May 10, 2025
Author's Commentary #349:
Time to talk about Chapter 349: An underrated gambit.
This chapter starts what will be my attempt to try and include all the characters competing in the Chess Olympics that I plan to spotlight, in the story. It also means commentaries will likely come out later than usual and be filled with lots of character bios. Speaking of which, lets do them. I won't go too in depth on every character though, due to how many there are.
オーレス・クルック (Ores Kruk) is how Ores' name is spelled in katakana. Руди Крук (Ores Kruk) is how it would be spelled in Ukrainian.
His birthday is June 25th, which he shares with Ukrainian grandmaster, Anton Korobov.
His favorite piece is the pawn, because he likes to socialize and pawns are like a crowd.
Ores is a nice guy that likes to liven up the mood and socialize with others. I originally meant to introduce him into the story earlier, but better late than never.
フセヴォロド・ヤンチュク (Vsevolod Yanchuk) is how Vsevolod's name would be written in katakana. Всеволод Янчук (Vsevolod Yanchuk) is how it would be written in Ukrainian.
His birthday is March 18th, which he shares with Ukrainian grandmaster, Vasyl Ivanchuk.
His favorite piece is the king, because he was once a legend of the game.
Vsevolod is an obvious homage to Ukrainian grandmaster, Vasyl Ivanchuk. I actually had plans for Vsevolod as far back as the planning stages of the arc, but only just now got the chance to include him in the story.
オレスト・コナヴァルチュク (Orest Konavalchuk) is how Orest's name would be written in katakana. Орест Конавальчук (Orest Konavalchuk) is how it would be written in Ukrainian.
His birthday is October 11th, which he shares with Ukrainian grandmaster, Ruslan Ponomariov.
His favorite piece is the king.
ドミトロ・ボンダルチュク (Dmytro Bondarchuk) is how Dmytro's name would be written in katakana. Дмитро Бондарчук (Dmytro Bondarchuk) is how it would be written in Ukrainian.
His birthday is October 18th, which he shares with Ukrainian grandmaster, Olexandr Bortnyk.
His favorite piece is the knight.
ピンカス・ヴァカルチュク (Pinkus Vakarchuk) is how Pinkus' name would be written in katakana. Пінкус Вакарчук (Pinkus Vakarchuk) is how it would be written in Ukrainian.
His birthday is December 29th, which he shares with Ukrainian grandmaster, Igor Kovalenko.
His favorite piece is the rook.
ベニー・ベン・ベン・ベンジャミン (Benny Ben Ben-Benjamin) is how Benny's name would be written in katakana. בני בן בן-בנימין (Benny Ben Ben-Benjamin) is how it would be written in Hebrew.
His birthday is November 1st, which he shares with Israeli grandmaster, Yair Kraidman.
His favorite piece is the bishop.
デイビー・アリエ (Davey Aryeh) is how Davey's name would be written in katakana. דייבי אריה (Davey Aryeh) is how it would be written in Hebrew.
His birthday is October 30th. The significance behind this is that the year, 1030 BCE was when Saul began his reign as king of Israel.
His favorite piece is the king, because he fashions himself the second coming of King David.
Davey is a little man with a big ego. He was previously prime minister of Israel before wagering it in an attempt to gain more land, and losing it all to the Babylonians. With the formation of the Israeli Kingdom of Simien, he naturally attempted to try and get back into power, but Orit actively tries to halt him, due to her contempt for his egotistical actions that led to Israelis losing their original country. While I do plan to eventually cover the events that led to Simien's creation, it likely won't be in this arc.
ベン・ストーラー (Ben Staller) is how Ben's name would be written in katakana. בן סטלר (Ben Staller) is how it would be written in Hebrew.
(If I made any mistakes with the translations, feel free to correct me).
His birthday is November 30th, which he shares with American actor and comedian, Ben Stiller.
His favorite piece is the king, since it moves the slowest.
Ending things off on a light note, Ben Staller is literally a pun on American actor and comedian, Ben Stiller. He likes to stall for time, but ironically enough will play like a madman when he gets low on time.
And with the bios done, onto the game. I've been wanting to showcase games with both Maccabee and Vsevolod, originally planning to do so having them face Okisato. But since those ideas didn't materialize, I decided to have them play each other.
In the game, Maccabee plays the Israeli gambit, also known as the Halász-McDonnell gambit. I guess since Israel is now Simien, the gambit would be called the Israeli-Simien gambit in the story, as well as the Halász-McDonnell gambit. Getting back to the game, this gambit can be pretty powerful, which was evident in the game. While doing research, I noticed that there were many articles calling the gambit "underestimated" or "underrated", hence the meaning behind the title. The gambit is also fun to play, and when I played it against the bots, I got this lovely game.
Now just two games remain before the round is over. This game was fun, but in terms of top 30 favorite games in the series contenders, it doesn't hold a candle to the game that will be showcased next. Trust me when I say it's amazing. And the best part is that the wait won't be too long, as said game will be showcased next chapter. Get hyped, because this next game is going to feature one of the most amazing scenarios in the entire series.
That's all for this commentary. I hope you enjoyed it.
