Jan 27, 2025
Author's Commentary #321
Time to talk about Chapter 321: Symphony of the Black Mustang minefield.
Easily one of my favorite chapter titles, and it's packed to the brim with stuff. Skaberghast is playing as Black against Ognjen, and naturally destroys him. While Denmark will likely lose the match, it doesn't make Ognjen's loss any less humiliating for him. Speaking of which, let's talk about him as well as all the other characters introduced this chapter.
ใใดใซใใณใปใขใซใใฃใชใจใชใค (Tvrtko Artiljerija) is how Tvrtko's name would be spelled in katakana.
His birthday is February 4th, which is the day the design for the flag of Bosnia and Herzegovina was adopted.
His favorite piece is the rook, since it's the artillery piece of the chessboard.
Tvrtko's a grizzled Bosniack, who not only served in the Bosnian war, but also served as the Bosniack co-leader of Bosnia and Herzegovina before passing the role onto Miralem. He's now actually the DSCPM of Sarajevo, and is semi-retired from politics.
ใฌใใฃใฏใปใชในใใใฎใใ (Refik Osmanagiฤ) is how Refik's name would be spelled in katakana.
His birthday is June 1st, which he shares with Bosnian businessman, Semir Osmanagiฤ.
His favorite piece is the pawn, because they can form the strongest of pyramids.
Refik is easily my favorite of the Bosnians, mainly because he's just funny conehead Bosnian pyramid guy. He's an obvious parody of and homage to Semir Osmanagiฤ, who's most famous for his Bosnian pyramid claims. For those who don't know, Osmanagiฤ claims the natural hills in Visko, Bosnia and Herzegovina, contain pyramids. Refik claims the same thing and then some, even to be the distant cousin of Semir Osmanagiฤ himself.
ใปใคใใปใดใกใฌใทใฃใใดใฃใใ (Sejad Vareลกanoviฤ) Is how Sejad's name would be spelled in katakana.
His birthday is September 20th. I chose the date at random, so there's no greater significance behind why this date is his birthday.
His favorite piece is the rook, as it's representative of Bosnian artillery in his eyes.
In contrast to the others, Sejad is actually the most chill and uneccentric of the bunch. That being said, he still has a tendency to leap in the air and shout "Artiljerija" when about to throw a punch or make an artiljerija-style piece capture on the board.
ใดใฉใซใใฌใณใฐใปใใฅใคใฐ (Wolfgang Muiig) is how Wolfgang's name is spelled in katakana.
His birthday is January 27th, which he shares with famous musical composer, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.
His favorite piece is the bishop as it's movement patter reminds him the most of a violin.
Wolfgang is the true newest addition to the series, as he wasn't even a thing until literally a day ago. He didn't even have artwork up, nor did I even have plans to have an Austrian men's team, as I didn't even know what to fully do with the women's team. But the song antiphona (้ณๆบ) by a_hisa vs KV.S&ใฏใใใพ from the arcade game, MรSECA, is what not only inspired this chapter, but also Wolfgang's character, and the plotline for the entire Austrian team. In fact, that song, or at the least a song that sounds quite similar to it, is what plays during the match. Just goes to show the power of music.
ใชใฐใใงใณใปใจใฌใพใดใฃใใ (Ognjen Elezoviฤ) is how Ognjen's name would be spelled in Japanese. ะะณัะตะฝ ะะปะตะทะพะฒะธั (Ognjen Elezoviฤ) is how his name would be spelled in Serbian (Cyrillic).
(If I made any mistakes with the translations, feel free to correct me).
His birthday is April 6th, which he shares with Bosnian grandmaster, Borki Predojeviฤ.
His favorite piece is the king, because he considers himself a refined ruler.
As stated in the chapter, Ognjen is a Bosnian-Serb. If you know anything about Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the Balkans as a whole, you'll know ethnic tensions are pretty bad there. While things will be toned down in the story, tensions will still remain. A few months ago, I never would have imagined I'd explore a plotline with the Balkans. Even though women's teams hailing from Balkan nations did have artwork of them, the storylines I had for their characters back then were incredibly basic, like everyone's a model, basic. It just goes to show how one song can really inspire me, as had I not stumbled upon Bosanska Artiljerija, the story would look a bit different. Not by much, but still different from what I now plan to do with it.
As for the game, it has an interesting backstory. It starts out with the Zukertort Opening: Black Mustang Defense, before becoming a minefield of a game, hence the chapter title. And in this position, the Chess.com bot opponent blundered multiple times, the most surprising one being at the end with the mate in 3. That alone made it worth considering for use in the series.
That's all for this commentary. I hope you enjoyed it.
