Chapter 76:

Queen, pawn, and move odds

En Passant Grandmaster

Mimoko watched as a clear dome appeared shielding her and Nyoan from the rain as a giant chess board emerged from the puddles below while her call with Okisato was ended.

"So your rating is 999, I guess that is fitting for your cat affinity," Mimoko glared as the match data appeared on her WWCF card.

"Nyess, which is why the DESPER lets me implement odds, nya," Nyoan smirked as Mimoko's queen and f-pawn vanished.

Even with her skill, this was a notable disadvantage. Nyoan meanwhile was annoyed for a different reason. Due to the odds rule, the DESPER had notified her that killing Mimoko was not possible due to the overwhelming odds against her, thus her punishment for losing had been reduced to merely getting sick with a cold.

"Nya, I wouldn't have even bothered if I knew this would be it. Why did Kuon-sama insist on having me do all this,nya?" Nyoan muttered under her breath as she moved her pawn to e4.

Rather than making a move instantly, Mimoko carefully ran simulations in her head. Without her queen and f-pawn, the wrong move could lead to imminent mate so long as Nyoan didn't blunder. Naturally, Mimoko did not want to rely on her opponent blundering but instead find the best possible move.

Nyoan began to hope that Mimoko would run out of time, but her hopes were dashed when Mimoko moved her knight to c6, at least for the moment.

"Nyahaha! Check!" Nyoan laughed as she moved her queen to h5.

Already anticipating the move, Mimoko rolled her eyes and slid her pawn to g6, forcing Nyoan to move her queen away to f3.

"That wasn't the best place for her to move her queen, still I shouldn't rely on her making blunders, now the best course of action would be, knight f6," Mimoko thought as she moved her knight to f6.

Nyoan immediately moved her bishop out to c4, forcing Mimoko to contemplate for a bit before moving her bishop to g7.

After Nyoan moved her knight to h3, Mioko sensed an opportunity and moved her pawn to d5.

"Nyahaha! Free pawn, nya!" Nyoan gloated as she captured the pawn at d5 with her e-pawn. However, her laughter ceased immediately as soon as Mimoko moved her knight to e5. "NYO! I'm not losing my queen, nya!" she cried as she moved her queen to f4.

Instead of capturing the bishop like Nyoan feared, Mimoko instead continued to threaten the queen by moving her knight to h5.

"NYO! Wait, I can get out of this! You lose, dumbass, nya!" Nyoan laughed as she moved her bishop to b5.

Mimoko quickly rained on her parade though by moving her pawn to c6, putting Nyoan right back to where she was before. Nyoan quickly began racking her brain, and arrived at the idea that capturing the pawn at c6 with her d-pawn was her best course of action.

As soon as Mimoko captured the pawn at c6 with her b-pawn, Nyoan had a lapse in judgment and captured said pawn with her bishop, leading to Mimoko promptly capturing said bishop with her knight.

"NYOOOOO... Fooled ya!" Nyoan smirked as she moved her queen to c7.

Even though she had blundered, Nyoan still had an overwhelming advantage, leading Mimoko to think carefully before moving her bishop to d7.

Nyoan then decided to castle on the king's side, prompting Mimoko to move her rook to c8, and send Nyoan's queen to b7. This prompted Mimoko to capture the knight at h3 with her bishop, but Nyoan simply laughed the move off and captured said bishop with her g-pawn.

"Laugh all you want, I'm turning things around," Mimoko glared as she castled on the king's side.

Nyoan didn't seem concerned in the slightest as she moved her rook to e6. Mimoko countered by bringing her knight out to d4, but the move appeared to backfire as Nyoan simply captured the pawn at e7 with her rook.

"Nyahaha! It's mate in two!" Nyoan gloated.

"Really now," Mimoko glared as she captured the pawn at c2 with her knight.

"Nyess I- NYO! Ugh, mate's still happening though," Nyoan mumbled as she moved her knight out to c3.

Mimoko wasted no time in capturing the rook at a1 with her knight, though Nyoan didn't seem to care as she advanced her knight to d5.

"Finally, the tide has turned, check," Mimoko glared as she captured the bishop at c1 with her rook.

"NYO! I'm gonna win, nya!" Nyoan cried as she moved her king to g2. As soon as Mimoko moved her knight to c2, though, Nyoan burst into maniacal laughter. "NYAHAHA! YOU LOSE, NYA! NOW IT'S MATE IN 3!" she cackled as she moved her knight to f4, and became completely dumbstruck when Mimoko not only captured it with her knight, but also put her in check.

"Huh... NYO! I'M NOT GONNA LOSE!" Nyoan cried as she moved her king to g3.

"No, you're losing. It's mate in 4, check," Mimoko stated as she moved her rook to g1.

Tears began pouring out of Nyoan's eyes as she frantically moved her king to f3.

"Seems you hastened your demise, mate in 2," Mimoko glared as she moved her knight to d4.

"NYO! KUON-SAMA WILL BE MAD IF I BOTCH THIS!" Nyoan cried as she moved her king to e4.

"Kuon-sama? Well I assume she's the one holding Kotora, yes? Now take me to him; checkmate," Mimoko glared as she moved her rook to e1.

Nyoan immediately threw a tantrum as the DESPER deactivated, but quickly stopped as she began leading Mimoko to Kotora's location.

...

"And here we are, nya," Nyoan nervously smiled.

Mimoko's anger began to peak as she stared at the location; the local arcade.

"Huh? Why are you all wet sis? Oh hey cat lady, thanks for giving me all those tokens," Kotora smiled as he approached the two, completely fine.

SLAP!

"And just why didn't you answer your phone!?" Mimoko glared.

"HUH!? You never called me! Besides, you were taking forever so I left!"

"Well, nyow that I've taken you to your brother, I'll be off, nya," Nyoan nervously smiled as she attempted to leave, only for Mimoko's hand to clamp down on her knit hat.

"You lied to me."

"Bu- But he's safe and sound like you wanted, nya,"

"I nearly got kidnapped because of that!"

Nyoan quickly slid out of her hat, causing both Mimoko and Kotora to freak out at her hairless head and cat ears. Nyoan however, took the chance to escape, but did not leave unscathed.

"NYO! THEY SAW MY BALD EARS, NYA! I'LL HAVE TO GO INTO HIDING, NYA!" she cried as she scampered through the rain.

The full game:

White: Nyoan Nyakuoji (999) Black: Mimoko Inoue (2715)

1. e4 Nc6

2. Qh5+ g6

3. Qf3 Nf6

4. Bc4 Bg7

5. Nh3 d5

6. exd5 Ne5

7. Qf4 Nh5

8. Bb5+ c6

9. dxc6 bxc6