Déjà vu

Back in the playing room, Mimoko opened her game by moving her pawn to e4.

"A standard opening," Gyro thought as he moved his pawn to d6.

Mimoko then moved her pawn to d4, followed by Gyro moving his knight to f6.

As Mimoko moved her knight to c3, Gyro began to scowl. "These moves, no, this is a standard opening," he thought as he moved his b-knight to d7.

Gyro's mood worsened as Mimoko moved her pawn to f4. He was beginning to see remnants of his game against Hagemi, yet still brushed the feeling off as he moved his pawn to e5.

As Mimoko moved her bishop to e3. Gyro began to get a sense of déjà vu and began to accept the reality of the situation. "That formation, she is playing like Hagemi did back then... I still have control," he thought as he moved his pawn to c6.

Mimoko then moved her queen to f3, while Gyro moved his pawn to b5. Next, Mimoko moved her pawn to a3 while Gyro scowled and moved his bishop to e7.

"Castling on the queen's side would be the most efficient move," Mimoko thought as she castled on the queen's side.

"Yes, she's emulating her move for move" Gyro thought as he moved his queen to c7.

Mimoko moved her pawn to g4 followed by Gyro capturing the pawn at f4 with his e-pawn. Next, Mimoko captured the pawn at f4 with her bishop as Gyro moved his knight to b6. She then moved her pawn to e5 as Gyro captured the pawn at g4 with his bishop.

As Mimoko moved her queen to g3, Gyro's eyes widened as he gazed at the board. "No, it's exactly the same as back then! If I capture that rook with my bishop, I'll lose! No, this time WILL be different," he thought as he captured the pawn at e5 with his d-pawn.

Mimoko promptly captured the pawn at e5 with her d-pawn as Gyro moved his pawn to g5. She then captured the knight at f6 with her e-pawn eliciting a frustrated growl from Gyro.

"I'll exchange queens," Gyro thought as he captured the bishop at f4 with his queen.

Mimoko promptly captured the queen before Gyro captured her queen with his g-pawn.

Mimoko then moved her rook to e1, forcing Gyro to move his bishop to e6. "Damn you," he muttered as Mimoko captured the bishop at e7 with her f-pawn. Gyro's frustrations only grew after he moved his knight to d5, followed by Mimoko moving her bishop to g2. "I'm going to lose a rook. Damn her," he thought as he captured the knight at c3 with his knight.

Mimoko promptly captured the pawn at c6 with her bishop, forcing Gyro to capture the pawn at e7 with his king. Then, just as predicted, Mimoko captured the rook at a8 with her bishop.

Gyro then moved his knight to a2, forcing Mimoko to move her king to b1. He then captured the bishop at a8 with his rook as Mimoko moved her knight to h3.

"Now she's starting to annoy me, well If I can't win, I'll go for stalemate," Gyro thought as he moved his pawn to f3.

Mimoko responded by moving her h-rook to f1, followed by Gyro moving his pawn to b4. She then captured the pawn at f3 with her rook as Gyro gritted his teeth in frustration and moved his rook to g8. Mimoko then moved her knight to f4 as Gyro captured the pawn at a3 with his b-pawn.

Then, Mimoko captured the bishop at e6 with her knight. "FINALLY an exploit!" Gyro thought as he captured the knight at e6 with his f-pawn. His enthusiasm was short-lived as Mimoko captured the knight at a2 with her king. "Damn you... DAMN YOU!" Gyro scowled as he captured the pawn at b2 with his a-pawn.

Mimoko then moved her rook to h3, followed by Gyro moving his pawn to h5. "A wasted move," Mimoko thought as she captured the pawn at h5 with her rook.

"I bet she thinks that was wasted, but now I can do THIS!" Gyro thought as he moved his rook to b8.

Mimoko sighed and moved her rook to a5 as Gyro moved his rook to b7. She then moved her king to b1, prompting Gyro to move his king to f7.

"Does he really think this will end in stalemate?" Mimoko thought as she moved her pawn to h4.

Gyro quickly moved his king to f6 as Mimoko moved her pawn to h5. "Dammit, I can't get any closer to it," Gyro thought as he moved his king to e7.

Mimoko then moved her a-rook to e5, prompting Gyro to move his rook to b6. She then moved her pawn up to h6 as Gyro gave chase by moving his king to f7.

As Mimoko captured the pawn at e6 with her rook, Gyro began to tremble. "No, if I capture the rook, she'll get a queen. I won't lose my rook," he thought as he moved his rook to b8.

Mimoko then moved her rook to a6, as Gyro moved his rook down to b7. "So he blundered in the end, mate is imminent," Mimoko thought as she moved her rook to g1.

Gyro didn't seem phased though as he moved his king to f8.

"Check," Mimoko stated as she moved her rook to f6.

Gyro's face went pale. "No, NO! I- I can't let her win!" he frantically thought as he moved his king to e7.

Mimoko promptly moved her rook to g7, forcing Gyro to capture the rook at f6 with his rook, and watch as Mimoko captured his rook at b7 with her rook . Now, all hope of preventing Mimoko's victory was lost, yet Gyro refused to accept it as he moved his pawn to a5.

Mimoko moved her pawn to h7 as Gyro moved his king to f5. "She can still mess up. She can still mess up," Gyro thought as Mimoko moved her pawn to h8 and promoted it into a queen.

Gyro moved his king to f4 as Mimoko moved her rook to e7. Reality was finally beginning to hit Gyro as he began shaking in fear as he moved his pawn to a4.

"Check," Mimoko stated as she moved her queen to f6.

"She can still mess up... Still mess up," Gyro meekly thought as he moved his king to g4. Mimoko then moved her rook to g7.

"Please mess up," Gyro nervously thought as he moved his king to h5.

"Checkmate," Mimoko stated as she moved her queen to g5.

"She didn't mess up. I've failed..."

The full game:

White: Mimoko Inoue (unrated) Black: Gyro (Gunther Gunnerson) (2559)

1. e4 d6

2. d4 Nf6

3. Nc3 Nbd7

4. f4 e5

5. Be3 c6

6. Qf3 b5

7. a3 Be7

8. O-O-O Qc7

9. g4 exf4

10. Bxf4 Nb6

11. e5 Bxg4

12. Qg3 dxe5

13. dxe5 g5

14. exf6 Qxf4+

15. Qxf4 gxf4

16. Re1 Be6

17. fxe7 Nd5

18. Bg2 Nxc3

19. Bxc6+ Kxe7

20. Bxa8 Na2+

21. Kb1 Rxa8

22. Nh3 f3

23. Rhf1 b4

24. Rxf3 Rg8

25. Nf4 bxa3

26. Nxe6 fxe6

27. Kxa2 axb2

28. Rh3 h5

29. Rxh5 Rb8

30. Ra5 Rb7

31. Kb1 Kf7

32. h4 Kf6

33. h5 Ke7

34. Rae5 Rb6

35. h6 Kf7

36. Rxe6 Rb8

37. Ra6 Rb7

38. Rg1 Kf8

39. Rf6+ Ke7

40. Rg7+ Kxf6

41. Rxb7 a5

42. h7 Kf5

43. h8=Q Kf4

44. Re7 a4

45. Qf6+ Kg4

46. Rg7+ Kh5

47. Qg5#