Dutch baby

Iori let out a groan as she made her way inside the building. It had been a slog beating all the grunts outside in Gothic chess, but she had managed to pull it off. But if there were any more lurking within, she'd snap.

Luckily, the only fairy within was Bette who sat in front of a large cage which contained Carol.

"About time you showed up! Bette here's a lousy jailer!" Carol fumed.

Clang!

"Shut up! I'm trying to smoke in peace, but you keep complaining about the smell," Bette snarled as she kicked the cage.

"I hate the smell of tobacco," Carol glared.

"And for the millionth time, this ain't tobacco, it's marijuana. Now, seems we got a challenger so I guess I'll put the smoking on hold."

The arbiter squad quickly appeared and surrounded Bette and Iori as Bette pulled out her WWCF card and summoned a board with it.

Bette opened by moving her knight to f3 as Iori moved her pawn to f5. "And just what is this?" she glared as she moved her pawn to d4.

"Uh, a Dutch?" Iori shrugged as she moved her king to f7, further angering Bette.

"You taking me lightly, punk!? Check!" Bette fumed as she slammed her knight down in g5.

"And if I am?" Iori taunted as she moved her king back to e8.

"I'll... CRUSH YOU!" Bette shouted as she slammed her pawn down on e4.

Iori smirked and captured the pawn at e4 with her f-pawn, daring Bette to try. That further ignited her fury as she slammed her knight down on c3, while Iori simply moved her pawn to d5.

Despite her rage peaking, Bette continued to play well. F3, h6, but then a simple human mistake of capturing the pawn at e4 with her f-pawn instead of her knight, and Bette had just blundered a knight as Iori gleefully captured the knight at g5 with her h-pawn.

"No! You bitch!" Bette fumed as she captured the pawn at d5 with her e-pawn.

"Hey, your fault for not seeing it. Guess shaving your eyebrows off didn't improve your tunnel vision," Iori taunted as she moved her queen to d6.

That line caused Bette to snap as she slammed her queen down on to d3 and began seething in Dutch. She had always hated how thick her eyebrows looked which is why she always shaved them off, so the slightest invocation of them would send her into rage.

Iori took notice of Bette's state and moved her knight to f6, hoping for a blunder, but it didn't happen right away as Bette responded by moving her knight to b5.

"Well someone's throwing a tantrum, but still playing decently. Whatever, I'll bide my time," Iori thought as she slid her queen to d7.

It would be a while more before another decisive play. C4, c6, knight c3, queen f5, queen captures f5, and bishop captures f5, and Bette was still hanging in. However, her position was slowly eroding as Iori was relentless in her attacks.

The dance continued with bishop e2, g4, and a king's side castle. Followed by g6, bishop f4, b-knight d7, d captures c5, b captures c6, a-rook e1, bishop h6, bishop captures h6, and rook captures h6, yet still no mate in sight despite Iori's major advantage.

"Sheesh! You ever gonna blunder!?" Iori grumbled as Bette moved her pawn to c5.

"No, I'll grind this out as long as need be. I'm a patient girl, unlike you," Bette glared as Iori moved her rook to b8.

She then deliberately waited a bit before moving her pawn to b3, just to tick off Iori, causing Iori to grumble and wish she'd gone to rescue Mimoko first, as she moved her king to d8.

It was clear Bette's strategy was to take time on her moves, testing Iori's patience. Though in hindsight, it was a strategic move for the Fairy league as the more time Iori spent fighting Bette, the greater the chance she wouldn't be able to get to Sorcha before her guard shift ended.

Bishop c4, a5, rook f2, g3, h captures g3, king c7, f-rook e2, b-rook h8, king f1, e5, d captures e5, knight g4, rook d2, and still no mate in sight despite Iori's overwhelming advantage.

"How long you gonna drag this out for!?" Iori fumed as she captured the pawn at e5 with her d-knight.

"As long as need be," Bette snarled as she moved her pawn to a4.

"Ok, fuck you. Check," Iori snarled as she moved her rook to h1.

Bette was forced to move her king to e2, allowing Iori to trade rooks by capturing the rook at e1 with her rook, while Bette captured said rook with her king. Iori then brought her remaining rook to h1, prompting Bette to move her king to e2. Yet still no mate in sight, and Bette wasn't giving any openings.

Iori was really starting to get ticked at this point and moved her rook to g1. Bette moved her rook to d4, still showing no openings, but after Iori captured the pawn at g2 with her rook, she finally blundered and moved her king to f1.

"Fucking FINALLY! CHECK!" Iori snarled as she slammed her knight down on e3.

"What are you groaning about now? The game's still young," Bette glared as she moved her king to e1.

The fact that Bette seemingly didn't see the mate before her, caused Iori's gusto to fully recharge. "You REALLy dragged this out. Well now I get the last laugh. Checkmate! No stars, never play again!" Iori snickered as she flipped off Bette and moved her knight to f3, winning the game.

Bette's jaw hung open in bewilderment before she clicked her tongue and rose in a huff. Carol was immediately released from the cage as the arbiter squad dispersed.

“Now get out. I’m pissed,” Bette grumbled as she flopped down on a nearby couch.

Iori and Carol took the queue and ran out as Bette gritted her teeth in frustration.

The full game:

White: Bette Oranje (2383) Black: Iori Ishikiridokoro (1188)

1. Nf3 f5 

2. d4 Kf7 

3. Ng5+ Ke8 

4. e4 fxe4 

5. Nc3 d5 

6. f3 h6 

7. fxe4 hxg5 

8. exd5 Qd6 

9. Qd3 Nf6 

10. Nb5 Qd7 

11. c4 c6 

12. Nc3 Qf5 

13. Qxf5 Bxf5 

14. Be2 g4

15. O-O g6 

16. Bf4 Nbd7 

17. dxc6 bxc6 

18. Rae1 Bh6 

19. Bxh6 Rxh6 

20. c5 Rb8 

21. b3 Kd8 

22. Bc4 a5 

23. Rf2 g3 

24. hxg3 Kc7 

25. Rfe2 Rbh8 

26. Kf1 e5 

27. dxe5 Ng4

28. Rd2 Ndxe5 

29. a4 Rh1+ 

30. Ke2 Rxe1+ 

31. Kxe1 Rh1+ 

32. Ke2 Rg1 

33. Rd4 Rxg2+

34. Kf1 Ne3+ 

35. Ke1 Nf3#