Elephant Chess Cup 11 - Everything Thread

[Germanic Cat]

Board 1. Viktor Semenov

ELO: 2735

Summary: Germanic Cat's number one Grandmaster, Viktor is feared for his impenetrable defensive style. Raised in the capital, Gerberlania, he learned chess on the streets before dominating international tournaments. He is nicknamed "The Wall of Gerberlania."

Board 2. Emilia Duarte

ELO: 2580

Summary: Known as "The Queen of Claws," Emilia is a fiercely aggressive player. She has taken Germanic Cat to the top in junior tournaments and is now one of the great hopes for the Women's World Championship.

Board 3. Koji Tanaka

ELO: 2662

Summary: Although his name reveals his foreign roots, Koji grew up in Germanic Cat from a young age. He is the current national champion and famous for his composure in the most tense games. He prefers strategic structures where his impeccable calculation shines.

Board 4. Samuel "Sam" Becker

ELO: 2478

Summary: Sam is the chess "scientist" of Germanic Cat. He specializes in preparing unusual openings to surprise his opponents. He is currently the head coach of the country's youth team and a model of dedication for the new generations.

My opponent, if they RP first, may do the following:
Choose my lineup: No
Decide board results: No
Decide moves made: yes
Godmod game events: No
Godmod other events: Yes

[Katzeburg]

Mark Jensen absolutely hated flying with a fierce passion. Despite his past as a high flying (literally) executive, he never found the ease of flight travel to be as relaxing as some of his former colleagues would tell him.

Maybe it was down to the rickety flights he took in his youth, forced onto tiny seaplanes which the winds of the Katzeburgian Sea would decimate just in order to get to the mainland to further his own studies. Or maybe it was just flights didn't make sense in his mind. The fact one could go and sit in a giant metal bird and sit thousands of metres above the ground all while sipping a cold glass of beer; it confounded his own way of thinking.

He had tried many things to try and quell the nerves, but none seemed to really do the trick. Drinking before, mid, and after flight? Nothing but giving him a good buzz which didn't help with business negotiation. Anxiety meds? Worked for the most part, until that damn flight from South Newlandia. The very flight he was back on as the Ynysgard Chess Club made its way to Newport to try the impossible and defend its Elephant Chess Cup title.

Sat in the middle of a row of three with Emilia and Nora bookending him, Mark gripped the armrests with increasing pressure as the engines whirred into life and the plane begun its advance down the main runway of Katzestadt International Airport with building speed.

Things had taken on an extra hit of anxiety of late as well when it came to flying, as before quitting his job with the Bank of Katzeburg, he often flew alone, struggling solely in his anxiety. But as a member of the slightly refresh Ynysgard Chess Club, he now how people to fly with. And somehow that made things much worse.

On the flight over to TJUN-ia for the Grand Casaran of Chess, something which Mark would go on to win in something which represented quite a shock for not only him, but the multiverse chess circuit, he recalled freaking out so hard he had to ‘calmly’ excuse himself mid flight and have a minor breakdown in the plane toilet, coming out 25 minutes later to accusations that he had clogged the toilet up so hard the flight attendants had to shut down the toilet for the rest of the flight.

Thankfully, out of the two he was travelling with, Emilia was understanding. Klaus was several beers deep and too drunk to notice what was going on, but Emilia was understanding. The teacher kindly just sat with Mark upon his return and just grasped his hand in silence. A calming influence but one which was over washed by the pure shame and embarrassment which Mark found himself feeling for even letting himself feel like this to begin with.

And so as the plane continued to build speed to head back towards South Newlandia on a flight path the last time he flew on somewhat of an epiphany occured, he was dreading it entirely. Wishing he could jump off. Wishing he could stop the flight and just somehow play remotely.

He felt a hand grasp the top of his. Emilia.

“You ok?” Emilia said.

“Not… Not really,” Mark chuckled nervously.

“It will be ok. I'll be here the whole time and thankfully it's just a short trip over the sea.”

“That's what I am worried about.”

“You can do this, Mark. Just close your eyes and take a deep breath in.” Mark obliged.

“Is this supposed to do something to calm me down?”

“Not really, I just needed you to have your eyes closed to knick one of your pre-flight sweets.”

“Hey!” Mark snapped back to reality and chuckled. “You can have them, they don't really fit well with the meds.”

The plane finally hit top speed on the ground, building towards launching itself into the sky. Mark gulped.

“You ready?” Emilia said.

“Not at all,” Mark said staring straight ahead nervously. “You?”

“For the flight, yes. For what's ahead? Not in the slightest.”

[Lanansia]

Following the first set of games, the Lanansian team heads back to their hotel, and sits down in Stefan's room, gathering around a Chess board and a computer to review their games.

"Alright, let's see the damage," Stefan jokes, pulling up his game with Koralsk's Board 1, James Johnson.

"How are we tied with Koralsk when their ratings are this low?" Katarina muses, looking over the results of the matchups.

"Honestly, yeah. Their board 1 is a 1700 for gods sakes, how are they doing this good?" Anya points out.

"Maybe the KCF just has a different rating system them ours," Dmitri points out.

They pull up the Dvořák v. Johnson game, watching the two's battle of wits.

"Oh the Ruy Lopez, daring today, aren't you, Stef?" Jan jokes, as Stefan plays his typical opening vs John.

"Oh, shut up, Jan," Stefan scoffs, shoving Jan away from the board.

They continue analyzing the game, and then move on to Katarina's, then Dmitri's, and then Anyas, then analyzing their game against Banija.

"We did much better here," Katarina observes.

"Well, the Banijans didn't do so hot against Katzeburg either," Dmitri says.

"True. We'll have to see if their team steps their game up," Katarina remarks.

After reviewing the last game, 2 hours of studying and reviewing, Stefan stands up.

"Alright, let's go get a drink, eh?" he says, heading to the door before Katarina grabs his arm.

"You can grab a drink once the tournament's over, Stefan."

"Kat's right," Dmitri says. "You'd get blackout drunk and come to the next round hungover."

"Ugh," Stefan groans. "Fine."

The team gradually leaves Stefan's room, with Dmitri and Katarina being the last to leave. As they are walking to their rooms, Katarina groans.

"He's so annoying, by the gods," she says.

"Ya. Goes to show you that talent and maturity to not coincide," Dmitri responds.

"I'm literally paying the bartender to refuse service to him for as long as the tournament's going on."

Dmitri laughs. 'Seriously?"

"Yes, seriously" Katarina responds. "You wouldn't be laughing if you were the person paying for our board 1 to not show up drunk every round."

"Ya, he kinda reminds me of Mozart in a way," Dmitri responds.

"Incredibly talented but also an annoying man child?" Katarina asks.

"Yup, precisely," Dmitri confirms. "See you tomorrow, Kat. Good night."

"Good night, Dmitri. See you tomorrow," Katarina responds, smiling at Dmitri as she opens the door to her room, walks in, and shuts it behind her.

[Eshialand]

The Eshian National Chess Team

Let's not repeat that.

If ECC X could be put into one word, it would be a very very simple one: disaster. A completely unmitigated disaster. In fact, it was a disaster so bad that maybe it was a good idea to completely forget that it ever happened. Instead, it was a good idea to think about better tournaments, like the Esportiva Sporting Festi—

Oh right, and that one was another choked final. Well, I do suppose that is the most Eshian sort of result you can get in a chess tournament, dominant in every stage right up until it's time to win the big one, where everyone coincidentally forgets that Not Hanging Pawns is, in fact, a good idea. 0-4 in major chess tournament finals, at least they're consistent hey?

ECC XI was a chance for this team to bounce back, but by no means is it easy to bounce back from something when it consistently haunts your mental state. This is a mind sport, after all. The mental state literally is everything, no exaggeration.

Board 1: Jason SEVERN
Age: 32
Favorite Openings: Ruy Lopez (White), Sicilian Dragon (Black)
Playstyle: A vibrant attacking style that prioritizes beautiful combinations rather than brute force.

Board 2: Mary NERATA
Age: 41
Favorite Openings: Italian (White), Petroff (Black)
Playstyle: Highly defensive, and unwilling to take too many risks. She'll often offer/accept draws despite being in an unclear position just because it's the safer option.

Board 3: Jamie CARTWRIGHT
Age: 17
Favorite Openings: London System (White), Scandinavian Defense (Black)
Playstyle: What Jamie lacks in experience, he makes up for by throwing the opponent off of their experience and prep. Expect strange novelties right out of the opening if he comes to your board, and never keep your eye off the ball: he's studied lines far weirder than most others have.

Board 4: Stephanie JACOBSON
Age: 37
Favorite Openings: Ruy Lopez (White), King's Indian (Black)
Playstyle: Stephanie has always believed in the power of knights over bishops, and as such is known for trading away her bishops for her opponent's knights, as well as keeping the game relatively closed in order to show her knights' true potential.

Reserve: Alan BLAINE
Age: 43
Favorite Openings: Vienna Game (White), Caro-Kann (Black)
Playstyle: Alan's strategy tends to revolve around making the game so complicated that no human can possibly take it apart. In theory, that should work, but in practice, it tends to backfire a lot.

My opponent, if they RP first, may do the following:
Choose my lineup: Yes.
Decide board results: Yes.
Decide moves made: Yes.
Godmod game events: Usually yes, but if you think something is ridiculous you can send me a TG/DM.
Godmod other events: Same as above.

In general, I'm always happy to collaborate, so feel free to TG/DM me about anything!

[The North Polish Union]

The North Polish Union 2½–1½ Vielfaltig

The Union would open ECC11 with a matchup against Vielfaltig, who smacked them ½–3½ in Esportivan regional competition for their worst loss of the tournament. However, only 3 of the 8 players from that matchup were competing today, and so this turned out to be a very different matchup. Boards 1, 3, and 4 saw draws but on board 2 Miefodiij Ihnatjew earned himself a passed rook pawn in exchange for submitting to a frightening kingside attack from Felix Tremblay. After a the game hung in a balance for quite a while, Inhnatjew found a tactical shot, winning a knight, the game, and the match.

Felix Tremblay - Miefodij Ihnatjew
White (to play) must give up material after either 1. Rxa2 Qc1+ 2. Kg2 Qxf4 or 1. Qe7 Qc6 2. Nh3 Qh1+ 3. Ng1 Nc8

Kamiński - Etienne, ½-½
Tremblay - Ihnatjew, 0-1
Theiss - Salucci, ½-½
Schulz - Hryc, ½-½

The North Polish Union 3-1 Hapilopper

Round 2 of the tournament pitted the North Polish team against ECC9 champions Hapilopper. Missing ECC10 clearly hadn't been kind to their opponents as the Union won on both of the top boards for an easy 3-1 victory. Ihnatjew won another, even flashier finish involving promotion threats (don't give this guy a passed pawn!). As a result, they sit atop Group A after the first matchday alongside TJUN-ia (who leads by 1 game in the standings).

Curt Matthews - Miefodij Ihnatjew
Black (to play) wins after 1... Rc1+ 2. Nxc1 d2 as there is no way to stop promotion

Kamiński - Hayden, 1-0
Matthews - Ihnatjew, 0-1
Theiss - Twist, ½-½
Thompson - Hryc, ½-½

Results by player:
Jacenty Kamiński: 1.5/2
Miefodij Ihnatjew: 2/2
Kristian Theiss: 1/2
Siarhiej Hryc: 1/2
Klaus Moeller: 0/0

[Banija]

Banija at the Elephant Chess Cup- Busukuma Players Club

The Busukuma Players Club, a chess playing society, has sent a delegation to South Newlandia for the Elephant Chess Cup. While the game itself is quite popular, the organization after university level play is severely lacking. While pretty much every Banijan university has a chess team, playing afterwards competitively can be a challenge. There are various groups in different places that play chess, either alumni groups, or high-class societies, or even just on the streets in parks and what not.

The Busukuma Players Club is a group that takes Chess seriously. The membership fees are $200 NSDs per month- and they usually rent out space among various country clubs in the Banijan capitol to play. It has had many famous members, including politicians, and royals, among its number. But- you have to live in the city, or its surrounding suburbs, to be allowed to join. Alumni status can be granted to former champions who leave. It's an institution from colonial times- originally founded by Quebecois colonial administrators in the 1850s, and after about a decade quickly becoming dominated by the 'ruling elite' class of Banijans who really administered the colony.

This year, their board considered it a priority to enter players into the Elephant Chess Cup. While there are no national chess organizations, no other local/regional chess clubs challenged the Busukuma Players Club, as very few others would have even the funds to get them there. And so Busukuma took the Banijan slots unchallenged, with the endorsement of the Olympic Committee(who has no role in organizing any sort of chess anything in the country).

Then, of course, came the big question- how would they choose who would represent Banija? Considering a mixture of needs to be competitive, and proper funding, and whatever else, the Busukuma Players Club has come up with a way to determine its four qualifiers.

#1 They would vote in a former champion who did not participate in the most recent edition of the Busukuma Players Club championship.
#2 The top two finishers in this year's Busukuma Players Championship.
#3 A youth entry spot. This would be determined via a four way tournament between the city's HS champion, the metropolitan area's top ranked HS chess player, and the top two ranked college players from area universities. The winner gets what they are calling the 'youth entry' spot.

As for funding for the tournament, Sebastian Kabuye and Kagere David are funding all of the expenses for all four members of the Banijan delegation out of pocket.

Board 1:
Nyakeezi Iguru, 25
The only women as a part of this foursome is Nyakeezi Iguru, she is the reigning Busukuma Players Club champion. Three years ago, she graduated from the University of Loyola-Jinja as the national collegiate runner-up. It was brutal- losing to a different Loyola-Istria player in the national championship each year. And you know how these Loyola-Jinja players feel about main campus- she's once described Loyola-Istria as 'the most arrogant institution in the entire Kingdom'. And while she never won a national championship in college, she was someone who was from Busukuma- grew up here. And so coming back to the capitol after college, she became eligible to become a member, and play in the tournaments down here.

In her third year entering, she won the Busukuma Players Club Championship- and now will represent the club here in South Newlandia. Considered to be the very best of the 4 Banijans here, she told reporters that she 'expects a slog', and that she is ready for international competition.

Board 2:
Sebastian Kabuye, 54 years old
Kabuye is much better known by his day job- as the Quarterbacks Coach of Northern Moravica University gridiron. An assistant there for the last few years, doing both the RB coach and the QB coach position, he lived in Busukuma for a long time as the head coach of the Cass Tech HS gridiron program- the nation's premier high school gridiron program. But while living there he was a dedicated chess player. The Kabuyes were a family that were formerly part of the Banijan nobility, until political reforms stripped nobility of their titles in 1906. So it's a game he's played his entire life, and while dedicating himself to gridiron, he has always played. He's a lifetime member of the Busukuma Players Club despite not living in and around the capitol anymore, due to threepeating as the Players Club champion in his last 3 years in Busukuma.

He did a lot to grow chess at the HS level, as well, while a gridiron coach there- he created the first Busukuma Public Schools chess competition, and used his own money to ensure that Cass Tech HS would host it. He's also the son of the previous NMU head coach, Lance Kabuye, and the husband of the current NMU head coach, Hannah McKendry-Kabuye.

Board 3:
Kagere David, 26
It's not that crazy to see a royal here, right? Kagere David is the grandnephew of the Kabaka, and so yet another member of the Katende clan reaches prominence via international sporting competition. Kagere, of course, is his title, the English equivalent of Lord. While he has seen many of his cousins gain renowned prowess and fame for their athletic accomplishments, particularly the 'Peerless Princes' who won back to back gold medals in 3x3 men's Olympic basketball, he's always been one for pursuits like chess.

He was one of 6 royals to sign up for the Busukuma Players Club championships, and he made a run all the way to the final. While he lost the Final, he still was able to qualify for the Elephant Chess Cup, with his run including a huge upset win over last year's collegiate national champion(who now lives in Banija), a NMU grad.

Board 4:
Oby Dike, 19
The youth entrant. Prodigy might be a big term... But Dike is definitely a young, talented player. The format for the four way tournament was simple- single round robin. And no tiebreakers- if people were tied for the top record, they would play a one-game playoff. The two college players, naturally, dominated the two high schoolers. A good experience for the high schoolers, of course, and a great publicity move to get the game in front of more high schoolers. But it was the two college players who would compete for a chance to go to South Newlandia. Dike is a player at the University of the Hills- a school that not many have heard of, and not really known for much of anything sports wise. For the spot, he played a freshman from Kizza I College, a much bigger and more well known school.

But- it was all about Dike. He pulled off the upset, and has probably given this smaller, residential public school something that it has quite literally never had in the past- an international spotlight(no matter how small). They even had a small sendoff ceremony, attended by about 100 students- where he was given a highland hare, an animal that is his school's mascot, to bring with him to South Newlandia as a good luck charm. It will be a crazy time for a kid who's never so much has been on a plane at any point in his life- but might be able to be considered part of the future of the sport in the Banijan capitol.

RP permissions are fair game- except permanent structural damage in Banija, and the killing, or permanent injury, of any Banijans.

[The Kytler Peninsulae]

This was theoretically a good time for the Scholars to face their toughest on-paper test, against an Eshian team fresh from a painful final defeat in the Esportiva Sporting Festival and reportedly facing delays in their RPD supply chain. With only the group winners to advance automatically to the Super Six, taking advantage of breaks like that were all-important.

Unfortunately, while Eshialand may not have had RPDs or happy memories, they did have Jamie Cartwright.

Jamie Cartwright v Michael Radley, Elephant Chess Cup 11 Group B

1. Nc3 d5 2. d4 Nf6 3. Bf4 c5 4. e4 Nxe4 5. Nxe4 dxe4 6. dxc5 Qa5+ 7. c3 Qxc5 8. Qa4+ Nc6 9. O-O-O e5 10. Be3 Qe7 11. Bb5 Bd7 12. Qxe4 a6 13. Ba4 f5 14. Qd5 b5 15. Bb3 f4 16. Bc5 Qe6 17. Qxe6+ Bxe6 18. Bxe6 Bxc5 19. Bd7+ Ke7 20. Bxc6 Rac8 21. Be4 Bxf2 22. Nf3 b4 23. Nxe5 bxc3 24. Nc6+ Rxc6 25. Bxc6 (1-0)

The Eshian prince of novelties opened right out of the gate with 1. Nc3, a completely normal move that Radley will absolutely have prepared for. Not. This eventually ended up being the catalyst for the Jobava, and in turn a strikingly early shower of flying pieces and the queens surging into the fray. Then Cartwright castled queenside.

According to Stockphant, this was absolutely not the play - the far more obvious Qxe4 was - but after 10. Be3 shunted the queen, Radley opted to retreat with Qe7 rather than playing for the exchange with Qa5. And suddenly Cartwright, a pawn down in material, was a pawn up in the eyes of the Stockphant Bar of Judgment. 11. Bb5 pinned the knight, then Qxe4 was played, and Radley got trapped into shunting the light-square bishop around with 12.. a6 and 14.. b5 before the fatal blunder of 15.. f4?? - clearly played to kick the other bishop, but doing so without realising that 16. Bc5 pressured the queen and essentially meant the beginning of the end. Radley resigned shortly after losing THE ROOK!!!! and with draws on the other three boards, the Scholars had fallen to an opening defeat they could ill afford.

They did defeat Vaishnavaria next, but the matches with The Martian Independent Republic and Crpostran to come are now suddenly full of pressure. Both of those teams will sniff blood. It is critical that the Scholars do not allow them to draw it.

[The Martian Independent Republic]

ECCXI, Thursday Morning: The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly

Ziggy Stardust immediately made a case for top board, being the only player to get points in a 3-1 loss against New Crywyzyxycynya, while the rest of the team needed some time to bounce back, crushing Germanic Cat 3.5-0.5.

The Good

Ziggy Stardust
Stardust had the best morning of any Martian. Against New Crywyzyxycynya, he was the only player to win in a 3-1 shellacking, defeating Merlovich in a style unusual for him - instead of a flashy tactic, he controlled the position, finding the crucial Bxe4, correctly evaluating his passive bishop as worth less than Merlovich's knight (although the team here at 64squares disagrees whether it was Bxe4 or c5, a few moves later, that decided the game). The game was all but over, and Merlovich only hastened it when she tried to create some counterplay but allowed Stardust's remaining bishop and queen in for a deadly combination. Against Germanic Cat, he showed no signs of letting up, and our model has him as the 2nd most likely to have won, on 81.3%.

Resilience
After heavy losses in past Elephant Chess Cups, the team has been slow to recover, and often made the same mistakes. However, with Rigby at the helm, her strategy of thoroughly analyzing mistakes paid off, and Rigby avoided a blunder similar to the one she made in her first match.

The Bad

David Watts
Watts is not taking international play well. In his first game, although he had a strong opening, Watts was goaded by deBaun into playing overly quickly, leading to an inaccurate attack. DeBaun's experience clearly showed, as Watts, half his age, failed to notice as his kingside was locked down by deBaun's pawns and knight. With both men having castled queenside, Watts, knowing Rigby had lost, Stardust all but won, and Goode could do anything, still pressed for a win - a show of unnecessary bravado, against the Martian doctrine of taking a safe draw over an uncertain win. As the middlegame proceeded, the players dropped below 5 minutes on the clock, deBaun made a series of rapid-fire moves, maneuvering his rook, and Watts, under pressure, played a5, failing to notice that this overloaded his queen, and after Nxf7, Watts was forced to give up his a-pawn, essentially ending the game. It also doesn't help that our model has him as most likely to have drawn against Germanic Cat, with 52.1%.

Middlegames
Against both New Crywyzyxycynya and Germanic Cat, the middlegame was the weakest area for most Spiders, where they would fail positionally, tactically, or both ways. Eleanor Rigby let her position slowly get crushed in the first game, and her game against Viktor Semenov lasted 84 moves. Johnny B. Goode was inattentive to Kraum's threats, and his second game was over in 10 minutes. David Watts failed to maintain focus both when he allowed his kingside to get completely locked down, and when he played a5.

The Ugly

Time Trouble
This was a recurring problem, especially on the lower boards. Both Watts and Goode made fatal blunders with little time on the clock against New Crywyzyxycynya, and Stardust was forced to blitz out his moves against Germanic Cat. Not only does time trouble lead to worse play, it also increases fatigue, leading to worse play in future games. There is time for that now, but it is something the Spiders urgently need to fix.

Up next: a game against the Kytler Peninsulae, who defeated us last time - expect interesting play with a wide range of styles, Goode having the advantage over Radley, and Higgins over Watts.


Editor's Note: Individual results from the Germanic Cat game are inaccessible due to a technical error.

[Hapilopper]

(NOTE: The following is a post from the blog of Gordon Radcliff. Radcliff, who goes by the pseudonym “Hap O’Loppa”, is in South Newlandia for the Elephant Chess Cup. His blog can be found at hapoloppa.co.hp.)

Chess for Idiots, Take Two – Part Two
Posted a few minutes ago

In more familiar circles, what Curt Matthews pulled after beating Mawuli Ayodele would be greeted with loud cheering, whooping and chants of “Checkmate!” reverberating through a 15,000-seat sports arena. But this was not a 15,000-seat arena, he wasn’t in the middle of a professional wrestling ring and loud rock music wasn’t playing. Instead, we’re at the Ivory Crown Hotel, a very classy and beautiful venue that beats the hell out of any place I’ve ever stayed at. The people sitting and watching this chess match are most definitely not the kind of people that throw popcorn through the air and try to antagonize the villains.

So yeah, please forgive me for having a little bit of second-hand embarrassment when Curt Matthews checkmated his rival from the E.A.G. Curt probably needs to learn a little bit of etiquette, and that form of etiquette does not involve letting out a viciously loud primal roar, one so loud that other players playing their games stop and see what the hell is going on. That little bit of etiquette probably does not involve jumping on top of the chess board and attempting to do a funky-ass jig, like Curt attempted to do. And that little bit of etiquette certainly, absolutely and positively does not involve Curt ripping off his shirt and flexing his muscles to impress the crowd.

By the way, did I mention the chess board broke under Curt’s weight? It’s come to my understanding the Hap City Chess Club had to pay for a new chess table after Curt went through the old one, landing face-first on the ground.

After the first round ended, Eliza Hayden, the head of the Hap City Chess Club, was fuming. As we walked down a corridor, she stopped me to get out some frustrations. Part of me wondered if she was going to take a swing at me.

“You know what pisses me off, Gord?” she asked.

“Tell me,” I replied.

“Macho masculine bullshit,” she snapped. “Macho masculine bullshit. Chess is not a game for 24-inch biceps. It is a game of intelligence and logic, and what Curt pulled is some of the biggest crocks of bullshit I’ve ever seen in my life! If Curt pulled that on me I’d kick a field goal right between his legs!”

Needless to say, Eliza was pissed off. I checked my phone as the players were on their way to the next round, the match against the North Polish Union. I’m not sure if she said anything to Curt before the North Polish Union match, but when I watched the matches, I could tell Eliza was visibly pissed off still. Maybe that threw her off her game. That level of anger – the kind of anger that put her in a violent rage against an editor, the kind of rage that had her kick the Mayor of Surrey in the family jewels – that level of anger was going to cloud her judgment. It always would.

I hoped she wasn’t going to learn what Curt was doing in his second match, against Miefodij Ihnatjew. And I’d like to report that this was the first time that a chess player tried to distract his opponent by popping his pectoral muscles. But Jay Goode, sitting next to me, and about as matter-of-factly as humanly possible, pointed at the shirtless Curt popping his pecs and went: “He did that to me once.”

“He did WHAT?”

“Yeah,” Jay said. “He thought it’d be funny, so he started popping his pecs. Threw me all the way off. This guy though, he’s steely cool as I’ve ever seen.”

Jay was talking about Mr. Ihnatjew. I don’t know how he did it, but he kept his resolve and beat Curt even in spite of Curt’s rather disgusting behavior at the chess table. It’s a good chance Curt might have been paying a little too much attention to how he looked, as opposed to beating this Polish gentleman. And Eliza got beat too.

A little later on, as I sat in the lobby of the hotel, reading some news from Hapilopper on a tablet, I heard some screaming in a corridor a little bit away. Eliza stormed away, Hannah Thompson and Jay Goode leading her away. Not long later, Curt came out as well, struggling to walk, clutching himself in a particularly sensitive area. When he sat down next to me, I asked him if he was alright.

“Yeah…” Curt responded in a much higher pitch than usual. Turns out Eliza cornered him and, sure enough, kicked a 65-yard field goal directly into the junk. Hannah later told me that not only did it go between the uprights, but it landed with enough force to send Curt airborne for a slight second. And it landed so hard that eventually, he had to get it looked at by a doctor. Jay Goode would take his place for the rest of the day.

[Elejamie]

"Well, that could've gone a bit better."

That pretty much summed up Elejamie's first couple of games at the eleventh Elephant Chess Club. Or, as Jonathan had accidentally said in an interview going into the competition, "the Elephanth Elevent Chess Cup". While it was a bit early in the day, and there was a good chance that they could turn things around so that they'd feel a lot better going into day two, they were still feeling a bit of heat. After all, they were going into this tournament as the reigning runner-ups, a team that had managed to defy expectations in their first go-around and finish their group with a 3-1-1 record... and now they were 0-1-1, in sixth place out of eight and have a point differential of -1. Disappointing, really.

The opening match against South Newlandia showed a small amount of promise, but also showed either growing pains or just simply them trying to get back into the swing of things after a long break. Sure they had played a few matches against each other, but it was just a question of whether they were half-arsing it or if the four were just simply not working up to their usual level. There was the odd ? move there, as well as a spattering of ?! and !? moves. At least they weren't off enough to end up pulling out a ?? out of complete nowhere. That probably would've been a complete disaster. Compared to the South Newlandian squad who were poised and seemed to be in control even when things weren't going their way. Not unexpected from a country full of chess fanatics, and a squad who regularly does well at the tournament even if they haven't managed to win the trophy.

But in the end Elejamie managed to come away with a 2-2 draw despite these apparent setbacks. Jonathan Troutman managed to take advantage of Adam Esteban's naturally attacking style to lead him in all sorts of traps, and by turn 52 the South Newlandian has opted to resign rather than carry on and be forced into a potential checkmate. Considering how Jonathan was the sole Elejamian representative at the South Newlandian Classical Chess Cup at the end of last year, even if he finished last place in the final group stage without a win, it wasn't much of a surprise to see him come out on top here. Elizabeth Miller was up against Khanysia van Lundi, another female player best known for playing a fast game, and the two managed to force out a stalemate. van Lundi showed plenty of promise and had Elizabeth up against the ropes a couple of times, but in the end she kind of blew it when she moved her queen into a bad position; while Elizabeth wasn't in check, she couldn't exactly move her king into a safe position either and as a result the two had to share the point. Valentina, meanwhile, was up against Elani Jabulan and in all honesty came across as a bit lost. She did go the distance, though, making it all the way to turn 66 before opting to throw in the towel but it was clear that she should've played a more simpler game to try and counterbalance her opponent's overthinking.

Which meant that it was all on Vili. If he won then his team would kick their tournament off with a win and a bit of breathing room going into their next game, if he lost then they'll be going into it with their spirits somewhat dashed but at the same time learning what to build off of. And he ended up tying, which meant that his teammates didn't know what to make of this next game. That wasn't to say he performed poorly, his bout against Prince Khatoon showed what happened when two defensive juggernauts faced off against each other, with both players hesitant to make that first capture even if it meant a bit of breathing room. When they did bite the bullet and get to work on capturing their pieces, it proved to be a bit of a bloodbath with exchange after exchange. When the dust settled Vili was left with a king and a knight, whereas Khatoon had a king and a bishop. A few fruitless moves later, with either side able to get their pieces in a good position, they instead opted to draw rather than drag the match out any longer. Could it have gone better? Yes, but at least it'd be a match that'd be on everyone's minds for a good while.

With a 2-2 draw under their belts and a joint fourth-place to show for it, the four then got ready for their match against Vielfatig later on. And, to put it simply, this was going to be a bit of an uphill battle. Not only was Vielfatig a solid squad all-round, despite them not competing at the last Elephant Chess Cup, but they managed to podium at the SN3C. As in, all three of their entrants at that tournament took all three spots on the podium. And not only were those three going to be taking part at this tournament but they had an extra player on their side in the form of Leander Schulz. Yeah, this probably wasn't going to be a fun match at all.

However, the fates seemed to throw them a bone here. Granted they still lost, and Vielfatig weren't exactly going into this match with a 1-0-0 record, but it didn't go as badly as they had hoped. Jonathan managed to force Noemi Etienne into a stalemate to force a third consecutive draw between the two. It wasn't anything particularly inspiring or daring, merely him trying to throw her for a loop before the two ended up with no idea on how to proceed with things. Hence them just tossing their hands up in the air (metaphorically) and deciding to end things then and there rather than just keep things deadlocked. Valentina managed to bounce back from this disappointing opener and also went the distance with Samuel Salucci, the silver medallist at the SN3C. While she didn't exactly win she did manage to force a draw in 37 moves, even if the last few were simply her making the same move three times, and she did have more pieces captured than her opponent (three pawns compared to a pawn and a knight). And Vili came close to a victory in his bout against Schulz, but fumbled it and had to settle for a stalemate. And Elizabeth just simply lost against Felix Tremblay, even if she did manage to hold her own and go the distance. Still, a 1½-2½ loss wasn't anything too disastrous, it just meant they had a bit of an uphill battle the rest of the day.

So how did Group A look after the first two matches? How was everyone else getting on? TJUN-ia and the North Polish Union were top of the table with their back-to-back wins, although the Chess Jags have the edge thanks to a better point differential. The hosts managed to follow on from their draw with a 3-1 victory, netting them the third place spot and making them the only other undefeated team in the group. Hapilopper got off to an amazing start with their 3½-½ win in their first match but failed to follow it up with anything meaningful, dropping them down to fourth place and netting them a 1-0-1 record. Vielfating are in fifth place with the same record but a worse point differential; all they need to do is draw against CruzeVera and they'd have a record, PF and PA that Thanos would be proud of. Speaking of CruzeVera, they were in seventh place with back to back 3-1 defeats. Still, it could be worse, they could be the Epicly Amazing Giraffes who were on the receiving end of that 3½-½ smashing only to lose 3-1 in their next bout. And, as previously mentioned, Elejamie were in sixth place with a 0-1-1 record, 3.5 points for and 4.5 against making up that aforementioned point differential of -1.

So how did things look for the rest of the rest of the day? Their very next game would be against the North Polish Union, who were riding high off their 2½-1½ victory against Vielfatig in the opener and bringing Hapilopper back down to Earth with a 3-1 victory. Jonathan had played against two of their players in the past, drawing against Miefodij Ihnatjew and winning against Kristian Theiss, but his teammates didn't have as much experience so it could go either way. At the very least they'll have the Epicly Amazing Giraffes to play against for their final match of day one, so even if they do lose to the NPU they could theoretically cap their first day off with a win. Or they could lose by any means and might as well withdraw from the tournament then and there, especially if they got a bit too cocky going into that match.

Which was why they all decided to hunker down and concentrate on getting some practice in. The only breaks came if they needed to go to the bathroom and from VGL heading out to grab a can of energy drink in the vain hope it'd help her concentrate, or at the very least wake her up a bit. But apart from that they spent their time just playing games against each other, researching new tactics or going over their past games to see where they went wrong and how to avoid doing that next time. It probably helped that there wasn't anything interesting on TV and, in the age of streaming, they could leave what they wanted to watch for their downtime just so they could concentrate on this. Would it work? Who knows, but at least it was nice to be prepared. And who knows, maybe they could hand the North Polish Union their first non-win of the tournament. That may be thinking a bit too far ahead, and guaranteeing things that might not happen, but there's nothing wrong with setting yourself goals after all.

Especially when you're in a spot where you're on the outside looking in.

[TJUN-ia]

Hello and Welcome to the 11th running of the Elephant Chess Cup from its spiritual home - The Ivory Crown Hotel in Newport, South Newlandia! Having the cameras out in this part of the world is a tradition as old as competitive chess itself and whenever the ECC in involved, you know the Jaguar Knights will be there. So far this season, three of our players have managed to rebound well in the MCC Series while the fourth helped us claim bronze in the Esportiva Chess Trophy. Now, we head back to this familiar stomping ground looking to get back into medal contention...but how would this whole thing begin?

MD1 vs CruzeVera (Thurs, 11 am)
GIC Tshering Gyeltshen bt Player #1
GIC Anne Christian-Warren drew with Player #2
GIC Margarita Altamiranda drew with Player #3
CM Gideon Irosaea bt Player #4

The opening of this tournament would go down on Thursday against a nation we had yet to hear of by the name of CruzeVera. When it comes to opening games, sometimes they go to plan and sometimes they do not - but for this expected win, we were pushed a bit close. Both ACW and MA were leading in their contests, only to be pegged back to settle for draws, and both Board 1 and Board 4 were close for some time. But both TG and GI had enough in their locker to get their wins across the line to secure a 3-1 win before lunch! Job done!

MD2 vs Epicly Amazing Giraffes (Thurs, 2 pm)
GIC Tshering Gyeltshen bt by Ifa Shehu Mandela
GIC Anne Christian-Warren bt Mawuli Tamandani Ayodele
GIC Margarita Altamiranda bt Tendai Mphatso Pretorius
CM Gideon Irosaea bt Katlego Chinonso Kariuki

Another debutant would follow in Game 2 as we faced the Epicly Amazing Giraffes in the land of Elephants. For this Safari adventure, it would end up being our depth that ended up being our grace as ACW took down the experienced Mawuli Tamandani Ayodele, Tendai Mphatso Pretorius was bested by the quick play of MA and GI managed to tackle the piece-heavy attack of Katlego Chinonso Kariuki enough to claim the win. Only TG failed to take anything from the contest, getting smacked by the brick wall set up by Ifa Shehu Mandela, but a 3-1 was still a 3-1 and so we would take that.

Good start sofar, but things were about to seriously heat up as the opponents for the remainder of Thursday were Hapilopper and South Newlandia. Talk about 0-100...

---

SCHEDULE (Group A)
MD1: vs CruzeVera (Thurs, 11 am) W 3-1 (2nd)
MD2: vs Epicly Amazing Giraffes (Thurs, 2 pm) W 3-1 (1st)
MD3: vs Hapilopper (Thurs, 4 pm)
MD4: vs South Newlandia (Thurs, 6 pm)
MD5: vs Vielfaltig (Fri, 10 am)
MD6: vs The North Polish Union (Fri, 12 pm)
MD7: vs Elejamie (Fri, 3 pm)

---

TG: 1-1 |ACW: 1-1-0 |MA: 1-1-0 |IG: 2-0

[South Newlandia]

When players returned to the playing hall for round three, they found that someone had added a new sign at the entrance...

[South Newlandia]

And this is a cutoff for the next two rounds! Scores coming up

Group A

Thursday, 16:00
TJUN-ia 1½–2½ Hapilopper
South Newlandia 1½–2½ Epicly Amazing Giraffes
Vielfaltig 2½–1½ CruzeVera
The North Polish Union 1–3 Elejamie

Thursday, 18:00
Hapilopper 2½–1½ Elejamie
CruzeVera 2–2 The North Polish Union
Epicly Amazing Giraffes 2–2 Vielfaltig
TJUN-ia 3–1 South Newlandia

Standings

P Group A                             Pld   W  D  L   PF  PA  PD  Pts 
1 TJUN-ia                               4   3  0  1 10.5 5.5  +5    6
2 Hapilopper                            4   3  0  1  9.5 6.5  +3    6
3 The North Polish Union                4   2  1  1  8.5 7.5  +1    5
  Vielfaltig                            4   2  1  1  8.5 7.5  +1    5
5 Elejamie                              4   1  1  2    8   8   0    3
6 South Newlandia                       4   1  1  2  7.5 8.5  −1    3
7 Epicly Amazing Giraffes               4   1  1  2    6  10  −4    3
8 CruzeVera                             4   0  1  3  5.5 10.5 −5    1

P Group A                             Pld   W  D  L   PF  PA  PD  Pts 
1 TJUN-ia                               3   2  0  1  7.5 4.5  +3    4
2 Hapilopper                            3   2  0  1    7   5  +2    4
3 The North Polish Union                3   2  0  1  6.5 5.5  +1    4
  Vielfaltig                            3   2  0  1  6.5 5.5  +1    4
5 Elejamie                              3   1  1  1  6.5 5.5  +1    3
  South Newlandia                       3   1  1  1  6.5 5.5  +1    3
7 Epicly Amazing Giraffes               3   1  0  2    4   8  −4    2
8 CruzeVera                             3   0  0  3  3.5 8.5  −5    0

Group B

Thursday, 16:00
Vaishnavaria 1½–2½ Eshialand
The Martian Independent Republic 1–3 The Kytler Peninsulae
Crpostran 2–2 Germanic Cat
Sagotra 1½–2½ New Crywyzyxycynya

Thursday, 18:00
Eshialand 2½–1½ New Crywyzyxycynya
Germanic Cat 1–3 Sagotra
The Kytler Peninsulae 3½–½ Crpostran
Vaishnavaria 0–4 The Martian Independent Republic

Standings

P Group B                             Pld   W  D  L   PF  PA  PD  Pts 
1 Eshialand                             4   4  0  0   10   6  +4    8
2 The Kytler Peninsulae                 4   3  0  1   11   5  +6    6
3 New Crywyzyxycynya                    4   2  1  1    9   7  +2    5
4 The Martian Independent Republic      4   2  0  2  9.5 6.5  +3    4
5 Sagotra                               4   2  0  2  8.5 7.5  +1    4
6 Crpostran                             4   0  2  2    6  10  −4    2
7 Germanic Cat                          4   0  2  2  5.5 10.5 −5    2
8 Vaishnavaria                          4   0  1  3  4.5 11.5 −7    1

P Group B                             Pld   W  D  L   PF  PA  PD  Pts 
1 Eshialand                             3   3  0  0  7.5 4.5  +3    6
2 New Crywyzyxycynya                    3   2  1  0  7.5 4.5  +3    5
3 The Kytler Peninsulae                 3   2  0  1  7.5 4.5  +3    4
4 Crpostran                             3   0  2  1  5.5 6.5  −1    2
  Sagotra                               3   1  0  2  5.5 6.5  −1    2
  The Martian Independent Republic      3   1  0  2  5.5 6.5  −1    2
7 Germanic Cat                          3   0  2  1  4.5 7.5  −3    2
8 Vaishnavaria                          3   0  1  2  4.5 7.5  −3    1

Group C

Thursday, 16:00
Banija 2–2 Koralsk
Ireleand 1½–2½ Lanansia
Gyaromia 2–2 Katzeburg
Ranoria 1½–2½ Valentine Z

Thursday, 18:00
Koralsk 2–2 Valentine Z
Katzeburg 3–1 Ranoria
Lanansia 2–2 Gyaromia
Banija 2–2 Ireleand

Standings

P Group C                             Pld   W  D  L   PF  PA  PD  Pts 
1 Katzeburg                             4   3  1  0 11.5 4.5  +7    7
  Valentine Z                           4   3  1  0 11.5 4.5  +7    7
3 Lanansia                              4   2  2  0   10   6  +4    6
4 Koralsk                               4   1  3  0  9.5 6.5  +3    5
5 Gyaromia                              4   1  2  1    8   8   0    4
6 Banija                                4   0  2  2    5  11  −6    2
7 Ireleand                              4   0  1  3  4.5 11.5 −7    1
8 Ranoria                               4   0  0  4    4  12  −8    0

P Group C                             Pld   W  D  L   PF  PA  PD  Pts 
1 Valentine Z                           3   3  0  0  9.5 2.5  +7    6
2 Katzeburg                             3   2  1  0  8.5 3.5  +5    5
3 Lanansia                              3   2  1  0    8   4  +4    5
4 Koralsk                               3   1  2  0  7.5 4.5  +3    4
5 Gyaromia                              3   1  1  1    6   6   0    3
6 Banija                                3   0  1  2    3   9  −6    1
7 Ranoria                               3   0  0  3    3   9  −6    0
8 Ireleand                              3   0  0  3  2.5 9.5  −7    0

[TJUN-ia]

Hello and Welcome back to the 11th running of the Elephant Chess Cup from its spiritual home - The Ivory Crown Hotel in Newport, South Newlandia! After the first two matchups of this new campaign, the Jaguar Knights were 2-0 after two 3-1 wins - but everyone knew that the 2nd half of the day would be so much tougher than the first. Two massive clashes were on the docket, with group permutations certainly at stake, so you know full well that those watching online were ready for some action...but how did it go?

MD3 vs Hapilopper (Thurs, 4 pm)
GIC Tshering Gyeltshen drew with Eliza Hayden
GIC Anne Christian-Warren beat by Curt Matthews
GIC Margarita Altamiranda drew with Jeff Twist
CM Gideon Irosaea drew with Hannah Thompson

TJUN-ia vs Hapilopper, a rivalry that has pretty much burned uninterrupted since NSSCRA 9, would restart again in the Chess arena as our Jaguar Knights faced off once more with Hap City Chess Club - the amateur squad who won ECC9, but couldn't defend their crown due to legal trouble back home. The mere fact that it was TJU v HAP meant it was required viewing for Chess fans in both nations, and if you wanted a storyline from this matchup, then things didn't disappoint.
- Tshering Gyeltshen had a huge amount of respect for Eliza Hayden, whose arrest for standing her ground forced HCCC's ECC10 absence, so he had no qualms with sharing a fist bump with her post-game.
- Margarita Altamiranda tried her very best to take out Jeff Twist, but, like the flamenco, he was too fast to put away. A draw would have to do.
- Gideon Irosaea had the unenviable task of facing bureaucrat Hannah Thompson on Board 4, and while we can't possibly comment on how good (or not) she is doing on the Hap City Council, we can certainly say she knew he way around a chessboard. Another draw.
- That left the "Battle of the Characters", as the TJUN-ian press called it, between the Lesbian Pirate Queen Anne Christian-Warren and Curt Matthew, "305 pounds of twisted steel and sex appeal." Now, as someone who prefers women, ACW was in no way entranced by the pro wrestler's physique, forged by the squared circle, but this dude of what TJUN-ian call the "Philly Style" of wrestling was no slouch here. He was quick on the draw, put the equivalent of a submission move on ACW within 10 minutes and gave no option but to force her to tap out. DING-DING-DING! Matthews won the game and, with it, the contest as a whole, 2.5-1.5 in favour of HCCC. Sucks, but we will hope for revenge later down the line.

MD4 vs South Newlandia (Thurs, 6 pm)
GIC Tshering Gyeltshen bt Adam Esteban
GIC Anne Christian-Warren bt Khanyisa van Lundi
GIC Margarita Altamiranda bt by Elani Jabulan
CM Gideon Irosaea bt Prince Khatoon

Then it was time for an age-old classic, TJUN-ia vs South Newlandia, and just like the last few times, this one was fun...for us. TG took out Adam Esteban but the skin of his teeth, ACW bounced back by confusing Khanyisa van Lundi all the way to the bank and GI took out Prince Khatoon in what was actually a good game. MA was stopped by Elani Jabulan after a bit of a rocky affair but in the end, the 3-1 was ours.

Day 1 done, 3-1, top on PD. Tight as all hell, but we'll take it. These next three games will decide whether we get an auto bid to the Second Stage or if we have to go through the Playoffs first, so it will certainly be an important day out here. Don't touch that dial!

---

SCHEDULE (Group A)
MD1: vs CruzeVera (Thurs, 11 am) W 3-1 (2nd)
MD2: vs Epicly Amazing Giraffes (Thurs, 2 pm) W 3-1 (1st)
MD3: vs Hapilopper (Thurs, 4 pm) L 1.5-2.5 (1st)
MD4: vs South Newlandia (Thurs, 6 pm) W 3-1 (1st)
MD5: vs Vielfaltig (Fri, 10 am)
MD6: vs The North Polish Union (Fri, 12 pm)
MD7: vs Elejamie (Fri, 3 pm)

---

TG: 2-1-1 |ACW: 2-1-1 |MA: 1-2-1 |IG: 3-1-0

[Katzeburg]

OOC Note: SNL has kindly flagged that alcohol is banned in their country, so minor edits have been made where necessary to fix this plot hole. My apologies for missing!

Ivory Crown Hotel, Newport, South Newlandia
Thursday Evening

As scores of players and extended team members sat down on Thursday evening, the Ynysgard Chess Club found themselves a little bit in uncharted territory. The team had rocketed out of the docks for the first day of competition, picking up three team wins and a draw to sit atop the group level with Valentine Z. It was a weird position the team found themselves in, which was very quickly pointed out by Klaus Rothbauer as the team made themselves comfortable for their evening meal.

“You know what’s funny? We’ve literally only been here a day and we’ve already equalled our win total from the last Elephant Chess Cup,” he said as he picked up his second non-alcoholic pint of the evening. “Looks like we’ve got the bottle job of all bottle jobs coming up now.”

“Yes, but all those wins came in the knockouts, you have to remember,” Nora said. “This is a great start from us given how we went last time out, we just need to keep the pressure up - another win or two and we should comfortably be in the playoffs at least.”

“Well tomorrow is the big game for us,” Emilia conceded. “We’ve got Valentine Z first up. Based on some of the whispers I’ve heard from the other teams everyone’s taking a look at it as if it will decide which one of us goes straight through to the Super Six and which one will need to fight through the playoffs.”

Klaus set down his pint and wiped off the rich foam of his non-alcoholic beer from around his mouth. “We’ll be fine! We’ve done this before and we can do it again.”

“Ahh, but Klaus,” Mark piped up. “You’re forgetting that at the moment, we’ve played noone within the top half of the rankings. Our three remaining group games are the toughest ones for us. There’s every chance that if we switch off now we end up dropping out of the top four entirely.”

“Exactly. The bottle job of all bottle jobs,” Klaus said, looking around to try and flag down someone to order another drink.

“We just need to be prepared,” Emilia said, straightening herself in her chair. “I’ve been reading up on the teams we’ve got left - Valentine Z are obviously the biggest hurdle for us - although interestingly they’ve got a fellow teacher in their team!”

“Oh yeah?” Mark said, his interest piqued. “Which one?”

“It’s umm… let me see..” Emilia said as she flicked through papers to find the relevant player.

“Ah! It’s Vice Foresittend… Jolyn Maxine Caulfield Moira…. “Неуловимая, Женщина-шпион” Marlene Wendy Lucille Lapis.”

Emilia flipped the page and continued reading.

“Jill Khorosheva Vin. Zolina łnt. Natasha Vasilisa Helen Ceeta Tescelyn Maximovna.”

“You have to love those Valentinian names,” Nora chuckled as she grabbed a glass of non-alcoholic wine. “They roll right off the tongue.”

“They are incredibly talented!” Emilia said. “And so capable of tackling various sports with ease. We’re going to be up for a hell of a fight to get anything from them. And we can’t discount Koralsk or Lanansia either - they are just like we were last time over in Eshialand and you can’t just expect us to knock over them.”

“So how do we go about it then?” Mark said, pulling a notebook out of the bag which was resting at his feet.

“Here’s what I’m thinking - We do the same thing we’ve done so far,” Klaus interjected. “I’ll lead on this by ordering another drink. Anyone else?”

Kristine nodded in agreement as Klaus got up and went wandering for more drinks, leaving the four remaining members prepped to sit and talk strategy. Or so they would, had another man not quickly approached the table after Klaus had left.

“Excuse me, are you the Ynysgard Chess Club?” said the man. A tall, gangly man loomed over them, the light of the grand room the team sat in for their evening meal reflecting off the large bald-patch which emanated from the man’s dome.

“Yes.. Yes we are,” Emilia said. “And who might you be?”

“Oh of course, where are my manners! My name is Jack Eulemann. I’d like to talk to you all quickly about tomorrow’s games - how are you feeling? Confident you’ll pick up some wins?”

Mark’s eyes narrowed. Something felt off about this man but he couldn’t put his finger on just what it was at the moment. But clearly the rest of the team didn’t seem to think so, with Nora quickly jumping into the role of team liaison.

“Oh we are well prepared for the coming games,” she said nodding in her own self-approval. “In fact, we were even considering resting one of our players to give Kristine a run as she’s yet to take to the boards.”

“Really?” Eulemann’s eyes widened. “Who is sitting out and when?”

Mark cut in to interrupt. “We don’t know yet, we were just talking about it as a potential option…” Mark shot a stare towards Nora to shut up before turning back to the man. “I’m sorry and please excuse my manners, but who are-”

The man was gone, as quickly as he had arrived.

“What was that?” Emilia said. “He just shot off - little rude isn’t it?”

“Who shot off?” Klaus had returned, carrying a tray of drinks - four large pints for him and a single half-pint for Kristine.

“Is that it?” Kristine said, pointing at the half-pint. “I thought you were going to get me a drink!”

“Yeah, yeah, I did.” Klaus waved off dismissively. “Who shot off?”

“Just some guy, came up and asked about how our games were looking tomorrow,” Nora said, returning to sway her wine.

“Did he give his name?” Klaus asked, a hint of uncertainty sneaking out in his voice.

“Oh it was John, James, Jack something.”

“Eulemann,” Mark said, interjecting. “Jack Eulemann.”

Klaus sighed and dipped his head. “I’m an idiot. He’s found me. He’s fucking found me.”

“Wait, you know him?” Mark said exasperated. “Then why did he come up the second you left the table?”

“He’s a bookmaker,” Klaus said. “And he’s someone I’ve gotten on the wrong side of.”

[The North Polish Union]

The North Polish Union 1-3 Elejamie

Day 2 in South Newlandia got off to a much rockier start than matchday 1 had. Riding high after beating Vielfaltig and Hapilopper in rounds 1 and 2, the Union sat in a tie atop Group A. Over the next two matches they would face Elejamie and CruzeVera, 6th and 7th place in the 8-team group, respectively. Maybe they thought they could cruise (cruze?) to victory over a pair of opponents who had gotten off to a cooler start than they, or maybe they just were having an off day. In any case, Elejamie smacked them 3-1 in Round 3. Vili Caenirol beat Siarhiej Hryc on Board 4, which perhaps was not a huge surprise as Hryc is the player on the team with the weakest rating. The real disappointment, though, came on Board 2 where Miefodij Ihnatjew (who entered the round having won both his games) was shocked by Elizabeth Miller. Having been an up-and-down player who alternated flashes of brilliance with ugly losses at the Grand Casaran of Chess, Ihnatjew will have to play better if this team is to make any real headway. He was even bumped down to Board 2 behind Kamiński as a strategic decision to enable him to get more wins against weaker opponents as the drawish Kamiński slows down other team's top players.

Troutman - Kamiński, ½-½
Ihntajew - Miller, 0-1
García Latorre - Theiss, ½-½
Hryc - Caenirol, 0-1

The North Polish Union 2-2 CruzeVera

After a brutal Round 3 loss, Round 4 was against last-place CruzeVera who had 3 losses, no draws, and no wins entering the match. Despite being easy favorites on paper all four games were drawn and the Union failed to walk away from matchday 2 with a win. Perhaps still let down after the previous round, they failed to play with initiative and the match petered out to a tie. With four of the seven group-stage matches complete, the team sits tied with Vielfaltig for 3rd place. Their remiaining matches are against leaders TJUN-ia, 6th place South Newlandia, and 7th place Epicly Amazing Giraffes. In theory it should be easy enough to get at least 2 wins in these three matches, and really, with the top 4 in each group going through to the playoffs, even easier to secure a spot past the groups. But after today, it would be foolhardy to count on anything...

Results by player:
Jacenty Kamiński: 2.5/4
Miefodij Ihnatjew: 2.5/4
Kristian Theiss: 2/4
Siarhiej Hryc: 1.5/4
Klaus Moeller: 0/0

[The Martian Independent Republic]

ECCXI, Thursday Evening: The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly

Despite yet another 3-1 defeat to two-time champions the Kytler Peninsulae, the Spiders followed that up with their biggest win in history - a 4-0 rout of Vaishnavaria.

The Good

The Vaishnavaria Match
You knew it was coming. Eleanor Rigby outplayed her opponent positionally, and baited him into an attack, which she neatly refuted. The ensuing position saw Rigby both up a knight and in control of the board, forcing her opponent to resign. One down. Ziggy Stardust created a dynamic queenside, and the Vaishnavarian player, seeking an advantage on that side of the board, left his king helpless, allowing for a Greek Gift, and not long after, Stardust secured the resignation, with unstoppable checkmate. Two down. Johnny B. Goode, stung by his loss in the previous match, played c4 instead of f4, creating dynamics his opponent was unable to respond to quickly, got a huge time advantage, and his opponent, unable to rapidly find a series of only moves, lost on time. Three down. David Watts, not having a great tournament, wanted to secure at least a draw, but his opponent, not wanting to only get half a point, sacrificed a knight for two pawns, but this allowed Watts's own knight in, and slowly losing material, his opponent resigned. Four down. Was this a fluke, or are the Spiders really this good? Who knows? Is this a morale boost? Certainly.

Ziggy Stardust
On at least 3/4, probably 3.5/4, Stardust is having his best tournament in nearly a decade. His spot on board two, instead of top board, puts him up against less experienced players than he's used to, who stop his tactics with tactics of their own, not simple, solid refutations. This has given him the win twice now where solid play from his opponent would've secured the draw. We are missing out on an instant classic between Stardust and Jason Severn tomorrow morning, but that matchup's happened before - Stardust's biggest test yet will be seeing if he can defeat a solid, defensive player.

The Bad

Johnny B. Goode
Goode isn't having a bad tournament, by any means. He's almost certainly on 2/4, but that's worse than both Rigby and Stardust. Nevertheless, he's got two losses to his name, one where he cared more about his own plans than the New Crywyzyxycynyan's, and when Kraum's plan worked first, he had nothing. The other is a quintessentially Goode game, but it shows one of his biggest flaws. Turns out, if you're known for playing f4, the Kytlerian opening whiz Michael Radley will prepare for f5, not d5 or d6. The Dutch Defense isn't good for Black if White plays well, and Goode had the pressure on him quick. Forced to give up a pawn in an attempt at counterplay, Goode had every attempt of his get shut down, and the game ended not much later. Why aren't we blaming Watts for his loss? Because Watts was the last game going, and in an equal position with low time, he knew he had to win - there's a much bigger difference between a 2-2 draw and a 2.5-1.5 loss than a 2.5-1.5 loss and a 3-1 loss. Although his attack ended up being inaccurate and he had to resign, it was still worth a shot.

The Ugly

Predictable Unpredictability
The Spiders only lost two games this evening, but both of them were marked by one thing. Playing f4 or f5 only works if it's a shock factor, and your opponent isn't prepared for it - if you play it every game, they'll know it's coming. Michael Radley was said to be preparing for Goode's f5 as soon as he heard who was in his group. Watts's loss wasn't much different - he made an immediate pawn break, which Higgins clearly saw as an option, and his attack fell apart quickly. A more subtle attack might've saved him the draw, or even got a win.

Up next: a match against an Eshian team who defeated us in the semifinals of ECC8, and has been perfect through four games, the only team of all 24 on 8 points.

[Banija]

Kagere David, sitting at the Ivory Hotel, shortly after Matchday 4

Kagere David was in a good mood. The Banijan delegation had been crushed in the first two matchups- losing 3.5-0.5 in each of their first two matches. A brutal beatdown, one that the Busukuma Players Club delegation had expected. It wasn't kind to go through, however. The Kagere had lost both of his matchups as well, having struggled personally. But on a Thursday where they had four matchups, he knew that he needed to recover rather quickly- there was no rest for the weary in a tournament like this.

"Man, four matches in one day- it's a tiring thing." He had told one of his counterparts, Sebastian Kabuye. "I am worn down- but it's a nice chance to keep things moving. Man, the level of competition here... It's absolutely unreal. Next year's Busukuma Players Club challenge tournament is going to absolutely nuts."

"Oh yeah." Kabuye told the Kagere. "But hey- it's all about putting your head down, and battling through. It's like football- you've got to keep your head on a swivel, and from there, you fight through. Everybody's going to be an equal amount of tired- even if some people will be less worn down than others. Obviously, we're starting a bit behind the 8 ball, and getting out of this group seems less and less likely by the moment. But hey- it's the first time the Busukuma Players Club has come here. If we can win some matchups, maybe we can nationalize our delegation... And next time, we can really ball out."

The Kagere went upstairs to take a quick 30 minute power nap- refresh his brain. And then, in his matchup against Koralsk, the Kagere became the first Banijan to win his matchup- earning a win on board 3. He had quite an emphatic fist pump when he put Kelli Reftero in checkmate, using his two remaining castles to bury her in the corner, for a point for the Banijans. In that first matchup, two other Banijans drew, while Oby Dike, the youth entrant, lost on board four. The two teams finished in a 2-2 draw.

And at 6 PM, the last matchup of the day, the Kagere fought out a draw. It was Sebastian Kabuye who would earn his first win for the Banijans, as the Kagere and Oby Dike both earning draws allowed for yet another 2-2 draw. He was excited- the Banijans would be looking for some big wins on Friday morning to climb back up the table, and a pair of 2-2 draws was a decent place to start. Especially since they'd play the Ranorians on Friday at high Noon- Sebastian Kabuye, in particular, was ready for that specific rivalry matchup.

Just then, the Kagere had gotten a text from his grandfather's aide back home. "Call me ASAP." He had said. That guy never texted him- so the Kagere rolled back up to his hotel room, and got on the phone.

"Hey- how are you doing. What's up??" The Kagere started on the phone.

"Hey- your grandfather wants to make an announcement to the family. We need you to get on a video call, at 9 PM. Make sure nobody's there. We've called the Banijan Ambassador in South Newlandia- he'll be on his way to you."

"The Ambassador? What's going on?" The Kagere asked. "Is the Kabaka ok?"

"He's fine." The chief of staff insisted. "But everyone else is in person. You're the only one who's not in country, so you'll have to zoom in. Don't worry- nothing disastrous is going on in Banija or anything. But the Kabaka wants you on the call. Oh yeah- and shut the hell up. Don't worry, we're working with South Newlandian authorities to get the Ambassador on premises. He won't be staying overnight in Newport, he just needs to be on the call."

Well, there went the Kagere's evening plans. He was going to go over strat and what not- but now, that would have to be moved up. Why his great uncle was summoning him, virtually at least, he didn't know. But hey- when your great uncle was the Kabaka, you definitely showed the hell up. Little did he know what was to come...

[Elejamie]

Much better?

The Elejamian chess team, or perhaps Chess-a-phants as they should be called know (since the hosts already had first dibs on the "Elephants" moniker), managed to snag their first victory of the tournament. Even better, it managed to be a surprise victory against the at-that-point undefeated North Polish Union team, which meant they had managed to get one of their goals checked off. Of course, they ended up metaphorically eating shit in their next match when they ended up losing to Hapilopper, but more about that later. Either way, that amazing victory has brought the team up to the dizzying heights of fifth place. With any luck they might make it into fourth tomorrow afternoon. That'd be an achievement.

So, the match against the North Polish Union. The match that the Chess-a-phants were dreading, and one they needed to win or draw to at least get themselves out of the doldrums. That wasn't to say they couldn't turn it around and go 5-2-1 or 5-1-2, but getting a win here would probably help lighten their spirits and hopefully lead to more wins later on. Hell, a draw would still be a stepping stone considering that they managed to stop them from getting three on the bounce. But they aimed for the win, and a win was what they had gotten with a 3-1 scoreline. Jacienty Kamiński managed to take Jonathan Troutman all the way to a draw, and VGL and Kristian Theiss' bout ended up as a stalemate. That wasn't unexpected, really. Vili's victory over Siarhiej Hryc wasn't really much of a surprise either given how Hryc seemed to be more to prop up his teammates rather than be a dependable source of victories.

But Elizabeth Miller's victory over Miefodij Ihnatjew came as a complete shock and surprise to everyone. Here was one of the best chess players out there, one with a long and storied career and one who had given Jonathan a bit of a tough time in their respective matches. And he was up against someone who had boxed for the longest time, only to move on to chess full-time due to her boxing career (and arguably the sport itself) taking a bit of a nosedive before she opted to hang up the gloves. One would normally put money on Ihnatjew winning, and it was easy to see why. However, whether it was him overestimating his opponent or not really being able to counter her lightning fast blitz moves (or "play and pray" as some people have dubbed it), he ended up coming away with the L here.

d4 d5
c4 e6
Nc3 Nf6
cxd5 exd5
A Queen's Pawn opening saw a Gambit being offered. However, whether it be her smelling a rat or just not really wanting to risk a piece so early, she opted to Decline it. Then the Queens' Knights came into play to offer a Variation, but a pawn exchange resulted in a different Variation.

Bg5 Bb4
a3 Bxc3+
bxc3 Bf5
Six moves in and already Elizabeth had put Ihnatjew into check. No matter, he could always use one of his pawns to take out that pesky bishop. And that's precisely what he did.

e4 Bxe4
f3 Bg6
Qe2+ Kd7
Elizabeth went on to capture another one of her opponent's pieces before withdrawing. However, Ihnatjew soon got his queen into play in the worst way possible. His first check of the match. Elizabeth moved her king to safety, at the cost of being unable to castle in this match.

g3 Re8
Bh3+ Kc6
He would put her in check again, though little did he know that this second check would be his last of the match. She too managed to get it out of check, but now it was time to play the long game and hope that it'd be enough to net her the W.

Be3 b6
Bf1 Kb7
Kf2 a6
Kg2 Nc6
Re1 Na5
h3 Nc4
Qf2 Nxe3+
After a bunch of unassuming and unimpressive moves, the tide seemed to turn. And, speaking of turns, turn 18 was when the match seemed to slip from Ihnatjew's grasp and turn 19 pretty much confirmed it.

Rxe3 Rxe3
Qxe3 Qd6
Qe5 Qxa3
Ne2 Re8
Qg5 Qb2
A series of piece exchanges set up the endgame, and unless Elizabeth made the wrong move she was going to get the victory here. She had even offered him her rook at one point, but he declined taking it even though she had no pieces around that could capture his queen. Was it a trap? Or was it her messing up? Elizabeth didn't know since she was concentrating on something else, but chances are she probably wouldn't have cared if she did know.

Kf2 Bd3
Qxg7 Rxe2+
Elizabeth managed to force Ihnatjew into check by capturing his remaining knight with her rook. And, while that wasn't exactly checkmate as he could still move, he had elected to resign then and there. He could move his king into that cubbyhole between his rook and his bishop but there was no guarantee that she wouldn't box him in. And with no way of capturing any of her pieces or to get any breathing room, it would've been delaying the inevitable anyway. He knocked over his king rather than make a move, and the two stood up to shake hands. A disappointing loss, yes, but at least it was a learning experience.

Sometime after that there was the match against the Epicly Amazing Giraffes. Except it wasn't, because it was actually against Hapilopper. Where the hell did they get "Epicly Amazing Giraffes" from? Was it a misreading or was it just an unexpected rescheduling? Whatever the case was, Elejamie lost that match as well and it was by the same score as their bout against Vielfatig in their second match, 2½-1½. Are they going to lose like this every other match or will they be able to get two wins, draws or losses on the bounce? Whatever the case was, Elizabeth drew her match, Valentina and Jonathan lost theirs, and Vili just amount managed to win after a gruelling bout against Hannah Thompson.

With the table not really changing a great deal since that afternoon, it was time to look ahead to their bouts tomorrow. Firstly, they'll be playing CruzeVera in their first match of the day. A team that had lost their opening three games (3-1 in their first two, then 2½-1½ against Vielfatig) before managing to somehow force a 2-2 draw against the North Polish Union. They're still in last place, but that draw has given them something to cling on to and now it's just a question of whether or not they'll be able to capitalise on it or if it'll be a fleeting moment. And then after song lunch it's the Epicly Amazing Giraffes no for realsies this time. They're doing a little better, in that they managed to beat the hosts 2½-1½ before forcing another 2-2 draw against Vielfatig. While it may not be good enough to lift them out of second-to-last place it does show that they are upping their game a bit and could be a surprisingly formidable opponent. And of course there'll be their last group stage game against group leaders TJUN-ia, but more info on them much later. For now, the Chess-a-phants had an evening to spend just relaxing and doing what they feel like doing before they move onto what they should be doing.

A good night's sleep, and then some practice for the day ahead.

[Eshialand]

Fire or Water?

"Hello chess fans... I'm your old friend Danny Stehl, and you may be wondering why I'm livestreaming to you today, here in front of the Eshialand City Bay, but I know some of you know exactly why I'm here...

"I made a bet to you all, one that people thought was absolutely insane. 'It's just a publicity stunt!' you told me. 'It'll never happen!' you so proudly proclaimed. Well, I told you I had this exact feeling, and you know what happened? It did. Not only did we lose the finals of the Esportiva Chess Trophy, but we lost them to Vielfaltig, so now... I think you know what's going to happen. Here I have my good friend Jason Severn... pan the camera while I get in Josh!"

Josh Seametzle, who bravely volunteered himself to be the cameraman for this stunt, panned the camera over to the grandmaster, who gave a little wave to the camera, before panning it back to Danny, who was now in the water... without a bathing suit.

"And we are going to be playing blindfolded chess while I swim over to the other side of the bay!"

OOC Note: For those who don't know, blindfolded chess just means playing without a physical board and making all the moves in your head. Danny is not actually wearing a blindfold while he swims, as ridiculous as that would be.

"Okay I'll let you have white Danny," Jason told him, "so go ahead and make your first move, first illegal loses."
"And if I get to the other side before the game ends I win, right?"
"But we don't have clocks, how will I know you aren't stalling me out? We'll finish this at Hargreen's Point if we have to."
"Ugh, fine. Let's just get going, this water is cold between my cheeks!"
"You're the one who chose to yap instead of swimming."
"Grrr... 1. e4."

And so, one of the most ridiculous streams ever aired on OurTube was beginning, and all of Eshialand was going to be watching.

---

As much as the swim seemed like it was a publicity stunt, it did a great job at getting Eshian eyes back on chess in advance of the festivities in Newport, truly the chess capital of the multiverse. And these eyes were sure granted to a treat, and no, I don't mean Danny Stehl without clothes on (that would be more of a displeasuring sight). While the team wasn't the most prepared for their return to the Ivory Crown Hotel, that didn't stop them from playing some amazing games, including what was set to be the toughest match of the Group Stage, eking out a narrow win against the Kytler Peninsulae.

In fact, all of this team's wins were narrow, with just one single board proving the difference between victory and defeat in every single matchup: Eshialand did in fact start things out with four wins, but every single one was 2½-1½. They were on the best possible record with the lowest possible board score, and frankly, they wouldn't have it any other way. Sure, it was tight, but tight breeds excitement, and excitement builds support. At this point, things were less about winning — a prospect which always seemed to be out of reach no matter how many times they tilted at that particular windmill — and more about getting Eshialand to fall in love with chess all over again, every single time they played. Eshialand was a chess nation, and that much was not about to change.

Day 2 was just about to start, and the early matchups were going to be an interesting pair: first up, they'd be playing the Martian Independent Republic, who had lost to the Scholars by a score of 1-3, but got back by fully sweeping Vaishnavaria. There were two very different types of MIR performances, and the Owls had to hope to be on the right side of the right one. As for Round 5, they'd be up against Germanic Cat, who, although managing to draw Vaishnavaria and Crpostran, were having a rough go about things. Still, with the way Eshialand was known to be (inconsistent, that is), they had to be their absolute A game if they wanted to get to the #1 spot and secure a spot in the Super Six.

[The Kytler Peninsulae]

"Did you see that opening coming?" Michael Radley was asked after he defeated Johnny B. Goode with unnerving ease as part of a 3-1 win for the Scholars over the Spiders that reinforced the sense of a tournament back on track for the two-time former champions.

"Of course I did, it's Johnny. Find yourself someone who loves you as much as Johnny loves f-pawn openings."

Radley's reputation has been built around his knowledge of key openings, but while he's been known to be caught out by surprises and novelties in the past, 1.. f5 in response to 1. d4 was the exact opposite of a surprise coming from the Spiders' third-board occupant. And if you know how to pick your way through the next few moves from that position as White, you'll tend to win, sometimes as easily as Radley did here. It was effectively a double win, as it set up Ben Higgins to take advantage of how David Watts, down on time as so many Higgins opponents are, chased a game he knew he'd have to win after the top two boards produced quiet draws; if there's one thing Higgins is reliably good at, it's making the most of inaccuracies in these desperation strikes, which he duly did.

Crpostran were defeated in similar but even more convincing style; this time Stijn van Dijk ground out a victory over Oskar Lancelot after Spike Wigstan blundered his way to a fast defeat to Ridley and Tziva Javed fell similarly quickly to Higgins before her endgame ability could become relevant. Julia Willis could only get a draw on the top board, but she really didn't need to do anything else, as she clearly backed her teammates to get the job done and it wasn't long before it became clear that's exactly what was happening. With that, the Scholars end the day with three match wins out of four, with an 11/16 overall record that is the third-best of all teams in the competition. Oddly enough, Eshialand aren't one of them, as they have won every match 2.5-1.5 to go 10/16 but still pull off the only four-win opening day.

That's a problem considering that only the group winners escape the playoff phase, but the Scholars are at least poised to come second in their group and secure one break before facing a third- or fourth-place team for one of the last three Super Six spots. And if those 2.5-1.5 wins suggest a streak of luck running out for the Eshian team...

[South Newlandia]

Cutoff!

Group A

Friday, 10:00
South Newlandia 1–3 Hapilopper
Vielfaltig ½–3½ TJUN-ia
The North Polish Union 1–3 Epicly Amazing Giraffes
Elejamie 2½–1½ CruzeVera

Friday, 12:00
Hapilopper 2½–1½ CruzeVera
Epicly Amazing Giraffes 1½–2½ Elejamie
TJUN-ia 2–2 The North Polish Union
South Newlandia 2–2 Vielfaltig

Standings

P Group A                             Pld   W  D  L   PF    PA    PD  Pts 
1 Hapilopper                            6   5  0  1   15     9    +6   10
2 TJUN-ia                               6   4  1  1   16     8    +8    9
3 Elejamie                              6   3  1  2   13    11    +2    7
4 The North Polish Union                6   2  2  2   11.5  12.5  −1    6
5 Vielfaltig                            6   2  2  2   11    13    −2    6
6 Epicly Amazing Giraffes               6   2  1  3   10.5  13.5  −3    5
7 South Newlandia                       6   1  2  3   10.5  13.5  −3    4
8 CruzeVera                             6   0  1  5    8.5  15.5  −7    1

P Group A                             Pld   W  D  L   PF    PA    PD  Pts 
1 TJUN-ia                               5   4  0  1   14     6    +8    8
2 Hapilopper                            5   4  0  1   12.5   7.5  +5    8
3 Elejamie                              5   2  1  2   10.5   9.5  +1    5
4 The North Polish Union                5   2  1  2    9.5  10.5  −1    5
5 Epicly Amazing Giraffes               5   2  1  2    9    11    −2    5
  Vielfaltig                            5   2  1  2    9    11    −2    5
7 South Newlandia                       5   1  1  3    8.5  11.5  −3    3
8 CruzeVera                             5   0  1  4    7    13    −6    1

Group B

Friday, 10:00
The Martian Independent Republic 2½–1½ Eshialand
Crpostran 2–2 Vaishnavaria
Sagotra 2–2 The Kytler Peninsulae
New Crywyzyxycynya 2–2 Germanic Cat

Friday, 12:00
Eshialand 2½–1½ Germanic Cat
The Kytler Peninsulae 2½–1½ New Crywyzyxycynya
Vaishnavaria 2–2 Sagotra
The Martian Independent Republic 2½–1½ Crpostran

Standings

P Group B                             Pld   W  D  L   PF    PA    PD  Pts 
1 Eshialand                             6   5  0  1   14    10    +4   10
2 The Kytler Peninsulae                 6   4  1  1   15.5   8.5  +7    9
3 The Martian Independent Republic      6   4  0  2   14.5   9.5  +5    8
4 New Crywyzyxycynya                    6   2  2  2   12.5  11.5  +1    6
  Sagotra                               6   2  2  2   12.5  11.5  +1    6
6 Crpostran                             6   0  3  3    9.5  14.5  −5    3
7 Germanic Cat                          6   0  3  3    9    15    −6    3
8 Vaishnavaria                          6   0  3  3    8.5  15.5  −7    3

P Group B                             Pld   W  D  L   PF    PA    PD  Pts 
1 Eshialand                             5   4  0  1   11.5   8.5  +3    8
2 The Kytler Peninsulae                 5   3  1  1   13     7    +6    7
3 The Martian Independent Republic      5   3  0  2   12     8    +4    6
4 New Crywyzyxycynya                    5   2  2  1   11     9    +2    6
5 Sagotra                               5   2  1  2   10.5   9.5  +1    5
6 Crpostran                             5   0  3  2    8    12    −4    3
7 Germanic Cat                          5   0  3  2    7.5  12.5  −5    3
8 Vaishnavaria                          5   0  2  3    6.5  13.5  −7    2

Group C

Friday, 10:00
Ireleand 1½–2½ Koralsk
Gyaromia 2–2 Banija
Ranoria 2–2 Lanansia
Valentine Z 2–2 Katzeburg

Friday, 12:00
Koralsk 1–3 Katzeburg
Lanansia 2½–1½ Valentine Z
Banija 3–1 Ranoria
Ireleand 2–2 Gyaromia

Standings

P Group C                             Pld   W  D  L   PF    PA    PD  Pts 
1 Katzeburg                             6   4  2  0   16.5   7.5  +9   10
2 Lanansia                              6   3  3  0   14.5   9.5  +5    9
3 Valentine Z                           6   3  2  1   15     9    +6    8
4 Koralsk                               6   2  3  1   13    11    +2    7
5 Gyaromia                              6   1  4  1   12    12     0    6
6 Banija                                6   1  3  2   10    14    −4    5
7 Ireleand                              6   0  2  4    8    16    −8    2
8 Ranoria                               6   0  1  5    7    17   −10    1

P Group C                             Pld   W  D  L   PF    PA    PD  Pts 
1 Katzeburg                             5   3  2  0   13.5   6.5  +7    8
  Valentine Z                           5   3  2  0   13.5   6.5  +7    8
3 Koralsk                               5   2  3  0   12     8    +4    7
  Lanansia                              5   2  3  0   12     8    +4    7
5 Gyaromia                              5   1  3  1   10    10     0    5
6 Banija                                5   0  3  2    7    13    −6    3
7 Ireleand                              5   0  1  4    6    14    −8    1
  Ranoria                               5   0  1  4    6    14    −8    1

[Katzeburg]

“Gambling was always something which was quite proudly waved around in our family. Even from a young age, my parents would do little ‘bets’ with us over things which weren’t really anything to write home about. Who would finish their tea first. Which car was likely to finish parking first along the main street. That kind of stuff. It was normal. Accepted. As I got older though it became something which was a bit of fun to dabble in with mates after a long day working with the fishes. We’d pony up at the Fisherman’s Arms and just throw a few barins around in small-scale bets and hands of cards. It was actually on one of those nights where I came across you guys and the club. Emilia - I remember spotting you and Rhys going toe-to-toe over the chessboard and jokingly put a bet on that you’d grab a win within ten turns. You won me a fair few barins that night.

“It scratched an itch for me which I just couldn’t do with anything else - that feeling of winning something, knowing that you were smart enough to see in something others couldn’t; it’s almost indescribable. And to me, gambling was the only way I could do that. Until I found the chess club. Taking those stupid pieces and pulling wins out of nowhere is thrilling to me, and for a while it helped keep those barins in my pocket. Hell, when we headed over to Eshialand I hadn’t gambled in more than a year. But when we lifted the trophy over there, that was a high I don’t think could have ever been replicated. That miracle win, that magical story out of nowhere to win it all, it was… it was something I wanted to replicate.

“Of course, when we returned home and you all went back to your normal lives as if nothing had happened; as if we hadn’t changed the landscape of the sport entirely back home - I couldn’t live with it. Something had to change for me. And that’s why I left. I thought if I could strike out on my own, strike out as a professional chess player with the profile built by being one of the Elephant Chess Cup miracle winners, maybe - just maybe - I could keep chasing that high. So I left Ynysgard, left you guys behind. And I’ll admit, that was something which I’ve regretted. But the simple life back home on Dragoonspiel wasn’t for me anymore. I just couldn’t go back to the docks, back to the soul-sucking job I had before all this. It would have broken me beyond belief.

“It’s not easy going on the road by yourself. I remember touching down in Blackmouth off the ferry and thinking to myself, ‘Yeah. I’m gonna make it after all. I can do this.’ But as you know, the circuit has been small and barin-winning tournaments are few and far between. But the first one I went to, down in Harmouth, I was confident. I was an Elephant Chess Cup winner. I’ve mixed it with the best in the multiverse and came out on top. And I’d do it again. Want to know how I went? Knocked out on the first day. Lost my first three games, including getting ruined by a literal 10-year-old. A fucking 10-year-old! My grand total of barins made from that first tournament was, when factoring in travel costs and accommodation, negative 150 barins. But hey, you take the losses in your stride when you gamble, and I was gambling with my future in every sense of the word.

“I kept persevering, and went up to Konigpool for the next tournament a week later. It was a lot of the same crowd, the same people who were willing to make the trip up the motorway, but this time it paid off big. I won the whole thing and the money finally came in. It was only 500 barins, but it was enough to recover from the loss of the first one and pay for travel up to Waldstein to keep playing. And that was my life for a long time. While you guys were back home in Ynysgard living your normal lives, I was on the road, staying in small hotel rooms on the side of highways scraping enough money to get by with placements in chess tournaments and duping enough idiots to pay for a signature as an ECC winner. It wasn’t comfortable, but I couldn’t go back. Couldn’t turn around and go home and say ‘Hey look at me! I’m a massive failure.’ So I kept going, but I needed another way to supplement my income. Some way outside of chess where I could bring money in and make things just a little more comfortable, even if it meant I could order a pizza every now and then.

“It wasn’t until I got over to Inverhaven that I would meet Jack Eulemann and the answer to my problems. I don’t know if any of you have been over to Inverhaven, but the city’s as if the Ynysgard Docks gained sentience and decided the best things to do with their time outside of manual labour is watch football and gamble. And gamble they do. Down the main street of the city there were more bookies than bookstores; hell I even walked into a supermarket and I got asked at the till if I wanted to put 10 barins on the Inverhaven City game that evening. It was a death trap for someone like me trying to fight the urge at every corner. So I did what I do best; drink. I went to a nearby pub and just drank. Somewhere after the fifth or sixth beer, a man approached me and struck up a conversation. He was nice, relatively harmless and just keen for a chat. It drew me in and before I knew what was up or down, we were having a friendly wager over that very City game which was being played that evening.

“They lost 1-0, think it was against Katzestadt Rovers from memory, but the man was nice enough not to take my money. ‘How about we just roll it over?’ he said. And so we did, betting instead on some overseas games which were being beamed into the pub. I think it was a couple of Taxhavn teams, but I was so blasted at that point I didn’t really care. But they paid off the beautiful bastards. I had made my money back and then some. The man simply just smiled and nodded, handed me his card and said if I was keen to put another bet or two on to give him a ring at any time. And then he collected his coat and dipped out into the evening. I put it behind me for a bit and returned to focusing in on the road, but after another poor tournament, another poor hotel on the side of the road in a shitty backwater part of Katzeburg, I had enough. I couldn’t afford to not gamble as I needed the boost to my funds. Anything to avoid coming back home a loser.

“I started falling right back into it. Every night on the road would be another call to Jack. Another wager of barins on that evening’s games. Didn’t matter the division, didn’t matter the sport - if I could gamble on it, then I’d chuck something on. Some nights paid off really well - I could every now and then move off the crappy roadside hotels into a decent three star somewhere. Others less so. Those would hit more and more often and Jack to his credit was lovely about it, lovely about the debt which was slowly and steadily building. I could always pay it off later, he told me. But eventually even this would run dry. And then he’d come to me wanting his share of the more than 400,000 barins I owed him.

“I had no idea just how dark and powerful this man could be when it came to getting his money back. It’s probably not something to talk about right here, right now in this hotel, but I’ve seen things from him which I wouldn’t wish on anyone. Finally, he came to me one day with an offer of peace, a way to pay off my debts in full. I just needed to lose a couple of games on purpose here and there in an upcoming tournament. Then the debt would be gone. It sounded tempting, I’ll be honest - I was not on the best streak and hell, if I lose another regional tournament, what’s one more to add to the pile?

“But he wanted me to do it on a grand stage, something being watched by the Multiverse itself. The Grand Casaran over in TJUN-ia. I couldn’t stomach that; I refused to break the integrity of the game on that scale; of our reputations on that level. He didn’t like that at all. So I ran. That’s why I came back to Ynysgard. That’s why I was so keen to get us involved in the Grand Casaran to almost hide and be safe in plain sight. He wouldn’t be stupid enough to do anything to me while I’m on the international circuit, which is also why I wanted to come back here with the team for this as well - even though I’ve failed at trying to strike out on my own.

“But if he’s followed me here, then I have to assume that he no longer cares. He’s here to collect his debt. And I’ve put you all in great danger.”

The Ynysgard Chess Club sat in stunned silence around the table at the Ivory Crown Hotel, soaking in Klaus’ tale. No-one dared speak up for a while, just trying to process what had gone on. Finally, it would be Kristine who would pipe up first.

“What can we do?”

“I don’t know,” Klaus said, dropping his head in shame. “I don’t think he’ll do anything while we’re still in the competition as that would draw too much attention.”

“So we have to keep winning?”

“I think that’s our only option.”

[The North Polish Union]

The North Polish Union 1-3 Epicly Amazing Giraffes

The North Polish Union was paired in Round 5 against Epicly Amazing Giraffes, a team in second-to-last place in the group. They'd made a lineup change, substituting in reserve Klaus Moeller in place of Siarhiej Hryc for Moeller's first action of the tournament. Surely against a team down on their luck they'd have a chance to get back on track and compete for a higher spot in the group standings. But it was not to be. Miefodij Ihnatjew resigned on Board 2 after an ugly blunder against Mawuli Tamandani Ayodele, and Kristian Theiss got himself into trouble after an inaccurate bishop sacrifice against the Giraffes' Tendai Mphatso Pretorius and lost after toughing it out for a while in a much worse endgame. Ihnatjew continues the streaky play and erratic behaviour that plagued him in the Grand Casaran; after winning his first two games with picture-perfect finish, he has dropped two of the next three. Years of mental stress from political persecution overseas prior to his seeking asylum in the Union have taken their toll and there is skepticism as to whether he is stable when away from the chess board as well. He arrived at the match against Epicly Amazing Giraffes wearing mirrored sunglasses to "avoid being hypnotized by his opponents". It clearly didn't work.

Mandela - Kamiński, ½-½
Ihnatjew - Ayodele, 0-1
Pretorius - Theiss, 1-0
Moeller - Kariuki, ½-½

The North Polish Union 2-2 TJUN-ia

Following the loss to Epicly Amazing Giraffes and the circus that surrounded that, the Union played top team TJUN-ia and ... drew?? The team made the decision to sit Ihnatjew after his shenanigans and bounced back by being able to hold the leaders to a quartet of draws in the penultimate round. A match against hosts South Newlandia awaits them for a match in which the Union will likely need a win for any chance of progression past the group stage. They've shown top-team potential but also serious inconsistency that has harmed them all tournament. Which of those teams shows up for the final round is anybody's guess.

Gyeltshen - Kamiński, ½-½
Theiss - Christian-Warren, ½-½
Altamiranda - Hryc, ½-½
Moeller - Irosaea, ½-½

Results by player:
Jacenty Kamiński: 3.5/6
Miefodij Ihnatjew: 2.5/5
Kristian Theiss: 2.5/6
Siarhiej Hryc: 2/5
Klaus Moeller: 1/2

[Banija]

Kabaka - King
Katikkiro - Prime Minister
Lukiiko - Parliament
Isebantu - Crown Prince
Omugabe/Omugaba - Prince/Princess
Omukama - Regent

Part 1

Kagere David, sitting at the Ivory Hotel, on Thursday night, next to the Banijan Ambassador in his hotel room

Kagere David was more confused, than anything. He had called his grandfather, Omulangira Basamula- and while Basamula knew what the Kabaka was going to announce, he didn't say anything. "I would be betraying my brother's trust if I told you what he was about to tell us all." Basamula told his grandson. "But, let me tell you- it's important. You need to be on the call, and you need to provide your support to the Kabaka. It's going to be a big deal."

It was quite difficult, in these circumstances, for Kagere David to really get working on his game. And when the Ambassador had showed up, via train, at about 8:45, he had to get the Ambassador up to his own hotel room here at the Ivory. "Do you know what the Kabaka is going to announce?" The Ambassador asked David. The Kagere simply shook his head no- he didn't know, and he was simply waiting. He got onto the video call, and he waited. A lot of the family were in the room- he was pretty much the only person who wasn't there. A packed house, at Mujaguzo Palace- obviously, the heir to the throne, at his young age, wasn't there, but pretty much every single adult member of the Royal Family was there.

The Kabaka, per usual, was fashionably late. That was his thing- especially for meetings like this. It was a power move, of sorts- what were you going to do? Complain to the Kabaka? Lmao. As they were waiting, one of the people there asked David how the tournament was going.

"Ok, so far." He told them. "We haven't gotten any wins yet as a team- we're improving though, I think we can get some late wins tomorrow. Our chances of getting top 4 though, they might be slim- we've got to do something. We'll see if we can pull off a late comeback, get into the knockout stages here."

"Oh good for you!" Said somebody over there, who's voice he didn't parse. He had a lot of cousins, including first cousins once removed. "How are you liking South Newlandia?"

He was about to answer he was having a great time, but his cousin would never find out- as just then, at 9:35 PM, 35 minutes after the meeting was supposed to start, the Kabaka walked into the room. Everybody, naturally, stood up. Despite being 95 years old, and using a cane, he was in pretty good shape for his age- never needing a wheelchair, or anything close to that.

"I am sure you are all wondering why I have called you here today." He told them. "Thank you to those who could not make it in person- Kagere David, for being here via video call." He paused, looked around the room, and continued speaking. "You all will notice- Boaz Gor, the Katikkiro, is here in the room for this moment, as well as Archbishop Ya Fadika, the co-Chairman of the Guardian Council. I will schedule a speech to the Lukiiko as soon as possible. But as many of you know, despite my youthful vigor, I am probably in the second half of my life." Everybody laughed- the Kabaka was closer to 100 years old than he was to 90. "This has been a careful, deliberative process- one of the most important decisions that I will ever make. Everybody knows my age. Everybody knows the age of my great-grandson, my heir to the throne."

He was stunned. The Kabaka had put this off for so long- was it finally happening?

"He's just 5 years old. The chances that the Isebantu reaches the age of maturity before I die... Are fairly unlikely. While I would bet on myself to live until 107 years of age... Or even 109, I know that cannot be the proper way to run a country. This family, this throne, this institution, and the nation at-large. We need stability. We need a guarantee. We cannot have people within, or people abroad, worrying about succession. Worrying about what will happen while my heir is so small. That is why, today, I have made the decision on who to appoint as the Omukama."

He paused again, and then continued speaking. "Omugaba Immaculate, please stand up." She stood up. "Omugaba Immaculate, you have been a key aide, a critical aide, for many years during the monarchy. During my reign, and the reign of my father, you have done so much to dedicate yourself to the running of this country. You have brought up your children well. Your children are grown, and they are grandchildren now. You are a strong, healthy woman, with those Katende genes- you can live long, and make decisions with the best decision of the nation in mind."

"Immaculate." She looked at him, saying your Majesty. "I stand here, speaking before you with the entire family, as well as the representatives of the elected government, and the Church, in the room. God himself has invested power in this family to rule this country, alongside an elected government, for the betterment of the people and this nation. Immaculate, my oldest daughter. I wish, upon my death, to name you as the Omukama, to serve until the Isebantu reaches the age of maturity." The room sat there, in silence. They did not know this announcement was coming. There was frustration that he had waited so long. Immaculate was the expected choice, but still.

"Immaculate." He said again. "Will you pledge to always put the interests of the country first, before all else?"

"I will."

"Immaculate. Will you pledge to do all you can to prepare Sekakama for the role of Kabaka, once he reaches the age of maturity? This includes, of course, keeping the safety of his person. But it goes far beyond that. This includes ensuring that he is educated, ensuring that he knows how to navigate the halls of power, ensuring that he is effectively taught how to be a diplomat. Ensuring that he is taught how to work with the family, how to work with Banija's allies and neighbors, and that, once he ascends to the throne, he is able to do so effectively. You will, effectively, be sharing the role of mother with Omugaba Muirne. Do you pledge to do this?"

"I will."

"Immaculate." He said one more time. "Do you promise to do everything within your power to ensure the smooth transition of the rightful heir to the throne, Isebantu Sekakama, once the time comes? Do you pledge to uphold the line of succession, as it currently stands, and defend it against all enemies, domestic and foreign?"

"I will."

"Immaculate." He said. "In this role you will serve as Regent and as head of the Royal House. Do you promise to look out for the family? Do you promise to rule fairly and judge without prejudice, to disputes within the family, to the best of your ability?"

"I will."

"Omugaba Immaculate." He told her. "Upon my death, you will ascend to the superior title of Omukama Immaculate- holding that role until you reach the age of maturity. Congratulations." The entire room stood up, and everybody clapped for her. She was smiling- it was clear she didn't expect it either. Omugabe Ssemanda, considered the other main contender for this role, had an unreadable expression on his face- but he clapped dutifully, just like everybody else. And then, one by one, they all pledged loyalty to Omugaba Immaculate as the future Regent of the country.

"I want to go over a couple of other announcements." The Kabaka said. "I will announce this to the Lukiiko as soon as possible. Keep your mouth shut. We are getting word out to various Ambassadors, to inform various crucial allied governments about these developments- Quebec, Chromatika, Ranoria, South Newlandia, Valanora, etc... But don't confirm anything to the press until I make the announcement official." They all nodded, and then the call was ended.

"holy shit." The Ambassador said to Kagere David. David nodded in response. Welp- massive, massive news. Not public yet- but huge developments. Banija was finally looking towards the future...