Chapter 35:
En Passant Grandmaster
"Are you alright, Inoue-senpai?" Okisato asked as he untied Mimoko.
"Well, I guess I am still in shock, but otherwise I'm fine. ...! The match! Has the final round started!?"
"Uh... Oh, we're gonna be late."
"Then let's get a move on! I'm NOT going to forfeit because of this!"
...
In the playing room, Peter scowled as he read his book. "Damn you, Gunnerson. She was beginning to pique my interest with her win over Hagemi Shousen. Now thanks to you, I may never get to play her. You know how much I hate winning by time forfeits."
Just then, Mimoko burst into the room and quickly walked towards Peter. Okisato, meanwhile, slowly walked up to the results table, where Raymond was seated along with some arbiters.
"No need, I know you won," Raymond nodded.
"So you approved the match then. Well, I actually wanted to ask about Inoue-senpai-”
"Sorry, rules are rules. We're also on a strict timetable. Blame yourself for not playing fast enough to give her more time."
At the board, Mimoko smiled as she sat down and moved her pawn to e4. "I'm sorry I'm late, I was a bit tied up.”
"Then make up for it on the board, and don't lose on time," Peter stated as he closed his book and moved his pawn to e5.
Even though there was only a minute left on Mimoko's clock, it didn't seem to phase her as both her and Peter began moving pieces as fast as humanly possible.
The arbiter watching struggled to keep track of the moves. "Knight f3, knight c6, d4, e captures d4, Bishop c4, knight f6, e5, d5,Bishop b5, knight e4, castle on the king's side, bishop g4, queen captures d4, bishop c5,bishop captures c6, b captures c6, queen d3, castle on the king's- UGH, I can't keep up."
"Then let me assist you," Raymond nodded as he walked over and began doing a rapid play-by-play commentary. "Knight c3, bishop captures f3, queen captures f3, f5, knight captures e4, f captures e4, queen c3, queen e7, bishop e3, bishop b6, a4, bishop captures e3, f captures e3, c5, b3, rook-a d8, rook-a d1, c6, rook f4, rook captures f4, e captures f4, c4, b captures c4, d4, queen h3, e3-"
"I can't even process what the president is saying!"
"Queen g4, rook b8, a5, c5, e6, h5, queen f5, rook e8, queen captures h5, queen captures e6, rook b1, e2, rook e1, g6, queen f3, queen captures c4, f5, rook e3, queen g4, queen captures c2, queen captures g6, king f8, a6, queen e4, queen d6, queen e7, queen h6, queen g7."
"Hmm, if I had more time, I could draw this out, but for now, this is all I can do," Mimoko thought as she moved her queen back to d6.
Peter immediately moved his queen e7. "So this is as far as we can go. Should I draw this out, no there is a 5 second incrament on the timer. It will become a war of attrition, but I'm sure she would still trigger a draw either way. I suppose I'll make things easy, assuming she intends to draw," he thought.
Sure enough, Mimoko repeated her moves.
"A draw it is then," Peter thought as the threefold repetition rule triggered. "Splendid, you have great potential. I look forward to our future matches," he smiled as he shook hands with Mimoko.
"That really was intense, if only I had more time, then we could have had a proper match," Mimoko smiled.
"Gunnerson is lucky he's dead, otherwise I would have scorned him myself. Well, until our next match, Mimoko Inoue."
"Impressive, despite the disadvantage, she rallied to pull off a draw by repetition. Not bad, Mimoko Inoue, I look forward to the blitz tournament next week," Raymond thought.
"I didn't even leave and it's over. Impressive as always, Inoue-senpai," Okisato nodded.
"That man seemed like a good opponent, was he the Peter Morphy you mentioned?" Mimoko asked as she walked up to Okisato.
"Yes, and now you've surpassed me. I've never even gotten a draw against him."
"Well, then I'll be sure to teach you so that you can one day win against him."
"That's our Inoue-senpai for you. Hmm, I wonder how high your rating's gonna be." "Let's first meet with the others and debrief, there's still time before the awards ceremony."
The full game:
White: Mimoko Inoue (unrated) Black: Peter Morphy (2880)
1. e4 e5
2. Nf3 Nc6
3. d4 exd4
4. Bc4 Nf6
5. e5 d5
6. Bb5 Ne4
7. O-O Bg4
8. Qxd4 Bc5
9. Bxc6+ bxc6
10. Qd3 O-O
11. Nc3 Bxf3
12. Qxf3 f5
13. Nxe4 fxe4
14. Qc3 Qe7
15. Be3 Bb6
16. a4 Bxe3
17. fxe3 c5
18. b3 Rad8
19. Rad1 c6
20. Rf4 Rxf4
21. exf4 c4
22. bxc4 d4
23. Qh3 e3
24. Qg4 Rb8
25. a5 c5
26. e6 h5
27. Qf5 Re8
28. Qxh5 Qxe6
29. Rb1 e2
30. Re1 g6
31. Qf3 Qxc4
32. f5 Re3
33. Qg4 Qxc2
34. Qxg6+ Kf8
35. a6 Qe4
36. Qd6+ Qe7
37. Qh6+ Qg7
38. Qd6+ Qe7
39. Qh6+ Qg7
40. Qd6+ Qe7 (draw by repetition)
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