Chapter 26:

Happy Halloween, Hubert

En Passant Grandmaster

While Mimoko played against Gorana, Okisato was facing off against Hubert Neuman, one of America's more edgier grandmasters, who had a beef with the legendary Magnus Carlsen. None of that mattered to Okisato, as all he cared about was getting the GM title, which now seemed all the more possible thanks to the 2730-rated Hubert being his 1st round opponent.

"Let's go for something good," Okisato thought as he opened the game by moving his pawn to e4.

Hubert responded by moving his knight to f6, prompting Okisato to move his knight to c3. He did get a little worried Hubert might continue down a line from Alekhine's Defense, but to his delight, Hubert moved his pawn to e5, and after knight f3 and knight c6, it was a Four Knights Game, meaning the stage was set for Okisato to unleash his terrifying attack.

"Happy Halloween, Hubert," Okisato grinned in his mind as he captured the pawn at e5 with his knight.

Hubert glared in confusion and promptly captured the knight at e5 with his knight, but that was all part of the plan when the Halloween gambit was played. In came pawn to d4, and Hubert responded to it... by moving his knight to c6.

"And that's the game right there," Okisato thought as he moved his pawn to d5.

Hubert didn't seem to share Okisato's thoughts though, as he gritted his teeth and moved his knight to b4. It wasn't there for long as Okisato moved his pawn to a3, sending the knight packing to a6. Now it was time to focus on the other knight.

Okisato moved his pawn to e5, but Hubert was done moving his knights, and instead moved his queen to e7, pinning the pawn to the king, and preventing it from capturing his knight. "I've heard you've got a habit of playing these weird openings, but like hell I'm going to lose to one of them," Hubert thought as Okisato captured the knight at a6 with his bishop.

Hubert promptly captured said bishop with his b-pawn, while Okisato opted to castle king's side. Hubert then moved his knight to the safety of g8, but his current position was anything but safe. Despite being up a minor piece, Hubert was now in a losing position, due to Okisato having more developed pieces than him.

"When faced with the Halloween gambit, there are two paths; the path to guaranteed defeat, and the path that gives you a slim chance at survival, but only against someone that hasn't studied every line of this gambit extensively. You chose the former, and imploded further along the way, now enjoy the onslaught that follows," Okisato thought as he moved his pawn to d6.

Hubert gritted his teeth in fury at the move, and quickly captured the pawn at d6 with his c-pawn, but a new headache in the form of knight d5 was on the way, leading Hubert to move his queen to h4 in rage. Pride refused to let him resign, as there was no way he'd admit his loss to this gambit.

Okisato didn't mind, as he figured mate wouldn't be that far away anyway, and continued on the path towards it by moving his rook to e1. Hubert moved his rook to b8, but it was now time for the first check of the game, coming via a discovered check after Okisato captured the pawn at d6 with his e-pawn. Hubert defended by moving his bishop to e7, but Okisato simply captured said bishop with his d-pawn, putting Hubert in a precarious position.

He attempted to escape it by moving his rook to b7, but Oksato wouldn't let up, and moved his queen to d3. Out of options, Hubert captured the pawn at e7 with his knight, but Okisato simply captured said knight with his knight, leaving Hubert with little choice but to move his king to d8. Then Okisato moved his queen to c3, meaning Hubert's best possible move was to capture the knight at e7 with his queen, allowing Okisato to capture said queen with his rook.

"Damn, it, DAMN IT! I was up in the game, dammit!" Hubert fumed in his mind as he decided to capture the knight at e7 with his queen.

And just as predicted, Okisato captured said queen with his rook, prompting Hubert to move his rook to c7. But that, was the final nail in the coffin for him, and Okisato knew it.

"And just like I said before in my mind; he chose the path that leads to guaranteed loss," Okisato thought as he moved his queen to a5.

Enraged at the state of things, Hubert captured the rook at e7 with his king, but it did little to help him as Okisato moved his queen to e5, delivering another check, and sending Hubert's king to f8. Now Okisato was free to capture the rook at c7 with his queen, causing Hubert to sink his hands into his face. Yet he refused to resign, and played on by moving his king to e7.

"Check," Okisato smirked as he moved his queen to e5.

Hubert shook his head in frustration and moved his king to d8.

"Guess pride refuses to let him resign verbally, but he's decided he's had enough and is taking the express way to mate," Okisato thought as he moved his bishop to d2.

But Hubert still had a little fight left in him, and moved his pawn to d5. Okisato moved his queen to d6, checking Hubert once more, and forcing him to move his bishop to d7. He then moved his bishop to a5, checking Hubert again, and forcing him to choose between mate in two by moving his king to e8, or mate in one by moving his king to c8. He chose the former.

"And for the final time, check," Okisato stated as he moved his rook to e1.

"Damn gambit. This was a damn fluke!" Hubert thought as he moved his bishop to e6.

"And that's checkmate. If this keeps up, the GM title is mine," Okisato nodded as he moved his queen to d8, winning the game.

The full game:

White: Okisato Tanabe (2434) Black: Hubert Neuman (2730)

1. e4 Nf6

2. Nc3 e5

3. Nf3 Nc6

4. Nxe5 Nxe5

5. d4 Nc6

6. d5 Nb4

7. a3 Na6