Chapter 101:

Numakawa's Bongcloud gambit

En Passant Grandmaster

As the sun set, everyone headed for the hotel they were staying at, the Mizuse Niimi hotel and resort. As its name suggested, the hotel was founded by Mizuse Niimi and was naturally where her secret puzzle cafe was located. Due to her death however, her position of SPCM was now vacant. As a temporary fix, the WWCF had allowed AI that mimicked her playstyle to act as her replacement.

Himitsudono was essentially the only Japanese SPCM working as the other three living SPCMs were either too injured to work or missing. This meant he had to frequently warp between all 6 of the secret puzzle cafes located in the country, though it wasn't as tenuous as it sounded.

What was frustrating Daria to no end was filling the three vacancies she had due to Taira and Mizuse's deaths along with Michiko's imprisonment. Both Taira and Mizuse were grandmasters which was why Daria hoped to replace them with those of a similar level, however, that seemed to be a tough hill to climb. There was also concern for the remaining SPCMs as both Safumi and Tenju had suffered injuries that could prevent them from properly playing ever again, and Doraaki was missing.

"Damn, suspenders aside, that outfit's pretty drip," Ioir cooed as she stared at Mimoko's outfit.

Nearly everyone had elected to change out of their swimsuits, with the exception of Iori who had simply just slid into her sneakers and was still walking around in hers. While no one else's casual attire was that eye-catching, Mimoko's was the exception. She was clad in a white sleeveless crop top along with a pair of snazzy white sneakers and baggy chartreuse capri cargo pants complete with suspenders.

"Well these are Mizuse Niimi brand, so naturally, they look good," Mimoko mumbled as a somber expression overtook her face.

Mizuse Niimi, aka SPCM Himitsusama, was one of her idols. If chess was Mimko's number 1 like, Mizuse Niimi clothing was her number 2. Which is why it was all the more painful for her that Mizuse had been corrupted. Thus when she ultimately dealt what would be the killing blow to her, it hurt. Not as much as what happened to Kotora due to Mizuse's brainwashed state, but it nonetheless still hurt her.

"I'm sorry, Mizuse-chan. Don't worry, I'll wear your clothes with pride," she thought.

As everyone entered the secret puzzle cafe, they were surprised to find Daria there in full maestro attire.

"Hey Mimoko! Enjoy the beach?"

"Ugh, I thought you were supposed to act more seriously when on maestro duty," Mimoko grumbled as she sat down.

"So you tell your friends about my proposal?"

"Yes, but none of them have a high enough elo, and the ones that do aren't interested."

"Who's interested?"

"...Me," Rodeo mumbled.

"Naturally, a man with a great intellect such as I deserves to be a maestro," Numakwa boasted.

"You? You're dumber than Shouben-kun," Iori scoffed.

"Grr, I won't stand for such slander. Let us have a match!"

Everyone quickly gathered around as Iori and Numakawa sat down.

"Alright, if you're a genius, then try and stop this grandmaster killer opening," Iori snickered as she moved her pawn to e4 and began recording on her phone.

"E4? Why such an overrated move. I am not the fool I once was. Behold, the perfect counter, Barnes defense!" Numakawa declared as he moved his pawn to f6.

"I ain't done yet, it's bongcloud time!" Iori grinned as she moved her king to e2.

"Hahahaha! A foolish blunder, befitting of a fool!" Numakawa declared as he moved his pawn to f5.

Iori stared at the board for a moment before giggling and moving her king to f3, leaving both Mimoko and Daria speechless.

"What? But the king is supposed to avoid the center of the board. Well in that case, I shall develop my knight," Numakawa thought as he moved his knight to f6.

Iori then moved her king to f4, once again eliciting groans from the peanut gallery. Numakawa on the other hand immediately captured the pawn at e4 with his knight, threatening a nasty fork. However, Iori didn't seem to care and moved her bishop to e4.

"You are a fool! Now you will lose a rook!" Numakawa smirked as he captured the pawn at f2 with his knight.

Suddenly, Iori moved her king to g5, completely freaking out everyone.

"What is she doing!? That's mate!" Mimoko cried.

"M- MATE!? Never! I won't lose, I'll turn things around!" Numakawa shouted as he moved his pawn to h6.

Iori merely smirked and moved her king to g6, causing both Mimoko and Daria to cringe in disgust.

"HAHAHAHA! Oh, you fool! You made a fatal blunder! Behold, Now your queen is mine!" Numakawa declared as he captured the queen at d1 with his knight, causing Daria and Mimoko to cringe even harder. "How do you like that!?" he proudly huffed as Iori hung her head low.

"Y- Yeah... YOU'RE A FUCKING IDIOT LOL! CHECKMATE DUMBASS!" Iori manically laughed as she slammed her bishop down on f7, winning the game.

"W- WHAT!? I- Impossible," Numakawa trembled as he sank to the floor.

"That's my signature guaranteed to work, grandmaster killer opening."

"So it is... Ha... Ha... Hahahaha! But now it is mine! Now I shall rise to the top with this winning opening! Now, when do I start as maestro?" Numakawa proudly huffed as Daria began setting up the board.

"Here, how about a test. You beat me, you pass."

"I accept!" Numakawa declared as he opened with e4.

Daria took a deep breath before glaring and moving her pawn to f6.

"HAHAHA! The grandmaster maestro has fallen for the ploy! Victory is guaranteed!" Numakawa declared as he moved his king to e2.

Daria struggled not to vomit as she moved her pawn to f5 while Numakawa moved his king to f3. "That's as far as I can go, check," she glared as she captured the pawn at e4 with her f-pawn.

"You captured my pawn? Victory is mine!" Numakawa confidently declared as he moved his king to f4.

Daria glared and moved her pawn to d5 as Numakawa delusionally continued his gambit and moved his king to g5. "It's over, check," Daria snarled as she moved her pawn to e5.

"Nay, for my ultimate victory is close at hand!" Nuakawa declared as he oved his king to g5.

"Checkmate, you fail," Daria glared as she moved her pawn to g6, winning the game.

"W- WHAT!? N- No, Impossible," Numakawa cried as he once again sunk to the floor in defeat.

"Iori-chan, that was a cruel trick to play on him," Mimoko glared.

"Lol, his dumbass got scholared!"

"That wasn't the scholar's- Ugh, whatever."

Daria then rose to face everyone. Just so you know, you'll need to at least be rated 800 and be able to pass my test in order to be considered for the SPCM selection."

"I am rated over 900," Numakawa declared as he pulled out his WWCF card.

"No, your peak rating was 900. You've dropped to 400."

"I- Impossible!"

As Numakawa wallowed in sorrow, Yuusuke approached Daria to ask if any new information had come in regarding his mother.

Yuusuke's mother, Hagemi Shousen, was currently the highest-rated female chess player in the world not counting maestros and WWCF executive board members. She had ended up helping the chess club in facing down Michiko, Xiao Lin, and the brainwashed SPCMs, however, after defeating Xiao Lin in a DESPER kung-fu chess match, she had gone missing. Her whereabouts were unknown and she wasn't picking up her phone. Okisato theorized that the most likely probability was that she was being held captive by the Desperado league. However, there were no definitive leads.

"Is that why you’re hesitant to be an SPCM?" Utami asked.

"Guess it's part of the reason, but I mainly wanna build up my rating and become one of the world's greatest. Bein' and SPCM is the kind of thing I'd do when I retire or become so paranoid about droppin' elo that I decide to preserve my rating. Not to mention, you are required to play at the level of your rating when facing challengers, and I just can't do that. I like playin' at my best and not nerfing myself."

"Not like you're even good enough to nerf yourself," Iori snickered.

"You sure got confident. Is this all because you started cheatin' on the puzzles?"

"With all due respect, young Shousen, Miss Ishikiridokoro has not cheated in any way shape or form during the daily puzzle challenges," Himitsudono stated.

"Yeah, I'm just unleashin' more than 1% of my power," Iori smirked.

"Though I wonder, what exactly happens now that most of the SPCMs here are out?" Okisato asked.

Daria let out a sigh and explained that the topic has been constantly debated at the WWCF headquarters. Some have floated the idea of temporarily using AI technology to compile the match data and play style of the SPCMs in order to keep the challenges alive. This was due to the fact that a large number of WWCF members had begun their journey to challenge all the SPCMs in Japan. Though to make things even more complicated, it seemed Japan's secret puzzle cafes weren't the only ones having trouble.

China was also in a bit of disarray over Maestro Xaio Lin's defection to the Desperado league and implementation of the real-world currency policies she promoted alongside Ai, though all of her SPCMs seemingly didn't care and were willing to accept it. Xiao Lin had also refrained from engaging in Desperado league activities but due to having a DESPER, the threat of her deciding to reverse that pacifism was still possible.

Other countries were having trouble too such as Russia, due to the Russian maestro's opposition to Tsar Grigori, and America. Okisato was quickly intrigued by what was amiss in America, however, he was told it would simply be better to ask the American maestro that himself.

Mimoko shot her mother an odd stare. "But then wouldn't Tanabe-kun have to go all the way to America, or are you implying that the American maestro is here?"

"Neither. I just need to request a rematch with him," Okisato stated as he pulled up his point menu.

"A rematch? WAIT! You've already beaten him!?"

"Yeah?"

"B- But I thought my mother was the first maestro you beat."

"Not at all. Wiley was actually the 1st since he's the easiest, and I'm actually close to challenging another maestro as well."

"Oi, you're sayin' you've been one step ahead of us this whole time?" No fair," Yuusuke cried.

The full games:

White: Iori Ishikiridokoro (1188) Black: Syouma Numakawa (400)

1. e4 f6

2. Ke2 f5

3. Kf3 Nf6

4. Kf4 Nxe4