It wasn't the first time Tachibana and Kanako sat face-to-face with a chessboard between them. Under the roof of National High School's exam hall, these two child prodigies would face each other once again.
In contrast to their uncharacteristic first match as children, both of these prodigies would play at full strength, fully committed to defeating their opponent. After practising profusely prior to the finals, they were as strong as they would ever be.
"It's been a while, Kanako Hanae."
"Yeah, it has."
"I've been waiting for this day."
"Sorry about last time. It was just... I wasn't in the right headspace."
"The past is the past. I just want to play against you. With my all, I'll play against you at your all."
Looking up at the clock near the front of the exam hall, it ticked closer and closer to the designated time. Both girls then looked down at the board, ready as ever to begin playing.
One look at the two girls' attributes, and you'd believe that the game would be over within seconds.
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Tachibana Emi - Second-Year Student
Overall Intelligence: **Unreleased**
Athletic Ability: **Unreleased**
Interpersonal Skills: **Unreleased**
Spatial Awareness: **Unreleased**
Lateral Thinking Capacity: A+ (Ranked #6 out of 417 in school)
_
Appearance: **Unreleased**
Cooperative Reliability: D (Ranked #264 out of 417 in school)
Creative Ability: **Unreleased**
~~~
Overall Score: A+
Consistency: **Unreleased**
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But the game would not be as predictable as it may seem.
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Kanako Hanae- Second-Year Student
Overall Intelligence: **Unreleased**
Athletic Ability: **Unreleased**
Interpersonal Skills: **Unreleased**
Spatial Awareness: **Unreleased**
Lateral Thinking Capacity: C (Ranked #209 out of 417 in school)
_
Appearance: **Unreleased**
Cooperative Reliability: B+ (Ranked #131 out of 417 in school)
Creative Ability: **Unreleased**
~~~
Overall Score: E+
Consistency: **Unreleased**
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***
***
The time was 10:00 am.
Kanako instantly played B3, the exact same move she played against Tachibana all those years ago. Kanako's hypermodern Larson's Opening.
In response, Tachibana played E5, a standard move and the same move she played last time against Kanako.
Kanako then played Bishop to B2, a fianchetto on the queen's side.
In the exact same position as before, the two girls finally began to diverge from the old, inaccurate line that Kanako had played all those years ago.
Slowly bringing her pieces forwards, Kanako began wrapping around Tachibana, beginning to constrict her. However, Tachibana was not like any other opponent. In the same way as Mizuhara-kun or Murakami-kun, she was capable of making some engine-perfect moves, not losing any ground to Kanako.
Carefully manipulating the formation of the board, Tachibana was able to slowly push Kanako's pieces away, moving them to less dangerous locations. Kanako's iron grip over the chess game was starting to get unravelled.
However, Kanako was not even close to finished. All of a sudden, she played a series of completely unexpected moves. Looking down in confusion, Tachibana tried to understand the reasoning behind them. To her, they all seemed weird, incoherent and wasteful.
But still worried, Tachibana played more defensively, making sure she didn't leave an opening to be exploited. However, this was Kanako's strategy the entire time. With more space to work with due to Tachibana's change in play style, she was able to begin strangling her again.
Meticulously, Kanako brought her pieces closer and closer to Tachibana's king. Carefully making their way over, Tachibana found herself losing more and more space and gradually falling into weaker positions.
She knew that if it kept going like this, her position would only continue to deteriorate. In an attempt to break the hold of Kanako's anaconda-like grip, Tachibana sacrificed her bishop.
Creating a small opening in Kanako's carefully constructed web of pieces, Tachibana began pushing forward toward her king. Now that she was under attack, Tachibana was forced to begin repositioning all of her pieces again. Moving them around the board in a very calculated way, Kanako was able to rebuild her dangerous web.
Finding herself stuck once again, Tachibana began to see the holes that were opening up in her own defences. Whilst the bishop sacrifice succeeded in buying more time, Tachibana was unable to utilise it effectively. Against Kanako's absolutely crushing tactics, Tachibana found herself in a losing position.
Slowly, Kanako pushed forward, trading off pieces and pulling the defenders away from Tachibana's king. Eventually, Tachibana was completely losing. Her position was completely undefendable, and the game was basically over.
The two girls played a few more moves, but the result was already clear.
"I resign."
Tachibana stuck out her hand. Kanako graciously shook it, smiling at her.
"That was a good game," said Tachibana.
"It was a lot of fun. You're really talented as well."
"Ah, well I still can't compete against you, Kanako."
Tying up loose ends caused by their turbulent first match. The two girls finally played the proper game of chess that their younger selves wanted.
[Kanako Hanae Victory]
***
On a nearby table, the white-haired girl from the Ideal Human Project was playing her match against a very intelligent student who was recently promoted to class A.
"I wish you luck," said Hamasaki.
"Likewise."
The time was 10:00 am.
Starting the game off in a controlled manner, Hamasaki played a very standard opening, moving her pawn to E4.
Hasegawa responded with E5.
Then came Knight C3.
Then Knight F6.
After that, Hamasaki played the Italian game, a very basic opening.
Playing the normal three-knights game, Hasegawa responded with normal moves.
At this point, Hamasaki revealed her true intentions. With knight to G5, she would prepare to initiate the Fried Liver Attack. This was usually an opening used by intermediate players to trap beginner players who'd only learned basic opening principles. The line usually ended halfway through since the later moves were not very well known.
However, both of these girls knew the entire line--the entire long, complex and tactical line of the Fried Liver Attack.
But, under stress, Hamasaki accidentally made a mistake. Right in the middle of the line, she played the wrong move.
As a result, Hasegawa was completely winning.
And in the end, that made all the difference.
[Hasegawa Mio Victory]
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