Chapter 185:

Nobody expects the Spanish variation

En Passant Grandmaster

"Iyah, Ziegler-san really got ticked. Uhp, and he even outed himself as an executive board member. Ah, that's bad," Ginji chuckled as he sat down across from Rodeo.

Mimoko and Daria though were more interested in what Peter had said about the executive board as a whole, though when asked, he simply told them it was information he got from a colleague. Raymond however decided to divulge some information.

"What Peter said was true, most of the executive board members do have chip implants that contain a chess engine in them. However, overeliance on them such as in Kit's case, will lead to scenarios like you just saw. But make no mistake, much to Peter's misconception, the members of the executive board are most certainly skilled, just not as skilled as him. Perhaps that's the source of his animosity towards them. And that is all I will disclose on the board to you."

Daria sighed, but had no choice but to take what she was given and returned her focus to the game.

The game had already reached the 3rd move and had gone, e4, e5, knight f3, knight c6, knight c3, and knight f6, making it a Four Knights game. Had Okisato or Iori been playing as white, a Halloween gambit would be inevitable, however, Rodeo was the one playing, and opted for the Spanish variation by moving his bishop to b5.

"Iyah, I thought you'd go for a Scotch or a Halloween. Can't believe you'd go for the Spanish," Ginji chuckled as he moved his knight to d4.

"...Nobody expects the Spanish variation," Rodeo mumbled as he captured the knight on d4 with his knight.

"Because everyone expects the Rubinstein countergambit," Ginji grinned as he capturd the knight on d4 with his e-pawn.

"...It's not bad," Rodeo mumbled as he moved his pawn to e5.

"Maybe at your level, but the book ain't gonna save ya against me," Ginji chuckled as he captured the knight at c3 with his d-pawn.

"...No, it's even," Rodeo mumbled as he captured the knight at f6 with his e-pawn.

"Nope!" Ginji cackled as he captured the pawn at f6 with his queen.

"Yes, it is," Rodeo glared as he captured the pawn at c3 with his d-pawn.

"Kyah, so scary," Ginji sneered as he moved his pawn to c6.

As Rodeo moved his bishop to d3, a girl with a pink mullet arrived. "Oh, I didn't know you were here, Gorou-kun. Want your usual?" she asked.

Rodeo began to blush and incoherently mumble, causing a sinister grin to appear on Ginji's face. "Oh waitress, a jumbo mizo soup if you will and a bottle of Scotch. I'm feeling good tonight," he sneered as he moved his pawn to d5.

The waitress was Zuina Adler, a chef and staff member at Ryokoma who also hailed from the Kirikawa clan. However, she wasn't much of a ninja, though did have a green thumb. She was largely responsible for maintaining the in-house farm at Ryokoma and procuring produce from local farms in-country. As such, she had come to Rodeo's family farm, which led to Rodeo developing a crush on her.

Seeing that Zuina was watching, Rodeo internally psyched himself up before castling on the king's side. Unfortunately, Ginji also realized this, which made him want to crush him even more.

"Rika, why's this jackass here?" Zuina glared as Ginji moved his bishop to d6.

"Sadly he's allowed in today," Rika grumbled as Rodeo moved his queen to h5.

"Oi, give me some slack Zu-chan. I am a journalist like your sister was," Ginji sneered as he moved his pawn to h6.

"Neither of you count as journalists," Zuina glared as Rodeo moved his pawn to g3.

"Arere? I thought you loved your dear sister," Ginji sneered as he castled on the king's side.

"No, and she got what was coming to her, and I hope you do too," Zuina glared as Rodeo moved hos rook to b1.

"Oh you wish," Ginji sneered as he moved his rook to e8.

Rodeo then moved his bishop to f4, prompting Okisato to let out a sigh. Looks like I'll be up next then," he thought as Ginji captured the bishop at f4 with his bishop.

Rodeo simply captured the bishop at f4 with his g-pawn, however, Ginji captured said pawn with his queen. Yet Rodeo failed to see the danger he was in and moved his f-rook to e1. Seeing no threat, Ginji moved his bishop to d7 to further strengthen his position. Then much to his delight...

"...Check."

Rodeo captured the rook at e8 with his rook. Ginji giddily captured said rook with his rook, while Rodeo then made the odd choice of moving his king to h1.

"Arerere? You want to lose a queen too? Oh, bet your girlfriend's gonna dump ya," Ginji taunted as he moved his bishop to g4.

"No I'm not," Rodeo glared as he moved his queen to h4, causing a malicious smile to spread across Ginji's face.

Okisato and Mimoko saw it too as did Raymond and Daria; mate was imminent.

"Ah! Check!" Ginji taunted as he moved his bishop to f3. "Looks like you're losing the queen and everything else, just like in real life," he sneered as Rodeo was forced to move his king to g1, allowing him to capture his queen on h4 with his queen.

Rodeo trembled and glared in fury as he moved his bishop to h7. "Check!"

"Wow, nice swing tough guy, didn't even squash a fly," Ginji taunted as he mercilessly captured the bishop at h7 with his king.

Rodeo trembled and moved his pawn to c4, unable to think of any good counterplay. Not like he could though, as after Ginji moved his queen to g4, he was one move away from being mated.

"Dammit," Rodeo tearfully mumbled as he was forced to move his king to f1.

"CHECKMATE! YOU JUST GOT DUMPED!" Ginji cackled as he moved his queen to g2, winning the game.

Rodeo began to tremble and cry as Zuina began comforting him. Ginji attempted to stir the pot a bit more, but Raymond ordered him to let the next pair play.

"Ah, guess the taunting will have to wait until after our comeback," Ginji sneered as Zuina shot him a death glare.

"You're despicable. Gorou-kun's still a teen despite his looks. Making him upset like that is truely unforgivable.

Ginji responded with a smirk and middle finger as Okisato headed towards the board. However Rize paused and turned to face Raymond.

"Hey, uh, what it be against the rules if I registered with the WWCF now?"

"Not at all, just do it before the match begins," Raymond nodded.

"Great! So uh, will this thing count all the wins I've gotten when I register?"

"If you played matches against WWCF members, then yes, those past results will be compiled to determine your rating."

"Great! And uh, would I be able to instantly become a grandmaster?"

"Hmm, only if you satisfied the conditions, but it's rare for non-WWCF members to participate in open tournaments where they could get GM norms, let alone get them if they did."

"Heh, I see, I see. So if I won some tournaments against grandmasters would those count as norms?"

Raymond raised an eyebrow. "Your name again?"

"Well, I changed my surname a bit so ya probably don't recognize it, but I'm sure ya will once ya see my data," Rize grinned as she completed the registration.

As she pulled out her WWCF card, everyone gasped. In addition to satisfying the conditions to be considered a grandmaster, her rating was 2873, catapulting her into the top 5 highest rated players list, excluding executive board members and maestros.

Raymond instantly pulled out his own WWCF card and looked up Rize. "So you were the mythical Rize, oh how joyous I am to finally see you join the WWCF," he grinned.

"Guess you could say I was hoping for a scenario like this. Now time to increase that number a bit more," Rize grinned as she sat down at the board and moved her pawn to e4.

Okisato sat in silence, as if he truly was rattled by the reveal.

"What's wrong? Spooked at my rating?"

"Mot in the slightest," Okisato mumbled as he moved his pawn to f6.

Mimoko cringed in disgust as she realized what was about to happen. "Tanabe-kun, there's a limit to how much you can get away with terrible openings," she thought as Rize moved her pawn to d4.

As if he could sense what Mimoko was thinking, Okisato turned to Mimoko and let loose a sadistic smile before turning to Rize. "Say, you're a chef right? So do you know how to make every fried dish out there?"

"You want me to cook ya something? Sure. So what kinda dish ya want?"

"Fried fox!" Okisato maniacally grinned as he slammed his king down on f7, eliciting a frustrated groan from Mimoko.

The full game:

White: Rodeo Gorou (1014) Black: Ginji Inohara (2722)

1. e4 e5

2. Nf3 Nc6

3. Nc3 Nf6

4. Bb5 Nd4

5. Nxd4 exd4

6. e5 dxc3

7. exf6 Qxf6

8. dxc3 c6