Chapter 969:

Jubilant rematch

En Passant Grandmaster

Avian stretched his fingers as he sat down before Mimoko. "So you just need one more SPCM before you can challenge the maestro. Well, beat me again and you'll get to meet her," he smiled as he opened the game by moving his pawn to e4.

"It's refreshing to play as Black," Mimoko smiled back as she moved her pawn to c5.

"You've been playing as White a bunch?" Avian asked as he moved his knight to f3.

"Yes, 5 times in a row in fact," Mimoko stated as she moved her pawn to e6.

"A lot, a lot," Avian nodded as he moved his pawn to d4, initiating a trade with c captures d4 and knight captures d4 following suit.

Mimoko then moved her knight to f6 and prepared herself as knight c3 soon found its way to the board, prompting her response of knight c6. However, to her surprise, Avian then moved his d-knight to b5.

"Oh? Then I think I'll be aggressive," she thought as she moved her bishop to b4.

That said, after a3, a predictable check in the form of bishop captures c3 and an equally predictable recapture, knight captures c3, things were on a steady track. Then came d5 and with it, e captures d5 and e captures d5, before bishop d3 and a king's side castle from both players. Next was d4, knight e2, rook e8, bishop f4, bishop g4, f3, bishop h5, rook e1, and bishop g6, but things were still even.

"Hmm, maybe I should have gone for something with a bit more surprise like the Modern Defense," Mimoko thought as Avian moved his bishop to d3.

She continued on with knight d5, but after queen d2 from Avian, she was beginning to worry a draw would be likely. Of course, she kept playing her best with knight e3 as her pressing was how she got a higher win rate than draw rate in the first place. However, Avian wasn't 2799 for nothing. He knew how to play well as evidenced by his next play of knight f4, yet Mimoko was of course unintimidated as she captured the bishop at d3 with her bishop.

Avian naturally captured said bishop with his knight, but after Mimoko moved her rook to c8, he moved his bishop to f4. Mimoko's eyes widened as she put her fingers to her face before moving her knight to a5.

"What's she getting excited for?" Avian thought as he moved his a-rook to c1.

An answer would come relatively soon as a-knight c4, queen f2, queen b6, c3, and knight captures g2 left Avian baffled as he captured the knight at g2 with his king, but of course for Mimoko, she knew all since 20. Bf4. "Check," Mimoko smiled as she moved her queen to g6.

Avian moved his bishop to g3.

"Check," Mimoko smiled again as she moved her knight to e3.

Avian moved his king to h1.

"Hmm, I guess he doesn't realize it," Mimoko thought as she captured the knight at d3 with her queen.

Avian had started to sense things, but still felt he had the edge as he captured the pawn at d4 with his c-pawn. This allowed for a trade of rooks on c1 with Mimoko initiating by capturing the rook there first, then Avian recapturing said rook with his rook. Mimoko then moved her knight to f5 as Avian decided to move his pawn to d5, opening up the diagonal for his queen, but the moment he took his hand off the piece, Mimoko moved her pawn to h6. Once more, Avian pressed on with his attack of Queen captures a7, but then came a reality check in the form of queen captures f3, check, which forced king to g1.

As Mimoko captured the bishop at g3 with her knight, Avian let out a sigh. "I can't resign since I'm on the clock, so take this as such," he nodded as he moved his queen to f1.

"I shall. Checkmate," Mimoko smiled as she moved her queen to h1, winning the game.

The full game:

White: SPCM Avian Nepryaev (2799) Black: Mimoko Inoue (2880)

1. e4 c5

2. Nf3 e6

3. d4 cxd4

4. Nxd4 Nf6

5. Nc3 Nc6

6. Ndb5 Bb4

7. a3 Bxc3+

8. Nxc3 d5

9. exd5 exd5