be8

26. Rac1 Rec7

27. Red1 h6

28. d5 Qd6

29. dxe6 Qxe6

30. Bg3 Rd7

31. Rxd7 Bxd7

32. h4 Kh7

33. e5 fxe5

34. Kh2 g6

35. h5 e4

36. Rd1 Rc5

37. hxg6+ Qxg6

38. Rxd7+ Kg8

39. fxe4 Rh5+

40. Kg1 Rg5

41. axb5 Rc5

42. Bxc4+ Kf8

43. Qf2+ Ke8

44. Bf7+ Kxd7

45. Bxg6 Rc1+

46. Kh2 a4

47. Qf7+ Kc8

48. Bf5+ Kd8

49. Qd7#