Chapter 5:

Delusions of grandeur

En Passant Grandmaster

A man clad in flamboyant attire strutted down the dark street. Feather-themed jewelry and embroidery dominated his look, though the flashy red boots, fedora, and purple tinted shades certainly stood out as well. The most jarring thing about him though were the various gyroscopes spinning atop his hat and shoulders.

Upon hearing the sound of footsteps, the man turned as the gyroscope on his right shoulder sped down his arm, stopping right at his wrist, though continued to spin in place. "Well, you're lucky I'm a skilled man. So what business do you have with me, Mr. Enoki?"

"Mr. Gyro. I'm merely asking for some assistance," the Shogikawa gakuin principal stated as he emerged from the shadows.

"'Assistance'? Yes, sure. I imagine you're more interested in this," Gyro glared as he pulled a DESPER out of his pocket.

"That technology could be used for so much more. Why is it restricted to just chess?"

"Because that’s the way it is. Even I don’t fully know everything about this tech. However, I do know that it can only be used in regards to chess or chess related disciplines like chess boxing. Thus, you cannot use the DESPERs to build your shogi empire, though if you wish to dabble in chess,then that's a different story."

"Chess will always be inferior to shogi. I only registered with the WWCF because of your insistence."

"I find amusement in both, personally, though Chess is a bit less tiresome. Shogi can become quite a slog at times."

"This spiel about the captured pieces rule again?"

"You know I believe a piece "dies" once it's captured."

"Then just think of using captured pieces as "necromancy"."

"Well, it seems you're the real deal. So care to discuss things over a midnight coffee?"

"I have a job in the morning you know."

"So do I, yet I'm forsaking sleep."

“Well in that case, allow me to inform you of a pest that’s been daring to stand up to me…”

...

As Mimoko arrived at school, she began feeling uneasy. The feeling that someone was watching her caused her to dart up towards the principal's office on the top floor of the school. And to her credit, she was right; she was being watched.

"So that's the girl you mentioned. Hmm, just registered... How good is she at chess?" Gyro glared.

"Why would you care about-"

Slash!

The principal let out a yelp as one of Gyro's gyroscopes mowed off some of the little hair he had.

"Now if you don't want a neck shave, how good is that girl at chess?"

"I have no idea!?"

"Very well, then I'll do reconnaissance."

"You can't just-"

SMASH!

The principal began to sweat and trembled as he stared at the gyroscope embedded in the wall mere centimeters away from his face. "A- As you wish..."

...

Mimoko groaned as she walked down the hallway. "Dammit! I got called to the principal’s office. This better not be a lecture and subsequent punishment for "threatening" his prized shogi club. Seriously, chess and shogi can coexist with each other just fine."

As she entered, Mimoko was surprised to see the principal accompanied by Gyro.

Gyro properly introduced himself as Gunther Gunnersen, a grandmaster from the WWCF that had come to asses Mimoko’s skill firsthand.

"It’s an honor to meet you. Do you want to play chess against me?"

"Yes, Miss Inoue. I want to see your skills firsthand. How about you play the principal?"

"ME!? I don't-"

"An amateur facing a grandmaster such as myself would be overkill. My rating is 2559 after all."

"I won't get in trouble if I beat him, right?" Mimoko nervously asked.

"Why would you get in trouble for winning? It's the losers that get punished after all,” Gyro snickered as he put his hand in his pocket.

"Then if she loses, she gets expelled!"

"If I win, you formalize the chess club."

“A fine wager. I shall be judge and jury in that case. Now, please take a seat at the chessboard I’ve set up,” Gyro nodded as he gestured towards a chess board on the coffee table.

"When… Fine! I go first!" the principal scoffed as he sat down and opened by moving his pawn to e4.

Mimoko let out a sigh as sat down on the opposite end and her pawn to c5.

"Moving the c-pawn? I heard if you want a good opening you move the pawns on the e and d files," the principal scoffed as he moved his knight to c3.

"There are merits to opening with the c-pawn," Mimoko stated as she moved her knight to c6.

"No, you just messed up at your own game!" the principal sneered as he moved his knight to f3.

Mimoko remained silent and moved her pawn to e5. The principal then giddily moved his bishop to c4 followed by Mimoko moving her bishop to e7.

"Look at how awful your control is. Victory is mine," the principal thought as he castled on the king’s side.

Mimoko rolled her eyes as she moved her knight to f6, while the principal moved his pawn to d3. Mimoko then castled, prompting the principal to move his bishop to e3.

"Look at her, she's playing catch-up! The board is mine!" the principal thought as Mimoko moved her pawn to d6. His confidence only grew after moving his rook to b1 and Mimoko moved her bishop to e6. "Look at those bishops, they can barely do anything! Now is the time to move the pawns on the left side in order to free the rook," the principal thought as he moved his pawn to b4.

Mimoko quickly captured the bishop at c4 with her bishop. Though instead of capturing it, the principal opted to capture the pawn at c5 instead with his b-pawn.

"What is that idiot doing? Anyone would have captured the bishop instead," Gyro thought as Mimoko moved her bishop to the safety of a6.

The principal didn't seem the least bit concerned as he captured the pawn at d6 with his c-pawn, nor did Mimoko seem phased as she captured the pawn at d6 with her queen.

"THERE IT IS! She brought her queen out! Now it's the end for her!" the principal thought as he moved his knight to b5.

"What a deluded idiot," Gyro thought as Mimoko promptly captured the knight at b5 with the very bishop the principal had opted not to capture earlier.

"What an idiot! Now I can get my rook out!" the principal exclaimed as he captured the bishop at b5 with his rook.

Mimoko, still unphased, moved her pawn to b6, while the principal, still consumed with delusions of grandeur, moved his pawn to d4.

"Does he think he'll get an advantage by doing that?" Mimoko thought as she captured the pawn at e4 with her knight.

"Here it is! The queen is mine!" the principal thought as he captured the pawn at e5 with his d-pawn. Mimoko promptly captured the queen at d1 with her queen. "So you've chosen to forsake your queen. Well now the advantage is MINE!" the principal shouted as he captured the queen at d1 with his rook.

"No, you just sealed your loss," Mimoko glared as she moved her knight to c3, threatening both the principal's rooks.

"You think you've got me? Think again!" the principal scoffed as he moved his knight to d4. Mimoko promptly captured the knight at d4 with her knight, eliciting giggles from the principal. "See!? I'M in control!" he scoffed as he captured the knight at d4 with his rook.

"No, I'm in control," Mimoko glared as she captured the rook at b5 with her knight. To no one's surprise, the principal still seemed consumed by delusion as he moved his rook to d5. "Now he'll lose his other rook," Mimoko thought as she moved her a-rook to d8.

"WHAT A FOOL! I control the game with a rook! Your expulsion is imminent!" the principal cackled as he captured the knight at b5 with his rook.

"No, you're officially recognizing the chess club. Checkmate," Mimoko glared as she moved her rook to d1.

"What a coward! You- eh? NOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

Reality had finally come back to the principal as he sunk to the floor.

"Splendid. You did well," Gyro applauded.

"YES! I did-"

"Not you, you deluded wretch! Miss Inoue, you performed spectacularly for your first official match as a WWCF member."

"Huh? I thought this was a practice match?"

"I wouldn't call a match with expulsion on the line a mere practice match. Now that your chess club will be formalized, do you happen to have the roster off the top of your head?"

"Of course. Allow me to tell you..."

As Mimoko told Gyro the roster, the principal suddenly found his body moving on its own as he went to his desk. Much to his regret, he was signing the approval form for the chess club even though he had no intention of doing so. He then got the answer for his actions as he noticed the chessboard vanishing. Gyro had secretly activated his DESPER.

After getting the roster for the chess club, Gyro took his leave, though not before informing Mimoko of an upcoming tournament at the Lagoon pathways hotel in Mito, Ibaraki.

“Thanks Mr. Gunnerson. Oh, where’d your chess set go?” Mimoko asked as she gazed at the coffee table.

“Oh, my apologies, but you see the WWCF cards have a secret function that allows them to summon a chess board, though you can’t unlock this feature until certain conditions are fulfilled.”

As soon as he left the office, Gyro scowled and began thinking to himself. "So Okisato Tanabe, the oni-tiger is here. Then that explains why he fought Inojin last night. That girl didn't seem to realize she was under the effects of my DESPER device, though I wasn’t exactly lying when I said the WWCF cards are capable of summoning a chess board. Though what concerns me more was that she was highly skilled at chess. Even I would have trouble facing her. Her clubmates on the other hand are easy marks with the exception of the oni-tiger, though I can easily handle him. As for the others, I'll have Cypress and Zanni kill the. Hopefully a good scare will sway Mimoko Inoue away from chess. The last thing we need is another damn prodigy and threat to the Ultima-master."

As Gyro headed into the courtyard, Okisato gazed out from the window of his classroom. "Huh? Is that Gyro? Hmm… Inoue-senpai should be fine. I doubt she'd lose to him if she could beat me so badly. Though, why was he here?"

The full game:

White: Nagi Enoki (100) Black: Mimoko Inoue (unrated)

1. e4 c5

2. Nc3 Nc6

3. Nf3 e5

4. Bc4 Be7

5. O-O Nf6

6. d3 O-O

7. Be3 d6

8. Rb1 Be6

9. b4 Bxc4

10. bxc5 Ba6