Chapter 853:

Elenora's rematch

En Passant Grandmaster

At WWCF HQ, Daria fanned herself as she found Elenora seated across from her. "And what do I owe the pleasure of this meeting?"

"I want a rematch."

"From the Chess Olympics? Sorry, but if you want one, you'll have to beat-"

"Already have," Elenora glared as she flashed her WWCF card.

Daria took note of all the badges present. "Seems you were busy, but you'll have to do it at a secret puzzle cafe."

"I know. That's why I'm telling you now. Warp over to one, and I'll be there to challenge you."

As America's representative at the WWCF as well as the US Chess Federation's head, Elenora naturally possessed the ability to warp to any secret puzzle cafe in the world.

"Fine. Meet me in Kyoto," Daria huffed as she warped away.

...

A few minutes later, the rematch between Daria and Elenora began with Daria opening by moving her pawn to g3, while Elenora opted to move her pawn to d5. Predictably, knight f3, c6, bishop g2, knight f6, a king's side castle, and bishop g4 were played before Daria decided to mix things up with pawn to d3.

"Maestro, you're sure looking down upon me. How I've longed to prove to all how talented I truly am," Elenora thought as she moved her b-knight to d7.

Pawn h3 and a trade at f3 kicked off by bishop captures f3 and ended with e captures f3 came next, along with more predictable plays like e6, rook e1, bishop d6, and f4. That marked the end of status quo though, as now it was Elenora's turn to unleash her gambit.

"Show me if you can thwart this, maestro," Elenora thought as she moved her queen to b6.

Daria then moved her pawn to a4, eliciting a mirrored response of a5 from Elenora almost immediately.

"Don't think I don't know how to deal with these types of moves. Ball's back in your court," Elenora thought.

It wasn't for long though as knight d2 from Daria sent the ball flying back towards Elenora. However, she was there to make the save by moving her bishop to b4.

"Hmm, hmm. Certainly proving you're 2800-level. Too bad I'm 3200-level," Daria thought as she smiled and moved her pawn to d4.

Elenora scowled and castled king's side with little hesitation. "As if I couldn't see that," she scoffed in her mind as Daria moved her pawn to c3.

She then moved her bishop to d6 as Daria followed up by moving her knight to f3. C5, queen c2, c captures d4, knight captures d4, bishop c5, bishop e3, f-rook e8, a-rook d1, h6, knight b5, a-rook c8, and rook e2 all followed, yet no side seemed to be gaining significant ground. That being said, the slight advantage belonged to Daria. Elenora kept up the pressure by capturing the bishop at e3 with her bishop, forcing Daria to capture said bishop with her rook in order to keep things even.

She then moved her knight to c5, eliciting a smile from Daria. "You're playing well. I guess at the chessboard you're indeed worthy of my respect. Though even when the position is even, I'm always looking for ways to win," Daria thought as she moved her rook to d4.

At this point, Elenora began to scratch her head. "I need to break through. She's countering me perfectly, but that's because we're playing the line as perfectly as we can, I think. If I want to break through, I gotta shake her," Elenora thought as she extended her hand, and stopped it, before committing to playing queen a6.

"Oh, now that's intriguing. Now can you keep up with your own tango?" Daria thought as she smiled and moved her queen to d1.

Elenora scowled and moved her pawn to h5. "She's taunting me. I hate it!" she thought as Daria smirked and moved her pawn to g4. "Oh wipe that off your face!" she fumed in her mind as she slammed her f-knight down on e4.

"Oh do keep that up," Daria thought as she moved her pawn to c4.

Elenora quickly captured the pawn at g4 with her h-pawn, prompting Daria to recapture said pawn with her h-pawn. Elenora then retreated her knight to d6, giving Daria the opening to capture the pawn at d5 with her c-pawn.

"Take the pawn. I'll take something bigger," Elenora thought as she captured the knight at b5 with her knight.

Daria slowly nodded her head as she moved her bishop to f1, stunning Elenora.

"Huh? Well lucky me! I'm beating a maestro!" Elenora gleefully thought as she captured the pawn at a4 with her knight.

"Oh, did you forget about my queen?" Daria scoffed in her mind as she narrowed her gaze and captured the knight at a4 with her queen.

Elenora sat dumbfounded for a few seconds before angrily gritting her teeth. "Oh no you don't!" she thought as she moved her rook to c1.

Daria let loose a smirk as she moved her rook to d1, worsening Elenora's anger as she doubled down on her strategy and moved her e-rook to c8. Though she could clearly see what Elenora was planning, Daria ignored the battery in favor of capturing the pawn at e6 with her d-pawn. Elenora didn't let the pawn sneak by though as she captured it with her f-pawn, yet to her greater surprise, Darian advanced her pawn to f5.

"Why did she do that? It matter's not. A win's a win!" Elenora thought as she captured the rook at d1 with her rook.

"Oh look at that, you forgot about my queen... again," Daria thought as she smirked and captured the rook at d1 with her queen.

Just like before, Elenora sat dumbfounded at the play, this time for much longer than before. "I... H- How?" she mumbled in her mind before finally moving her queen to d6.

"Oh? Want to pawn off that queen? Sorry, best you'll get in return is a rook," Daria thought as she moved her rook to d3.

Elenora angrily moved her queen away to b4, giving Daria the all-clear to continue where she left off on the king's side of the board and capture the pawn at e6 with her f-pawn. Sweat dripped down Elenora's face as she gritted her teeth and moved her rook to e8 to stop the pawn, however, Daria was on top of things and moved her rook to d7 to set up a nasty trap.

"No, you're not sweeping me up too!" Elenora thought as she frantically captured the pawn at e6 with her rook.

"And check. To think it's taken so long for one to show up," Daria smirked as she moved her rook to d8.

Rage exploded on Elenora's face as she moved her king to h7, but it was dread that quickly became the dominant emotion within after Daria moved her queen to d3, delivering another check. "Shit! I'll have to trade queens," Elenora thought as she moved her queen to e4.

"Oh look at that, a bargain. Check," Daria grinned as she promptly captured said queen with her queen.

Elenora furiously captured the queen at e4 with her rook, but the moment Daria moved her bishop to d3, utter devastation hit her. "I resign."

"You sure?"

"Yes... It's pointless to struggle on."

Daria shrugged and nodded, and thus, the game was over.

Tears oozed down Elenora's face as she trudged away, her makeup smearing all the while. "Fuck... Fuck... I thought I actually had her," she thought as she covered her face with her hand.

"Apologies, but that's how the game goes. You did play well, but aggression cost you the game," Daria thought as she rose and began walking away.

The full game:

White: Maestro Himitsu (Daria Inoue) (3300) Black: Elenora Broadstone (2802)

1. g3 d5

2. Nf3 c6

3. Bg2 Nf6

4. O-O Bg4

5. d3 Nbd7

6. h3 Bxf3

7. exf3 e6

8. Re1 Bd6

9. f4 Qb6