Chapter 208:

Andersspiked

En Passant Grandmaster

As soon as the round ended, everyone gathered in a skittles room, where Carol informed the others if what happened between her and her mother.

"Well, at least she's dead," Iori shrugged.

"Iori-chan! This is a serious matter!" Mimoko glared.

"How so, things are over, right?"

"I don't know. That bitch likely came here in the first place to try and murder me, likely at the request of my aunt. They might also try to eliminate you too, Iori," Carol trembled.

"So? I can take em."

"Well, you did manage to beat Pewler, but I'm honestly more worried about the Broadstone family coming after you."

"Why?"

Carol then explained that the Broadstone family was one of the most powerful and wealthy families on America's east coast. Iori didn't seem the least bit concerned though. Before Carol could explain further, the pairings went up for the next round.

Everyone headed for the playing hall and sat down across from their opponents. Iori's opponent appeared to be an eccentric woman. She was garbed in a flamboyant kimono and zori and had her hair dyed multiple neon colors. Her face was also painted in kabuki stage makeup, yet despite her eccentric appearance, she didn't seem to be as eccentric as it would suggest.

"I am Alma. Alma Mata. I act upon the great stage, yet also hone my mind with the arts of chess and shogi."

While she wasn't as eccentric as her appearance might suggest, she was clearly somewhat eccentric.

"Let's try Oki-kun's favorite opening," Iori thought as she moved her pawn to a3.

Alma responded by moving her pawn to g6.

"Welp, time for the ole Andersspike," Iori maniacally thought as she dlammed her pawn down on g4.

Alma stared in confusion and moved her pawn to h5, but Iori simply pushed her pawn to g5. Alma shook her head and deided to move her pawn to b5, but that mistake allowed Iori to gain control by moving her pawn to e4. Alma made the natural response of moving her pawn to e5, but it was too little too late as Iori moved her pawn to d4.

"En passant would be a fun WTF moment, but capturing with the e-pawn's better," Iori thought as she did just that.

Alma then committed a huge mistake and moved her bishop to d6, allowing Iori to move her bishop out to g2. Alma saw the snipe attack on her rook and promptly moved her pawn to c6, yet Iori set her sights elsewhere and moved her pawn to f6. Alma didn't seem to care though and moved her queen out to b6, as Iori moved her queen to d3. She then made the odd choice of moving her king to d8, allowing Iori to move her knight to f3.

Alma then captured the pawn at d4 with her e-pawn, allowing Iori to capture said pawn with her knight. Then Alma captured the pawn at f6 with her knight.

"Lol, free knight," Iori thought as she promptly captured said knight with her g-pawn.

Alma began to panic and moved her rook to f8, but that was a huge mistake.

"Check out my fork!" Iori taunted as she slammed her knight down on e6.

Alma began to scowl. "Your theatrics perturb me," she snarled as she captured the knight on e6 with her d-pawn.

"What theatrics? Oh right, Check from curtain one!" Iori snickered as she captured the bishop at d6 with her queen.

"It's not... Ugh."

Alma decided to just leave things there and move her knight to d7, but Iori didn't let up and moved her queen to e7, sending Alma's king to c7. Iori then moved her bishop to e3, but rather than move her queen, Alma decided to capture the pawn at f6 with her rook. Then to even more shock, Iori didn't capture the queen on b6, opting instead to move her knight to c3.

"You wasted your chance. I nearly got a heart attack, but now the tide is turning," Alma thought as she moved her queen to a6.

"She really think I just gave up on capturing her queen? What an idiot," Iori thought as she castled on the queen's side.

Alma still unaware of the looming pitfall, moved her pawn to e5, while Iori moved her knight to e4. Alma gritted her teeth in frustration as she realized there was no safe space for her rook on f6, and ultimately settled on moving her king to b8, allowing Iori to capture said rook with her knight. Alma promptly captured said knight with her knight, but then Iori began the coup de gras by capturing the pawn at e5 with her queen.

Alma moved her king to b7, but Iori moved her queen to e7, prompting Alma to move her knight to d7. Iori simply swatted that knight aside with her rook, prompting Alma to capture it with her bishop. Yet after Iori captured said bishop with her queen, all Alma could do was sigh and move her king to b8.

"And that's checkmate. You just got Andersspiked!" Iori snickered as she slammed her bishop down on f4, winning the game.

The full game:

White: Iori Ishikiridokoro (2044) Black: Alma Mata (2004)

1. a3 g6

2. g4 h5

3. g5 b5

4. e4 e5

5. d4 f5

6. exf5 Bd6

7. Bg2 c6

8. f6 Qb6

9. Qd3 Kd8