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.
