Jan 08, 2025
Author's Commentary #313:
Time to talk about Chapter 313: The real deal.
The games have begun and Daria has already won her game. Since I didn't get the chance to last commentary, I want to briefly go over the bios for the two new characters introduced last chapter.
ショシャナ・ルソン (Shoshana Luzon) is how Shoshana's name would be written in katakana. שושנה לוזון (Shoshana Luzon) is how her name would be spelled in Hebrew.
Her birthday is June 12th.
Her favorite piece is the knight as she feels it symbolizes a knight in shining armor.
Shoshana's character actually went through many revisions before arriving at the final product. First, she was energetic but edgy, then she was a bully meant to antagonize Noa, but now she's edgy and a bit morose.
オルダ・イチェン (Orda Ichen) is how Orda's name would be written in katakana. Орда Ичэн (Orda Ichen) is how his name would be spelled in Mongolian.
(If I made any mistakes with the translations, feel free to correct me).
His birthday is December 6th. Since there's no official birthday for the historical Orda, I decided to have this Orda's birthday be this date as 1206 was the year the historical Orda was born.
His favorite piece is the knight as he likes to do horseback archery.
Like Jochi, Orda is a human of this era that simply shares his name with a historical figure. He's easily the most underdeveloped character on the Mongolian team, but I have some ideas on what to do with his character.
As for the game between Daria and Orit, it was actually played against Chess.com's 2900 engine bot with assisted mode on. I'm honestly a tad surprised by how much that bot blunders. If you'll recall, it was subject to the humiliating defeat that would become the Okisato vs Xiao Lin match from Chapter 161: The Tumbleweed gambit. I also got a game that will be used in the future that ended in just 19 moves against the bot. Despite that though, I don't mind as it actually lend itself well narratively as just like the 2900-level executive board members, it messes up frequently.
One final thing to touch on is Noa. For her game, I set the engine to the maximum rating of 3200. The result is a thrilling 50-move plus game that will keep you on the edge of your seat. As for how this came to be, it was pure chance. I originally had no grand plans for Noa, but after deciding to have Japan face Simien in round 5, I needed someone to face Mimoko and give her a challenge. Golda was originally slated for the role, but since I wanted her to open with the Goldsmith Defense, I felt she'd be a more suitable opponent for Tenju. Thus, Noa was elevated to prodigy status.
On the topic of Noa's rating, she's still young in her chess journey, but as she gets more chances to display her prowess, it will get higher. She's also frequently subject to getting nervous, hence why she's nicknamed Nerva by Shoshana, which also can impede her progress. But Mimoko helped bring out her best due to her welcoming personality.
That's all for this commentary. I hope you enjoyed it.
