Chapter 25:

Mimoko's debut match

En Passant Grandmaster

Mimoko opened the game by moving her pawn to d4, to which Gorana responded to by moving her pawn to d5.

"My first official over-the-board tournament game... And against a grandmaster in the 1st round. Shousen-chan must have had a hand in this, but I don't mind. I'll accept this trial," Mimoko thought as she moved her knight to f3.

Gorana raised an eyebrow and moved her knight to f6, but as soon as Mimoko moved her bishop to f4, she began to scowl. "The London... Typical rookie behavior. Allow me the honor of schooling you," she thought as she moved her pawn to c5.

"Hmm, she knows her London countermeasures. But that's to be expected from a grandmaster," Mimoko thought as she moved her pawn to e3.

Gorana moved her knight to c6, but quickly found herself scowling once more after Mimoko moved her b-knight to d2. "Really studied the London, huh? Well let's throw in some aggression then to see if that'll make you fold," she thought as she moved her queen to b6.

Mimoko captured the pawn at c5 with her d-pawn, but that did little to stop Gorana from capturing the pawn at b2 with her queen. However, Mimoko was not intimidated by the attack in the slightest, and defended flawlessly by moving her rook to b1.

"Tch. Then how about this?" Gorana thought as she captured the pawn at a2 with her queen.

But that very move was what ultimately would do her in.

"Looks like she got a bit too aggressive. I guess her guard is down due to me being unrated, which is fair. But regardless of how lower rated your opponent is than you, never underestimate them," Mimoko thought as she moved her bishop to b5.

Gorana on the other hand was unable to tell that the tide had shifted against her, and promptly moved her queen to a3. But upon seeing Mimoko move her pawn to c4, Gorana decided to go for another aggressive attack, this time in the form of bishop to f5. Then much to her delight, Mimoko castled king's side, leaving the rook at b1 completely undefended.

"Sorry, but in chess, you have to be ruthless, both for yourself, and out of respect for your opponent. Don't worry, you're just a rookie, so no need to fret about blundering away your rook to a grandmaster," Gorana thought as she captured the rook at b1 with her bishop.

Yet rather than despair, Mimoko in fact did the opposite and began to smile as she captured the bishop at b1 with her queen.

"Ugh. Girl, a rook for a bishop is not a good trade. Have them teach you that when you return to school," Gorana thought as she captured the pawn at c5 with her queen.

Mimoko continued to smile as she moved her knight to e5, while Gorana continued to scowl as she moved her rook to c8.

"Hmm, she's getting agitated. I wonder if she realized her mistake. But even so, that last move didn't exactly do her any favors," Mimoko thought as she captured the pawn at d5 with her c-pawn.

But Gorana still had yet to realize what her situation was, and continued her piece gobbling spree by capturing the pawn at d5 with her queen.

"And now, you lose your queen," Mimoko thought as she moved her bishop to c4.

"You really think this will net you my queen? Think again, rookie!" Gorana thought as she captured the knight at d2 with her queen.

Mimoko smiled and shook her head before capturing the pawn at f7 with her bishop. "Check."

Continuing to scowl, Gorana moved her king to d8, but as soon as Mimoko moved her rook to d1, her eyes widened in horror as everything finally hit her.

Dejectedly, she sunk her hands into her face. "... I blew it. It was the rook dammit. I shouldn't have taken the rook! Ugh!" she thought as she mustered the will to move her queen to d6.

However, it wasn't time just yet for Gorana's queen to fall.

"Check," Mimoko stated as she captured the knight at c6 with her knight.

Gorana shook her head as she captured said knight with her b-pawn, but her headache only continued to worsen after Mimoko moved her bishop to e6. "Fine, if you're not going to take my queen now, I'll up the trading price to mitigate my losses," she thought as she moved her queen to d5.

This gave way to yet another check as Mimoko promptly captured the queen at d5 with her rook. However, said rook was quickly captured by Gorana's c-pawn.

Mimoko closed her eyes and imagined the state of the board. "... I see it," she thought as she moved her pawn to e4.

Gorana shot Mimoko a confused stare as she moved her knight to c8, but that confusion quickly turned to shock as soon as Mimoko moved her queen to b7. "No! This can't be!" she thought as she frantically moved her rook to c1. "Check!"

But that was nothing more than an empty threat, as Mimoko's only legal move was to capture that very rook with her bishop, which she naturally did. Now, with nothing left, Gorana opted to go down swinging, and captured the pawn at e4 with her d-pawn.

"And that's checkmate. Good game. As food for thought, try not get so aggressive and underestimate those ranked lower than you," Mimoko smiled as she moved her queen to b8, winning the game.

Gorana let out a huge sigh as she shook Mimoko's hand. "So this is the reason Hagemi got so excited. I really hope that's the case. I'd rather say I lost to the next big thing in chess rather than just some lucky nobody," she thought.

The full game:

White: Mimoko Inoue (Unrated) Black: Gorana Petrović (2690)

1. d4 d5

2. Nf3 Nf6

3. Bf4 c5

4. e3 Nc6

5. Nbd2 Qb6

6. dxc5 Qxb2

7. Rb1 Qxa2

8. Bb5 Qa3

9. c4 Bf5

10. O-O Bxb1