Enigma

Okisato scowled as he stared at the board. After initiating the Halloween gambit and pushing his pawn to d4, Phantom had moved his pawn to g6. Pawn e5, knight g8, bishop c4, pawn d5, it was looking like an even game. Things only seemed more even after Okisato captured the pawn at d5 with his bishop, Phantom moved his 8-knight to e7, and Okisato moved his bishop back to g5. After Phantom moved his knight to d7, Okisato once again found himself forced to move his bishop again, this time to e4.

As Phantom moved his knight to f5, Tsar Grigori and Svetlana watched the game from afar. "Svetlana, can you predict the move following queen h5, h6, bishop e3, c6, d5, c captures d5, knight captures d5, knight captures e5, and a long castle?" Grigori asked.

Svetlana shook her head, but was more shocked when all the moves Grigori listed came to be. "How did you know?" she trebled as Phantom moved his bishop to d6.

"It's easy to predict, especially since I've played Phantom before," Grigori chuckled as Okisato moved his bishop to f4.

"Have you seen them without the mask?" Svetlana asked as Phantom moved his king to f8.

"That's the enigma of it all, I have, yet it makes no sense, or perhaps it all does," Grigori replied as Okisato moved his pawn to g4, followed by Phantom moving his pawn to g6.

"Should have moved the knight there instead," Okisato snicked as he moved his queen to h3.

"Not in the slightest, the intent was to remove the queen from the equation, and move my knight back," Phantom stated as he did just that and moved his knight to g7.

Okisato scowled and moved his queen to c3. While he had a slight advantage, Phantom was playing extremely well, making it difficult for him to capitalize on anything. "Really feels more like I'm fighting a maestro," he grumbled as Phantom moved his knight to c6.

Upon hearing those words, Phantom paused and watched Okisatio moved his bishop to g3, before promptly capturing said bishop wit his bishop.

"Why the eerie pause?" Okisato asked as he captured the bishop at g3 with his h-pawn.

Phantom remained silent and moved his queen to d8, shutting down the conversation. Knight f4, bishop d7, pawn g5, pawn h5, bishop captures g6, queen e7, bishop captures f7, and king captures f7 all followed before Okisato got to deliver the first check of the game by moving his pawn to g6.

Phantom simply slid his king to g8, but after Okisato moved his knight to d5, it was time for a little payback. "Check," Phantom mumbled as he moved his queen to g5.

Okisato defended by moving his pawn to f4, but Phantom escaped the trap simply by capturing the pawn at g6 with his queen. Or so he thought.

"Check, Okisato snickered as he moved his knight to f6.

While he didn't have to, taking the knight at f6 with his queen was the best move Phantom could make, which is why he did it.

"Wow, you actually sacked the queen. Thought you'd try and defend her," Okisato snickered as he captured the now defenseless queen at f6 with his queen.

"It was the best move, boy," Phantom retorted as he moved his rook to f3.

"You really are a mystery, you carry a DESPER, but never use it, your data doesn't show up on my WWCF card, and you play like a maestro," Okisato rambled as he moved his queen to g6.

Phantom simply went silent and moved his bishop to e8.

"Not a talker huh. When I'll pull back that mask of yours eventually," Okisato declared as he moved his queen to d6.

While things were certainly in Okisato's favor, the game was long from over. Knight f5, queen e6 check, king g7, queen b3, rook f6, queen captures b7 check, bishop f7, rook d5, h-rook h6, rook e1, h-rook g6, queen d7, knight captures g3, rook g5, pawn h4, pawn b4, and knight captures b4 all came to pass, yet Okisato was still nowhere close to ending the game.

However, his next ploy was to unleash a series of checks, starting with rook captures g6, forcing the king to take said rook. Next game queen g4, forcing the king to h7, but allowing Okisato both a pawn and another check by capturing the pawn on h4 with his queen. But after Phantom countered by moving his knight to h5, the series of checks came to a close.

Now the tango began with Okisato moving his rook to e7, Phantom moving his king to g8, and Okisato capturing the pawn at a7 with his rook. Phantom retaliated by delivering a check of his own by capturing the pawn at a2 with his knight, but Okisato moved his king to b2, forcing said knight to b4.

Okisato then delivered a check by moving his queen to g5, prompting Phantom to move his rook to g6. He then moved his queen to c5 while Phantom moved his rook to f6, but rather than go for another check, Okisato captured the helpless knight at b4 with his queen, prompting Phantom to retaliate by capturing the pawn at f4 with his knight. Slowly but surely, Okisato was winning.

After queen d4, rook f5, pawn c4, knight e6, queen g1 check, king f8, queen g3, knight g7, pawn c5, knight e8, pawn c6, rook f6, queen c3, bishop e6, and queen c5, mate was finally inevitable, but naturally Phantom decided to cling on and moved his king to g8.

Okisato then moved his rooka to a8, forcing Phantom's king to f7, but that did little to speed up the mate.

It took queen h5 check, rook g6, rook captures e8, king captures e8, queen captures g6 check, king e7, c7, bishop d7, queen g8, and king d6 before Okisato finally had a chance to really end the game.

"And now I have two queens, Okisato snickered as he moved his pawn to c8 and promoted it to a queen, leaving Phantom with no choice but to capture it with his bishop, which was promptly captured by Okisato's queen on his next turn.

Now, it was simply a matter of not blundering into stalemate, and the game was Okisatos. Phantom didn't make it easy, and moved his king to e5, but Okisato played smart and moved his king to c3. After king e4, queen e6 check, king f3, queen f5 check, king e2, and queen f4, the long slog was just about over.

"So this is it. You have potential," Phantom stated as he moved his king to e1.

"Potential you say? Now I'm even more certain you've got ties to the WWCF. Are you perhaps a double agent?" Okisato asked as he moved his king to d3.

Phantom simply ignored the question and moved his king to d1 in silence.

"Well I'll figure out eventually. Checkmate," Okisato stated as he moved his queen to f1, winning the game.

Grigori and Sventlana lowered their binoculars and decided to head off, but something caught Grigori's eye.

" [What is wrong]?"

" [In the skies, what is going on]!?"

Phantom headed off without saying a word as Okisato charged to where he had last seen Red Reaper and Yuzuha. The alley was empty, but suddenly, Red Reaper and Yuzuha reappeared along with Zago. Zago was pale as a sheet and breathing heavily while Red Reaper seethed with fury.

"Oi, what happened!?" Okisato called out.

Red Reaper immediately pulled out his pistol and "killed himself" before respawning on the spot and staring down Okisato. "He drew by perpetual check, the little shit! I was winning, yet he continued his little perpetual check and triggered the repetition rule!"

It turns out that instead of forcing Yuzuha into a match, Zago had been forced into the match thanks to him hurling himself in front of Yuzuha, and Red Reaper being unable to properly see him thanks to Phantom's light. That fact didn't bother Red Reaper as he decided to drag Yuzuha in as a spectator and make her death the sole penalty for Zago should he lose. However, Zago had managed to fight Red Reaper to a draw, nullifying the wager.

A sadistic smile appeared on Okisato's face. "Zago-san, you did well, now take Yuzuha and get out of here. I'll get rid of this reaper for good.

Yuzuha and Zago nodded and ran off as Red Reaper summoned the Ultima-master. As Okisato watched, he suddenly felt a surge of fatigue and clutched his head.

"You look tired, herr oni-tiger. Is fatigue getting to you?" Red Reaper sneered as he jostled his new DESPER in his hand.

"No, I still got enough left to finish you off. Now as for the conditions, you lose, you'll be trapped in a black hole in space, unable to die, unable to kill yourself, unable to escape at all. Though you'll still be subjected to the intense gravity of the black hole and naturally, the punishment is irreversible."

"Nein, I lose, I die in the black hole. Same goes for you if you lose."

Okisato scowled as the DESPER decided to override his wager. "So death is the ultimate override."

"Ja, but I've heard that if the Desperado does not request death be the punishment for themself, they are subjected to the will of the challenger."

"Well that's useful to know."

For the third time today, Okisato found himself in a Sopwith camel as Red Reaper activated his DESPER. However, unlike the previous two times, he was now playing as white. This caused a maniacal grin to form across his face. "Yes, now I can expand the Anderssen opening's move tree with a brand new gambit."

The full game:

White: Okisato Tanabe (2630) Black: Phantom (?)

1. e4 e5

2. Nf3 Nc6

3. Nc3 Nf6

4. Nxe5 Nxe5

5. d4 Ng6

6. e5 Ng8

7. Bc4 d5

8. Bxd5 N8e7

9. Bg5 Qd7

10. Be4 Nf5

11. Qh5 h6

12. Be3 c6

13. d5 cxd5

14. Nxd5 Nxe5

15. O-O-O Bd6

16. Bf4 Kf8

17. g4 g6

18. Qh3 Ng7

19. Qc3 Nc6

20. Bg3 Bxg3

21. hxg3 Qd8

22. Nf4 Bd7

23. g5 h5

24. Bxg6 Qe7

25. Bxf7 Kxf7

26. g6+ Kg8

27. Nd5 Qg5+

28. f4 Qxg6

29. Nf6+ Qxf6

30. Qxf6 Rf8

31. Qg6 Be8

32. Qd6 Nf5

33. Qe6+ Kg7

34. Qb3 Rf6

35. Qxb7+ Bf7

36. Rd5 Rhh6

37. Re1 Rhg6

38. Qd7 Nxg3

39. Rg5 h4

40. b4 Nxb4

41. Rxg6+ Kxg6

42. Qg4+ Kh7

43. Qxh4+ Nh5

44. Re7 Kg8

45. Rxa7 Nxa2+

46. Kb2 Nb4

47. Qg5+ Rg6

48. Qc5 Rf6

49. Qxb4 Nxf4

50. Qd4 Rf5

51. c4 Ne6

52. Qg1+ Kf8

53. Qg3 Ng7

54. c5 Ne8

55. c6 Rf6

56. Qc3 Be6

57. Qc5+ Kg8

58. Ra8 Kf7

59. Qh5+ Rg6

60. Rxe8 Kxe8

61. Qxg6+ Ke7

62. c7 Bd7

63. Qg8 Kd6

64. c8=Q Bxc8

65. Qxc8 Ke5

66. Kc3 Ke4

67. Qe6+ Kf3

68. Qf5+ Ke2

69. Qf4 Ke1

70. Kd3 Kd1

71. Qf1#