Chapter 28:

The secret puzzle cafe

En Passant Grandmaster

As Mimoko exited the playing hall, she ran into Okisato, who was sitting at a nearby bench. "So how'd your game go?" she asked.

"I was playing as Black. After she went e4, I went f5."

Mimoko began to glare. "'F5'? As in the Důras Gambit?"

"Yeah?"

"Tanabe-kun... That's a horrible opening. Just what were you thinking?"

"It's got a 50% win-rate. Anyway, she took on f5, I went g6, she took that pawn too."

"And?"

"I took on g6. Then I guess sleep deprivation hit her as she moved her knight to f3."

"What was her rating?"

"2600 even."

"Knight f3 isn't the best move, but far from the worst. Why did you suggest 'sleep deprivation' hit her?"

"She looked like she was struggling to stay awake. Apparently her day job is acting as a secretary for Montenegro's lazy president, who's actually a Desperado."

"T- The president of a foreign country is a Desperado?"

"A lot of nations are headed by Desperados, notably all the ones in the Balkans."

"Does that mean you'll-"

"No, while I do seek to rid the world of the DESPERs, I'm not just going to barge into another country and demand to challenge their leader. Even if I could, I'd probably make the losing condition something non-lethal, unless of course said leader is an irredeemable scumbag. But even then, taking out the leader of a nation carries much more long-term consequences than just taking out some common Desperado thug. There are also Desperados out there that don't wield DESPERs, and simply joined the league to take advantage of the clause that Desperados are unable to subject their fellow league-mates to DESPER matches."

"I see... So getting back to the match..."

"Right. I went d5, she went knight c3, I went d4, and she went knight d5."

"Knight d5!? That's a blunder!"

"I know, and I took advantage of it and took that knight with my queen. And from there, she just went downhill."

"Give me the rundown."

"Queen e2, knight c6, d3, bishop g4, h3, knight f6, h captures g4."

"H captures g4'? ... I'm starting to see what you meant when you said she was sleep deprived. So after I assume you captured the rook at h1 with your rook, what did she do?"

"Bishop f4."

"You then castled queen's side, yes?"

"Correct, she did too. I took on a2, and she went knight d2. I went e5, and she went bishop g3. And at that point, I'm sure you can guess the rest."

"Bishop a3, b captures a3, queen captures a3, check, king b1, knight d5, knight e4-"

"Knight c4, actually."

"Oh... Knight c3, checkmate, then."

"That's right."

"I see... Tanabe-kun, you might have won, but I'm disappointed you did so with such a dubious strategy. If she was in top form-"

"I still would have tried it. I tend to do well when I play dubious lines, though naturally I can play more orthodox openings well too."

Mimoko sighed in frustration and shook her head. "So what do we do now?"

"Wait around or head up to our rooms. The 3rd round doesn’t start until tomorrow-"

"UGH!"

Mimoko and Okisato turned to see a broken Numakawa curled up against the wall.

"Yep, he trashed him," Okisato nodded.

"Who trashed him?"

"Peter Morphy, one of the top 5 best players in the world."

"Someone like that is here? Though isn't it a little unfair for some like Numakawa-kun to have been paired against him?"

"He likely just had bad luck. The way the pairings work here is that if you win a match, you're matched up with someone else that won in your next match. Same thing applies to losses and draws. However, there are times where there's an odd number of wins and draws due to bye rounds."

"By 'bye' you mean take a game off and only get half a point?"

"Yes, Peter had to take a bye for round one, leading to someone getting a free win."

"So it's possible that I might not face Shousen-chan at all?"

"Yes, but if you two play your best, you'll likely face each other. The opponents you beat so far were all rated over 2600 as well, so it's likely you'll be matched against Miss Shousen sooner or later. The other good news is that if we play well, we reduce our chances of playing a Desperado in the final round."

"Speaking of which, do you know how many Desperado's are in the tournament?"

"Aside from the ones that I mentioned, I don't really know much about the others. They do tend to keep their identities secret, though there was one name that stood out, Svetlana Smirnova."

"Who's that?"

"A Russian grandmaster and Desperado league member. She also tried to kill me after I bested her league-mates."

"She nearly bested you in a game?"

"No, I meant she literally tried to kill me with a giant sledgehammer."

Mimoko went pale. "S- SLEDGEHAMMER!?"

"Yeah, it's her weapon of choice. In addition to having a strong mind and rating of 2638, she's also got enhanced physical strength, or maybe she's actually a robot. I can't tell."

"R- Robot!?"

"Well, guess it is common for computers to play chess."

"Y- Yeah, but that woman sounds dangerous."

"Well, the good news is, we likely won't face her due to her taking two bye rounds. People also tend to get paired up based on how many points they have, so the two with the highest amount of points will tend to play each other more often than not."

"That's why you’re so confident that I'd play Shousen-chan. She’s currently in the number 1 spot."

"Yes, now why don't I give you a tour of this place. There’s actually something I want to show you."

The two walked around the hotel until Okisato stopped at a bridge overlooking a waterfall. There, they noticed a well-dressed man with a stylish mustache staring intently at the waterfall. Aside from his stylish mustache, the man was also sporting a black masquerade mask which obscured the top half of his face, adding an air of mystique to him.

"Hmm, guess I have to wait until midnight after all," Okisato muttered.

"What do you mean?"

Mimoko got her answer as the masked man smiled and leapt off the bridge to the water below. To Mimoko's shock, he didn't fall into the water and instead walked on top of it before vanishing behind the waterfall.

"Oh, guess it is open. Come on, Inoue-senpai," Okisato nodded as he grabbed Mimoko's arm and leapt off the bridge with her.

"Hold on wait- AAAAH!"

The two landed on the water, much to Mimoko's relief, but her nerves were still on edge.

"Don't worry, I got an umbrella," Okisato stated as he pulled one out and opened it.

Before Mimoko could protest, Okisato dragged her towards the waterfall. When they passed through, they found themselves in a secret room that resembled a cafe.

"Welcome back, international master Tanabe. Is your companion a chess player?" the masked man from before asked.

"Yeah, she's going to take over the chess world tomorrow."

"You're telling me SHE'S the reason Grandmaster Shousen and Grandmaster Morphy showed up? I don't believe it."

"You can check her match results. They should be in the database."

"What's her name?"

"I'm Mimoko Inoue," Mimoko stated.

The man pulled up a smaller sized red WWCF card and stared at it for a moment. "Inoue... So you're unrated but, you've got quite the intriguing record thus far. Your first match as a WWCF member was against Nagi Enoki who had a rating of 100. Then it says you had a bughouse match against a team of non-WWCF members, but the match was a DESPER match, same for the first match. You then scored an impressive victory against International master Tanabe in an exhibition match... Hmm, based on your current tournament results, it seems he wasn't going easy on you. It’s impressive that you’ve bested two grandmasters with ratings over 2600, but I’m sorry to say that you can't play the games here until you get a rating."

"Games?"

"Yes, Himitsudono offers challenge puzzles and games to those that find his secret hideout, the secret puzzle cafe,” Okisato stated.

"Normally, my hours are midnight to daybreak, but I open early when tournaments are running. As for my puzzles, should you solve them, you earn WWCF points that can be redeemed for exclusive prizes. Solve enough, and you'll even earn exclusive memorabilia for your achievements."

"Memorabilia?"

Okisato took out his WWCF card. "Yeah, see this little icon in my profile? That's a badge I got for clearing 10 puzzles here at Lagoon pathways."

"I also offer exclusive trading cards and can even sell and buy chess-related items. Well, you are free to watch international master Tanabe, but he will have to pay for any refreshments."

"No worries, besides, we'll both be challenging the Triple cedar SPCM next week."

“‘SPCM’?” Mimoko stared in confusion.

“It stands for secret puzzle cafe manager. That is my official title. Triple cedar’s SPCM is known as Himitsuchan. Now international master Tanabe, do you wish to attempt the daily puzzle?” Himitsudono asked as he flashed a tablet displaying a chess puzzle before him.

Okisato nodded, but decided to solve the puzzle in a private pod towards the back of the cafe after noticing Mimoko intimately staring at the puzzle. Before he headed to the pod, he gave Mimoko permission to order any affordable food or beverage to have in the meantime.

"Temptation can be cruel. So Miss Inoue, want something to eat?" Himitsudono asked as Mimoko sat down at the bar counter.

"Is it ok to just discuss the puzzles, and not get rewards for solving them?" Mimoko nervously asked.

"What do you mean?"

"I think I solved the one I saw."

"At a mere glance!? Surely you jest. Well, for fun I'll pull up the hardest one from today’s daily challenge. Now, what would you… do!?"

Himitsudono's jaw hung open as Mimoko effortlessly solved the puzzle. "Th- That's a grandmaster-level puzzle. Though it is possible you've seen this puzzle before somewhere in the world of chess. But still... Miss Inoue, how long will you be able to stay tomorrow night?"

"I believe we leave after the awards ceremony."

"Then delay your departure by 30- No, 10 minutes should be enough."

"Why?"

"Because after the awards ceremony, you will undoubtedly receive a rating, thus you will be able to solve puzzles here and earn prizes."

"In that case, I'll also hold off on ordering something. If this is a club you can only enter after fulfilling certain criteria, then I want to fulfill it before doing anything."

"No worries. You are allowed to be here so long as you are a WWCF member, though we cannot offer services until you have an official rating. Though I imagine international master Tanabe dragged you here specifically to peak your interest, as well as mine."

Okisato then finished up and returned to the bar counter. He had gotten 7 out of the 10 right, earning him 70 points, though was unsurprised in the slightest when Himitsudono told him of how Mimoko solved the hardest puzzle.

The two then decided to depart, but there was one lingering question on Mimoko’s mind. "Um, how do we get back up?".

"Oh, there's a hidden ramp,” Okisato nonchalantly stated.

"Couldn’t we have taken that down?"

"Yeah, but jumping-"

"I WAS TERRIFIED WHEN YOU JUST GRABBED MY ARM AND JUMPED OFF THE BRIDGE WITH ME!"

"Uh, sorry I guess?"

The full game:

White: Mirjana Majić (2600) Black: Okisato Tanabe (2434)

1. e4 f5

2. exf5 g6

3. fxg6 hxg6

4. Nf3 d5