Chapter 31:
En Passant Grandmaster
Hagemi smiled as she shook hands with Mimoko. "Don't disappoint me, I'm going all out."
"Don't worry, I'll play at my very best," Mimoko smiled.
As soon as the round began, Hagemi opened by moving her pawn to d4 followed by Mimoko moving her pawn to d5. She then moved her pawn to c4, prompting Mimoko to capture it with her d-pawn. Hagemi didn't seem phased though as she moved her pawn to e3. Mimoko then brought out her bishop to e6 as Hagemi moved her knight to f3. She She then moved her pawn to c6 with no hesitation, followed by Hagemi moving her pawn to e4.
"Seems like they're preparing their offenses," Raymond thought as Mimoko moved her pawn to b5.
Hagemi quickly brought her knight out to c3 followed by Mimoko bringing her knight to f6. Next, Hagemi moved her pawn to a3 while Mimoko moved her pawn to g6. On the next turn, Hagemi moved her bishop to e3 while Mimoko moved her bishop to g7.
Okisato then won his game, and as he was walking out, took a quick glance at Mimoko's game. "So Miss Shousen moved her bishop to e2, and Inoue-senpai followed by moving her pawn to a5. They're probably going to castle next turn. I'd love to stay and watch, but once you finish your game, you gotta leave the room," he thought.
Sure enough, both Hagemi and Mimoko castled on their next turn just as Okisato had predicted. Hagemi then moved her pawn to h3 while Mimoko moved her knight to a6.
"So they're still prepping," Raymond noted as Hagemi moved her knight to e5.
Mimoko promptly moved her queen to c7 while Hagemi moved her pawn to f4.
"Seems the slaughter will begin on the next turn," Raymond chuckled as Mimoko moved her a-rook to d8.
"Looks like it's time for battle," Hagemi thought as she moved her pawn to f5.
Mimoko immediately captured the pawn at f5 with her g-pawn prompting Hagemi to capture said piece with her e-pawn. Mimoko then moved her knight to d5, forcing Hagemi to move her queen to d2. Undeterred, Mimoko captured the bishop at e3 with her knight as Hagemi captured said knight with her queen.
"So that's how you save your bishop," Hagemi thought as Mimoko moved her bishop to c8.
Hagemi then moved her a-rook to e1 followed by Mimoko moving her pawn to c5. She then smirked and promptly captured the pawn at b5 with her knight. Mimoko responded by capturing the pawn at d4 with her c-pawn.
"A queen exchange? Well, I'll be in the better spot afterwards," Hagemi thought as she captured the queen at c7 with her knight.
Mimoko followed up by capturing the queen at e3 with her d-pawn.
"Now let's see how you handle this," Hagemi thought as she moved her knight to c6.
Mimoko paused for a moment before nodding her head and capturing the knight at c7 with her knight.
"Hoh? Abandoning the rook? Well, guess you are like me... When I was younger," Hagemi smirked as she captured the rook at d8 with her knight.
Mimoko promptly captured the knight at d8 with her rook as Hagemi followed up by capturing the pawn at c4 with her bishop. Mimoko then moved her bishop to h6 as Hagemi advanced her pawn to f6. With no other choice, Mimoko promptly captured the pawn at f6 with her e-pawn, as Hagemi captured said pawn with her rook.
"Seems I overestimated things. She's clearly at a disadvantage," Raymond thought as Mimoko moved her bishop to e6.
Hagemi then moved her pawn to b3, forcing Mimoko to think for a moment before opting to move her bishop to g5. Hagemi clicked her tongue and thought for a moment before moving her rook to f3. Mimoko then captured the bishop at c4 with her bishop prompting Hagemi to capture it with her b-pawn. Undeterred, Mimoko moved her knight to e6 while Hagemi responded by moving her rook to g3.
"Hmm, I wonder how she'll respond to this," Raymond thought as Mimoko moved her king to f8.
Hagemi thought for a moment before grinning and moving her rook to f3. Mimoko immediately moved her knight to d4, forcing Hagemi to move her f-rook to f1.
Mimoko then moved her pawn to e2 as Hagemi let out a chuckle. "Sorry, but that's not gonna work on me," she thought as she moved her rook to b1.
Mimoko didn’t even need to think as she nodded and moved her knight to c2, causing Hagemi to frown.
"So she's finally realized her defeat is imminent," Peter thought as a smirk began to form on his face while he watched a livestream of the game.
"Oh seems she's disappointed by this so-called prodigy," Kuon sneered as she watched the broadcast of the game on her phone.
"She'd better be frowning because she's disappointed with Mimoko Inoue," Gyro nervously thought as he kept his eyes glued to the screen of his phone.
Hagemi let out a sigh. "Looks like I'm up against a wall, she thought as she moved her rook to f2.
"Check," Mimoko stated as she moved her rook to d1.
"Well, that's it for me. I doubt she's the kind of player that would botch this," Hagemi thought as she captured the rook at d1 with her rook.
Mimoko then captured the rook at d1 with her e-pawn, and promoted the pawn to a queen forcing Hagemi to move her king to h2. She continued the attack by moving her queen to e1 prompting Hagemi to move her rook to f3.
A big smile began to form on Raymond's face as Mimoko moved her knight to d4. "Beautiful, Hagemi's judgment was right on the money, the chess world is about to enter a glorious new era," he thought as Hagemi moved her rook to d3.
Mimoko then moved her knight to e2 while Hagemi moved her pawn to h4.
As soon as Mimoko moved her pawn to f5, Hagemi smiled and moved her rook to d8. "Guess this is my last ditch effort... And it failed," she thought as Mimoko captured the rook at d8 with her bishop. "Whelp, mate in two," she happily thought as she moved her pawn to g3.
Mimoko immediately captured the pawn at g3, forcing Hagemi to move her king to h1.
"Checkmate," Mimoko declared as she moved her queen to g1, winning the game.
Raymond immediately began applauding. "Bravo! You've performed spectacularly, Mimoko Inoue. I wish you the best of luck in the final round," he grinned as he headed out.
Gyro went pale as he stared at the livestream. "S- She beat Hagemi... Then there's no other choice. I don't care about the punishments, I'll do whatever it takes to ensure Mimoko Inoue never threatens us ever again!" he thought as he pulled out his DESPER.
The full game:
White: Hagemi Shousen (2808) Black: Mimoko Inoue (unrated)
1. d4 d5
2. c4 dxc4
3. e3 Be6
4. Nf3 c6
5. e4 b5
6. Nc3 Nf6
7. a3 g6
8. Be3 Bg7
9. Be2 a5
10. O-O O-O
11. h3 Na6
12. Ne5 Qc7
13. f4 Rad8
14. f5 gxf5
15. exf5 Nd5
16. Qd2 Nxe3
17. Qxe3 Bc8
18. Rae1 c5
19. Nxb5 cxd4
20. Nxc7 dxe3
21. Nc6 Nxc7
22. Nxd8 Rxd8
23. Bxc4 Bh6
24. f6 exf6
25. Rxf6 Be6
26. b3 Bg5
27. Rf3 Bxc4
28. bxc4 Ne6
29. Rg3 Kf8
30. Rf3 Nd4
31. Rff1 e2
32. Rb1 Nc2
33. Rf2 Rd1+
34. Rxd1 exd1=Q+
35. Kh2 Qe1
36. Rf3 Nd4
37. Rd3 Ne2
38. h4 f5
39. Rd8+ Bxd8
40. g3 Qxg3+
41. Kh1 Qg1#
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