Chapter 21:

WWCF cards

En Passant Grandmaster

After school, the chess club met up in Maida's classroom alongside the science club. Mimoko and Maida properly introduced themselves to each other before addressing the gathered students. In addition to students from the science and chess club, students from Maida’s homeroom as well as some other curious students were present as well.

As soon as Mimoko finished going over the fundamentals of chess, Okisato went to the front of the room to talk about the WWCF cards.

"This is a WWCF card. You receive it as soon as you complete your registration to the World wide chess federation. There are two big perks to it. The first is that it's more like a holographic screen you can summon anytime anywhere. Even if you're in an area with no wi-fi, it will still retain data from when you were last online and will continue to keep track of your progress offline as well. The second, and bigger perk, is that you can receive monetary rewards for winning games."

"WAIT! WE CAN EARN MONEY FROM THAT THING!?" Iori shouted.

"Yes. And no, you won't lose money if you lose games, though your rating might go down as a result of a loss or draw, but that’s elo ratings 101."

"How exactly is the money dolled out?" a student asked.

"Not sure. Though beating someone with a higher rating and winning tournaments or awards are easy ways to ensure a big pay day."

"Oi, oi, that shit you just said ain't easy," Yuusuke growled.

"As for the banking, it’s dolled out in a currency known as WWCF points and is tied to your WWFC account. You can use the points to buy supplies, various merch, and even exchange the currency for real-world currency. Though I think you need to get a proper rating first before you can earn points. If any of you register right now, you'll be classified as an unrated. In order to get a proper rating, you'll need to play either 5 individual matches against rated players or compete in a single tournament. I'd recommend the latter as that's the easier way, though there have been rare cases where an unrated doesn't get a rating due to being paired with fellow unrateds for the entire tournament. And that’s it for the lecture. Guess I'll answer questions since I'm the most knowledgeable- Actually, why don't I go grab a WWCF ambassador and have her explain-"

"You'll scare everyone away! Just let her sleep!" Yuusuke trembled.

"OK, any questions?"

"Yes, can you explain the specifications of the tech?" a bespectacled student asked.

"No, I don't know."

"Hmph, well aren't you useless."

"You could just register yourself or examine a friend’s."

Before the student could protest, he was interrupted by the excited gasps of some of the other students as they registered and received their WWCF cards. He begrudgingly registered, though continued to give Okisato a disappointed glare.

Once everyone that wanted to register registered, a student inquired about the tournament at Lagoon Pathways and if they could join it.

"My apologies, but since the tournament begins tonight, I will only be registering the 5 original members of the chess club."

"Actually, there aren't any limits on team size. Plus the larger we are, the better our chances of taking home a team trophy," Okisato stated.

"There are entry fees though."

"A large club would also lead to us getting more funding, especially if we get results."

Maida let out a sigh. "We can't take everyone that wants to go."

"Then we'll host a mini-tournament to see who joins the 5 of us. You can also play in the open section too Maida-sensei."

"Are you asking me to compete for a spot too?"

"Not at all, since you technically count as a coach, you can't contribute to the team score. But, you can participate and play in the open section if you want, and would likely receive a proper rating if you did. As for the others, students will either need to soundly beat one of us, win the mini-tournament amongst themselves, or show us that they possess the skills necessary to play at the competitive level. Now, let's begin with the pairings-"

"Hoh? Ya hostin’ a mini-tournament?" a voice rang out.

Everyone darted their heads around until they spotted a woman with her face and hair covered in mud by the window. It was Hagemi.

"GYAH! O- OKAA!?" Yuusuke cried.

The room began to grow tense until Hagemi calmed everyone down. "Relax, relax, you're all fine. I was just mad at your lousy principal. Oh, lemme introduce myself, I'm Hagemi Shousen, WWCF ambassador, grandmaster, and the highest rated female chess player in the world; 8th ranked player overall too."

Everyone stared in disbelief as Hagemi displayed her WWCF card. It was hard to believe a woman like her was a top chess player. The mini-tournament soon took off as students were quickly paired up against each other while the 5 original members of the club opted to challenge a student of their choice.

"So I get you," the bespectacled boy, Syouma Numakawa, glared as Okisato sat across from him.

"Maida-sensei claims you're one of the smartest in the science club. Let's test that hypothesis," Okisato nodded.

"Then allow me to demonstrate my intellect," Numakawa huffed as he moved his pawn to e4.

"Why'd you do that?" Okisato asked as he moved his pawn to c5.

"E4 is the most statistically chosen opening for white," Numakawa responded as he moved his pawn to d4.

"E4 and d4, ah," Okisato flatly exclaimed as he captured the pawn at d4 with his c-pawn.

"Quite melodramatic. Did sensei not ask you to take this seriously?" Numakawa glared as he captured the pawn at d4 with his queen.

"How familiar are you with chess?" Okisato asked as he moved his knight to c6.

"I'm familiar with what it is," Numakawa stated as he moved his queen to c4.

"Ever play?" Okisato asked as he moved his pawn to e6.

"No, this is my first time. I do play shogi from time-to-time as a brain teaser," Numakawa replied as he moved his knight to c3.

"Wow, you're really pulling from the textbooks then," Okisato jibed as he moved his knight to f6.

"Well, I DID study chess textbooks when I was informed of the nature of the club's activities today," Numakawa scoffed as he moved his knight to f3.

"You think you can beat me with just that?" Okisato asked as he raised an eyebrow and moved his pawn to d5.

"Yes, I believe you are an incompetent buffoon," Numakawa scoffed as he captured the pawn at d5 with his e-pawn.

"A buffoon? why?" Okisato asked as he captured the pawn at d5 with his e-pawn.

"Because you fail to understand the very tech tied to your hobby," Numakawa glared as he captured the pawn at d5 with his knight.

"You saw my rating, right?" Okisato asked as he captured the knight at d5 with his queen.

"Yes, you are the 2434th ranked player," Numakawa scowled as he moved his queen to e2.

"Chess ratings don't work like that. The higher your number, the higher your skill," Okisato glared as he moved his bishop to e6.

"And what makes you think I'm not superior to you?" Numakawa scoffed as he moved his knight to g5.

"Cause you're screwed," Okisato smirked as he castled queen's side.

"What was that!? I- No, I remember Inoue mentioned that was castling, but I thought it was done on the other side."

"It can be done on the queen's side too. So feeling screwed?"

Numakawa glared and shook his head as he moved his pawn to c4.

"How about now?" Okisato snickered as he moved his bishop to b4.

Numakawa went quiet and pale before biting his lip and moving his bishop to d2.

"Looks like you are kind of smart after all. Mate in 5," Okisato taunted as he captured the bishop at d2 with his bishop.

Numakawa began to tremble in frustration as he moved his king to d1. A spark of desperation lit up in his eyes as Okisato captured his knight at g5 with his queen, however, he soon realized the countermove he thought up was nothing but a desperate struggle and dejectedly moved his pawn to h4. A sadistic grin spread over Okisato's face as he moved his bishop to a5, forcing Numakawa to move his queen to d3 which led to it being captured by Okisato's rook.

"Damn you," Numakawa meekly glared as he captured the rook at d3 with his bishop.

"Guess you better get some first hand experience, I can deal with textbook players in my sleep! Checkmate, ba-ka!" Okisato laughed as he moved his queen to d2, winning the game.

"Heh? Not bad, boy," Hagemi cooed.

"Well, failure is the greatest-"

"Not you, four-eyes! Boy, are you the strongest one here? If so, then how bout a quick game with me?"

"Actually, Inoue-senpai's probably the strongest," Okisato stated as his normal persona returned.

"Hoh? In that case, let's have a quick, proper match between you two."

The full game:

White: Syouma Numakawa (Unrated) Black: Okisato Tanabe (2434)

1. e4 c5

2. d4 cxd4

3. Qxd4 Nc6

4. Qc4 e6

5. Nc3 Nf6