Chapter 125:

Street chess

En Passant Grandmaster

With Carol at the wheel, the girls drove through the countryside.

"Surprised New York has places like this. I thought everyone lived in skyscrapers," Iori shrugged.

"I once thought Japanese people lived in nothing but traditional homes," Carol smirked.

"Hey, some still do."

"I know, I moved into one."

"You moved into one?" Mimoko asked.

"Yeah, I was able to move to Japan with my grampy, but before I could really crash at the place, all this happened."

"How'd you manage that?" Iori asked.

"The old man chess guy in charge of the WWCF. I met him a few months ago and after agreeing to be a chess player, he agreed to pull some strings to get me out of America. And I'm glad he did, because I don't think I can live here anymore, especially if that fucker Pewler becomes president."

"You don't think the boomer will win the election?"

Carol let out a sigh. "I'd only vote for him because he's the only one that's got a chance at beating that fucker Pewler, but if Boomer was running against anyone else, I wouldn't vote for him."

"That's not good. We can't let someone like Pewler become president," Mimoko glared.

"And how do we do that?"

"We challenge him and beat him in a game of chess. Then make it so he can't become president."

"He won't accept. He never puts himself at a disadvantage," Carol sighed.

"Nah, Mimo-chan's right. We just gotta run into him, and he'll activate his DESPER in order to get rid of her, then she beats him and makes him die," Iori grinned.

"Iori-chan, killing is wrong," Mimoko glared.

"But he needs to die. Even if you just had him drop out of the race and confess to his crimes, the fucker would just find a way to weasel his way back to power!"

"Carol-chan, as I said before..."

As Mimoko gave Carol and Iori another lecture on why killing is wrong, Iori pulled up her phone and did a quick internet search. Since America had a maestro, it meant that there would be secret puzzle cafes here. The only question was if one of the 7 within the country was in New York.

Though Iori had a feeling there was one here as Union square park was said to be one of the most famous street chess spots in the country. Washington square had once been the center of street chess in New York, but due to the fact that Union square tended to get more foot traffic than it, many street chess players had migrated to Union square. Now Union square was considered the largest street chess hub in New York. Thus it stood to reason that with such a large chess presence, the WWCF would naturally place a secret puzzle cafe in the area.

The girls arrived at Union square park in about 30 minutes. Once there, they took notice of all the street chess players. Carol had some dollars on her, meaning the girls could play some opponents, however, the supply was limited, meaning they had to be strategic about who they faced.

"I hear Prussian Tony's the strongest. We should play him," Carol suggested.

"Good thinking, but thanks to those fairies, we got a perfect cheat sheet on who to play," Iori stated.

"What you mean?"

"You get badges for defeating SPCMS. We should limit ourselves to targeting players that have a badge for beating an SPCM."

"But how can we be sure the badges they got are from an American SPCM?" Mimoko asked.

"We compare the badges to Oki-kun's. He's beaten all the American SPCMs so we just use his badge gallery as a reference."

After a little sleuthing, it turned out that quite a few players had a badge from defeating an American SPCM. Prussian Tony was amongst them, and thus, Mimoko decided to play him.

"So you wanna play chess against me? Well if so, ladies first," Tony nodded as Mimoko sat down and paid the fee.

"If I win, will you tell me where to find the secret puzzle cafe?" Mimoko asked.

Tony shot her a scowl. "Don't know what you mean."

"Then how about I prove my skill," Mimoko smiled as she moved her pawn to g3.

Tony gaped in shock before bursting into laughter. "A Hungarian? Try a little harder. I've been playin' on the streets for years and got a rating of 1600 out of it," he stated as he moved his pawn to e5.

"Very well," Mimoko smiled as she moved her pawn to c4.

Tony didn't seem afraid though as he moved his knight to c6. Nor when Mimoko fianchettoed her bishop by moving it to g2. He followed up by moving his pawn to g6 while Mimoko moved her knight to c3. Then he fianchettoed his own bishop by moving it to g7.

"Wow, things look even," Carol stated as Mimoko moved her pawn to e3.

"Yeah, this hustler's got some cred," Iori nodded as Tony moved his pawn to d6.

The game truly was even between the two and only continued to be that way after Mimoko moved her pawn to d3 and Tony moved his queen to f6. Even after Mimoko moved her g-knight to e2 and Tony moved his rook to b8, the game was still even.

"Mimo gonna draw if this keeps up," Carol groaned as Mimoko moved her pawn to b3.

"Nah, things are starting to turn in her favor," Iori grinned as Tony moved his bishop to g4.

Carol was unable to see what Iori meant, but shrugged and decided to take her word for it. Despite Iori's declaration, the game was still very even. Mimoko moving her pawn to h3 and Tony moving his bishop to d7 did little to sway the game one way or the other. However, after Mimoko castled king's side and Tony moved his queen to f5, things began to heat up. It all started with Mimoko moving her knight to d5 and Tony responding by moving his pawn to e4.

"Now the pain train begins!" Iori grinned as Mimoko captured the pawn at e4 with her d-pawn, forcing Tony to move his queen to e5.

Mimoko then captured the pawn at c7 with her knight, putting Tony in check and forcing him to move his king to d8. Mimoko quickly retreated her knight to b5, however, Tony appeared to gain the edge when he captured the rook at a1 with his queen.

"Mimo just lost a rook!" Carol cried as Mimoko moved her queen to d2.

"Oh no... Guess that rook was deadweight cuz that bozo sure isn't moving like he's winning," Iori snickered as Tony moved his king to e7.

Mimoko followed up by moving her bishop to a3, prompting Tony to defend the pawn at d6 by moving his queen to f6. However, that did little to stop Mimoko's vicious assault.

"Check," Mimoko stated as she captured the pawn at d6 with her bishop.

Due to Mimoko's knight also protecting the bishop, Tony was unable to trade queens and forced to move his king to e8, however, Mimoko put him in check once more by moving her knight to c7, forcing him to move his king to d8. Mimoko then decided to go after the queen and moved her pawn to e5, however, said pawn was quickly gobbled up by Tony's knight. Unphased, Mimoko slid her rook to d1.

"Guess you got some skill, but I do too, check," Tony stated as he moved his knight to f3.

"That's a nice trick, but I'm not falling for it," Mimoko smiled as she captured the knight at f3 with her bishop.

"Well dang, I guess I got too cocky and hung that knight," Tony chuckled as he moved his king to c8.

"Huh? Why didn't he capture the bishop?" Carol asked as Mimoko moved her knight to b5.

"Cuz then it would have been mate in three," Iori grinned as Tony captured the knight on b5 with his bishop. "And what do you know, he blundered into mate anyway.

Rather than capture the bishop on b5, Mimoko instead moved her bishop to g4, forcing Tony to move his bishop to d7. Mimoko wasn't deterred though and simply captured said bishop with her bishop, forcing Tony to capture it with his king. However, that allowed Mimoko to put him in check, simply by moving her bishop to b4.

With no other choice, Tony moved his queen to d4, and watched Mimoko capture it with her knight on her next turn. "Alright, alright, you're good, but you haven't won yet," he chuckled as he moved his king to c8.

"Then I'll do it in two moves," Mimoko declared as she moved her knight to b5.

Now nothing Tony would do would really matter, so he opted to move his knight to f6. Mimoko then captured the pawn at a7, and after Tony moved his king to c7, it was over.

"Checkmate. I can see you really are skilled. Thanks for the fun match, now could you tell us where to find that secret puzzle cafe?" Mimoko asked as she moved her queen to d6, winning the game.

Tony nodded and informed the girls that the secret puzzle cafe was actually an entire restaurant known as The King's fianchetto which was located inside a fancy hotel in Time's square. "Just make sure ya got official ratings or they won't let ya in!" Tony hollered as the girls returned to the car.

However, the girls were faced with a problem as all the wheels had been slashed. It was a reminder that despite the calming atmosphere of the area, the girls were still being targeted, and not just that, their assailant was likely in close proximity. Iori snuck a glance into her pocket, but her DESPER key didn't seem to glow, indicating that no Desperados were around.

However, as Carol had informed her, Pewler had an army of loyalists, many of whom were just ordinary people brainwashed by his grandeur. There was also the slim chance the assailant had simply slashed the tires for a different reason other than to hinder the girls, but that didn't seem likely.

As the girls decided to walk to the hotel in Times square, a cab pulled up next to them.

"You're the girl that beat Tony, right?"

Mimoko nervously affirmed she did as the cabby began to grin and informed her that he'd give her and her friends a free ride to the hotel, naturally putting all of them on guard.

"Huh? Why the tense looks? I'm legit. Here's my license."

While the cabby, Mariano Mario, did appear to be a legit cabby, that didn't quite dispel the girls' angst. Nonetheless, they decided to cautiously accept the offer. Once they were inside, the cabby began smiling before driving away with them.

The full game:

White: Mimoko Inoue (2730) Black: Prussian Tony (2016)

1. g3 e5

2. c4 Nc6

3. Bg2 g6

4. Nc3 Bg7

5. e3 d6

6. d3 Qf6

7. Nge2 Rb8

8. b3 Bg4

9. h3 Bd7

10. O-O Qf5