Mar 18, 2025
Author's Commentary #382:
Time to talk about Chapter 382: An Irish encounter.
As mentioned in the previous commentary, this chapter was originally set to be the chapter that would release on St. Patrick's Day. However, I felt a chapter featuring the regular Irish gambit being played, and having Sorcha win the game with it in 7 moves was more fitting to celebrate the day. This chapter was actually written first though, in fact, both this and the previous chapter were some of the last chapters I wrote in the rest day arc before starting on the round 7 chapters.
And for more fun facts, this marks the second time in the series an Irishwoman has played the Chigorin Irish gambit and lost with it, right after an Irishwoman played the Irish gambit and won with it. To go even further, if we count the original draft of Chapter 119: Irish Chigorin countergambit, it would be the second time an Irishwoman has played said gambit against Mimoko and lost with it. It's ironic that despite the Chigorin, Irish gambit being the better of the two Irish gambits, it loses more than it's less sound counterpart.
While the Chess.com bot I played against for this match was only rated 2000, I was still surprised at how quickly it lost. Though I'm not complaining as what I got was amazing. I don't think this game will be making my top 30 favorite games in the series list, but it most certainly was one of the more fun ones to write. Now let's talk more about the new character, Saoirse.
シアーシャ・オドハティ (Saoirse O'Doherty) is how Saoirse's name would be spelled in katakana.
Her birthday is July 27th. 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, because like a book, it has limitless potential.
Saoirse actually came about for a few reasons. First off, while Sorcha is definitely staying bald for the entirety of the series, I really did like how her hair looked, which combined with the fact that I decided to modify Sorcha's role in this arc, led to Saoirse's creation. Her character though is heavily inspired by Shizuka Yoshimoto from The 100 Girlfriends Who Really, Really, Really, Really, Really Love You. She is Sorcha's younger half-sister and Ireland's sole DSPCM, hailing from Dublin. Her rating is actually 2777, making her a formidable force on the chessboard, but she is also incredibly shy when faced with large crowds. Had I thought of her earlier, I definitely would have had her be part of the Irish women's team, but since I only recently thought of her, I'll state that the reason she isn't competing is mainly due to Fidelma's antics. She is registered as the team coach though.
And now, the Irish mini-arc has concluded, but we won't be shifting back to Kisha just yet. Next up, it's time to check in on some of the folks who ended up blue thanks to the 6B blueberry juice. I hope you're looking forward to it.
That's all for this commentary. I hope you enjoyed it.
