Atomic timetable

Going back in time to when Okisato beat Red Reaper for the second time...

As soon as Okisato finished his game against Red Reaper, he found himself standing in front of a small hut on Jade Dragon Snow Mountain in China. "I'm glad Peter told me where the secret puzzle cafes were. Seems like this is the main one, and thanks to Xiao Lin's policy changes, I should be able to challenge her right off the bat," he thought as he entered.

A large man glared as Okisato entered. "I heard of you. You get the standard congratulations for finding this place, but I assure you, your wittle ass is getting handed to you."

"So how much to challenge the maestro?"

"Oh, we actually had to update our policy. You can only spend points or money to challenge the maestro AFTER beating all the SPCMs. Sorry wittle boy, no shortcuts."

"But I can pay in cash to get all the other SPCMs to come here, yes?"

The man scowled before affirming it was possible. He also affirmed that for a little extra cash, the challenger could even challenge the SPCM to an approved chess variant of their choosing. This caused Okisato to begin grinding his gears as he produced the cash to challenge all 7 of China's SPCMs.

As soon as the payment was confirmed, the large man nodded and retreated to the back room before emerging a minute later with 6 other people.

"So this boy is challenging us? Is it standard?" a woman in a white China dress and kung-fu shoes scowled as she fanned herself.

"Yeah, I'm here to challenge you all. So how about bullet-"

"Sorry wittle boy, but policy states you can only pay extra to challenge us to chess variants. That would be things like crazyhouse, chess 960, 4-way chess, and so on. And if you don't pay, it's the standard challenge, though one of us does offer a bullet challenge," the large man stated.

"And that would be?"

"Chen Bao," the man stated as he gestured towards a young woman with a mohawk and sewn-shut mouth.

"Well you're certainly a frighting one. In that case, I'll challenge you last."

"Ah, is the wittle baby scared of Bao? Well you should be. Now that Safumi Bouzi is out of commission, she's the fastest over the board female chess player in the world."

"You sure like talking like a baby. You sure you aren't a big baby yourself, fatso?"

The insult appeared to anger the man as his face contorted in anger. " I am NOT a baby!"

"Wait, that's what you're more worked up about?"

"Why would I care about some wittle brat insulting my girth? I'm an adult man, which is why you don't DARE call me a baby!"

"Qiang Bai's pretty sensitive about that, so try not to rile him up," a girl with short hair with blue and red highlights grinned as she looked at her phone.

"Anyway, I guess I'll challenge the bald girl with the glasses," Okisato shrugged as he pointed at a young woman in a red dress and heels that had nearly her entire head shaved, with her remaining hair tied up in a long pigtail.

"I am NOT bald. This style is called a queue, you ignorant buffoon. And my name is Lu Hui."

"Well then, I challenge you to a bout of atomic chess."

"'Atomic chess' you say? Very well. You are paying, and the maestro is fine with that."

Atomic chess was an infamous chess variant where capturing pieces resulted in all adjacent pieces being destroyed along with the piece being captured and the piece being captured. Even a player's own pieces could be destroyed by them if they were adjacent to the piece being captured. As such, the main goal was to destroy the king. Due to the capturing rule, kings were forbidden from doing the capturing themselves. However, they were allowed to be adjacent to each other. Not to mention, if a player could win the game on their next move, they could ignore a check on their king and simply kill their opponent's king. The only other notable rule was that pawns were immune from being caught up in the explosions, even if they were adjacent to the piece being captured.

Once the payment was complete, a board rose out of a large table in the room.

"The first move is yours, dear challenger," Hui glared as she sat down at the black end of the chessboard.

"Don't mind if I do. Okisato nodded as he sat down at the white end and moved his pawn to e4.

Hui responded by moving her pawn to e6, which Okisato countered by moving his knight to f3.

"The surrounding pieces are also destroyed when a piece is captured, correct?" Hui asked as she moved her bishop to c5.

"That's right," Okisato nodded as he moved his pawn to d4.

Hui clicked her tongue and moved her bishop to e7, unknowingly making a fatal blunder. A sadistic grin instantly formed on Okisato's face as he slammed his knight down on e5.

"Why are you grinning like that? Do you need a reality check?" Hui glared as she moved her bishop to b4.

"Huh? I have no clue what you mean. Besides, you know you're about to lose, right?" Okisato snickered as he moved his pawn to c3.

Hui stared in confusion before going pale and remembering that she was playing atomic chess. She instantly captured the pawn at c3 with her bishop, destroying said bishop in the process. "Huh!? Why didn't anything else explode!?" she cried in shock.

"Guess you don't know all the rules. In atomic chess, pawns are immune from being caught up in the explosion. The only way to get rid of them is to capture them normally. Kings also can't capture anything, but they are allowed to be on squares next to each other."

"No fair! I didn't know all the rules!"

"That's on you, not me. Besides, you accepted the payment, so give me my spoils. Checkmate, ba-ka!" Okisato snickered as he captured the pawn at d7 with his knight, destroying said knight, Hui's bishop, Hui's queen, and Hui's king.

Okisato had won the game. However, his trial was only beginning. 7 minutes had already passed since he arrived in China, meaning he only had 33 minutes left to beat the other SPCMs and Xiao Lin and get back to London before Red Reaper began going after his friends.

The full game:

White: Okisato Tanabe (2575) Black: Lu Hui (1922)

1. e4 e6

2. Nf3 Bc5

3. d4 Be7

4. Ne5 Bb4+

5. c3 Bxc3

6. Nxd7#