Nov 26, 2025
Author's Commentary #9:
Time to talk about Chapter 9: Psychopath.
First off, Cypress. He's dead. And that's it. In all honesty, Cypress' whole point was to be a throwaway villain. This is why I had no problem making him as scummy as he is.
His name could be written as シプレス・シカモア (Cypress Sycamore) in katakana.
His birthday is January 13th and his favorite piece is the king. Originally, his birthday was March 7th, but after learning that March 7th is the birthday of Alexandre Deschapelles, whom was regarded as one of the greatest chess players of the early 19th century, I decided to change it. The reason being that I felt Cypress wasn't deserving of sharing his birthday with one of the greatest chess players of his era and because I decided to base a different character off of Dechapelles, so naturally I want this character to have the March 7th birthday. Cypress' new birthday was chosen at random. I wouldn't be surprised if many of the random birthdays I chose for some of the characters are also the birthdays of famous chess players, however, I likely won't change anymore birthdays.
To elaborate a bit more on why Cypress dislikes women so much, he's encountered his fair share of crafty women which is why he's always wary of them. This eventually led to him hating women, and seeking to make their lives miserable. In short, he's the kind that would discriminate against women, but never underestimate them. Of course, that doesn't mean women still can't outwit him, which is exactly what happened here.
Now we'll discuss both the game, and the big twist of the chapter. Iori is an ex-murderer. She became addicted to the thrill of killing without getting caught at a young age, and ended up murdering thousands both for personal pleasure and monetary support. This led her to develop a high intellect, which she usually hides behind a foolish persona. Not once has she ever been caught, nor do the authorities suspect her, which highlights her terrifying talent. However, one day, she stopped killing and swore to herself to never kill again.
To go back to Iori's character bio, her true persona is why her birthday is April 1st. There are also some hints in her name that allude to her true nature a a killer, mainly her last name, 石切所, which contains the kanji for "cut"/"slice" which is certainly something Iori did a lot of when murdering people.
(If I made any mistakes with the translations, feel free to correct me).
As for the game, it was, you guessed it, another me vs the Chess.com bots original. I decided to theme the chapter around this game after realizing it had all the necessary qualities to make Iori's big reveal all the more thematic.
That's all for this commentary. I hope you enjoyed it.
