Jul 06, 2024
Author's Commentary #1:
I've decided to do some author's commentary for this novel. So first off, let's talk about Chapter 1: An Underground chess match.
If you read this when it first came out, you'll notice that this chapter has undergone some major revisions. In addition to updating my writing style, I also added in some things to better flesh out the story, like giving a better explanation on the WWCF cards and introducing Mimoko's family here rather than at the start of season 2.
Now for the game. The game took reference from Gunnar Gundersen vs A H Faul primarily due to it having an en passant checkmate. According to chess.com, the rarity of getting an en passant checkmate is 1 in 200,000. As for the game in this chapter, I actually had to change a move Okisato's 11th move from Kf1 to Ke2 since the former would have resulted in Inojin having a chance at victory while this new move seals his defeat after he captures the rook at a1 and promotes his pawn to a queen. Believe it or not, a victory for Okisato was still guaranteed even with the original Kf1 followed by the bxa1=Q move. However, it wouldn't have been an en passant checkmate, so the move needed to be changed in order to prevent Inojin from having a shot at victory. Another notable change was that I nerfed Inojin by downgrading his rating from 2120 to 1321. I mainly did it because I felt an over 2000-rated player wouldn't make the mistake of promoting the pawn since doing so leads to mate.
Before we end, let's discuss the main male protagonist, Okisato Tanabe. He's just you average Japanese high school student, or so he claims. Turns out he's got a rating of 2434, showing he's highly skilled at chess. He obviously takes a lot of inspiration from Kiyotaka Ayanokoji from Classroom of the elite. I essentially wanted him to be Ayanokoji with a chuuni twist, which is why he acted the way he did at the end of the match.
Some of you might have noticed that he actually got a redesign. The reason for that was because I didn't quite like his initial design much and decided to change it. I think his new look is far more fitting for his character than the old one.
In kanji, his name is spelled 田辺 興郷 (Tanabe Okisato).
His first name, 興郷 can translate to "enthusiasm" and "hometown". It can also mean "to become lively" which is certainly what Okisato does when his victory's in sight. As for his last name, 田辺 it can translate to "rice paddy" and "edge". Obviously, it's referring to the edge as in the outermost part of something, but Okisato can be edgy. Another reason I chose this as his last name was because it is common, which is fitting for Okisato who is trying to pass as just a normal person.
(If I made any mistakes with the translations, feel free to correct me).
He shares his birthday, July 6th, with Adolf Anderssen, a German chess master and unofficial chess world champion known for his sacrificial play style and for being the rival of the legendary chess player, Paul Morphy.
Finally, as stated in his character bio, his favorite piece is the pawn. To him, pawns are the most useful pieces both on and off the board.
That's all for this commentary. I hope you enjoyed it.
