Interview the author Part 1: The top 10 best games [Special]

"Hey, hey! Welcome to the interview! Name's Kisha Shinbun, and I'm here today to interview some Mario guy about a chess tournament. So first off, what's your elo?"

"Just 1000, maybe 1100 or 1200 at max."

"THAT HIGH!? I'm barely able to cross 600!"

"I wouldn't say it's that high, intermediate at best."

"Yeah, yeah, sure. So for this first phase of the interview, I'm gonna ask ya what your top 10 favorite games of this En pass-thingy tournament are. Ready? Then take it away! Starting with..."

Number 10: Game #5: Psychopath

Easily making the list due to the narrative behind it, this game is what ultimately introduces readers to Iori's true sadistic and psychopathic personality. I had fun writing this game as well, which is why it made the list. But since it isn't quite as flashy as some of the other games, it takes it's place at number 10 on the list.

Number 9: Game #7: Bughouse brawl

The only bughouse game in the series thus far, it easily makes the list due to how fun it was to write and the clever way Mimoko and Utami won the game.

Number 8: Game #60: Happy Halloween

I love the Halloween gambit, so naturally a game featuring it was going to make the list. Best of all, the game was played against chess.com's 2900-rated level 24 engine bot, in assisted mode of course, so beating it in under 30 moves with the gambit was really satisfying. Narratively, having Iori, who is one of my favorite characters, play the gambit also helped make it memorable.

Number 7: Game #8: Pawn and two moves odds

The first and only odds game to make the list, I had lots of fun writing this one. Maida being trapped inside the queen and being flung all over the board is likely why I ended up enjoying this game so much.

Number 6: Game #28: A meadow of chess and a little night music.

I'll be honest, Eine Kleine Nachtmusik is why this game made the list. This game is unique in the fact that it's themed around the music rather than the moves. This game is also one of the ones I had the most fun writing, so naturally it makes the list.

Number 5: Game #1: An underground chess match

The very first game of the series and easily one of the most memorable. Inspired by a game played between Gunnar Gundersen and A H Faul, this game featured a rare en passant checkmate. While it is only the 1st game, it is a memorable one and serves as the hook for the series. Even though many flashier games have come into play since then, it's still good enough to get it the number 4 spot on this list.

Number 4: Game #79: Killer king

This game had it all. A Bongcloud, king and queen swap, and a checkmate delivered by the king. Iori also captured all of Pewler's pieces and mated him on the 69th move. The only thing keeping it from number 1 is that I did have a bit of trouble getting the king mate on the 69th move. I initially tried to modify the original game I played, but ended up having to just replay the bot and then modify the final moves in order to pull off the king mate on the 69th move. It took a while, but it was worth it. However, that fact keeps it from being in the top 3, but it is still worthy of the number 4 spot on this list.

Number 3: Game #16: Desperado

If you read my commentaries, you'll know that the game featured in Chapter 137 was the game originally used in Chapter 34. However, I decided to rewrite the game and as a result, I got not just a season finale worthy game, but also one of my favorite games in the series. It features a Hammerschlag and best of all, the en passant signifies that mate is inevitable. I feel the game would be higher if the opponent was someone more hatable than Gyro, but nonetheless, it's still good enough to be number 3 on the list.

Number 2: Game #51: Madman's Důras gambit

As stated in my commentary for Chapter 95, this game is what ultimately inspired me to make more games with crazy openings and gambits. Due to how much it influenced the series it was always going to earn a spot on this list. And since I also loved the game, it gets the number 2 spot.

Number 1: Game #49: King David's bongcloud

A predictable result. When I first played the bot for this game, I got the best game I could've hoped for. I feel the dialogue between the characters is what really made this game so memorable, but the game itself was really good too. Not to mention, the en passant signifying the inevitable mate was the icing on the cake. What better game to be at number 1 than this one.

"Now that's some insight, but we're out of time. Join us next time when I ask ole Mario what his most hated games were."