Mario Nakano 64 / Comments

Mario Nakano 64

It's a me. I'm an aspiring light novel writer hoping to one day see my works in anime form. I hope that my works at least brighten up your day and give you something to look forward to.

registered at: Jun 30, 2023

Roles

Author

Badge

gold

What is Badge?

Achievement

What is an Achievement?

Report this user

Comments

aaa

Mar 03, 2025

Author's Commentary #367:

Time to talk about Chapter 367: The president's prowess.
So first things first, this technically isn't Raymond's first ever game in the series. In the original draft of Season 4, I did have Okisato briefly throw a game with Raymond, simply so they could have a voice call with each other. Obviously, I felt that was kind of pointless and cut the game entirely from the series, instead just having Okisato communicate with Raymond via a standard video call. As for the chapter, there actually is quite a bit to talk about, but first off, let's get the bios out of the way.

アヴィアン・ネプリャエフ (Avian Nepryaev) is how Avian's name would be spelled in katakana. Авиан Непряев (Avian Nepryaev) is how it would be spelled in Russian.

His birthday is July 14th, which he shares with Russian grandmaster, Ian Nepomniachtchi.

His favorite piece is the bishop.

Unlike the other characters introduced this chapter, Avian is a good boy. He's also meant to serve as this universe's Ian Nepomniachtchi. As for why he makes a shocked face, it's in reference to the many surprised faces Ian Nepomniachtchi makes.

ウラジレン・モスカル大佐 (Col Vladilen Moskal) is how Vladilen's name would be spelled in Japanese. Полковник Владилен Москаль (Col Vladilen Moskal) is how it would be spelled in Russian.

His birthday is January 12th, which he shares with controversial Russian grandmaster, Sergey Karjakin.

His favorite piece is the king.

ジュラド・マンチッチ (Đurađ Mančić) is how Đurađ's name would be spelled in katakana. Ђурађ Манчић (Đurađ Mančić) is how it would be spelled in Serbian (Cyrillic).

His birthday is February 15th, which is Statehood Day in Serbia.

His favorite piece is the king.

ラティミール・ラトコヴィッチ (Ratimir Ratković) is how Ratimir's name would be spelled in katakana. Ратимир Ратковић (Ratimir Ratković) is how it would be spelled in Serbian (Cyrillic).
(If I made any mistakes with the translations, feel free to correct me).

His birthday is March 13th. I chose this date at random, so there's no greater significance behind why this date is his birthday.

His favorite piece is the king.

Ratimir is a war criminal, plain and simple. He's committed numerous atrocities and even been convicted of war crimes. However, the power of the DESPERs bailed him out. This is something I've wanted to touch on for a while now. The DESPERs really can be used for evil, and the notion of resolving everything with chess can lead to great consequences, especially if a convicted war criminal is a grandmaster. In regards to his history with Blerta, it's dark, so fair warning for when it's properly shown in the story.

I've also been wanting to highlight Raymond's moral grayness for a while as well. Raymond is the kind of man that would invite both Hitler and Gandhi to a chess tournament if they were grandmaster-level. He doesn't care how good or bad you are morally, all that matters is that you are good at chess. So long as you don't snuff out a talented chess player outside the confines of chess, Raymond could care less if you are a saint or demon.

As for the game, it was a long one, but it was just so perfect, I felt it would be a disservice not to feature it in it's entirety. Behind the scenes, I really struggled to get this one written, simply because of burnout, but while that might have been the case, that doesn't diminish the quality of the game itself. Raymond showed why he's the boss, as his skill is the real deal. He may have a rating of 2999 and a purple WWCF card, but unlike the members of the executive board, he possess no chip that feeds him engine moves. In fact, he's technically not even a member of the executive board and was originally the only one with a purple WWCF card before the executive board's formation. Back then, his purple WWCF card simply denoted his status as WWCF president.

Despite the fatigue I faced when writing this game, I feel that doesn't diminish said game's chances of making it into the top 30 favorite games in the series list. Not only was the game good, but it's an important moment not just in the arc, but series as a whole. A confrontation like this was actually considered as far back as when I was writing Season 1. No games against Raymond himself were planned, but the original scene I planned to write would showcase Raymond's moral grayness upfront. I decided against that though as I felt it would seem too out of nowhere at the time.

And now that the game is complete, a week's worth of chapter remain before the Bermuda party concludes. I know this arc has been going on for way longer than I originally planned, but in these next 7 chapters, I've got some amazing games and character interactions planned. I know it might sound like I'm upset this mini-arc ended up being so long, but it's the complete opposite. I'm proud of the Bermuda party mini-arc, and I hope it becomes one of the more ell-received arcs in the story.

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

En Passant Grandmaster

Chapter:367

Mar 03, 2025

[Game log #233]

Here's the game from Chapter 367 between Raymond and Anastasia during the 6B unofficial tournament.

[Event "6B unofficial tournament"]
[Site "Budapest, Hungary"]
[Date "2024.09.21"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Anastasia Oliynyk (2502)"]
[Black "Raymond Redfield (2999)"]
[Result "0-1"]
[Link "https://www.chess.com/analysis?tab=analysis"]

1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bg5 Be7 5. Nf3 h6 6. Bh4 b6 7. Bxf6 Bxf6 8. cxd5 exd5 9. e3 O-O 10. Bd3 Bb7 11. O-O c5 12. Qb3 c4 13. Bxc4 dxc4 14. Qxc4 Ba6 15. Qb3 Bxf1 16. Rxf1 Nc6 17. Nd2 Bxd4 18. exd4 Nxd4 19. Qd1 Re8 20. Re1 Rxe1+ 21. Qxe1 Qg5 22. Qe3 Rd8 23. Qxg5 hxg5 24. Kf1 b5 25. b4 Rc8 26. Ne2 Nc2 27. Ne4 Nxb4 28. N4c3 a6 29. a4 bxa4 30. Nxa4 Nd5 31. h3 Rc4 32. Nb2 Rb4 33. Nd1 a5 34. Ndc3 Nxc3 35. Nxc3 a4 36. Ke2 a3 37. Kd3 Rb3 38. Kd4 Kh7 39. g3 Rb2 40. f4 gxf4 41. gxf4 Kg6 42. Ke5 Kh5 43. Kf5 a2 44. Nxa2 Re2 45. Nc1 Re6 46. Nd3 g6# 0-1

En Passant Grandmaster

Chapter:367

Mar 02, 2025

Author's Commentary #366:

Time to talk about Chapter 366: Bad blood.
This one's another character introduction chapter, but there is also some lore within it too. Anyway, let's get right into the bios.

イヴォンヌ・フローレス (Ivonne Flores) is how Ivonne's name would be written in katakana.

Her birthday is February 17th. 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.

イヴェリッセ・ベラウンデ (Ivelisse Belaunde) is how Ivelisse's name would be spelled in katakana.

Her birthday is July 8th, which she shares with Peruvian grandmaster, Emilio Córdova.

Her favorite piece is the bishop.

イゼッタ・ヤルレケ (Izetta Yarlequé) is how Izetta's name would be spelled in katakana.

Her birthday is February 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.

Izetta is clearly the character I've put the most work into writing, as she has a solid backstory and character. She's also close with Ichiko, meaning you can expect to see more of her in the future.

イオ・ママニ (Io Mamani) is how Io's name would be spelled in katakana.

Her birthday is January 8th, which is the day the moon, Io, was first discovered.

Her favorite piece is the queen.

ムン・チュンファ (Moon Chun-hwa) is how Chun-hwa's name would be spelled in katakana. 문춘화 (Moon Chun-hwa) is how it would be spelled in Korean.

Her birthday is July 15th. I chose the date at random, so there's no greater significance behind why this date is her birthday.

Her favorite piece is the queen.

Originally, I meant to introduce the entire Peruvian team shortly after Ichiko's show ended, but just didn't feel like doing it at the time. One fun fact about the team is that the name of every single member of it begins with an "I". Just goes to show my affinity for names that start with "I", as there are quite a few characters with names like that in this story alone.

パク・イェビン (Park Ye-bin) is how Ye-bin's name would be spelled in katakana. 박예빈 (Park Ye-bin) is how it would be spelled in Korean.

Her birthday is June 14th. 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.

ヨン・ジュヘ (Young Ju-hye) is how Ju-hye's name would be spelled in katakana. 영혜 (Young Ju-hye) is how it would be spelled in Korean.

Her birthday is July 13th, which she shares with South Korean singer-songwriter and composer, Baek Ye-bin.

Her favorite piece is the knight.

オ・インヘ (Oh In-hye) is how In-hye's name would be spelled in katakana. 오인혜 (Oh In-hye) is how it would be spelled in Korean.

Her birthday is April 5th, which she shares with Soviet-born Korean grandmaster, Alexey Kim.

Her favorite piece is the pawn.

ノエ・ダソム (Noe Da-som) is how Da-som's name would be spelled in katakana. 노에다솜 (Noe Da-som) is how it would be spelled in Korean.

Her birthday is February 14th, which is Valentines Day. This is fitting since Da-som means "love" in Korean.

Her favorite piece is the rook.

When I first settled on having a Korean team, I knew they were going to be a K-pop group. I didn't have Chun-hwa being a rival to Izetta though, something I only decided to go with last minute. Though it is worth mentioning that the Korean team was created long before the Peruvian one. And in case anyone's curious, in the world of this story, Mongolia has conquered North Korea, and eyeing to do the same to the Republic of Korea as well. This was one of the reasons the Korean government is desperate to find good chess talent, however, Chun-hwa's primary objective for bringing Malasangre to Budapest is for publicity. Speaking of Malasangre, it's Spanish for "bad blood", hence the chapter's title.

ラヤ・バギロワ (Raya Baghirova) is how Raya's name would be spelled in katakana.

Her birthday is August 8th, which is the day the Quba District of Azerbaijan was first established.

Her favorite piece is the queen.

Raya hails from Qırmızı Qəsəbə, a municipality and village in Azerbaijan's Quba District, notable for it's Jewish-majority population. The name of the town roughly translates to "Red Town" or "Red Village". As for Raya herself, she's a freestyle rapper and the DSPCM of Quba, which is just across the Qudyai river from Qırmızı Qəsəbə. As for the other DSPCM positions in Azerbaijan, Afag's the DSPCM of Beylagan, Aigul's the DSPCM of Nakhchivan city, Dinara's the DSPCM of Ganja, whle Aydan's the DSPCM of Baku.

ヘレ・ダール (Helle Dahl) is how Helle's name would be spelled is katakana.

Her birthday is October 22nd, which she shares with Estonian international master, Mai Narva.

Her favorite piece is the rook.

Helle is a Swedish-Estonian punk rocker with a foul mouth, but gift for music and chess.

エグル・ヴィズギルダ (Eglė Vizgirda) is how Eglė's name would be spelled in katakana.

Her birthday is August 6th, which she shares with Lithuanian grandmaster, Viktorija Čmilytė-Nielsen.

Her favorite piece is the queen.

Eglė's character design draws heavily from the Lithuanian folk tale, Eglė the Queen of Serpents. It was actually through researching this that made me decide to go ahead and create the Lithuanian women's team.

カトリアナ・モスカル (Katryana Moskal) is how Katryana's name would be spelled in katakana. Катряна Москаль (Katryana Moskal) is how it would be spelled in Russian.

Her birthday is January 12th, which she shares with controversial Russian grandmaster, Sergey Karjakin.

Her favorite piece is the king.

In works of fiction, there are times where there must be insufferable characters present to enchance the overall story. Katryana is an example of this as will be her husband, Col Vladilen Moskal. That being said, I currently have little screentime planned for the two, though I will admit, she was originally slated to have a more prominent antagonistic role, which ended up vanishing moreso due to the evergrowing cast of characters, resulting in my focus constantly shifting from one character to the next, which means some characters end up left in the dust.

ガリーナ・ロス (Galina Los) is how Galina's name would be spelled in katakana. Галина Лось (Galina Los) is how it would be spelled in Russian.
(If I made any mistakes with the translations, feel free to correct me).

Her birthday is April 11th, which she shares with Russian grandmaster, Tatiana Kosintseva.

Her favorite piece is the queen.

Galina has one of my favorite designs. Originally, she was slated to be Katryana's bitch in crime, but since I liked her design so much, I decided against going that route with her character. Now she's more of the drama enjoyer type as if she sees a conflict brewing, her first course of action would be to grab some popcorn and find a comfy couch to sit on.

And with that, the bios are done. And the stage is also set for the match between Raymond and Anastasia. The wait is finally over, so get hyped for what will be in contention for one of the top 30 best games in the series.

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

En Passant Grandmaster

Chapter:366

Mar 02, 2025

To:SkeletonIdiot

Definitely does.

Sales Pitch

Chapter:7

Mar 01, 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/18428

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/18426

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

En Passant Grandmaster

Chapter:259

Mar 01, 2025

Author's Commentary #365:

Time to talk about Chapter 365: Check again, witch doctor.
This chapter might contain perhaps one of the more touchier subject matters, that being albinism in Tanzania. For those who don't know, those born with albinism in Tanzania often face persecution as some local witch doctors want to kill them as they believe their bodies hold special spiritual properties. Tanzania actually has one of the highest albino birthrates in Africa according to Wikipedia. When I first learned about this, I knew what the central theme of the Tanzanian team would be and got to work on the characters. Speaking of which, let's go over them.

アイシャ・ムギムワ (Aisha Mgimwa) is how Aisha's name would be spelled in katakana.

Her birthday is February 24th. I chose this date at random, so there's no greater significance behind why this date is her birthday.

Her favorite piece is the pawn.

Aisha is the DSPCM of Dar es Salaam, the capitol city of Tanzania. She's the nation's only DSPCM, but is showing her prowess, and improving it by the day.

ヤスミーン・ムギムワ (Yasmeen Mgimwa) is how Yasmeen's name would be spelled in katakana.

Her birthday is March 13th. 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.

Yasmeen is a witch doctor as well as Aisha's older sister. Prior to Aisha becoming a DSPCM, she was the main breadwinner of the family. She's easily going to be one of the more controversial characters in the series though.

ロクサーヌ・マルジ博士 (Dr. Roxanne Marji) is how Roxanne's name would be spelled in Japanese.

Her birthday is June 6th. I chose this date mostly at random, so there isn't too much significance behind why this date is her birthday.

Her favorite piece is the queen.

Roxanne is a character I have big plans for, however, they likely won't come to fruition this arc. But definitely be on the lookout for what I have in store for her character.

リネット・カセケ (Linet Kaseke) is how Linet's name would be spelled in katakana.

Her birthday is January 15th. I chose this date at random, so there's no greater significance behind why this date is her birthday.

Her favorite piece is the bishop.

In contrast to the others, Linet is the character I had little to no idea what to do with, only deciding to make her a sadistic asshole last minute. Though in contrast to some of the other sadists, she enjoys watching more than actually putting in the work to make others suffer. It's not the most in depth personality, but I feel it's at least passable.

リア・エルフェア (Leah Ælfheah) is how Leah's name would be written in katakana.

Her birthday is November 28th. 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.

Like Lindi, Leah ha albinism, however, in her culture, albinism is treated as divine, thus she is worshipped by her people. As for what her personality is like, that will have to wait until she appears again in the story.

リンディ・マトゥマイニ (Lindi Matumaini) is how Lindi's name would be spelled in katakana. Her surname is the Swahili word for "hope".
(If I made any mistakes with the translations, feel free to correct me).

Her birthday is June 30th, which she shares with Salum Barwany, the first Tanzanian MP with albinism to be elected to parliament. Lindi's name comes from the district he represented, Lindi Urban.

Her favorite piece is the knight.

As stated in the story, Lindi has albinism, which has led to her facing persecution throughout her life. She found her big break when she encountered Raymond and discovered her talent for chess. She's now a WWCF official, and primarily works at WWCF HQ, though will frequently play in tournaments.

As for the game, it started out like it was going to be a long slog, but then the bot blundered and it was a short and sweet game. At this point, I was actually starting to suffer from burnout from all the chapters I was writing for this arc, so the game being as short as it was put me at ease.

And now with another game down, I'm happy to report that the next game will be a long and tense one between Raymond and a skilled player. Get hyped, because this next game will be one of the best in the story.

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

En Passant Grandmaster

Chapter:365

Mar 01, 2025

Author's Commentary #360:

Time to talk about Chapter 360: Czech out that sweep.
For any that guessed that Aya was the character I was referring to at the end of my previous commentary, congratulations, you were right. Aya's getting her own little mini-arc, starting off with a game of fog of war chess.

It felt natural to have Aya play in a fog of war chess match, which is why I went with it. In this game, I managed to remember my opponent's position, allowing me to capture their king. I've wanted to do another fog of war chess game for a while, and finally got the chance to do so. There was also the chance to include multiple games in this chapter, but since I wanted Aya sweeping the Czechoslovakians to be more of a comedic moment, those games weren't shown. Now, let's do the bios for all the new characters introduced.

ミルシャ・フシック (Miluše Fučík) is how Miluše's name would be spelled in katakana.

Her birthday is August 3rd, which is name day for Miluše.

Her favorite piece is the rook.

イジナ・ホルキー (Jiřina Horky) is how Jiřina's name would be spelled in katakana.

Her birthday is July 18th. I chose the date at random, so there's no greater significance behind why this date is her birthday.

Her favorite piece is the pawn.

ヤルミラ・ズロホヴァ (Jarmila Zlochová) is how Jarmila's name would be written in katakana.

Her birthday is April 28th, which is name day for Jarmilla in Slovakia.

Her favorite piece is the queen.

リブセ・チツコワ (Libuše Čížková) is how Libuše's name would be written in katakana.

Her birthday is July 10th, which is name day for Libuše in the Czech Republic.

Her favorite piece is the queen.

I'm sure many will wonder why Czechoslovakia exists again, and the answer to that is that I just thought it would be cool if it did. Though the Czech Republic and Slovakia do have their own regions, sort of like with Bosnia and Herzegovina and it having the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Republika Srpska, except the Czechoslovakian countries get along harmoniously. Prague is the main capitol, just like with old Czechoslovakia, but Bratislava is considered a co-capitol, as well as the capitol of the Slovakian region. As for the flag, it's essentially the Czechoslovakian/Czech Republic flag, but with the Slovakian coat of arms on it.

And for one more tidbit, I'll reveal that Libuše, Lucie, and Miluše all hail from the Czech Republic with Libuše and Lucie being DSPCMs of Prague and Brno, respectively. Jarmila and Jiřina hail from Slovakia and are the DSPCMs of Bratislava and Košice, respectively, meaning Czechoslovakia has a total of 4 DSPCMs.

Originally, I had planned to just have Aya sweep all the Czechoslovakians off-screen, but decided to instead showcase a game, as maybe there's a chance Libuše can win. This means Aya will get another game in the next chapter, and this time it will be a standard chess match. All I'll say is that this upcoming game was easily one of the more fun ones to write in this arc of the series.

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

En Passant Grandmaster

Chapter:360

Mar 01, 2025

[Game log #232]
Here's the game from Chapter 365 between Lindi and Yasmeen during the 6B unofficial tournament.

[Event "6B unofficial tournament"]
[Site "Budapest, Hungary"]
[Date "2024.09.21"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Yasmeen Mgimwa (1466)"]
[Black "Lindi Matumaini (2010)"]
[Result "0-1"]
[Link "https://www.chess.com/analysis?tab=analysis"]

1. d4 c6 2. c4 d5 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. e3 Bf5 5. Nc3 e6 6. Nh4 Bg6 7. Be2 Nbd7 8. O-O Bd6 9. c5 Bc7 10. Bd2 Ng4 11. Nxg6 Bxh2+ 12. Kh1 Nxf2+ 13. Rxf2 hxg6 14. Rf3 Bg3+ 15. Kg1 Rh1+ 16. Kxh1 Qh4+ 17. Kg1 Qh2+ 18. Kf1 Qh1# 0-1

En Passant Grandmaster

Chapter:365

Feb 28, 2025

Author's Commentary #364:

Time to talk about Chapter 364: Team Antarctic-Å vs team Ire-Arm.
My crusade to introduce as many of the teams before the second rest day is going well. Of course, that makes writing these commentaries all the more tiring. So without further ado, let's begin.

ビパシャ・クマラゲ博士 (Dr. Bipasha Kumarage) is how Bipasha's name would be spelled in Japanese. डॉ. बिपाशा कुमारगे (Dr. Bipasha Kumarage) is how her name would be written in Sanskrit.

Her birthday is September 17th. 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.

Bipasha originally hails from Sri Lanka, but moved to Antarctica. She's now one of the continent's few grandmasters. I actually was considering having her be part of a different team twice, but ultimately settled on having her be on team Antarctica.

アリーナ・ミミ (Arina Mimmi) is how Arina's name would be spelled in katakana. 益那 is how her first name would be written in kanji and means "increase" and "many".

Her birthday is August 17th. I chose the date at random, so there's no greater significance behind why this date is her birthday.

Her favorite piece is the queen.

Arina is actually half-Japanese, but was born on the Åland Islands. I was originally going to have her be on a different team, but ultimately felt having her on team Åland Islands was the right choice.

インケリ・ホンコ (Inkeri Honko) is how Inkeri's name would be written in katakana.

Her birthday is May 16th. 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.

バラ・アホ博士 (Dr. Bára Aho) is how Bára's name would be written in katakana.

Her birthday is June 7th. I chose this date at random, so there's no greater significance behind why this date is her birthday.

Her favorite piece is the king.

If you saw some of the old artwork of the Neo-Babylonian Empire, you'll have noticed that both Bipasha and Bára were originally members of said team. However, I ended up completely reversing course on my original vision for the team as I felt the personalities I had in mind for the original roster wouldn't mesh well with the primary vision I have for said team.

ソルヴェイグ・ベルグマイト (Solveig Bergmight) is how Solveig's name would be spelled in katakana.

Her birthday is October 8th, which she shares with Solveig Gunbjørg Jacobsen, the first person to be born south of the Antarctic Convergence.

Her favorite piece is the knight.

Solveig was born in Antarctica, making her an Antarctic native. She's currently seeking to become the most famous person from the continent and frequently uploads videos of herself sledding down slopes and roaming around the land.

ウラ・クパリネン (Ulla Kuparinen) is how Ulla's name would be spelled in katakana.

Her birthday is August 18th. I chose this date at random, so there's no greater significance behind why this date is her birthday.

ペンギ・マクマード博士 (Dr. Pengi McMurdo) is how Pengi's name would be spelled in Japanese.

Her birthday is February 16th, which is when McMurdo Station was first established.

Her favorite piece is the knight.

ヴァルボルグ・ユルヨ・コスキネン (Valborg Yrjö-Koskinen) is how Valborg's name would be spelled in katakana.

Her birthday is September 29th. 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.

If you saw some of the old artwork of the teams, you'll know that Valborg's design was originally used for Myrtle Foat of the Australian women's team. I felt there was a better design for said character, so I redesigned her and ported her old design over to Valborg.

アグラエ・モンジュ博士 (Dr. Aglaé Monge) is how Aglaé's name would be spelled in katakana.

Her birthday is May 9th, which she shares with French mathematician, Gaspard Monge.

Her favorite piece is the queen.

オルガ・ホラッパ (Olgica Holappa) is how Olgica's name would be spelled in katakana.

Her birthday is August 17th. I chose this date at random, so there's no greater significance behind why this date is her birthday.

Her favorite piece is the bishop.

フィデルマ・フェリター (Fidelma Ferriter) is how Fidelma's name would be spelled in katakana.

Her birthday is February 19th, which she shares with Russian-Irish grandmaster, Alexander Baburin.

Her favorite piece is the king.

If you take a look at her rating, you'll notice that it is above 2900, indicating that she is a member of the WWCF's executive board, much like Gudit and Orit are. The reason for this is simply that I felt there needed to be a few more executive board members competing in the tournament.

ドリアン・オ・アン・チャインティゲ (Doireann Ó an Cháintighe) is how Doireann's name would be spelled in katakana.

Her birthday is July 8th. The significance behind this is that 7 is a lucky number in Irish culture, while 8 is considered to be the number those named "Doireann" are said to be the most lucky with.

Her favorite piece is the queen.

マネ・テル・グリゴリアン (Maneh Ter-Grigoryan) is how Maneh's name would be spelled in katakana. Մանե Տեր-Գրիգորյան (Maneh Ter-Grigoryan) is how it would be spelled in Armenian.

Her birthday is September 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 knight.

クロイア・グラス (Croía Glas) is how Croía's name would be written in katakana.

Her birthday is July 7th. The significance behind this is that 7 is a lucky number in Irish culture.

Her favorite piece is the bishop.

Not only does Croía share her surname with Sorcha, but her birthday as well. Though the exact relationship of these two to one another will remain a mystery for now.

ルシネ・タルカニアン (Lusine Tarkanian) is how Lusine's name would be written in katakana. Լուսինե Թարքանյան (Lusine Tarkanian) is how it would be written in Armenian.

Her birthday is June 17th, which she shares with Soviet-Armenian grandmaster and 9th World Chess Champion, Tigran Petrosian.

Her favorite piece is the rook.

カオイム・ペティ・フィッツモーリス (Caoimhe Petty-Fitzmaurice) is how Caoimhe's name would be written in katakana.

Her birthday is July 19th. The significance behind this is that 7 is a lucky number in Irish culture, while the name "Caoimhe" ranked 19th in a list of the most popular female birthname in Ireland in a 2014 survey.

Her favorite piece is the queen.

キーラ・オドハティ (Keira O'Doherty) is how Keira's name would be written in katakana.

Her birthday is December 21st. The significance behind this is that this date is one of the possible days the Winter Solstice can be on.

Her favorite piece is the pawn.

サルピー・トゥンチボヤチヤン (Salpy Tunçboyacıyan) is how Salpy's name would be written in katakana. Սալպի Թունչբոյաջյան (Salpy Tunçboyacıyan) is how it would be written in Armenian.
(If I made any mistakes with the translations, feel free to correct me).

Her birthday is August 16th, which she shares with Armenian grandmaster, Elina Danielian.

Her favorite piece is the knight.

Salpy was originally designed to be part of the Simien team. Back then, I had decided that the Simien team would mainly be a group of rock stars, which is why Salpy has such a punk design. However, I scrapped that idea and ended up porting Salpy over to the Armenian team.

Speaking of music icons, Zabel secretly is one, and Arpine is trying to expose her. This dynamic likely won't be properly highlighted, but I decided to at least add some context to it here. And with the bios done, it's on to the game.

This game was a fun match, with the challenge being writing out the justifications for why each character made the moves they did. Though I feel as though I at least succeeded in having each of the characters playing at their natural skill levels.

And now, the Bermuda party continues. I wasn't lying when I said this arc will be around 20 chapters long. Though to hype everyone up, I will reveal that not only will there be a game next chapter, but in a few chapters, Raymond himself will be challenged to a game by a high-leveled player. You'll definitely want to stay tuned for that, as it will be Raymond's first proper on-screen game in the series.

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

En Passant Grandmaster

Chapter:364