Interview the author Part 1: The top 10 best and worst 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 after the break when I ask ole Mario what his most hated games were."

...

"Hey, hey! Welcome back to the interview! Name's Kisha Shinbun, and I'm here today to interview some Mario guy about his least favorite games in the tournament. But first off, what makes you hate a game?"

"Well, it boils down to both how much trouble I had crafting it behind the scenes and if the game just wasn't very memorable or enjoyable. To be honest, there were really only a few games I really hated writing, but there were also many I just found a bit bland and boring."

"Now with that out of the way, I'm gonna ask ya what your top 10 least favorite games of this En pass-thingy tournament are. Ready? Then take it away! Starting with..."

Number 10 and 9.

"Huh!? The hell does that mean!? Why are you combining 10 and 9!?"

"Because both these games fall into a special category, that being they were games I ended up rewriting after the respective chapters they debuted in were published."

"And those two are?"

Number 10: The original game from Chapter 28: Peter Morphy

I actually didn't have too many issues with this game at first, but after rewriting the game from Chapter 34: Desperado, I felt as though Morphy's debut game should showcase his sadistic play style a bit more. However, I didn't fully commit to changing the game until I realized that I had made a mistake in the game's notation and thus had no choice but to rewrite it.

Number 9: The original game from Chapter 34: Desperado.

While the game would eventually become Game #80: The key to victory, I actually have no problem with Game #80 as I felt it fit the chapter really well. However, when it was the game for Chapter 34: Desperado, I kept feeling it was extremely lackluster which led to me rewriting the game. Since both this game and the one at number 10 ended up being removed from the story entirely, I decided to put them at the lower end of the list. And while some might argue these shouldn't be on the list since they're no longer in the story, I do feel they're worth mentioning at least.

Number 8: Game #9: WWCF cards

Numakawa's debut game, and ironically one of his best games in the series. The match is still a bit boring though which is why it makes the list. I actually considered rewriting this game to make Numakawa dumber, but then I remembered I wanted to keep my sanity and noticed that while the game was kind of boring, it was still better than the other games on this list.

Number 7: Game #62: The overwhelming Irish Gambit

To be honest, I just didn't have much fun writing this one. I feel Mimoko and Iori commenting the game ended up hurting more than helping it as Carol barely had much banter with Sorcha. While I did fix this issue a bit in the revision, the game itself is still rather bland. Funnily enough, the original game from Chapter 119: Irish Chigorin Countergambit ended up being the much better game and featured the better Irish gambit, the Queen's pawn Opening: Chigorin Irish gambit. This game, much like the Irish gambit, is not very great.

Number 6: Game #22: Maestro Xiao Lin

Xiao Lin's debut chapter. To be honest, I felt just as frustrated as Peter when I wrote this. It might be because I was also writing the infamous Game #21 at the time, but I think it was the dialogue that dampened the game for me. Then again, games that feature the French defense tend to be on the more boring side. Peter also not playing crazily likely lowered this game on the favorability scale as well.

Number 5: Game #55.2: Numakawa's Bongcloud gambit.

I know it isn't fair to Daria to put this game on the list, but Numakawa was so cringe he deserves it. While Game #55.1 also featured Numakawa being a complete idiot, Iori making the dumb moves just to trick Numakawa into thinking they were genius was entertaining. This one, not so much as much like Daria, I was cringing at Numakawa the whole time.

Number 4: Game #31: Proxy

Numakawa being a complete idiot and bungling the game, were you really surprised this made the list? What gets it a spot higher than the previous game was the fact that Numakawa was just flat out stupid in this game and completely disregarded all the info Okisato had given him the night prior on the piece of shit and his proxies. To be fair, he did need to lose for the sake of the plot, but the game was still cringe enough to get it a spot on this list.

Number 3: Game #6: Knight race

The first and so far only stalemate in the series, this one makes the list due to how tedious it was to make. While I'd agree that it was narratively tense, the actual game was tedious and full of mistakes. Not to mention, it was easily one of the games I hated writing the most, but obviously not the one I hated the most as this game is only number 3 on the list.

Number 2: Game #67: The unstoppable Coca-Cola gambit

I lost brain cells making this low elo shitstorm of a game. Worst of all, I have more Coca-Cola gambit games in the works. I guess this means that all those games will be making the next top 10 most hated games list. And I'm not exaggerating, I really did hate writing this game. There were so many times I just refused to continue writing due to how cringe the game was, but fortunately, or for some, unfortunately, I managed to finish the game and unleash it upon the world.

Number 1: Game #20: One wrong move

I've been vocal in how much I hated writing this game. It took me 3 whole rewrites and I didn't enjoy it at all. Getting the game to the point where Utami was on the verge of being promoted was a nightmare. The first version was good until I realized Utami's pawn had been captured early so that game had to go. The second game was just bad. I basically had the characters intentionally making bad moves in order to set up the scenario where Utami's pawn made it to the 2nd rank. Then there was this one... It was the best, so I went with it.

"And there ya have it! Ole Mario's most hated games! Join us next time when I ask him about his favorite players in the tournament."