Dec 25, 2024
Author's Commentary #299:
Time to talk about Chapter 299: Genghis Khan vs the Red Baron.
Now that's a clickbaity title if I've ever seen one, but it is in a sense what happens in the chapter as the successors of Genghis Khan and the Red Baron, Jad and Red Reaper, respectively, face off. It's really funny that not only did this chapter end up getting released on Christmas day, but it's also the 299th chapter. I was just one day away from releasing the 300th chapter on Christmas. But enough about that, let's do the bios for the two new characters that appeared in the chapter.
チャガタイ・ハーン (Chagatai Khan) is how Chagatai's name would be written in katakana. Цагадай хаан (Chagatai Khan) is how his name would be written in Mongolian.
His birthday is December 27th. Since there's no recorded birthday for the historical Chagatai, I chose this date at random to serve as the birthday for this Chagatai. There is some significance behind the date as 1227 was the year his reign as Khan of the Chagatai Khanate began, which is why I chose the date that I did.
His favorite piece is the king.
オゲデイ・ハーン (Ögedei Khan) is how Ögedei's name is spelled in katakana. Өгэдэй хаан (Ögedei Khan) is how his name would be written in Mongolian.
(If I made any mistakes with the translations, feel free to correct me).
His birthday is September 13th, which is the day Ögedei's rein as Khagan of the Mongol Empire began. Since the historical Ögedei's birthday is unknown, I went with this date for this Ögedei.
His favorite piece is the king.
As for the games, Volkner gets a win, and as mentioned in the previous commentary, now knows how to handle the Latvian gambit. In a hypothetical match-up where Volkner played Santa, Volkner would likely win if Santa plays the Latvian gambit against him, going to show just how much Volkner has learned in just a short time.
As for the main match between Jad and Red Reaper, Jad opens with the Clemenz opening, an irregular opening named after Estonian Chess player, Herman Clemenz. This opening is often times considered the mirror version of the Anderssen opening, 1. a3, but is considered to be slightly worse. This is Jad's preferred opening as he usually follows up 1...e5 with 2. e4 or 2. e3, the latter of the two serving as a parallel to the Japanese opening created by Okisato of 1. a3 e4 2. e3. With these parallels in mind, it seems likely Okisato and Jad will likely clash at some point.
One final thing I'd like to mention is the real-world references to the 45th Chess Olympiad. In round 4 of said event, Germany faced Mongolia and won 3.5-0.5. Things were slightly different in the sense that the draw came at board 2 in the story, while in real-life, the draw was on board 3, but a similar thing happened back with the Japan vs Iceland match in round 2 of the Chess Olympics. The fact that Germany actually faced Mongolia in round 4 of the 45th Chess Olympiad was largely the main reason I had the German Empire of Prussia face Mongolia here, and win in similar fashion. Though now that Mongolia has lost, there is a slim chance they end up facing Japan, who also lost their 4th round match.
But in terms of things to look forward to, next up is the series' 300th chapter. I still can't believe this series has reached this point, but it has. It might come a day after Christmas, but I hope it will make for a good late Christmas present.
That's all for this commentary. I hope you enjoyed it.
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