Mar 10, 2025
Author's Commentary #370:
Time to talk about Chapter 370: Chaturaji cheat.
Chaturaji is back, and it's more infuriating than ever. But before we dive into the game, let's introduce all the new characters.
ネラ・ボシュコヴィッチ (Nela Bošković) is now Nela's name would be spelled in katakana.
Her birthday is August 17th, which she shares wth Croatian grandmaster, Ivan Šarić.
Her favorite piece is the knight, since it can jump over everything.
Nela is a basketball player as well as the DSPCM of Zagreb. She's frequently at odds with Vlatka as she views her as a petty tyrant.
スネジャナ・ゼビッチ (Snežana Zebić) is how Snežana's name would be spelled in katakana.
Her birthday is March 8th, which she shares with Croatian grandmaster, Bogdan Lalić.
Her favorite piece is the bishop.
ディヤナ・サボリッチ (Dijana Sabolić) is how Dijana's name would be spelled in katakana.
Her birthday is May 26th, which she shares with Croatian women's grandmaster, Lara Stock.
Her favorite piece is the queen.
ドゥニャ・サボリッチ (Dunja Sabolić) is how Dunja's name would be spelled in katakana.
Her birthday is May 27th, which is the day after her alleged twin sister, Dijana, was born.
Her favorite piece is the king.
クイニー・ローゾン (Queenie Lauzon) is how Queenie's name would be spelled in katakana.
Her birthday is June 3rd. I chose this date at random, so there's no greater significance behind why this date is her birthday.
Her favorite piece is the queen.
ルズヴィミンダ・アンガラ (Luzviminda Angara) is how Luzviminda's name would be spelled in katakana.
Her birthday is August 3rd. I chose this date at random, so there's no greater significance behind why this date is her birthday.
Her favorite piece is the rook.
インダイ・マングバット (Inday Mangubat) is how Inday's name would be spelled in katakana. Her surname translates to "To wage war" in Cebuano language.
Her birthday is June 1st, whish she shares with Filipino grandmaster, Darwin Laylo.
Her favorite piece is the queen.
クリステル・ラピッド (Kristel Lapid) is how Kristel's name would be spelled in katakana.
Her birthday is May 19th, which she shares with Filipina women's grandmaster, Janelle Mae Frayna.
Her favorite piece is the queen.
ジヴィレ・ラズヴィラス (Živilė Radžvilas) is how Živilė's name would be spelled in katakana.
Her birthday is May 18th I chose this date at random, so there's no greater significance behind why this date is her birthday.
Her favorite piece is the queen.
イングリダ・シェペティス (Ingrida Šepetys) is how Ingrida's name would be spelled in katakana.
Her birthday is September 2nd, which is name day for Ingrida.
Her favorite piece is the pawn.
ユラテ・ヴィスニアウスカス (Jūratė Vyšniauskas) is how Jūratė's name would be spelled in katakana.
Her birthday is May 27th, which she shares with Lithuanian grandmaster, Eduardas Rozentalis.
Her favorite piece is the pawn.
バルブロ・ザメンホフォ (Barbro Zamenhofo) is how Barbro's name would be spelled in katakana.
Her birthday is December 15th, which she shares with Esperanto creator, L. L. Zamenhof.
Her favorite piece is the queen.
Barbro is the leader of the New Republic of Paeonia and an Esperanto fanatic. She truly is descended from L. L. Zamenhof, the creator of Esperanto, which is part of the reason she's so obsessed with the language.
オフィーリオ・カンジョウ (Ofelio Kanjo) is how Ofelio's name would be spelled in katakana.
Her birthday is August 21st, which is the day the game of Reversi was first reliably mentioned in the 1886 edition of The Saturday Review.
Her favorite piece is the queen.
While researching Esperanto names and surnames, Ofelio's name and surname caught my eye due to how similar they sounded to "Othello" and "kanojo". While she has yet to interact properly with any from the main cast, you can bet that when she does, or at the very least encounter a character like Ichiko, someone will note how similar her surname, Kanjo, sounds to "kanojo", the Japanese word for "girlfriend", which will naturally lead to hilarity ensuring.
ラエロ・ジャンジョ (Raĥelo Janjo) is how Raĥelo's name would be spelled in katakana.
Her birthday is July 26th, which is the day Dr. Esperanto's International Language, aka Unua Libro, was first published.
Her favorite piece is the queen.
Like Ofelio, Raĥelo's name also jumped out at me when I was researching Esperanto names, but mainly due to the presence of the letter, ĥ, within it. It terns out that this letter known as ĥo, pronounced xo, is primarily used in Esperanto, first debuting alongside the publication of Unua Libro in 1887. I represents a voiceless velar fricative or voiceless uvular fricative. "Ĥ" is apparently the least frequently used letter in Esperanto, often times at risk of being completely replaced because of the fact. However, it still exists in words to this day, notably within Raĥelo's name. This also makes her name one of the most unique ones in the series, and naturally, her character will be centered around the letter, ĥ, and revitalizing it's presence within Esperanto.
ビルヤナ・イリエフスカ (Biljana Ilievska) is how Biljana's name would be spelled in katakana. Билјана Илиевска v is how her name would be spelled in Macedonian.
Her birthday is January 6th, which she share with Macedonian grandmaster, Aleksandar Čoloviḱ.
Her favorite piece is the bishop.
ネヴェナ・ゾグラフ (Nevena Zograf) is how Nevena's name would be spelled in katakana. Невена Зограф (Nevena Zograf) is how her name would be spelled in Macedonian.
(If I made any mistakes with the translations, feel free to correct me).
Her birthday is January 10th, which she shares with Macedonian grandmaster, Dragoljub Jacimović.
Her favorite piece is the knight.
Nevena is Barbro's mother and while also descended from L. L. Zamenhof, she's not obsessed with Esperanto like her daughter. She's actually the sole DSPCM of Paeonia, hailing from it's capitol, Skopje. Along with a minority of Paeonians, she believes Paeonia used to be called something else and that it's true origins aren't centered mainly around Esperanto, however, Barbro vehemently denies this, insisting Paeonia has always been Paeonia and the Esperanto capitol of the world.
As for the game, there's a lot to talk about. Turns out that on Chess.com, the rules allow you to resign and win the game if you're at least 4 points ahead of the second-place opponent. The reason for this is that resigning means whoever is left gets three points, which is the value of kings in this game. When I first discovered this, I thought it felt kind of cheap as it allowed a winning player an out without them having to play until everyone is mated and risk their opponent gaining more points. Though as a story element, it was perfect.
Now a rivalry has been setup between Croatia and Paeonia, which I can guarantee will be a thing possibly as soon as the next round of the tournament. In fact, there's quite a few matchups being built up in this arc. See if you can guess them all before they're officially revealed in the story.
That's all for this commentary. I hope you enjoyed it.
