Chapter 119:

The Irish gambit

En Passant Grandmaster

Mimoko thought to herself as she followed Iori and Carol around. Something seemed off to her about all this.

"You thinkin' about something or do ya just look that way cuz your bald?" Iori grinned.

Mimoko let out a sigh and decided to air her grievances. The fact that the Fairy league had taken over the UK meant that Heather was essentially Prime Minister. However, Mimoko just couldn't see how a bumbling fool like Heather could last in such a role. Iori was quick to point out that one of the other executives, such as Scharlachrot, might be the puppet master. While the answer was good enough to satisfy Mimoko, she still couldn't understand something.

"Why this game?"

"That's easy. The prez guy would go apeshit if they just locked us up, but if we lost a chess game and got locked up..."

"But still, something just seems off about the whole thing."

Iori couldn't disagree with Mimoko. She too had sensed something was off about the game, however, she didn't have much to go off of. Though she soon got a bit more then she bargained for when a male fairy chess foot soldier came charging towards her. Immediately, foot soldiers surrounded the two as a chessboard was summoned via the foot soldier's WWCF card.

"We're not gonna have to fight ALL these guys, right?" Iori glare.

"Not at all. See the armbands? Those guys are the arbiter team. They only ensure you can't run away once you're spotted. Oh, and if your teammates are spectating, they won't have to worry about getting roped into a separate match, though they're free to wander off on their own," the foot soldier explained.

As soon as the game began, Iori effortlessly mated the 100 rated foot soldier.

"Congratulations. For beating me, you all win a map of the city. Feel free to explore at your leisure," the foot soldier nodded as the arbiter squad dispersed.

"Hmm, it seems this might not be as bad as I thought it would be," Mimoko nodded.

"Yeah, itz like the Poke mans," Carol grinned.

As the group continued onward, they noticed more and more stationed foot soldiers. Some were walking around in set patterns while others were stationary.

Iori decided to try sneaking behind one of the walking foot soldiers and sure enough, she could follow him around so long as she remained out of sight. "Lol, loser doesn't even turn around. Talk about lame AI," she snickered.

However, she soon had egg on her face as said foot soldier responded to her voice and promptly turned around. While this foot soldier was a more imposing 1000 rated player, he was still no match for Iori. As a prize, the foot soldier taught the group a way to view the rating of someone from a distance by using their WWCF cards.

The knowledge was strategically advantageous for the group as now they could see how challenging their opponents might be. Since Carol was the weakest of the group, she'd primarily focus on avoiding fights or only challenging low rated opponents. Iori and Mimoko would handle the others with Mimoko going after the big threats.

The girls made their way through the city, doing their best not to aggro too many foot soldiers. They ended up fighting a few each, but the prizes tended to just be either tidbits about chess and the WWCF card or just the standard cash reward from the WWCF card.

"Ugh, we aren't even gaining any elo from this," Iori groaned as the group took a rest on a bench.

"We probably stuck in tutorial hell," Carol groaned.

"Tell me about it. 'Did you know there's a move called castling that allows the king to move two spaces instead of one?' Yeah, like no shit Sherlock."

"The highest rated opponent we've seen is one rated 1800. Since she was a bit out of the way and surrounded by a corridor of opponents, we decided not to go after her," Mimoko stated.

"Maybe we need to. There might be something good inside where she is."

"I don't know. I honestly want to get out of here as soon as possible."

"Ara, ara, and why would you want to leave so soon?" a voice cooed.

Everyone turned in shock to see Sorcha standing behind them.

"AAAH! JUMPSCARE!" Iori cried as she fell to the ground.

Sorcha merely giggled as she turned to face Carol. "Sorry, but we made eye contact first, so we have to fight now."

With the snap of her fingers, the arbiter squad quickly surrounded her and Carol. Mimoko and Iori held their breath as Carol nervously stared at the board. Sorcha was only rated 777, however she was playing as white and still rated higher than Carol.

Seo le cluiche maith [Here's to a good game]," Sorcha smiled as she shook hands with Carol.

"Huh? What you say?" Carol asked.

"Ah my apologies, it was Irish for "Here's to a good game"," Sorcha smiled as she moved her pawn to e4.

"Irish is a language!?" Carol gasped as she moved her pawn to e5.

"Yes, and it is predominantly spoken in Gaeltacht districts in Ireland, though sadly faces a decline. I actually grew up speaking both Irish and English and am fluent in both."

"Your Japanese good too."

"I seem to be a polyglot so I'm told," Sorcha smiled as she moved her knight to f3.

"So do you wear green cuz you Irish?" Carol asked as she moved her knight to c6.

"It's the reason I pushed to be the green fairy executive. Though I won't deny that I'm quite prideful of my heritage. Am chun do thóin a chiceáil [Time to kick your ass]!" Sorcha happily shouted as she captured the pawn at e5 with her knight.

Mimoko and Iori both stared in shock along with Carol.

"Uh, isn't that a free knight?" Iori asked as Carol nervously captured the knight at e5 with her knight.

"Yes, it's called the Irish gambit," Mimoko stated.

"Wait, like for real!?"

"Yes. It's an extremely poor opening. Of course, that's assuming Carol responds properly when it turns into the Irish Chicago gambit," Mimoko glared as Sorcha moved her pawn to d4, prompting Carol to move her knight to g6. "She's actually doing well. If her opponent goes bishop d3, d5 is the best response," she stated as what she predicted came to pass.

With the ball in Sorcha's court, she opted to move her pawn to e5, putting Carol's knight in the bishop's firing line and prompting her to move it to h4.

"She should have developed the pawn to c5 instead. If her opponent captured te knight, she'd just lose her bishop," Mimoko scowled as Sorcha castled on the king's side.

Carol didn't seem deterred and immediately captured the pawn at g2 with her knight, prompting Sorcha to capture said knight with her king. "YES! You fell for it!" she shouted as she moved her queen to h4.

"I guess this kind of play is to be expected at beginner levels. Iori-chan, as soon as we rescue Carol, I'll give her a speed course while you serve as lookout," Mimoko sighed as Sorcha moved her king to h1.

"Huh? She hasn't lost yet!" Iori fumed as Carol moved her pawn to c6.

"She had the advantage, but now it's fading. If she keeps playing like this, her opponent will win," Mimoko declared as Sorcha moved her pawn to c3.

Sure enough, Mimoko's prediction gained traction as Carol moved her pawn to h5, allowing Sorcha to regain the advantage by moving her rook to g1. Had Carol opted to capture the hanging pawn at f2 with her queen, she'd be in a better spot, but instead she moved her bishop to e6 allowing Sorcha to move her bishop to g5. Now Carol decided to capture the pawn on f2 with her queen, but now her position was compromised and after Sorcha moved her rook to g2, her queen was trapped.

Now Carol began to panic and instead of trading queens by moving her bishop to g4, she instead captured the rook at g2 with her queen, forcing Sorcha to capture said queen qith her king. At this point, Carol had little to no chance at winning unless Sorcha made a massive blunder. She dejectedly moved her knight to h6, however, that just made her situation worse when Sorcha captured the pawn at h5, pinning the knight at h6 to the rook on h8.

With no idea on what to do next, Carol moved her pawn to b6 while Sorcha moved her knight to d2. She then moved her rook to b8 while Sorcha moved her pawn to c4.

As soon as Carol moved her bishop to d7, Mimoko began to shake her head. "Now she's definitely going to lose, she sighed as Sorcha captured the pawn at d5 with her c-pawn.

Carol responded by capturing said pawn with her c-pawn, but Sorcha was one step ahead of her and moved her pawn to e6, forcing Carol to move her bishop to c6. Sorcha continued her attack on the bishop by moving her rook to c1, but then Carol blundered both her bishop and the game by moving her bishop to b4.

Sorcha immediately captured the bishop at c6 with her rook, while Carol, unaware of the mate threat, captured the knight at d2 with her bishop. She then captured the knight on h6 with her bishop and even though Carol captured said bishop with her g-pawn, it was still mate in 2 for her.

"Check. I think this is the first check I've delivered all game," Sorcha smiled as she captured the pawn at f7 with her queen, leaving Carol with no other choice but to move her king to d8. "And that's checkmate. Good game, but sadly it's off to the prison area for you," she smiled as she moved her queen to d7, winning the game.

The full game:

White: Sorcha Glas (777) Black: Carol Cooke (550)

1. e4 e5

2. Nf3 Nc6

3. Nxe5 Nxe5

4. d4 Ng6

5. Bd3 d5

6. e5 Nh4

7. O-O Nxg2

8. Kxg2 Qh4

9. Kh1 c6

10. c3 h5