Chapter 910:

Setup the board

En Passant Grandmaster

"So, what's your challenge?" Mimoko asked as she exchanged the points.

"Setup chess," Bai giggled.

Setup chess was a variant where players could place pieces anywhere on the first three rows of their side of the board. 39 points of material could be placed, with each piece being the same value as it normally was. Pawns were 1 point, knights and bishops 3, rooks 5, and queens 9. The king was worth 0 and required to be placed. However, there were no other requirements on what pieces had to be on the board.

Things began with Bai placing a rook on a3 and Mimoko placing a queen on d7.

"Ah, wittle baby wikes her queen," Bai taunted as he placed a queen on d3.

"In what way am I a baby?" Mimoko glared as she placed a pawn down on d6.

"You're bald like a baby!" Bai sneered as he placed a bishop on g3.

Mimoko rolled her eyes and placed a pawn down on c7. Bai then placed his king down on a2, prompting Mimoko to place a knight on b6. When Bai placed a bishop on f1 though, Mimoko placed a queen on e6, putting Bai in check, but not for long as he placed a bishop on b3. She than began grimacing as she placed a bishop on g6 and Bai placed a bishop on h3.

"Ah, wittle baby made a mistake," Bai taunted as Mimoko placed a bishop on e7.

Mimoko scowled as Bai placed a knight on f2. "This one's harder than it seems," she thought as she placed a pawn on f7.

Bai then placed a pawn on c2 as Mimoko placed a knight on f8. Then Bai placed a rook on d2, prompting Mimoko to place her king on e8. Bai's next move was placing a bishop on e2. This meant he could only place a pawn on his next move, while Mimoko still had 6 points of material left to place.

"Hmm, maybe knights... Yeah," Mimoko thought as she placed a knight on c6.

Bai then placed a pawn on g2, while Mimoko decided to use up her remaining points to place a knight on g7. Thus, with everything set up, Bai struck first by capturing the queen at e6 with his h-bishop.

"Ah, wittle baby wasted a queen!" Bai sneered as Mimoko captured the bishop at f6 with her f-pawn.

However, he soon went into a deep think before eventually moving his queen to c3. Mimoko then moved her pawn to d5, causing Bai's eyes to bulge as he moved his queen to b2. However, Mimoko had something else in mind.

"Check," she smirked as she moved her knight to b4.

Bai scowled and moved his king to b1, but his troubles weren't over yet as Mimoko moved her knight to f5. "You won't be getting my bishop!" he shouted as he moved his knight to d3.

"Um, didn't I just?" Mimoko scowled as she captured the bishop at g3 with her knight.

"I still have three bishops!" Bai fumed as he moved his queen to d4.

"But I have the game," Mimoko proudly huffed as she moved her knight to c6.

Bai's face contorted in confusion as he stared at the board. "I have two rooks, a queen, three bishops, a knight, two pawns... How do I lose? ... Hmm, where do I move?"

As Bai thought his time continued to tick down, until eventually, only a few seconds were left, then none.

"Hey Bai, your clock ran out," Xiu grumbled.

Bai let loose a girly shriek as he took notice of the fact. "NOOOOOOOOOOO! I thought tooo much!"

"And that cost you. Never forget time management is essential in chess," Mimoko huffed as she relished in her win.

Now, she would be able to face maestro Xiao Lin.

The full game:

White: SPCM Qiang Bai (2702) Black: Mimoko Inoue (2880)

1. @Ra3 @Qd7

2. @Qd3 @Pd6

3. @Bg3 @Pc7

4. @Ka2 @Nb6

5. @Bf1 @Qe6+