Hagemi vs Mimoko

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 back.

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 and moved her pawn to e3. Mimoko showed no sign of being rattled or intimidated either as she brought out her bishop to e6 while Hagemi moved her knight to f3. Mimoko didn’t so much as think as she moved her pawn to c6, giving Hagemi pause before she moved 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 as Mimoko responded by bringing her knight to f6. Hagemi shot Mimoko a smile and moved her pawn to a3 while Mimoko smiled back and moved her pawn to g6. Just as Hagemi moved her bishop to e3 and Mimoko moved her bishop to g7, Okisato won his game and began to head out, but not before taking a quick glance at the Hagemi vs Mimoko match.

"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 playing hall, at least at this venue" 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.

Indeed, both players were building up their defenses for an oncoming slaughter with Mimoko moving her queen to c7 and Hagemi moving 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. She 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 as Mimoko launched her pawn to c5. She then smirked and promptly captured the pawn at b5 with her knight, but Mimoko responded accordingly 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.

Naturally, Mimoko captured the queen at e3 with her d-pawn as if she didn’t, she’d lose.

"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 thought as she grinned from ear to ear while capturing the rook at d8 with her knight.

Mimoko knew what she was doing though and captured the knight at d8 with her rook. Hagemi followed up by capturing the pawn at c4 with her bishop, but Mimoko then moved her bishop to h6, giving Hagemi the chance to advance her pawn to f6. With no other choice, Mimoko promptly captured the pawn at f6 with her e-pawn.

"Seems I overestimated things. She's clearly at a disadvantage," Raymond thought as Hagemi captured said pawn with her rook.

Yet it was unclear who exactly he was referring to, unless of course you could see the eval bar for the game. Players and all present in the playing hall naturally couldn’t, but those watching the livestream outside it could.

Gyro had been hesitant to watch, but he needed to know who was winning. And as soon as Mimoko moved her bishop to e6, his face lit up with glee. “Yes, YES! SHE BLUNDERED! She was dominating but one blunder- NO!”

His enthusiasm was short lived as Hagemi didn’t notice the blunder and played pawn to b3, shifting the eval bar completely in Mimoko’s favor.

On the board, neither of the two players had realized they had just blundered, though Mimoko appeared to be the first to as she stared at the board and cupped her hands over her mouth. Hagemi took notice of Mimoko’s expression and stared at the board for a bit before grimacing and covering her hand with her face.

“I got lucky. If she had thought for a moment, I’d have been in trouble,” Mimoko thought as she moved her bishop to g5.

Hagemi clicked her tongue and thought for a moment before moving her rook to f3. “Dammit, I had a shot, but I blew it. But that’s the name of the game,” she thought as Mimoko captured the bishop at c4 with her bishop.

Hagemi tried to turn things around by capturing said bishop with her b-pawn, but Mimoko was undeterred and moved her knight to e6.

Gyro meanwhile starred in frustration at the livestream as Hagemi moved her rook to g3. “Idiot! You didn’t even think for a second when you played b3! Idiot! Equalize with a draw, dammit! I can’t have her beat you!”

Back inside, Raymond stroked his beard as Mimoko moved her king to f8. “I wonder how she'll respond to this,” he thought.

Hagemi thought for a moment before grinning and moving her rook to f3. Mimoko saw it coming though and immediately moved her knight to d4, forcing Hagemi to move her f-rook to f1.

As soon as Mimoko 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.

Outside, the playing hall, many top players that had already finished their games, stared intently at the livestream of the Mimoko vs Hagemi match.

"So she's finally realized her defeat is imminent," Peter thought as a smirk began to form on his face.

"She'd better be frowning because she's disappointed with Mimoko Inoue," Gyro nervously thought as sweat poured down his face.

Okisato took note of Gyro’s state and sighed. He almost felt pity for the state he was in, but the key word was “almost”. Even without the eval bar on screen, anyone can tell Inoue-senpai’s about to win,” he thought.

Back in the playing hall, 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 captured the rook at d1 with her e-pawn, and promoted the pawn to a queen, yet Hagemi chose not to resign and played on by moving her king to h2. Mimoko wasn’t going to blunder again though and moved 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.

Now it was clear Mimoko had this in the bag, especially after moving her knight to e2. Hagemi refused to resign yet again, deciding to allow the mate to be played and moved her pawn to h4.

Many would have resigned in this position, Hagemi too if she wasn’t playing Mimoko for the first time. “Sorry for pushing on, but I feel this needs to end decisively. Besides, checkmates look better in the game logs than resignations, anyway,” Hagemi thought as a smile formed on her face.

As soon as Mimoko moved her pawn to f5, Hagemi moved her rook to d8, delivering a check in one last ditch effort to turn things around. Mimoko countered perfectly, capturing the rook at d8 with her bishop, inching ever closer to victory.

"Whelp, mate in two," Hagemi happily thought as she moved her pawn to g3.

Mimoko immediately captured the pawn at g3, leaving Hagemi with just one legal move, king to h1. As soon as Hagemi completed the move, Mimoko instantly moved her queen to g1, winning the game.

"Checkmate, good game," Mimoko smiled as she shook hands with Hagemi.

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#