Feb 28, 2025

To celebrate the Chess Olympics arc, I've decided to create full artwork of all the major teams that will appear in the story. Each work of art contains not just full art of the team's members, but also their board number and rating along with the team's average rating. Here's links to all the team art currently up for teams that have been revealed thus far. More will be posted as the arc progresses.

The women's side is complete at 64 teams. Even though there are over 100 teams competing, I'm only choosing to spotlight 64 of the women's teams. As for the men's side, I plan to have about 34 teams.

Note that not all the countries that get a main focus will each have artwork of both their men's and women's teams.

Women's teams ordered by average rating:

1. United States of America (average rating: 2661.2): https://www.honeyfeed.fm/novel_images/18202

2. German Empire of Prussia (average rating: 2613): https://www.honeyfeed.fm/novel_images/18199

3. Japan (average rating: 2595): https://www.honeyfeed.fm/novel_images/18200

4. Norway (average rating: 2594.6): https://www.honeyfeed.fm/novel_images/18194

5. India (average rating: 2562.8): https://www.honeyfeed.fm/novel_images/18191

6. China (average rating: 2511.6): https://www.honeyfeed.fm/novel_images/18179

7. Hungary (average rating: 2504.8): https://www.honeyfeed.fm/novel_images/18205

8. Ukraine (average rating: 2503.8): https://www.honeyfeed.fm/novel_images/17917

9. Russia (average rating: 2458.4): https://www.honeyfeed.fm/novel_images/16690

10. Georgia (average rating: 2428): https://www.honeyfeed.fm/novel_images/17429

11. Netherlands (average rating: 2422): https://www.honeyfeed.fm/novel_images/18195

12. France (average rating: 2410.6): https://www.honeyfeed.fm/novel_images/18178

13. New Kingdom of Simien (average rating: 2409): https://www.honeyfeed.fm/novel_images/18182

14. Poland (average rating: 2400.4): https://www.honeyfeed.fm/novel_images/18201

15. Neo Kingdom of Egypt (average rating: 2394.4): https://www.honeyfeed.fm/novel_images/18203

16. Azerbaijan (average rating: 2385.2): https://www.honeyfeed.fm/novel_images/17227

17. Kazakhstan (average rating: 2384.4): https://www.honeyfeed.fm/novel_images/18010

18. Spain (average rating: 2354): https://www.honeyfeed.fm/novel_images/18193

19. Bulgaria (average rating: 2353.6): https://www.honeyfeed.fm/novel_images/17690

20. Romania (average rating: 2350.6): https://www.honeyfeed.fm/novel_images/18172

21. England (average rating: 2347.8): https://www.honeyfeed.fm/novel_images/16685

22. Armenia (average rating: 2326.2): https://www.honeyfeed.fm/novel_images/17732

23. Italy (average rating: 2324.6): https://www.honeyfeed.fm/novel_images/18192

24. Denmark (average rating: 2305.8): https://www.honeyfeed.fm/novel_images/18189

25. Estonia (average rating: 2269.2): https://www.honeyfeed.fm/novel_images/18204

26. Switzerland (average rating: 2263.8): https://www.honeyfeed.fm/novel_images/18181

27. Türkiye (average rating: 2257.8): https://www.honeyfeed.fm/novel_images/17320

28. Greece (average rating: 2254.2): https://www.honeyfeed.fm/novel_images/16677

29. Vietnam (average rating 2246.2): https://www.honeyfeed.fm/novel_images/17692

30. Mongolia (average rating: 2241.4): https://www.honeyfeed.fm/novel_images/17113

31. Montenegro (average rating: 2237.8): https://www.honeyfeed.fm/novel_images/18306

32. Argentina (average rating: 2225): https://www.honeyfeed.fm/novel_images/17729

33. New Republic of Paeonia (average rating: 2214): https://www.honeyfeed.fm/novel_images/17629

34. Serbia (average rating: 2202.2): https://www.honeyfeed.fm/novel_images/18250

35. Sweden (average rating: 2201.4): https://www.honeyfeed.fm/novel_images/18046

36. Ireland (average rating: 2178.6): https://www.honeyfeed.fm/novel_images/18420

37. Belgium (average rating: 2169): https://www.honeyfeed.fm/novel_images/17969

38. Latvia (average rating: 2166.2): https://www.honeyfeed.fm/novel_images/18196

39. Neo-Babylonian Empire (average rating: 2161.6): https://www.honeyfeed.fm/novel_images/18252

40. Czechoslovakia (average rating: 2155.6): https://www.honeyfeed.fm/novel_images/18330

41. Ecuador (average rating: 2151): https://www.honeyfeed.fm/novel_images/18047

42. Uzbekistan (average rating: 2147): https://www.honeyfeed.fm/novel_images/18305

43. Croatia (average rating: 2146.2): https://www.honeyfeed.fm/novel_images/18175

44. Brazil (average rating: 2143.4): https://www.honeyfeed.fm/novel_images/17226

45. Peru (average rating: 2128.2): https://www.honeyfeed.fm/novel_images/17730

46. Antarctica (average rating: 2094): https://www.honeyfeed.fm/novel_images/18247

47. Lithuania (average rating: 2093.6): https://www.honeyfeed.fm/novel_images/18249

48. South Africa (average rating: 2086.4): https://www.honeyfeed.fm/novel_images/17699

49. Australia (average rating: 2084.6): https://www.honeyfeed.fm/novel_images/18197

50. Philippians (average rating: 2082): https://www.honeyfeed.fm/novel_images/18174

51. Austria (average rating: 2080.8): https://www.honeyfeed.fm/novel_images/18198

52. Åland Islands (average rating: 2072.6): https://www.honeyfeed.fm/novel_images/17964

53. New Zealand (average rating: 2073.8): https://www.honeyfeed.fm/novel_images/18015

54. Ethiopia (Average rating: 2029.2): https://www.honeyfeed.fm/novel_images/18176

55. Portugal (average rating: 2008.8): https://www.honeyfeed.fm/novel_images/17229

56. Scotland (average rating: 1999): https://www.honeyfeed.fm/novel_images/17075

57. Canada (average rating: 1997.6): https://www.honeyfeed.fm/novel_images/18048

58. Bosnia and Herzegovina (average rating: 1987.2): https://www.honeyfeed.fm/novel_images/17970

59. Mexico (average rating: 1986): https://www.honeyfeed.fm/novel_images/16926

60. Albania (average rating: 1968.6): https://www.honeyfeed.fm/novel_images/17731

61. Iceland (average rating: 1930.8): https://www.honeyfeed.fm/novel_images/18180

62. Indonesia (average rating: 1876.2): https://www.honeyfeed.fm/novel_images/18206

63. Tanzania (average rating: 1863.8): https://www.honeyfeed.fm/novel_images/18177

64. Republic of Korea (average rating: 1778): https://www.honeyfeed.fm/novel_images/17228

Men's teams ordered by average rating:

1. United States of America (average rating: 2854.8): https://www.honeyfeed.fm/novel_images/18016

2. Russia (average rating: 2853.8): https://www.honeyfeed.fm/novel_images/18173

3. India (average rating: 2768.6): https://www.honeyfeed.fm/novel_images/17286

4. Uzbekistan (average rating: 2698.8): https://www.honeyfeed.fm/novel_images/18050

5. German Empire of Prussia (average rating: 2694.8): https://www.honeyfeed.fm/novel_images/17720

6. Spain (average rating: 2686.8): https://www.honeyfeed.fm/novel_images/17431

7. Neo-Babylonian Empire (average rating: 2666.4): https://www.honeyfeed.fm/novel_images/18251

8. Hungary (average rating: 2654.6): https://www.honeyfeed.fm/novel_images/18054

9. Poland (average rating: 2640.2): https://www.honeyfeed.fm/novel_images/17174

10. Ukraine (average rating: 2633.8): https://www.honeyfeed.fm/novel_images/18170

11. China (average rating: 2631): https://www.honeyfeed.fm/novel_images/17967

12. Romania (average rating: 2626.6): https://www.honeyfeed.fm/novel_images/18055

13. Austria (average rating: 2624): https://www.honeyfeed.fm/novel_images/17972

14. Serbia (average rating: 2602.6): https://www.honeyfeed.fm/novel_images/18186

15. Cuba (average rating: 2577.2): https://www.honeyfeed.fm/novel_images/17586

16. France (average rating: 2565.8): https://www.honeyfeed.fm/novel_images/18051

17. Iceland (average rating: 2534.6): https://www.honeyfeed.fm/novel_images/18171

18. New Kingdom of Simien (average rating: 2528): https://www.honeyfeed.fm/novel_images/17968

19. Mongolia (average rating: 2472.4): https://www.honeyfeed.fm/novel_images/17170

20. Estonia (average rating: 2462.4): https://www.honeyfeed.fm/novel_images/17721

21. Bosnia and Herzegovina (average rating: 2443.2): https://www.honeyfeed.fm/novel_images/17585

22. England (average rating: 2431.8): https://www.honeyfeed.fm/novel_images/18049

23. Slovenia (average rating: 2419.4): https://www.honeyfeed.fm/novel_images/18185

24. Costa Rica (average rating: 2362): https://www.honeyfeed.fm/novel_images/18187

25. Italy (average rating: 2320.4): https://www.honeyfeed.fm/novel_images/18056

26. New Zealand (average rating: 2286): https://www.honeyfeed.fm/novel_images/17432

27. Denmark (average rating: 2225): https://www.honeyfeed.fm/novel_images/18057

28. Canada (average rating 2223): https://www.honeyfeed.fm/novel_images/18042

29. Japan (average rating: 2047.6): https://www.honeyfeed.fm/novel_images/18184

Bonus:

The Arbiters (average rating: 2672): https://www.honeyfeed.fm/novel_images/18188

The Commentators (average rating: 2281.8): https://www.honeyfeed.fm/novel_images/17686

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Feb 28, 2025

Author's Commentary #307:

Time to talk about Chapter 307: Run, run, it's Rasputin.
There lived a certain man, in Russia long ago. He was big and strong, and his eyes a flaming gold. Rasputin is here and things are about to get batshit insane. You can thank the Russian version of Boney M's "Rasputin" I stumbled upon for inspiring this mini-arc. Speaking of said song, I'd recommend playing it as you read this chapter as canonically speaking a version with slightly different lyrics is blasting throughout the halls as Rasputin dances around, fodderizing people in simul bullet chess. Speaking of said people, let's talk about all the new faces.

リーケ・ヴァン・オルデンバルネベルト (Lieke Van Oldenbarnevelt) is how Lieke's name would be spelled in katakana.

Her birthday is February 10th. I chose the date at random so there's no greater significance behind why this date is her birthday.

Her favorite piece is the rook.

Lieke was originally a character I didn't have any idea what to do with. She wasn't even originally planned to be here, but after determining which member of the Dutch team would be best to throw into this mini-arc, Lieke became the top pick. As such, she'll now have a much larger presence in the story than originally planned.

ザベル・イェレミヤン (Zabel Yeremyan) is how Zabel's name would be spelled in katakana. Զաբել Երեմյան (Zabel Yeremyan) is how it would be spelled in Armenian.

Her birthday is May 14th, which is the coronation date of Isabella, Queen of Armenia.

Her favorite piece is the queen.

Zabel actually debuted back in Chapter 282: Chess' worldwide importance, being one of the many folks with hair covering one or both their eyes confronting Laura. Now she makes her proper debut.

ファム・ティ・メイサ (Phạm Thị Meisa) is how Meisa's name would be spelled in katakana. She's actually half-Japanese and as such, her first name in kanji would be spelled as 芽咲 and means "bud" and "blossom".
(If I made any mistakes with the translations, feel free to correct me).

Her birthday is July 17th, which is the day the city of Mesa, Arizona was first registered as a townsite. Even though Meisa's name is spelled differently from Mesa, both sound similar, which is likely why I often mix the two together.

Her favorite piece is the pawn.

Vietnam was actually one of the final women's teams I designed, meaning Meisa and all her teammates came to be while this arc was well under way. Despite that, I decided to have Meisa be introduced here as this point in the story allows me to introduce lots of new characters.

Speaking of which, more new characters will be properly introduced in these next few chapters. This mini-arc was easily one of the more exhausting ones, mainly because of all the games being played. At 7 games, this chapter will likely break the record for most games taking place in a single chapter. And guess what, there's still 6 more players left. The large quantity of players is why I opted for fast mate games. Since it's bullet time and most of the players are exhausted from the games they just played in the tournament, it makes sense that Rasputin's fodderizing them. It's also a testament to Rasputin's physical prowess as he's essentially going from one end of a long hallway to another to move all these pieces and still isn't getting flagged. But with 7 down and 6 to go, things are still up in the air for the players. But perhaps one will put up a stand.

That's all for this commentary. I hope you enjoyed it.

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Feb 28, 2025

[Game log #231]

Here's the game from Chapter 364 between team Antarctic-Å and team Ire-Arm during the 6B unofficial tournament.

[Event "6B unofficial tournament"]
[Site "Budapest, Hungary"]
[Date "2024.09.21"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Team Antarctic-Å: Dr. Bipasha Kumarage (2620), Arina Mimmi (2500), Inkeri Honko (2030), Dr. Bára Aho (2000), Solveig Bergmight (1913), Ulla Kuparinen (1974), Dr. Pengi McMurdo (1956), Valborg Yrjö-Koskinen (1932), Dr. Aglaé Monge (1951), and Olgica Holappa (1957)"]
[Black "Team Ire-Arm: Fidelma Ferriter (2979), Arpine Pakradouni (2366), Doirrann Ó an Cháintighe (2179), Maneh Ter-Grigoryan (2328), Croía Glas (1777), Lusine Tarkanian (2364), Caoimhe Petty-Fitzmaurice (1962), Zabel Yeremyan (2393), Keira O'Doherty (1996), and Salpy Tunçboyacıyan (2180) "]
[Result "0-1"]
[Link "https://www.chess.com/analysis?tab=analysis"]

1. d4 d5 2. c4 dxc4 3. e4 e5 4. Nf3 exd4 5. Bxc4 Bb4+ 6. Bd2 Bxd2+ 7. Nbxd2 Nc6 8. O-O Qf6 9. e5 Qg6 10. Bd5 Nge7 11. Be4 Qh6 12. Nb3 O-O 13. Bxc6 Nxc6 14. Nbxd4 Rd8 15. Rc1 Bg4 16. Qa4 b5 17. Nxb5 Bxf3 18. Rfe1 Nxe5 19. Nxc7 Rac8 20. Qxa7 Qg6 21. g3 Qg4 22. Rxe5 Qh3 23. Re8+ Rxe8 24. Nxe8 Qg2# 0-1

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Feb 27, 2025

Author's Commentary #363:

Time to talk about Chapter 363: Bulgaria's baddest bitches. Even though a folk song, in this case, Pustono Ludo i Mlado, did have an influence on the characters, the Bulgarian women's team mostly had their personalities written down long before I discovered the song. Speaking of which, let's talk about them.

ラディナ・ランジェロワ (Radina Rangelova) is how Radina's name would be spelled in katakana. Радина Рангелова (Radina Rangelova) is how it would be spelled in Bulgarian.

Her birthday is April 19th, which she shares with Bulgarian grandmaster, Antoaneta Stefanova.

Her favorite piece is the queen.

Radina is heavily based off of Rangiku Matsumoto from Bleach. If you watched the Zanpakuto Rebellion arc of Bleach, you'll know there's an infamous moment during it where Rangiku makes a remark about how she'd look good bald. And there you have the inspiration for Radina's character. And yes, I will confirm she will end up balder than bald before the end of this arc.

カリーナ・カラスラヴォワ (Kalina Karaslavova) is how Kalina's name would be spelled in katakana. Калина Караславова (Kalina Karaslavova) is how it would be spelled in Bulgarian.

Her birthday is March 8th, which she shares with Kei Karuizawa from Classroom of the elite.

Her favorite piece is the queen.

Kalina is based off of Kei Karuizawa from Classroom of the Elite. Originally, her and her bandmates were meant to just be students, with Radina simply being their teacher, but I decided to have them be pop stars instead. They still keep their original designs as the student uniforms are now part of their stage outfits.

ドンカ・ドンチョバ (Donka Donchova) is how Donka's name would be spelled in katakana. Донка Дончова (Donka Donchova) is how it would be spelled in Bulgarian.

Her birthday is March 15th, which she shares with Bulgarian grandmaster, Veselin Topalov.

Her favorite piece is the queen.

ヨルダンカ・ダンチェバ (Yordanka Dancheva) is how Yordanka's name would be spelled in katakana. Свинска Дънчева (Yordanka Dancheva) is how it would be spelled in Bulgarian.

Her birthday is May 15th, which she shares with Bulgarian women's grandmaster, Viktoria Radeva.

Her favorite piece is the queen.

エリツァ・ズラトコヴァ (Elitsa Zlatkova) is how Elitsa's name would be spelled in katakana. Елица Златкова (Elitsa Zlatkova) is how it would be spelled in Bulgarian.
(If I made any mistakes with the translations, feel free to correct me).

Her birthday is September 29th, which she shares with Rangiku Matsumoto from Bleach.

Her favorite piece is the queen.

And now with this chapter out of the way, another girl is bald, and 10 more are about to become sticky and blue. Though don't worry, these next few chapters will contain games. The arc will still be a few more chapters, but I do promise there will be lore moments as well as great games, so even though this arc is long, it will be important to the overall story.

That's all for this commentary. I hope you enjoyed it.

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Feb 26, 2025

Author's Commentary #362:

Time to talk about Chapter 362: A host of encounters.
With a title like that, you know there's going to be plenty of new characters introduced this chapter. Though there is a returning face in the form of Õnne. And it's fitting she's here, as her father and younger brothers are debuting alongside some of her neighbors. So without further ado, let's go over everyone.

ミーリス・ソック (Meelis Sokk) is how Meelis' name would be written in katakana.

His birthday is January 7th, which he shares with Estonian grandmaster and chess writer, Paul Keres.

His favorite piece is the king.

Of all the Estonian male players, Meelis was the only one I was somewhat leaning towards making until the power of music inspired me to create a full team. This once again emphasizes that music truly is one of the top sources of inspiration for me when it comes to writing. Meelis is an old fashioned man who despises computers and smartphones with a passion. He's also not in the best of relationships with his daughter, Õnne, as evidenced in the chapter.

ゲオルク・ロイヴァス (Georg Rõivas) is how Georg's name would be spelled in katakana.

His birthday is November 12th, which he shares wih Estonian grandmaster, Mikhail Rychagov.

His favorite piece is the queen.

Georg is Maila's father and one of the town elders alongside Meelis. Being a grandmaster, he hopes one day Maila can surpass him and become the savior of the entire world.

キューベル・ハウアカエバジャ (Kühvel Hauakaevaja) is how Kühvel's name would be spelled in katakana. In Estonian, his name translates to "Scoop Gravedigger".

His birthday is October 31st, which is Halloween.

His favorite piece is the bishop.

Kühvel is by far the character who was most inspired by the Estonian folk song, Kui mina ükskord noores eas võtsin vana naise. Said song not only served as inspiration for the Estonian men's team, but also served to give me a renewed sense of what to do with the women's team. Though in terms of individual characters, Kühvel is easily inspired directly by the song's lyrics themself.

パーヴォ・ソック (Paavo Sokk) is how Paavo's name would be spelled in katakana.

フェリックス・ソック (Feliks Sokk) is how Feliks' name would be spelled in katakana.

Their birthday is February 20th, which they share with Felix Hugo Fraldarius from Fire Emblem Three Houses.

Their favorite piece is the bishop.

With so many sets of female twins, I decided there needed to be a set of male twins too. The Sokk twins' whole point is to basically act creepy, as if they're from a horror movie. They tend to speak in unison, though secretly have individual personalities.

マエストロ・ムイグ (Maestro Muigg) is how Maestro Muigg's name would be spelled in katakana.

His birthday is December 17th, which is the day famous German composer and pianist, Ludwig van Beethoven, was baptized.

His favorite piece is the king.

Speaking of characters inspired by music, I previously mentioned in a past commentary that the Austrian men's team came to be thanks to me listening to antiphona (音源) by a_hisa vs KV.S&はらたま from the arcade game, MÚSECA, which is why the Austrian team has a musical theme going. Maestro Muigg is the head of the team, and is the older brother of Wolfgang and father of Friedl. "Maestro" actually is his legal first name, though it wasn't his birth name. He simply changed it to "Maestro" in order to inflate his ego, and give off an aura of grander authority.

コンラート・ヨッピヒ (Konrad Joppich) is how Konrad's name would be spelled in katakana.

His birthday is October 30th, which he shares with Austrian composer and conductor, Johann Brandl.

His favorite piece is the bishop.

ハンスヨルグ・ドプファー (Hansjorg Dopfer) is how Hansjorg's name would be spelled in katakana.

His birthday is November 27th, which he shares with Czech composer and violinist, Franz Krommer.

His favorite piece is the bishop.

ウット・コルンフーバー (Utto Kornhuber) is how Utto's name would be spelled in katakana.

His birthday is March 5th, which he shares with Austrian pianist, Alfred Jaëll.

His favorite piece is the king.

アリイ・アイペルタウアー (Arii Eyepeltauer) is how Arii's name would be spelled in katakana. 愛里依 is how her first name would be written in kanji and means, "yo be devoted to", "hometown", and "trust in".

Her birthday is February 7th, which is the day the first volume of The Many Sides of Voice Actor Radio was released.

Her favorite piece is the queen.

油比 松波 (Yuhi Matsuba) is how Matsuba's name would be spelled in kanji. 松波 means "pine" and "wave", while 油比 means "oil" and "ratio".

Her birthday is April 10th, which is when the first episode of The Many Sides of Voice Actor Radio's anime first aired.

Her favorite piece is the queen.

Both Arii and Matsuba are based off of the two main leads of The Many Sides of Voice Actor Radio, Yasumi Utatane and Yuhi Yugure. Arii is actually Half-Japanese, Half-Austrian, and has connections in Austria which allowed both her and her friend, Matsuba to make the Austrian women's team. I will confirm that both her and Matsuba did participate in the qualification tournament for Japan's women's team, but obviously failed to make said team.

フレイドル・ミュイグ (Freidl Muigg) is how Freidl's name would be spelled in katakana.

Her birthday is September 7th, which she shares with Grete from Spy Kyoushitsu.

Her favorite piece is the knight.

Freidl is a character who initially started out as just another lazily designed character, but after getting the inspiration I needed for the Austrian team, I now have an intricate and tearjerking story in mind for her character.

イゾルデ・オーバーライトナー (Isolde Oberleitner) is how Isolde's name would be written in katakana.

Her birthday is October 16th, which she shares with German-Austrian composer, Julie von Webenau.

Her favorite piece is the queen.

アルムート・ピルチャー (Almuth Pircher) is how Almuth's name would be spelled in katakana.

Her birthday is August 31st, which she shares with Austrian composer, author, editor, and socialite, Alma Mahler.

Her favorite piece is the queen.

アイダン・ビュルビュル (Aydan Bülbül) is how Aydan's name would be written in katakana.

Her birthday is May 28th, which is the day the Azerbaijan People's Republic was founded.

Her favorite piece is the queen.

ディナラ・パード (Dinara Pərdə) is how Dinara's name would be spelled in katakana. Her surname is the Azerbaijani word for "veil".

Her birthday is April 30th, which is the day the Statue of a Liberated Woman was built.

Her favorite piece is the queen.

アファグ・タギエワ (Afag Taghiyeva) is how Afag's name would be spelled in katakana.

Her birthday is May 11th, which she shares with Azerbaijani sculptor, Fuad Abdurahmanov.

Her favorite piece is the queen.

アイグル・オルジョバ (Aigul Orujova) is how Aigul's name would be spelled in katakana.

Her birthday is May 20th, which she shares with Azerbaijani and Soviet writer, Jafar Jabbarly.

Her favorite piece is the pawn.

トゥラキナ・ハトゥン (Turakina Khatun) is how Turakina's name would be spelled in katakana. Туракина Хатун (Turakina Khatun) is how it would be spelled in Mongolian.
(If I made any mistakes with the translations, feel free to correct me).

Her birthday is December 4th. The significance behind this is that 1204 was the year Genghis Khan gave Töregene to Ögedei as his second wife.

Her favorite piece is the king.

Turakina is based off of the historical figure, Töregene Khatun, who was also known as Turakina. I originally meant to properly have her debut back when the Mongolian women's team was facing off against the New Kingdom of Simien, but just forgot. Anyway, here she is now.

And that's everyone. Obviously, if this series had a video game adaptation, these characters would all have their backstories explained there. However, I am flirting with the idea of writing out the backstories of all the side characters from various countries, though if I did that, it would be written in a separate novel after this arc in the story concludes. It just goes to show I really do have a grand ambition for this series.

That's all for this commentary. I hope you enjoyed it.

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Feb 26, 2025

To:SkeletonIdiot

I was originally going to have the game be Chess 960, with Ivy and Akane being given the option to setup the starting position themselves, resulting in one of them getting fool's mated. However, I decided to go with something original and went with the tic-tac-toe idea instead. I feel it was for the best though, since the tic-tac-toe worked really well here, and now I can use the Chess 960 idea for my actual chess novel.

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Feb 26, 2025

To:Ćunfre

Dorm Lavini is just too evil. Funnily enough, Hana was originally planned to enter stasis simply because the world was just too bad, at least for her, with the final straw being Dorm Lavini's rise to power. I decided to change her motives though, and instead passed the Dorm Lavini bit to Meredith.

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Feb 25, 2025

Author's Commentary #361:

Time to talk about Chapter 361: Unintentional dominance.
This chapter might not have happened, but I felt The Czechoslovakians deserved to have a chance on-screen to stop the sweep, and that Aya's prowess needed to properly be shown off. Thus, the chapter came to be. Libuše put up a fight, but ultimately lost just like her teammates. Though based off of Raymond's comments, team Czechoslovakia might have the chance to avenge this humiliation in the main tournament against team Ecuador.

As for the game, Aya decided to brute force the Alien gambit's main line, and it worked spectacularly. You might have noticed that Libuše made mention of the Martian gambit, which has yet to appear in the series. I actually intended for this game to be the one to feature said gambit, but then this game occurred, and I decided to go with it. Though I will confirm that the Martian gambit will most certainly appear at some point within the story.

That's all for this commentary. I hope you enjoyed it.

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Feb 25, 2025

[Game log #230]

Here's the game from Chapter 361 between Aya and Libuše during the 6B unofficial tournament.

[Event "6B unofficial tournament"]
[Site "Budapest, Hungary"]
[Date "2024.09.21"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Aya Bentura (1951)"]
[Black "Libuše Čížková (2319)"]
[Result "1-0"]
[Link "https://www.chess.com/analysis?tab=analysis"]

1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. Nd2 dxe4 4. Nxe4 Bf5 5. Ng5 h6 6. Nxf7 Kxf7 7. Bc4+ e6 8. Qf3 g6 9. g4 Qxd4 10. gxf5 Qe5+ 11. Ne2 Bb4+ 12. c3 Bxc3+ 13. bxc3 gxf5 14. Bf4 Qe4 15. Qh5+ Kf8 16. Rg1 Qxc4 17. Bd6+ Ne7 18. Qg6 Qh4 19. Nf4 Qxf4 20. Qg7+ Ke8 21. Qxe7# 1-0

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Feb 25, 2025

Hikkikomori abuse! At least Eddy had some old cheese on him to grant him passage. Poor guy really is suffering because of Rom.

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Feb 25, 2025

To:Kitsune

Ivy can be sweet, but only if she doesn't feel like bullying you.

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Feb 24, 2025

To:Ćunfre

Thank you so much for reading this to the end. I get why many feel there are dystopian undertones, though funnily enough, it seems like most of the harmonic future entries have that general issue as well. I'm really glad you enjoyed how the arc with Hana's parents wrapped up. That's easily the part of the story I'm the most self-conscience about, so to hear some positive feedback regarding it makes me feel really good. I honestly feel that was the best way I could've ended that arc as if I had gone the other route, it would have been more difficult to resolve, and likely would have soured things for readers.

As for the randomness, Frieren was actually the main influence for that, as I wanted to emulate a sense of journey like what was in that series. The goal for it was to be a nice chill and relaxing story about cute girls journeying around the world and doing cute things. I've never seen The Rolling Girls, but to hear you say that you feel this story is better than that, and that I achieved what I set out to accomplish when writing this, makes me feel proud of what I've written and thankful for your feedback.

Once again, thank you so much for reading this all the way through. I hope you enjoyed reading it.

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Feb 24, 2025

To:Ćunfre

Meredith was the secret best girl all along, though I will admit, she was originally planned to just be a one-off villain. The original plan was for her to immediately try and sue Hana after she gets shaved bald, causing a trial bot to appear. The intention was that it would highlight how legal cases proceed in the future, but since I decided against going that route, I instead decided to give Meredith more redeeming qualities and a bigger role in the overall story. I'm honestly glad I did, as I feel it was better for the overall story.

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Feb 24, 2025

To:Ćunfre

I'm glad this chapter resonated with you so much. This is honestly the section of the story I'm a bit self-conscience about, mainly due to how it wraps up. Curious to see how you'll react to the end of this arc.

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Feb 24, 2025

To:Ćunfre

We all have our trademarks. 😆

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