Dec 19, 2025
Author's Commentary #16:
Time to talk about Chapter 16: Farm-fresh Fried Liver.
For those who don't know, the Fried Liver Attack is one of the first things new chess players learn. It's a good move for beginners, but naturally it's not as viable at higher levels of play. I definitely wanted to include at least one game featuring it though which is why I had Rodeo play it in this game. Rodeo's a beginner so the move was perfect for someone like him to use, not to mention his opponent was a rookie too.
Utami also won her match and did so by delivering a smothered mate to Maria. For those who don't know, a smothered mate occurs when you checkmate with just the knight. I definitely wanted to have a smothered mate in the series due to how satisfying it is to pull off. Speaking of which, lets do the bios for Abigail, Maria, and Mona.
アビゲイル・ボフィン (Abigail Boffin) is how Abigail's name is spelled in katakana.
Her birthday is June 1st. I chose this day at random so there's no real significance behind why this day is her birthday.
Her favorite piece is the bishop because she thinks they're strong.
モナ・アテル (Mona Atel) is how Mona's name is spelled in katakana.
Her birthday is March 1st. I chose this date at random so there's no real significance behind why this day is her birthday.
Her favorite piece is the rook, mainly due to it's endgame value.
マリア・ヴィクシュタウチュチー (Maria Wykształciuchy) is how Maria's name is spelled in kanji. A fun fact is that all the college girls have surnames that are derivatives of "egghead" in other cultures.
Her birthday is August 1st. I chose this date at random so there's no real significance behind why this date is her birthday, though it could be argued that since it is the first day of the month, it relates to Maria thinking she's the smartest in the world. Same for Mona and Abigail who have a birthday on the first day of the month.
Her favorite piece is the queen, mainly because she views herself as a queen.
At this point, the worst that could happen to the chess club is them drawing the team event and Yuusuke and Numakawa being subjected to the mini-punishments. If Numakawa wins, the group gets a free trip to London and can even skip the 12 hour flight. Of course, that's only if the team as a whole pulls off the win.
That's all for this commentary. I hope you enjoyed it.
