Flash chess [Special]

As Serika finished her meal, she took notice of a schoolgirl with brunette twintails approaching her.

"Ah, sorry, I'm Mimoko Inoue. So, I was wondering if you wanted to participate in a flash chess match," the girl smiled.

"'Flash chess'? The heck is that?" Serika scowled.

"Um, you watch the pieces move, then when they stop, you gotta find the mate," Rodeo mumbled.

"It's like the puzzles, except you watch the whole game play out instead of jumping to a certain point in the game. And unlike the puzzles which are mostly solo, flash chess is geared around competition. I hear it's a new concept they're testing out before having it go live across the board. So would you like to play?" Mimoko smiled.

"Sure, I just ate a bunch of octopus so my brain is fueled up," Serika shrugged.

Mimoko nodded and sat across from Serika as some screens rose from the table. On them, were virtual chessboards.

"Now... you each get the same puzzle. Whoever gets the mate first wins. Tap to move once you hear the sound n' see the clock start ticking. You gotta do it in a minute, otherwise ya lose. Oh, clock resets with each move, but the time taken is added up in the end," Rodeo mumbled.

With both Mimoko and Serika as White, the game opened with pawn to g3 before pieces began moving rapidly. G6, d4, bishop g7, c4, d5, c captures d5, queen captures d5, then suddenly, the pieces stopped moving and a clicking sound sounded as a timer began counting down from a minute.

"I thought this would be a mating thing, but we're only on the 5th move. Ugh, why's it stopping now?" Serika thought.

"AH!" a voice cried out.

Serika turned to notice a man clutching his head in dismay. "Is he playing too? Wait, then that means... There's gotta be only one good move... Ngh... What is it? ... Knight f3!" she thought as she moved her knight to f3.

A green checkmark appeared as the pieces began moving again. Bishop d7, knight c3, queen a5, bishop g2, c5, d5, bishop captures c3, check, and then the pieces stopped again. This time, it only took a second for Serika to capture the bishop at c3 with her b-pawn. However, she was on the clock again after queen captures c3, check.

After 3 seconds, Serika saw the solution and moved her bishop to d2. Things got moving again with queen f6, a king's side castle, queen f5, queen b3, b5, e4, queen captures e4, f-rook e1, queen c4, queen b2, f6, bishop c3, h6, knight d2, queen d3, bishop e4, c4, bishop captures d3, and king f7 playing out without stopping much to Serika's suprise.

"Sheesh, they gonna play out the whole game now?" she thought.

More moves like bishop captures c4, b captures c4, queen b7, h5, queen captures a8, knight h6, a-rook b1, h4, rook captures b8, rook captures b8, queen captures b8, and bishop f5, all played out, but when queen captures a7 played out, Mimoko raised an eyebrow.

"Huh? Rook captures e7 or bishop captures f6 is mate in 7," she thought as knight g8, rook captures e7, check, knight captures e7, d6, and h captures g3 played out before control was finally given back to the players.

It didn't take Mimoko even a second to capture the knight at e7 with her queen, checking the king and sending it to g8. Queen captures f6 and g captures h2, check played out before the clock began ticking again, but it wasn't for long for both Mimoko and Serika as they captured the pawn at h2 with the king with barely a second having passed. Then after king h7, the clock began ticking again.

"Hmm, this time there is a choice. I'll go with the quicker motion," Mimoko thought as she moved her queen to g7.

"Ngh, checkmate," Serika grumbled as she moved her queen to h8.

Results then flashed on both screens.

"'Time: 15 seconds, 2nd place'!?" Serika cried.

"Hmm, it seems you got thrown off by the first stop. It tripped me up too, but now that I know, it won't be an issue," Mimoko smiled.

"Huh? How did you know?"

"Click on your name on the leaderboard and your splits will show."

As Serika did that, her eyes bulged as she noticed the name and time at the top. "'Tripped up'!? You only spent 2 seconds on that first one!"

"I know, usually it's instant for these kinds of things," Mimoko sheepishly laughed.

Thus, with a time of 3 seconds, Mimoko was the winner.

...

"Hmm, so you were a guinea pig for flash chess then," Emeri nodded.

"Yeah, but there's no way I could've gotten times like Mimoko was getting," Serika sighed.

"Wanna head over and see what we can get?" Yuni asked.

"Yay! We can get crepes too!" Madoka cheered.

And thus, everyone spent the day playing flash chess. Ultimately, Emeri won between the four thanks to her quick hand reflexes. Serika did come close though, with Yuni and Madoka close behind.

The full games:

White: Mimoko Inoue (2750) Black: Flash chess engine (1000)

1. g3 g6

2. d4 Bg7

3. c4 d5

4. cxd5 Qxd5

5. Nf3 Bd7

6. Nc3 Qa5

7. Bg2 c5

8. d5 Bxc3+

9. bxc3 Qxc3+

10. Bd2 Qf6

11. O-O Qf5

12. Qb3 b5

13. e4 Qxe4

14. Rfe1 Qc4

15. Qb2 f6

16. Bc3 h6

17. Nd2 Qd3

18. Be4 c4

19. Bxd3 Kf7

20. Bxc4 bxc4

21. Qb7 h5

22. Qxa8 Nh6

23. Rab1 h4

24. Rxb8 Rxb8

25. Qxb8 Bf5

26. Qxa7 Ng8

27. Rxe7+ Nxe7

28. d6 hxg3

29. Qxe7+ Kg8

30. Qxf6 gxh2+

31. Kxh2 Kh7

32. Qg7#

White: Serika Midoriya (2231) Black: Flash chess engine (1000)

1. g3 g6

2. d4 Bg7

3. c4 d5

4. cxd5 Qxd5

5. Nf3 Bd7

6. Nc3 Qa5

7. Bg2 c5

8. d5 Bxc3+

9. bxc3 Qxc3+

10. Bd2 Qf6

11. O-O Qf5

12. Qb3 b5

13. e4 Qxe4

14. Rfe1 Qc4

15. Qb2 f6

16. Bc3 h6

17. Nd2 Qd3

18. Be4 c4

19. Bxd3 Kf7

20. Bxc4 bxc4

21. Qb7 h5

22. Qxa8 Nh6

23. Rab1 h4

24. Rxb8 Rxb8

25. Qxb8 Bf5

26. Qxa7 Ng8

27. Rxe7+ Nxe7

28. d6 hxg3

29. Qxe7+ Kg8

30. Qxf6 gxh2+

31. Kxh2 Kh7

32. Qh8#