Apr 13, 2025
Author's Commentary #27:
Time to talk about Chapter 27: Pop quiz.
This is another new chapter added to Season 1, this time expanding on the round 2 games of Mimoko and Okisato. And just like round 1, it introduces characters that originally debuted in Season 7, but that I decided to have introduced earlier. Let's talk more about them.
マカビー・ベン・ホーリン (Maccabee Ben-Horin) is how Maccabee's name is spelled in katakana. מכבי בן-חורין (Maccabee Ben-Horin) is how his name would be spelled in Hebrew.
His birthday is June 24th, which he shares with Belarusian-Israeli grandmaster, Boris Gelfrand.
His favorite piece is the knight as it can move as it pleases.
Maccabee was originally born in Tel Aviv, but immigrated to America. He shares his name with the Maccabees, a group of Jewish rebels that overthrew the Seleucid empire in the 2nd century BCE, which eventually led to the celebration of Hannukah. As such, Maccabee often carries around dreidels, 4-sided tops each containing a Hebrew letter, as they are often associated with Hanukkah.
ミリャナ・マジッチ (Mirjana Majić) is how Mirjana's name would be spelled in katakana. Мирјана Мајић (Mirjana Majić) is how it would be spelled in Montenegrin (Cyrillic).
(If I made any mistakes with the translations, feel free to correct me).
Her birthday is March 24th, which she shares with Hungarian-American escapologist, illusionist, and stunt performer, Harry Houdini.
Her favorite piece is the queen.
Mirjana is very hardworking and active, often being the one having to do everything for Montenegro's president to keep the country running smoothly. In terms of hobbies, she's fascinated with magic tricks, and likes to practice them in her spare time.
As for the game, Maccabee plays the Israeli gambit, also known as the Halász-McDonnell gambit. This gambit can be pretty powerful if your opponent is unfamiliar with it. This gambit first appeared in a game in Season 7, but since I decided to have Maccabee debut earlier, I figured he should play this gambit in his game against Mimoko. A gifted player like Mimoko was naturally able to pass this test with flying colors. As such, I decided to name the chapter "Pop quiz", not just for the fact that Mimoko is effectively being quizzed on how to properly counter Maccabee's moves, but also because Maccabee himself is a father, thus the "pop" in the title could hold a double meaning.
As for why I chose Maccabee and Mirjana to be the second round opponents, Maccabee, or rather someone related to him, will become a very important character later on in the series. As such, I figured I'd have them both debut in Season 1. It also makes sense for Maccabee to frequently travel to Japan as his wife was Japanese. Mirjana on the other hand, I simply wanted to introduce earlier.
And with that, Mimoko's 1st and 2nd round games, which were previously off-screened have now been shown in all their glory. All that remains in terms of major revisions is Okisato's game against Mirjana, then it's pretty much the same as the original version. It won't have a dedicated chapter to it, but I promise the game will be shown in it's entirety and that it will hold great overall importance beyond this tournament.
That's all for this commentary. I hope you enjoyed it.
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