Elephant Chess Cup 11 - Everything Thread

[Elejamie]

They were almost in sniffing distance.

Those back to back wins seemed to really help them out. Sure they were by the same score which really didn't do anything to help their point differential, but they were enough to slip into the top four. That was good, that was a massive improvement over that first day, but whether or not they'll be able to keep this momentum going into their final game was up in the air. Especially since who they were facing was going to be their toughest opponent yet. The only real consolation was that there were a couple of play-in rounds so if they finish well enough they wouldn't necessarily be going home just yet. But that was later, for now they had to concentrate on finishing the group stage so they could actually compete in those play-in rounds.

So, the first match of the day. Nobody had high expectations for CruzeVera going into this tournament and they ended up meeting those poor expectations. Their only point so far came from a 2-2 draw against the North Polish Union in their last match of the day yesterday, whereas everything else has been a defeat. And while Elejamie weren't exactly firing on all cylinders so far in this tournament, thanks to their 1-1-2 record on the first day, they still had enough skill in them to potentially grab a win. Lo and behold, the Chess-a-phants managed to get the victory. It wasn't exactly the cleanest of wins thanks to Jonathan, Elizabeth and Vili stalemating against their opponents, but Valentina managed to get a surprisingly quick win in her match. A Ruy Lopez opening begat the Berlin Defence and, while she ended up losing the majority of her pieces, she got a surprise checkmate on turn 13. Something that should normally not happen in a chess tournament of this calibre but given that no one knew who was on the other team coupled with their entire performance so far it was much less of a surprise.

Fortunately, they had more of an idea of who their next opponents were. The Epicly Amazing Giraffes, a team who were using today to answer to the age old question "Which is better? Elephants or giraffes?" They had beaten South Newlandia 2½-1½ earlier in the day, so it was looking like giraffes were the superior animal. But a victory against Elejamie would ultimately confirm this. Unfortunately, the EAG were unable to get the job done and as a result the whole thing remained inconclusive. Tendai Mphatso Pretorius managed to get a win against Valentina by taking everything slow and steady, and would probably get along with a fellow amputee in Simón Montenegro had he been participating. Elizabeth's speed-based style resulted in a stalemate against Mawuli Tamandani Ayodele and his highly offensive game. And Jonathan managed to break through Ifa Shehu Mandela and his defensive playstyle to get the victory. Which meant that it was now all on Vili: if he beat Katlego Chinonso Kariuki then his team would have some breathing room at the top, if he lost then he'd end up ruining everything they had been building towards, and if he drew then they would still be in the top three but only by a thread. And with Katlego as white, he was hoping that his defensive prowess will come in handy against such a strategic mind.

e4 e5
Nf3 Nf6
Nxe5 Nxe4
Qf3 Nf6
A King's Pawn opening begat a King's Knight variation, which soon turned into a Petrov's Defence. That soon segued into a Classical, then a Damiano Variation of the same thing, all thanks to an exchange of pawns. Not content with an easy capture Katlego busted out his party piece, his queen, and started thinking about what he could do with it. Vili, meanwhile, brought his knight back to act as a defence if it was needed.

Qb3 Qe7
Qxf7+ Qxf7
Nxf7 Kxf7
A couple of inaccurate moves soon lead to what had to have been the most disastrous play of the match. A play so blunderous that Vili had to take a moment to compose himself and see if what he was seeing had really happened. While Katlego's queen did put Vili's king in check, it was right in the path of the black queen. Vili stared blankly at his opponent as he picked up his queen, knocked the pesky white queen out of the way to capture it and claim the spot. Sure Katlego managed to recapture with his knight, which was then snatched up by Vili's king. And sure what Vili did probably wasn't good chess etiquette (or "chessiquette" if you're fond of portmanteaus) but it was the only way he could react to such a mistake.

g4 Nc6
g5 Nd4
gxf6 Nxc2+
Kd1 Nxa1
fxg7 Bxg7
A bit peturbed by that, Katlego got to work on bringing his pawn down the board in the vain hope of getting his queen back. There was a brief respite from it thanks to Vili bringing his knight up to c2 and putting his opponent in check, which also gave him the chance to take one of Katlego's rooks. That was enough to give the Elejamian a small window to get his breath back, but Katlego soon brought his pawn down. Vili needed to think carefully about this as one wrong move could ultimately see his opponent get back in it. He captured the pesky pawn with his bishop, and that was enough for him to retain his advantage.

Rg1 d5
Bg2 Bg4+
Ke1 Rae8+
Kf1 Be2+
Katlego got his one remaining rook out to play but ultimately didn't do anything with it. He then tried to do something with his bishop in the hope that Vili wouldn't notice it, only for Vili to move his own bishop up and put Katlego in check. He moved his king, only for a rook to put him back in check. He moved his king again, only for the bishop to block a potential exit. With only one move left to make and that being a zugzwang to seal Vili's victory, Katlego instead opted to resign. Not the best of matches for him, but a bad one was bound to happen eventually. Every chess player has one, and if they haven't they will eventually.

So how were things looking going into this final match? Hapilopper were still comfortably top of the table with a 5-0-1 record and would probably be getting that play-off bye. Elejamie were sitting in third place with a 3-1-2 record netting them seven points, and their thirteen points for and eleven against net them a goal differential of +2. Not as impressive as the top two, but then again everyone below Elejamie has a negative point differential. For example the North Polish Union and Vielfatig, both of whom share a 2-2-2 record, but due to the former having a PD of -1 and the latter having a -2, they are in fourth and fifth respectively. The Epicly Amazing Giraffes slip from a joint fifth down to sixth place as a result of that loss. South Newlandia's fortunates keep getting worse as they drop down to seventh place with a 1-2-3 record and 4 points to show for it. And last but not least there's CruzeVera who remain in dead last with that single draw to their name. Disappointing but again not really surprising.

Now, you may have noticed that a certain opponent hadn't been mentioned in the previous paragraph and there's a good reason for it. It's because they're the Chess-a-phants' next opponents. TJUN-ia were sitting comfortably in second place with a 4-1-1 record, their only draw coming against the North Polish Union in their last match and their only loss being a narrow 2½-1½ victory against Hapilopper yesterday afternoon. Despite being in second, their sixteen points for so far was the highest in the group and the second highest in the tournament so naturally this was going to be a bit of an uphill battle. Regardless, Elejamie were aiming for a win; while it wouldn't see them move up a spot though, as TJUN-ia would still be ahead on point differential, it would help them secure their spot in the next round. A draw would theoretically suffice, but there was still the possibility of the NPU and Vielfatig getting strong wins against South Newlandia and Hapilopper respectively which could see them through instead of Elejamie. And, of course, a loss would be more of the same except the possibility would be even stronger and they wouldn't even need strong wins to potentially seal the deal.

So, you know, it was wise to prepare for everything.

[The Martian Independent Republic]

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

The Spiders gave Eshialand their first loss, 2.5-1.5, before defeating Crpostran by the same score.

The Good

The Eshialand Game
You knew this would be here. The top two boards each had a masterful defender securing a draw as black, Rigby finding a brilliancy with 31... Rxd5!!, correctly realizing Severn's bishop was more important than her rook. Board two was slightly less exciting, as Stardust didn't go for anything fancy, and Nerata was able to trade everything off. Cartwright versus Goode was an example of the well-known adage that chess, when played perfectly, is a draw. Cartwright, with white, had nearly secured a winning position, but low on time, he missed Goode's rook sacrifice, was forced to trade his pawns, and with only two knights, had to agree to a draw. David Watts, however, was the real story of this match. Although two knights cannot checkmate, two bishops certainly can, and thanks to Stephanie Jacobson's love of the knights, he got into a position, late in the match, with two bishops against a knight and three pawns. Now, in some occasions, this is a draw, but the pawns were disconnected, he scooped them up, and Jacobson's last hope, her knight, was dominated by Watts's bishop and was forced to watch helplessly as the king was pushed into the corner and eventually checkmated.

David Watts
Starting off on 0.5/3 is never good. But David Watts has won his last three games, against Vaishnavaria's #4, the Eshian Stephanie Jacobson, and Tziva Javed of Crpostran, calmly refuting Javed's attack and emerging two pawns up. Watts hasn't found anything amazing, but he's adapted well to team play, and has a good eye for what trades are good and bad.

The Bad

Johnny B. Goode
Goode is having an okay tournament. But in a group stage where his teammates have scores of +1, +1, and +3, Goode's =0 is the odd one out. He didn't have a great first day, with losses in the Spiders' two losses to New Crywyzyxynya and the Kytler Peninsulae, and he hasn't had a great second one either, drawing both of his games, but there hasn't been anything overwhelmingly negative. Still, though, compared to the rest, he could be doing better.

The Ugly

Hubris
Although we are one of 7 teams who could still win our group (don't count on it - we need a win, an Eshian loss, and a Kytlerian loss (or draw, but then we'd have to win by at least 3), we have not locked up a chance for the Super 6. If we lose by 3-1 or more, New Crywyzyxynya wins, and the combined score of New Crywyzyxynya and Sagotra is 6 or higher, we are out of this tournament, fifth place in our group. This game is for something.

Up next: our final group stage game against Sagotra - a draw or a win sends us through, and a loss makes things a lot more dicey.

[Eshialand]

Missteps
The Martian Independent Republic 2½-1½ Eshialand
Eshialand 2½-1½ Germanic Cat

Another day, another pair of 2½-1½ scores... although this time, one of them didn't break the Owls' way.

Jason Severn wasn't mad about failing to see Eleanor Rigby's brilliancy coming. Jamie Cartwright wasn't mad about blundering in time trouble. Hell, even Stephanie Jacobson wasn't mad about losing. Everything was just a little... off. Even the match against Germanic Cat, which yes, was nominally a win, wasn't what it could or should have been. Everything was just not hitting right for the team.

This was an Owls team whose major flaw going into this tournament was a lack of preparation for it, but here it was the second day, rather than the first, where things were going wrong. Was it just the case that they had been lucky on Thursday, or was something flying off the rails on Friday?

Regardless of any questions about form or performance, the results in the early half of Friday had secured the Owls at least third in the group, with a point and head to head over 2nd and 2 points over third. Four draws in their last match was all they really needed to ensure their advancement to the Super Six, skipping the playoff phase entirely, and that match would come against a winless team that had dug themselves a hole such that they had nothing left to play for. The only catch? That team was the one from Crpostran.

There are a few major axioms of Eshian sports, things that are the absolute bedrock of everything that happens with this nation's athletes, physical and mental. Never trust your coach unless their words are prefaced with a "hear me out". The finals will disappoint you, unless it's football. The unranked team with the funny name will upset you. And most of all... never expect anything against Crpostran, they will surprise you.

The thoughts going into the final group stage match were a mix of confidence and worry. Should Eshialand not secure a point, they were almost certainly going to be headed into the playoffs, where a spot in the Super Six would be precarious at best. The Kytlerian team was up against winless Germanic Cat. The Martian Independent Republic was playing an underperforming Sagotra. One of these teams would surely win, so the Owls would need that point. At the same time however, nobody had lost to Crpostran yet. Surely there was no way in hell Eshialand would just-so-happen to be the first, right?

Just remember the axioms. Never expect anything from Crpostran. It's a death trap waiting to take its next victim. Simply play and enjoy the ride, because oh boy will that ride be a bumpy one. Best of luck Owls, you are gonna need it.

[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! Thursday was certainly interesting, with a 3-0-1 record signifying our position as joint-leaders of Group A, but this Friday was going to be a big day - as by the end, we will know our Final 6. Three group winners and three from the Playoffs involving 2nds and 3rds. No matter what, TJUN-ia felt they would have a part to play in the conclusion of this tournament, but in what capacity would that be? These battles may help us find out...

MD5 vs Vielfaltig (Fri, 10 am)
GIC Tshering Gyeltshen drew with Noemi Etienne
GIC Anne Christian-Warren bt Felix Tremblay
GIC Margarita Altamiranda bt Sameul Salucci
CM Gideon Irosaea bt Leander Schulz

The Veiled Knights of Vielfaltig would start off our Friday play, a nation doing very well for themselves in the MCC as things stood prior to this tournament. But the ECC was a whole different beast, and that was certainly being proven in spades. Tshering Gyeltshen and Noemi Etienne played out an eventful draw that was certainly packed with action but elsewhere, the Jaguar Knights had a point to prove and they made on with such drive. All three of Anne Christian-Warren, Margarita Altamiranda and Gideon Irosaea won (beating Felix Tremblay, Sameul Salucci and Leander Schulz) but make no mistake, 3.5-0.5 unflaters just how well of an opponent Vielfaltig were

MD6 vs The North Polish Union (Fri, 12 pm)
GIC Tshering Gyeltshen drew with Jacenty Kamiński
GIC Anne Christian-Warren drew with Kristian Theiss
GIC Margarita Altamiranda drew with Siarhiej Hryc
CM Gideon Irosaea drew with Klaus Moeller

Well then. It wouldn't be an ECC without at least one "All Draws" matchup. Didn't think it would be the NPU, but that was because of a change in line up - meaning ACW played #3 Kristian Theiss, MA had #4 Siarhiej Hryc and GI had the Reserve in Klaus Moeller. This switch of every board bar #1 caused chaos within our ranks as we had prepare for a new quartet instead of the one we were supposed to face, so maybe that explains all the draws.

---

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 [nation][/nation] (Fri, 10 am) W 3.5-0.5 (1st)
MD6: vs The North Polish Union (Fri, 12 pm) D 2-2 (2nd)
MD7: vs Elejamie (Fri, 3 pm)

---

TG: 2-3-1 |ACW: 3-2-1 |MA: 2-3-1 |IG: 4-2-0

[Lanansia]

"Good morning, Chess fans," a man in a suit on a Livestream begins. "Welcome to LCTV. I'm GM Donat Zajic, and I'm here with GM Sonia Perun."

"Good morning, Donat, thank you for having me, it's good to be on here," Sonia says with a smile.

"Now, onto the games," Donat says. "In their most recent match, our very own Lanansian team faced off against Valentine Z's team, emerging victorious with two wins, one loss, and one draw. We've seen fantastic performance from our teams, really all tournament."

"Absolutely," Sonia says. "In particular, Stefan matches up against The Valentinian's Board 1, whose full name should now be on the board for you to read for yourself."

The name flashes to the side of their heads, "Charlene Jeannie Natalia Adeline Marceline “완벽한 협상가” Celestie Christine Irelle Dv. Arianna Rees Edith Novena Annie Ciara Whitney Esther Iris Bethany Myong Suh-Hyung" It seems that the announcers are simply not willing to embarrass themselves by trying to pronounce Valentinian names.

"The game opened with begins with a Queen's Gambit Declined, with Charlene on white, and Stefan on black," Donat begins. "Throughout the opening, Stefan managed a solid attacking position. It was a slow game with Stefan playing consistent attacks, slowly gaining an advantage and backing Charlene into a corner, resulting in her resigning on move 40. Quite the performance from our board one."

"Yup, and we saw a similar performance with Anya vs Vice," Sonia says. "While we saw a draw with Katarina v. Eveline, and Dmitri was defeated by Zastępca. The LCF currently holds second place in its group, meaning Lanansia could possibly advance to the playoffs. However, we could just as easily be overtaken by Valentinia, depending on who scores the highest in the next round. The best of luck to our brothers and sisters out there."

[Valentine Z]

Part 1 – The Strong and Steadfast Headstart. Potential for the Valentians to go past the qualifications.

Head Diplomat Charlene Jeannie Natalia Adeline Marceline “완벽한 협상가” Celestie Christine Irelle Dv. Arianna Rees Edith Novena Annie Ciara Whitney Esther Iris Bethany Myong Suh-Hyung sat down in her office, a bit of work coming in as she was sifting through the papers and the emails that came flooding in. “Hehe, never a dull moment!” she thought to herself, adjusting her seat. As usual, a lot of news from Valentine Z itself are not exactly the very spicy material. That is also as to why Charlene would look through the news articles from other parts of the multiverse, the ones that she found a bit more fun reading or to write about. “I would not really call it fun, per se. It’s just that there are more interesting news outside of Valentine Z.” She looked through news such as that terrorist attack that happened in Hapilopper, along with a bank robbery elsewhere in another country. “Oh, my condolences to them, and I am NOT saying that they should happen in our country to make it interesting. It’s just… well, the good news and the technological and magical advancements can only take us so far, you know what I mean?” With her thoughts subsiding, Charlene got to work, vetting through the draft that she, along with the various news agencies and staff all over the country, have put up together. She would greenlight a majority of them, as, once again, she did not exactly need to; it’s only mainly small grammatical or visual errors that needed fixing, and of course, one or two of those articles that would do a little better for a satirical site and not for the actual new sites themselves.

The news in Hapilopper was an interesting one. Looking through the information that she was able to extract, it would seem like the two acts of terrorism involved the electric car ban. The country was going to do it, which would make a lot of automobile companies leave and not do any business with them. In turn, this would bring in opportunity, an untapped market, for the others. However, things did not work as expected, a filibuster (ancient concept to the Valentians) being the cause of it. This resulted in a lot of unhappy entities, ones that thought that making electric vehicles explode would do the trick. By miracle, and perhaps as a rarity for the terrorists, no one was hurt, only the cars themselves having been blown up. “Huh that’s a first. Typically, terrorists, well, they don’t mind a couple of causalities.” She continued on sifting through the work, eventually greenlighting them all in a matter of an hour.

She went back to the Chess venue, specifically the Elephant Chess Cup 11 that she and the three other Valentians have been on. So far, it was going really strong for them, being able to take as many wins as they could. She made the following note, having recorded herself as she was walking around the tournament area during the break (assuming that the cameras are allowed during the breaks): “That was a really strong start and hey, I believe that we can pull this through the qualifications. I am not saying that it is guaranteed, but with these current sessions? Hah, well… I think we got it in the bag. Well, half of it in the bag. Styles that we have relied on are working great – from me being end-game, to Eveline being aggressively wrecking the openings and entries of her opponents. More wins than draws, so like I said, that is in our favour.” She then paused and stopped the recording, keeping the camera back into her backpack as she put it back into her locker, ready for the security check as they will be going for the next tournament. “And for this season, yeah, I am avoiding all those unusual drinks. It’s not fun to puke up last time.”

[South Newlandia]

Cutoff!

Group A

Friday, 15:00
Vielfaltig ½–3½ Hapilopper
The North Polish Union 2–2 South Newlandia
Elejamie 3½–½ TJUN-ia
CruzeVera 1–3 Epicly Amazing Giraffes

Standings

P Group A                             Pld   W  D  L   PF   PA    PD  Pts 
1 Hapilopper                            7   6  0  1   18.5  9.5  +9   12
2 Elejamie                              7   4  1  2   16.5 11.5  +5    9 (ahead of TJU via H2H)
3 TJUN-ia                               7   4  1  2   16.5 11.5  +5    9
4 Epicly Amazing Giraffes               7   3  1  3   13.5 14.5  −1    7 (ahead of NPU via H2H)
5 The North Polish Union                7   2  3  2   13.5 14.5  −1    7
6 Vielfaltig                            7   2  2  3   11.5 16.5  −5    6
7 South Newlandia                       7   1  3  3   12.5 15.5  −3    5
8 CruzeVera                             7   0  1  6    9.5 18.5  −9    1

Group B

Friday, 15:00
Crpostran 2–2 Eshialand
Sagotra 2–2 The Martian Independent Republic
New Crywyzyxycynya 3–1 Vaishnavaria
Germanic Cat 1–3 The Kytler Peninsulae

Standings

P Group B                             Pld   W  D  L   PF   PA    PD  Pts 
1 Eshialand                             7   5  1  1   16   12    +4   11 (ahead of KYP via H2H)
2 The Kytler Peninsulae                 7   5  1  1   18.5  9.5  +9   11 
3 The Martian Independent Republic      7   4  1  2   16.5 11.5  +5    9
4 New Crywyzyxycynya                    7   3  2  2   15.5 12.5  +3    8
5 Sagotra                               7   2  3  2   14.5 13.5  +1    7
6 Crpostran                             7   0  4  3   11.5 16.5  −5    4
7 Germanic Cat                          7   0  3  4   10   18    −8    3 (ahead of VAI via PD)
8 Vaishnavaria                          7   0  3  4    9.5 18.5  −9    3

Group C

Friday, 15:00
Gyaromia 2½–1½ Koralsk
Ranoria 2–2 Ireleand
Valentine Z 1½–2½ Banija
Katzeburg 2–2 Lanansia

Standings

P Group C                             Pld   W  D  L   PF   PA    PD  Pts 
1 Katzeburg                             7   4  3  0   18.5  9.5  +9   11
2 Lanansia                              7   3  4  0   16.5 11.5  +5   10
3 Valentine Z                           7   3  2  2   16.5 11.5  +5    8 (ahead of GYA via H2H)
4 Gyaromia                              7   2  4  1   14.5 13.5  +1    8
5 Koralsk                               7   2  3  2   14.5 13.5  +1    7 (ahead of BNJ via PD)
6 Banija                                7   2  3  2   12.5 15.5  −3    7
7 Ireleand                              7   0  3  4   10   18    −8    3
8 Ranoria                               7   0  2  5    9   19   −10    2

Playoffs

Hapilopper, Eshialand and Katzeburg have secured a spot in the Second Stage. While their teams enjoy a well-earned rest for the remaining day, their users will be guaranteed at least their average RP score thus far for their next cutoff, which means they're not required to RP on their day off - but are still welcome to do so and try to beat their average without risk!

Friday, 17:00:

(A3) TJUN-ia vs. New Crywyzyxycynya (B4)
(B3) The Martian Independent Republic vs. Gyaromia (C4)
(C3) Valentine Z vs. Epicly Amazing Giraffes (A4)

Friday, 19:00 (winners advance to Second Stage):

(C2) Lanansia vs. (TJUN-ia/New Crywyzyxycynya)
(A2) Elejamie vs. (The Martian Independent Republic/Gyaromia)
(B2) The Kytler Peninsulae vs. (Valentine Z/Epicly Amazing Giraffes)

As a reminder, for the Playoffs, the team that had the better Group Stage Finish will advance in case of a 2-2 tie.

[Elejamie]

Didn't see that one coming.

After all, the Chess-a-phants were going up against TJUN-ia. Sure all four of their players had drawn in their last match against the North Polish Union, but it could've been them saving their energy for this final game. Or some warranted complacency given that they were pretty much going through to the next round even if they wouldn't have been able to overtake Hapilopper. Whatever the case was, it made the Elejamian not want to chance this next match. They had to study, they had to practice, they had to do what they needed to do to shake off their fears and just simply relax. And then when the time came to head downstairs and actually play their match, they would be able to do what they needed to do to hopefully get the win. Or, failing that, hope that the fates were on their side enough to keep them in the top four even with a draw or a loss. Whatever was to happen, this was surely going to be a clash of the titans.

Except, no, it wasn't. What instead happened was TJUN-ia absolutely collapsing. It almost made Jonathan, Elizabeth, Valentina and Vili wonder why they were even concerned about this team because honestly 3½-½ wasn't a good look no matter how one spun it. At least Vili was unable to get the victory in his match against Gideon Irosaea and had to settle for the draw instead. Meanwhile Anne Christian-Warren opted for Anderssen's Opening in her match, which ended up biting her in the ass as Elizabeth was pretty much on top throughout and eventually forced her opponent to resign. And Jonathan elected to play the English Opening in his match against Tshering Gyeltsen, which turned into an Anglo-Scandanavian Defence, and had a good game against him before his opponent opted to resign rather than allow Jonathan to promote his pawn and get the checkmate.

Those two opening wins was a big enough cushion for Valentina in her match against Margarita Altamiranda. If she got a loss then it wouldn't be the end of the world because the worst her team could do was draw. If she got a draw then it would seal her team's victory and a spot in the next round. And, of course, if she won her match then it was a question as to whether or not they'd be able to overtake TJUN-ia and enjoy a bit of a bye or if they'll end up having to play Group B's fourth-placer. And as it was her turn to start, she had to make the best start possible to seal the deal. Or, failing that, any sort of start just to see what she could do for her teammates.

e4 e5
Ke2
Ah, yes, the infamous Bongcloud Attack. A meme move very rarely seen in professional matches and for a good reason. You're giving up the opportunity to castle at the very beginning, you've got the king in the queen's way so she can't really get into play, you've got him completely open and vulnerable to attack, and ultimately you're not really developing your pieces here. Even worse, you would probably be checkmated in THREE MOVES if the opponent gets their queen out and you don't counter-act properly. There were only three real reasons to do this opening: for the meme, to throw your opponent off and take advantage of their confusion, or quite simply you're in a circumstance where you can afford to be a bit cocky.

Qg5
Nc3 b6
Altamiranda got her queen out to play and was hoping that she could pull off that three-move checkmate. Unfortunately Valentina made what was probably the only safe move by bringing her knight into play and putting it in a place where her king would be defended. That and Altamiranda didn't play Qh4 which would be how you get the three-move mate.

d4 Qh5+
Nf3 Ba6+
Ke1 Nc6
Bxa6 g6
That wasn't to say Altamiranda wasn't keen on getting Valentina into check, though, as she managed to get two checks on the bounce. Unfortunately she was so hell-bent on it that she made the disastrous mistake of moving her knight and leaving her bishop undefended. A proper ?? move if I do say so myself, though in all fairness she had put her hands on the piece as if she had intended to move it and thus she had to move it.

Nd5 h6
dxe5 Nxe5
Nxc7+ Kd8
Nxa8 Nf6
An exchange of pieces soon lead to Valentina getting her first check of the match. While Altamiranda was able to move her king to safety, it came at the cost of one of her rooks.

Bf4 Neg4
Ne5 Nxe5
Qxh5 Nxh5
Bxe5 f5
Bxh8 fxe4
Rd1 Bb4+
However the exchanges weren't exactly done yet. Knight was taken by knight, queen by queen, queen by knight, knight by bishop, rook by bishop, pawn by pawn. A veritable bloodbath on the board, all leading up to what turned out to be Altamiranda's last check of the match. One that Valentina was able to get out of by moving a pawn up.

c3 Be7
Bb5 d6
Be5 Bf8
g4 Nf6
Bxf6+ Kc8
Altamiranda retreated, and Valentina got to work on advancing up the board to try and force a checkmate or force her opponent to resign. Whichever came first. She did manage to get a check, but a quick sidestep managed to get Altamiranda free.

Bc6 h5
g5 Kb8
Bxe4 d5
Rxd5 Kb7
Rc5+
And Valentina pretty much won it there. She moved her bishops into position and kept the pressure on Altamiranda. She captured a pawn to make sure it wouldn't get promoted, then captured another pawn that was pretty much going to be snatched up anyway. And then she put her bishop into place and Altamiranda pretty much resigned. Could you blame her? Even if she moved, Valentina was probably going to get the checkmate anyway. The only way Altamiranda could eventually defend herself would be to put her bishop in the path of one of the attacking bishops and even that was more like that meme of a Cheeto being used as a door lock. So it was much easier for her to quite simply throw in the towel and end things there. An interesting match and an excellent win for VGL, all from one of the dumbest openings one could make.

So what did the group look like in the end? Hapilopper unsurprisingly finished top of the table as they also won by that score and, as a result, have the rest of the day to up their skills before heading into the Second Stage. Elejamie and TJUN-ia share the same record, points for and against, point differential and group points but the former's victory saw them in second place and the latter in third. The Epicly Amazing Giraffes' 3-1 win saw them move up to fourth place, and thanks to their victory against the North Polish Union earlier in the tournament they'll be participating in the play-in round whereas the NPU will sadly have to board the first flight home. Vielfatig's surprisingly weak showing in this tournament saw them finish in sixth with a 2-2-3 record and six points to show for it. South Newlandia's even more shocking display saw them in seventh, though fortunately they were home to begin with which'd probably help save money on plane tickets. And, finally, the hapless CruzeVera rounded things off by losing all but one of their games (and even then that was a draw).

With that out of the way, who were Elejamie's next opponents? They had a choice between two, albeit more because it was a battle between the third and fourth placers. In one corner was the Martian Independent Republic. A team who got off to a disappointing start when they lost their opener against a team before getting a win around lunchtime. After another stomping in the afternoon, they managed to absolutely sweep Vaishnavaria 4-0 in their evening match. Two wins back-to-back saw them secure a spot in the top four but a draw saw them unable to move up a spot and, as a result, they had to settle for third in Group B. And, in the other corner, we have Gyaromia. Their first couple of matches was the complete opposite of the MIR as they won their opener but lost their second match. This was then followed by four straight 2-2 draws before they finally beat Koralsk 2½-1½ to sneak their way into the play-in stage. Both perfectly valid opponents and both with a good chance of actually shocking Elejamie. After all, they play one extra game than the Chess-a-phants so the winner might be able to catch them unawares and make it through. Then again, a draw for either side in either game would see the team with a better record go through (after all, 4-1-2 > 2-4-1), although since both Elejamie and the MIR finished with the same 4-1-2 record it was just a question of how to tie-break them in the case of a 2-2 draw. Maybe it's whoever had the best group stage finish.

Either way, it was still not an excuse to skimp on practising.

[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!

MD6 vs Elejamie (Fri, 3 pm)
GIC Tshering Gyeltshen bt by Jonathan Troutman
GIC Anne Christian-Warren bt by Elizabeth Miller
GIC Margarita Altamiranda bt by Valentina García Latorre
CM Gideon Irosaea drew with Vili Caenirol

Oh.
Yeah, we got cooked. In a must-win game to give us a bye in the Playoffs, we screwed it all up and now we fall to 3rd.
Awful. Simply awful play from all tables bar the 4th, because at least Gideon Irosaea managed to salvage a draw.
Yikes all around.

So now, we enter the evening with more work to do.
We must play, and beat, New Crywyzyxycynya (good luck pronouncing that) before we get a crack at Lanansia for a spot in that Top 6 in the Second Phase. If we fall even once today, our dream is over before the weekend even starts. Let's hope for better. GO JAG KNIGHTS!

---

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 [nation][/nation] (Fri, 10 am) W 3.5-0.5 (1st)
MD6: vs The North Polish Union (Fri, 12 pm) D 2-2 (2nd)
MD7: vs Elejamie (Fri, 3 pm) L 0.5-3.5 (3rd)

PO R1: vs New Crywyzyxycynya (Fri, 5 pm)
PO R2: vs Lanansia (Fri, 7 pm)

---

TG: 2-3-2 |ACW: 3-2-2 |MA: 2-3-2 |IG: 4-3-0

[The Kytler Peninsulae]

So this is where we are. Probably the realistic best-case scenario after the initial defeat to Eshialand. The Scholars will have a win-and-in match for one of the last Super 6 spots, and their opponents will be either Epicly Amazing Giraffes or Valentine Z.

"Obviously neither of them are to be underestimated," warned Prof. Hahnea Izorigor - the reserve player and, given her other job as a literal professor of sports media, regular Scholars spokesperson. "But we will go into a match with either of them as strong favourites, and it will be all about execution and not giving them a sniff. We know that our best beats their best - the trick is that we do deliver our best when it matters."

Germanic Cat certainly weren't difficult opponents in the final Group B "contest," with comfortable wins for Julia Willis and Stijn van Dijk on the top two boards whilst Michael Radley and Ben Higgins played out quiet draws on the other. But it was only going to really matter if Crpostran were to somehow claim their first win of the tournament at the final attempt against the Eshian group leaders - and while they came closer than could reasonably have been anticipated, a 2-2 draw was all the Eshians needed and it turned out was all they got. They topped the group with their head-to-head defeat of the Scholars despite an identical 5-1-1 record and collectively going 16/28 to the Scholars' 18.5/28. "But they beat us, so they should lead us, on that level," Izorigor conceded.

Now comes a short rest - shorter than they'd have liked, as winning the group would have given them the rest of the day off - before that win-or-go-home clash with an as-yet-unknown opponent. "It's a tough situation on that level because we don't know who we'll face, but we trust ourselves against either of them so we're going to focus on playing our own game," noted Willis after a comfortable victory with what ended up transposing from her usual 1. Nf3 into a Sicilian Dragon which she negotiated more effectively than her usually obstinate opponent in Viktor Semenov. "I think we've got strength in depth that will be enough to claim a board victory down the line so I may not need to attack - I probably haven't won enough in this tournament but if I keep getting draws and the other boards get wins then it works out just fine." The Giraffes have another defensive player on the top board in Ifa Shehu Mandela, while the Valentians have long-time leader Charlene Namegasm who has focused on endgame sharpness of late. "They're different players, so I don't really want to focus on preparing for one. My style has always been to try and get my opponent to commit first anyway, as I trust my ability to react to whatever they bring and hopefully turn it against them - so player-specific prep is really only to find out which of those paths I might be most likely to face, and sometimes they know that and pull a completely different one on me!"

Whatever she's doing in this late-afternoon window - and whatever her teammates are doing then - it's going to be crucial that they're ready to come out after it. Because if they're not, the Scholars will not only fail to make the podium for the first time in their stunning Elephant Chess Cup history, they won't even make the weekend. And nobody saw that coming before the tournament. They still don't. But it's one contest away from happening, and anything could happen in it.

[The Martian Independent Republic]

ECCXI Group Stage, The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly

Due to the fact that there's only been one match since our last update, and it was a quite boring 2-2 draw to Sagotra, we here at 64squares have decided to do a full group stage retrospective.

The Good

Ziggy Stardust
In his first tournament not on top board, Stardust has proven his worth. Finishing the group stage on 5/7, his Friday was quite drawish, but his Thursday was electric, only missing out on a win against the Kytlerian Stijn van Dijk. Stardust has shown a more measured style of play, avoiding going for an attack against Mary Nerata of Eshialand when he knew she'd be able to shut it down and come out on top, and it's paid off.

David Watts
Take everything we just said about Ziggy Stardust and swap it around. David Watts didn't have a great Thursday, losing two of his first three games, but after the loss to the Kytler Peninsulae, Watts stepped up a notch. He singlehandedly gave the Spiders two wins, including one against Eshialand, who topped the group, and showed bishops are better than knights.

Big Wins
In previous tournaments, with the match win assured, the Spiders have often stopped playing for a win, even though point differential could make a difference. Here, this was not the case. The 4-0 win against Vaishnavaria and the 3.5-0.5 one against Germanic Cat would have been greatly reduced just a year ago, but instead the Spiders managed to tie for 4th overall in point differential, even beating out group winners Eshialand.

The Bad

Aiming For 3rd
The Spiders were always the third team mentioned in group B, behind Eshialand and the Kytler Peninsulae. Sure, we've won bronze, but that was years ago, and the MIR has developed a reputation for showing up, not for doing well. Especially against the Kytler Peninsulae, this showed, as the Spiders attempted (and failed) to emulate the famous ECC8 four-draws strategy.

Time Trouble
Yeah, this was a problem. David Watts especially got into a lot of situations where he had to find accurate moves down on time, and twice it led to losses. Eleanor Rigby also suffered from this, although to a lesser extent, as she could usually salvage a draw. However, it won't be either of them facing time trouble woes tonight, as if we can get past Gyaromia, it'll be Ziggy Stardust who'll have to face the Elejamian speedster Elizabeth Miller.

The Ugly

Hubris
Shocking exactly zero people, this was one of our biggest problems. Both in the New Crywyzyxynya match, where we thought it'd be an easy warmup before facing the Kytlerians later in the day, and against the Scholars themselves, when Goode thought f5 wasn't to be expected, hubris led directly to losses. We've been talking about the Gyaromia match as if it were a done deal, but it's not, and we need to be aware of that.

Up next: A game against Group C's fourth-placer, Gyaromia, to play Elejamie. A 2-2 draw in the former game gives us the win, but in the latter gives us the loss. If the Spiders can win, it'll be the first Super Six they've qualified for, but don't put your money on it.

[South Newlandia]

Playoffs? You kiddin me? Playoffs?

Yes. cutoff

Playoffs

Friday, 17:00:

(A3) TJUN-ia 2-2 New Crywyzyxycynya (B4)
(B3) The Martian Independent Republic 2½–1½ Gyaromia (C4)
(C3) Valentine Z 2½–1½ Epicly Amazing Giraffes (A4)

Friday, 19:00 (winners advance to Second Stage):

(C2) Lanansia 2½–1½ TJUN-ia (A3)
(A2) Elejamie 1–3 The Martian Independent Republic (B3)
(B2) The Kytler Peninsulae 2½–1½ Valentine Z (C3)

Second Stage Schedule

in all Rounds, the team listed first has white on boards 2&4

Round 1 - Saturday, 11:00
Eshialand v The Martian Independent Republic
The Kytler Peninsulae v Hapilopper
Lanansia v Katzeburg
Round 2 - Saturday, 14:00
The Martian Independent Republic v Katzeburg
Hapilopper v Lanansia
Eshialand v The Kytler Peninsulae

Round 3 - Saturday, 16:00
The Kytler Peninsulae v The Martian Independent Republic
Lanansia v Eshialand
Katzeburg v Hapilopper
Round 4 - Saturday, 18:00
The Martian Independent Republic v Hapilopper
Eshialand v Katzeburg
The Kytler Peninsulae v Lanansia

Round 5 - Sunday, 11:00
Lanansia v The Martian Independent Republic
Katzeburg v The Kytler Peninsulae
Hapilopper v Eshialand

[Banija]

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

Part 1
Part 2

Kabaka Mwanga, the following Monday, holding a primetime address to the Lukiiko

Kabaka Mwanga was in the upper half of his 90s. The chances that he became a centurion were actually not bad- he always felt his father would have become one, if he didn't meet a tragic and extraordinary ending. It's those royal genes, plus having access to royal healthcare, that would get you there. And so, despite his age, he wasn't completely inept physically. He used a cane- but he did not use a wheelchair. He was able to walk around with his cane, and he was in pretty good shape. His mind was sharp, he spoke with authority, and he was ruling effectively.

But he knew, even with his genes, that he could not outrun father time.

As a royal, you could never let your emotions get in the way in your job of running a nation. That was the tradeoff when family and politics mixed together- the business of the family was the business of the country, and sometimes, that required looking at things from a cold, calculating perspective that you wouldn't look at most things for. For the Katende family, and any royal house with any real political power, that would forever remain true.

But even Kabaka Mwanga had a heart, had a soul. And he wasn't going to lie- the death of his son, and his grandson, were devastating.

A man his age had no reason to worry about succession. His oldest son had four sons, and the Kabaka's oldest grandson had twins of his own. So the Kabaka had two great-grandchildren. And with his oldest son, Isebantu Mutungi, dying in a plane crash over the Blood Sea with his own oldest son, Omugabe Ssekamanya, also on board- well, it was hard for the old man to deal with.

Mutungi had been in his 60s- dutifully serving the royal family, for most of his life, as a diplomat and as heir to the throne. He had probably been within a few years of taking over the throne- and the Kabaka had known that he would take over the reigns. Well groomed for the moment, plenty of practice, patiently waiting for the spotlight- and then, having fate cruelly ripped away from him. Even beyond that, Mutungi's oldest son, also being on board- devastating. They always say that parents are not meant to bury their children. So what about grandparents burying their adult grandchildren? Brutal, brutal stuff. It had been heartbreaking, and Mwanga had been grieving ever since.

Nobody else knew, but that had been a big part of the reason he had waited all this time, a couple of years, to pick someone who would eventually rule as Regent in the stead of his new heir- his great-grandson, Isebantu Sekakama. The child was just in Kindgergarten- and with Mwanga 90+ years his senior, it would be unreasonable to expect Mwanga to survive to the ripe old age of 108, or so, until Sekakama was old enough to rule directly. He'd almost certainly need a Regent, and one for a while, at that. Mwanga had kept putting it off- a way of an old man, a mortal man, dealing with intense grief he thought he'd never have to face, an intense grief that he'd never get out of.

But eventually, Mwanga had to come back to reality. He increasingly thought about his own mortality. About his legacy. And he knew- peaceful and stable succession would be a critical part of his legacy. Who knew what his legacy would be? He had failures- Nyowani Kitara could not be seen as anything but. But he had successes, as well- successfully navigating Banija through both the split of Atlantian Oceania, and then, when most of the region left for Arrosia, ensuring Banija was a leader and powerful player within the new region. His dedication to the Quebecois Commonwealth, his conduct during the Banijan-Equestrian War, his presiding over the foundations of Banija as a rich nation.

Death's door was not calling- but he was an old man, and he knew that the days were counting down. So, kind of out of nowhere, he announced the decision to family a few days before. He wanted to ensure that this was smooth, that everything was so public- nothing about his intentions could be misconstrued. He announced it to the whole family, late Thursday evening. Then, waited a few days, until Monday, to announce to the entire nation. He wanted the entire Royal Family there- including Kagere David to get back from the Elephant Chess Cup.

And so, when the Speaker invited him to speak, he spoke with conviction.

"Members of this House." He began, looking around. "I am sure all of you know why I am here today, why I am in this building. I am here to address one major thing- the topic of a potential Regency for my heir, as the head of the House and, more importantly, as the divinely anointed Kabaka of this country, Isebantu Sekakama."

He paused, and then began speaking again. "The constitutional foundations of this country have existed for over 150 years. And the general fabric of this country, generally speaking, has been around for over 400 years." He then launched into a speech- about history, about the history of the country, about how the religion of the country unites the people, about how as the country moves forward, they need to unite and work together to address the challenges of the future.

"This is why we must establish, and ensure, a stable Regency in the event of my passing before Isebantu Sekakama comes of age." Just then, the Lukiiko members all chanted 'Long Live the Kabaka'. That, of course, put a smile on the old man's face. "ON this very day, I will sign a royal proclamation to declare my daughter, Omugaba Immaculate, as the Omukama, or Regent, of Banija upon my demise."

He paused, and then continued. "She will be given the full powers of any Regent, and she will be responsible for ensuring, after my death, that Isebantu Sekakama is brought up properly in the ways of becoming Kabaka. And, of course, as is law, she, as Regent, will not be allowed to give royal assent to any legislation changing the line of succession, nor will she be eligible to serve on the Guardian Council."

They all applauded when Omugaba Immaculate strode into the room. She did not speak- but it was an acknowledgement that she, one day, would speak from where the Kabaka was speaking.

Royal Proclamation: Regency for Isebantu Sekakama

Regent: Omugaba Immaculate. Independently Invested with the full powers of the monarchy with two exceptions. One- cannot give royal assent to legislation changing the line of succession. And second- appointments to the Guardian Council belong with the Regency Council, not the Regent.

Regency Council: Only formal role is to provide succession to the Regent in the event of their incapacitation, and to appoint the royal members of the Guardian Council, and to act as the official body dissolving the Regency once Sekakama turns 18. The Regency Council, in order of succession, is as follows

#1 Omugabe Ssemanda
#2 Omugabe Kato
#3 Omugaba Zandaba
#4 Omugabe Ttembo
#5 Omugabe Lallo
#6 Omugabe Muhoozi
#7 Omugaba Mariam
Princess Muirne, the mother of Isebantu Sekakama, serves on the Regency Council with observer capacity.

[Koralsk]

btw i havent been paying much attention to this thread but... what happened to Koralsk?

[Katzeburg]

Ivory Crown Hotel, Newport, South Newlandia
Friday Evening

With the Ynysgard Chess Club securing top spot in their group and bypassing the playoffs to head straight into the Super Six, the team found themselves with the afternoon to decompress from the huge raft of bombshells Klaus dropped on them the night before. Every person would have a different way to deal with the predicament - Nora first drafted a statement distancing herself from any knowledge of Klaus’ involvement with Eulemann as a ‘break in case of emergency’ media release, before hitting up the bar to have a few glasses of non-alcoholic wine and return constituent emails. Kristine leapt straight onto social media to see if Klaus was the only time something like this had happened to someone back home, trying to find any information on Eulemann and his associates which may be of use. Emilia leapt straight into research, looking at precedent, international law, and every single regulation in the book when it came to gambling, debt repayment, and international crime in order to find any angle on which to get Klaus out of the jam by the book.

Meanwhile Mark would opt to take on something of the role of guard, joining Klaus in the Ivory Crown’s bar as the deeply in-debt man decided his best course of action was to drink himself to an early grave, albeit something he was not having much luck with given South Newlandia's ban on alcohol, leaving the man to down pint after pint of non-alcoholic mocktails instead. The former fisherman was clearly on edge, twisting and turning his head at any new source of noise which would permeate through from the ongoing playoffs occurring in the hotel. “Rough afternoon?” Mark said as he sat down, flagging the bartender for a drink.

“I barely slept at all last night,” Klaus said. “I know he’s around here somewhere, just waiting for me to split off on my own somewhere quiet.”

“You’ll be safe with us while we’re here,” Mark said calmly. He needed to just pump the breaks on Klaus before things spun too far out of control.

“But what about after the Super Six?” Klaus said, slamming his pint down on the bar. “Once we’re out of this competition, I’m done for. Whether it’s here in South Newlandia or they follow us back to Katzeburg. It’s coming, and there’s nothing I can do about it.”

“Nothing?” Mark said incredulously. “Let’s talk options. Believe me, there’s always an option to take.”

“And how would you know?”

“Klaus, I used to work in the world of finance. Making people disappear safely to avoid the consequences of their actions was very much top of the job description.” Mark leant across the bar and slapped his hand down on a napkin, dragging it across to him while he pulled a pen out of his blazer coat. “Now, are you aware of any criminal actions that Eulemann and his team may be committing or have committed?” Klaus just stared straight ahead, unmoved. “I’ll just note that down as a bit of a yes, then,” Mark said, jotting down some info to help keep his head clear. “We know roughly what you’ve been involved in, and I have to imagine that the sense of danger is beyond real as I’ve never seen you this rattled. I’ll start with just a bit of good news for you - we’re in South Newlandia, which to its credit has an absolutely top tier witness protection programme. They do the full package - new identity, new home in a location where you can’t be traced, a new affinity for elephants - and it extends to people who require it throughout Esportiva, we just go to the poli-”

“No cops.”

The short response threw off Mark; he wasn’t expecting Klaus to be so immediately against bringing in police help. He took a moment before trying to launch back in, confident Klaus just hadn’t fully understood what the process would be. “Sure. But if we can go to the poli-”

“No. Cops.” Klaus had turned to face Mark now, his eyes screaming in terror while the rest of him stayed relatively stoic and unassuming, as if the two had just as easily been talking about the football.

“Klaus, this is serious,” Mark said in a hushed tone. “We can’t deal with this just ourselves. If you are in danger, we need to bringing in someone who is trained and knows how to deal with this.”

“You don’t think I know that? I’m well out of my depth here and as a result, I’ve put all of this team in significant danger just by association. And now the others are all wanting to help? It’s going to get them killed!”

“So let us help you by bringing them in. All we have to do is one quick call to get the ball rolling. It’s as easy as picking up the phone and dialing 1093, same as back home.”

“Well that makes no sense, why would their emergency number be the same as ours?”

“Really? That’s the point you are taking issue with at this very moment?”

“I can’t do it, Mark. If we get the police involved, then they’ll have to come in and take me away for my own protection; it’s not the right time.”

“Surely you can’t be talking about this tournament? Look Klaus, I’d love to win this trophy but at the end of the day your safety is always going to be more important. We need to focus on that first and foremost.”

“I wasn’t talking about the tournament.”

The realisation hit Mark like a freight train. Why did Klaus even come back to the team for the Chess Cup? When he was telling the team last night about the lonely life of a semi-professional chess player in Katzeburg, why didn’t it hit him earlier? Klaus wasn’t wanting to leave the tournament behind; he was afraid of leaving his friends behind. The only people who had really tolerated him. The people who saw his value and what he could bring to the table. The people who made him feel accepted. Mark didn’t know where to go from here. “Klaus…” he started. “I’m sorry. I get it. You don’t need to worry, we’ll support you and however you want to play this no matter what.”

“I can’t leave this team behind,” Klaus whimpered, the mask of bravado and shit-talking peeled away for seemingly the first time as Mark knew him. “Chess is all I’ve got, Mark.” The silence permeated the air as Klaus just looked at Mark with tears beginning to well in his eyes. Here was a man who was afraid; afraid of what would happen next, afraid of the storm of danger he had caused, afraid to be alone again. Mark nodded in agreement and put down his pen.

He was about to speak once more when Kristine, her head buried in her phone, pulled up a stool alongside Klaus and flopped down. “Hey! Have you seen who we’re kicking off the Super Six with tomorrow? Lanansia again! Hopefully this time we can do a little better than our draw this morning right?” Silence filled the bubble between the three, causing Kristine to look up and finally realise what she had walked in on. “Oh sorry guys! Didn’t realise. Everything all good Klaus?”

Klaus sniffled and just returned to staring straight ahead. Picking up his pint once more, he slowly nodded.

“Yeah. Everything’s great.”

[Eshialand]

Just What Was Needed, No More
Crpostran 2-2 Eshialand

The Owls needed a draw to secure advancement to the Super Six, and luckily, despite all of the madness that can come from matches against Crpostran in Literally Every Sport That Has Ever Existed™, exactly what they needed was exactly what they got, with the dust settling on a 2-2 score. Considering the fact that Crpostran really did have nothing left to play for, it was an impressive showing for them — albeit one that may call into question the idea of Eshialand winning this tournament.

After all, with Crpostran having such a lackluster performance in this edition of the ECC, one might think that the Owls should have a much better advantage against them (or even any advantage at all!). Instead, this performance was a disappointing cap to a weird run which, yes, saw the Owls winning their group, but with no wins better than 2½-1½, showing that they may have gotten the better of most everyone in their group, that didn't necessarily mean they were better than any of them at all. They were good enough to snag wins, but not good enough to prove that they had earned them.

This issue would be one that would prove a difficult question headed into the Super Six. This was never a tournament stage that the Owls were ever particularly good at. In fact, despite having incredible records in basically every ECC with a knockout playoff format (presuming they got to said stage), they had never once finished in the top half of a final round robin stage. It was a curse that they would be carrying with them into an ECC that was already seeing some massive underperforming, and there were real questions about whether this team had anything in the tank at all.

In a hilariously cruel twist of irony, the Super Six would be starting off with exactly what this team didn't want to see: two group stage rematches, starting with a revenge match against the Martian Independent Republic, and continuing after lunch with the Kytler Peninsulae's chance to get revenge on them. What a weird position they now found themselves in, and what a pair of matchups to start out the final stage with a disappointment or two.

Needless to say, a win and a draw would be the bare minimum performance they'd have to get out of this if they were going to have any chance of winning their first ECC, and that performance didn't seem like one they would be able to muster up, barring miracles. However, miracles sometimes do happen, believe it or not.

---

"Qc5 and that should be a check?" Jason said to Danny, as the latter's little skinny dip in the bay was getting close to its conclusion.
"How do you not know if it's a check?" Danny asked, "surely you know this position well enough to say with full confidence that yes, in fact, my f pawn has moved and there is a clear line of sight between your queen and my king."
"You're right Danny. Yes, this is a check, I can say that for sure."
"Good because you forgot you had a knight on d6, that's an illegal move meaning I win the game!"

The audience was a little dumbfounded at such a result, with this armchair commentator being able to beat one of the nation's top grandmasters while the cold ocean water was freezing literally everything, but Jason wasn't so surprised it ended this way. His weakness had always been board visualization. Despite getting to the top levels of the game, if he wasn't writing down the moves, and if you took the board away from his face, the pieces would start to drift around and disappear. He was no blindfold chess player, and this match was over for him from the start.

"Well, good game then Danny, you've definitely proven... something here. I don't know what, but something."
"If I'm being honest I don't know what I've proven either..." Danny replied, "the only things I can think of are that blindfold chess is hard and THIS WATER IS FREAKING COLD!!!"
"if you want me to pull your butt-crack naked arse out of the water, you must be out of your mind," Jason told him. "You're just gonna have to get to the other side and pull yourself out when you get there."
"NEVER MAKE ME MAKE ANOTHER STUPID BET AGAIN!!!!"
"I didn't make you do anything Danny, this is all on you. Just remember, anything can happen in chess, and you should never bet on the expected outcome. Nothing ever works out the way you would hope or expect."

Danny kept on swimming to the other side, but without the game to distract his mind from the cold, he was now shrieking in pain with every stroke. Surely this was the worst idea he ever had, and surely he would never be making such an awful mistake again. Sometimes, you just have to learn these things the hard way.

[The Kytler Peninsulae]

The Friday night showdown that the Scholars didn't want proved to be no trouble at all, as Valentine Z were effectively dealt with before you could say all of their names. Although to be fair that is quite a long time.

As the group runners-up, a draw was sufficient to advance; the Valentians needed a win somewhere, and of course aggressively chased one. Herein lies the evidence of a phrase often said in Kytlerian chess circles; the easiest way to lose a game of chess is to try and win it. Not that Eveline Valeria Annalise Tiêu Xuân Ngọc - and, yes, that is the shortest name on the team, by a lot - has ever got that particular memo, as she always plays a highly aggressive style of chess. In this case, with the black pieces, she bought the Accelerated Dragon to the table, but the problem with that is that you can quickly get in big trouble if you don't follow the established deeply theoretical lines and your opponent does. Turns out a product of the John Roach school does know them, and Stijn van Dijk duly exploited multiple inaccuracies to cruise to a comfortable win. The other three boards ended in draws, and that was that; the dream of an unprecedented fifth straight podium was back on.

It won't be easy. This is an absolutely fascinating Super Six; the Scholars' Group B ended up producing three teams from it as The Martian Independent Republic pulled the emphatic 3-1 triumph over Elejamie after edging out Gyaromia to even get that shot, and the Spiders rematch will be the third Saturday contest. Before that, the Eshians must be faced again in a potential revenge game, and before that there is older revenge to be had in the form of a clash with the Hapilopper team that ended the Scholars' run of titles back in ECC9. "I think a lot of us are really determined to show they can't surprise us again, but the very fact they won their group shows they're the real deal even after that initial shock factor," acknowledged Julia Willis in a Friday night interview. "Everyone who's here is here for a reason, and I expect plenty of draws as I don't think there'll be too many big mistakes on any of the boards anywhere. But of course someone's going to have to break through somehow and we all have to be prepared for novelties against us as a result." Could the Scholars bring some of their own? "If we do, we'll have to execute better than I did last time I tried one (with her Elephant Gambit against Felix Tremblay at the SN3C) that's for sure!"

After that, the Saturday nightcap is against this edition's breakout in Lanansia before a Sunday morning showdown with reigning champions Katzeburg that could mean nothing or everything to either team - because nobody can predict how these teams will fare against each other with margins so fine. It truly is a Super Six indeed. But the Scholars have never failed to make the podium before, and they're ready to show that they really are a dynastic force still.

[South Newlandia]

Cutoff!

Second Stage

Saturday, 11:00
Eshialand 1–3 The Martian Independent Republic
The Kytler Peninsulae 2½–1½ Hapilopper
Lanansia 2–2 Katzeburg

Saturday, 14:00
The Martian Independent Republic 1½–2½ Katzeburg
Hapilopper 2½–1½ Lanansia
Eshialand 2–2 The Kytler Peninsulae

Standings

P                                     Pld   W  D  L   PF  PA  PD  Pts 
1 Katzeburg                             2   1  1  0  4.5 3.5  +1    3
  The Kytler Peninsulae                 2   1  1  0  4.5 3.5  +1    3
3 The Martian Independent Republic      2   1  0  1  4.5 3.5  +1    2
4 Hapilopper                            2   1  0  1    4   4   0    2
5 Lanansia                              2   0  1  1  3.5 4.5  −1    1
6 Eshialand                             2   0  1  1    3   5  −2    1

P                                     Pld   W  D  L   PF  PA  PD  Pts 
1 The Martian Independent Republic      1   1  0  0    3   1  +2    2
2 The Kytler Peninsulae                 1   1  0  0  2.5 1.5  +1    2
3 Katzeburg                             1   0  1  0    2   2   0    1
  Lanansia                              1   0  1  0    2   2   0    1
5 Hapilopper                            1   0  0  1  1.5 2.5  −1    0
6 Eshialand                             1   0  0  1    1   3  −2    0

[Katzeburg]

OOC Note - Content Warning for this RP - Somewhat Graphic Violence, Death

The Nervous Kitten, Katzestadt
Katzeburg

Klaus Rothbauer was on the road and running out of asphalt. The trip through North Katzeburg to try and win the regional chess competitions in Refeld, Axmund, and Avonsend were mostly without luck - a second place finish at Refeld his best run of the lot, but a shock defeat to a young farmer fresh off harvesting that day’s oranges threw him for a loop. In his time heading up, down, and across Katzeburg, Klaus had seen that he was nowhere near the top of the crop of Katzeburgian chess; hell - he might not even be halfway towards the middle when all is said and done. He was being regularly thrashed by people half his age and people with better things to do with their time, and he just had to constantly smile and laugh it off.

But as he pushed through the doors of the Nervous Kitten in Katzestadt, he was mentally preparing himself for where to go further from here. He had abandoned the Ynysgard Chess Club months earlier in the wake of the Elephant Chess Cup win, and now he was close to broke, and with a large stormcloud of debt looming over him from his gambling with Jack Eulemann. Klaus grabbed a seat at the long-faded central bar and ordered a pint of Harmouth Gold, downing it in one large gulp, and then ordered another. He considered his options and just what to do. Does he call it quits and head back to Dragoonspiel? Out of the question. He can’t go back as a failure, a town that small would crucify him and alienate him from the rest of the pack. Does he keep going trying his luck at tournaments around Katzeburg? There’s not much space left for him across these competitions, especially given his continued poor performance. He literally could not afford another poor finish.

He had heard rumours of domestic chess competitions overseas, does he try his hand there? Would anyone want him? Yes he had some clout with his performances at the Elephant Chess Cup, but he’d get quickly found out once word of his poor performance spreads beyond Katzeburg’s shores. Maybe there was the looming Multiversal Chess Championships he could participate in. But he’d need a couple more Katzeburgians to kick along with him - dare he go back to Emilia? Klaus had already smashed a few more pints down while mulling his options, stretching the last of his barins to buy one more pint. The bartender was more than willing to bring them at speed to the man, given how quiet the bar was this evening; with Katzestadt AFC playing IFCF football across the city, most people left in the pub were the more regulars who filtered in and out over the course of the night.

But finally someone would grab a seat next to him; someone who would make Klaus’ eyes stretch wide in panic.

“Klaus,” Jack Eulemann said with a menacing smile creeping across his face. “How lovely to run into you here. What are the odds?”

Klaus stumbled and stuttered to get anything out from his mouth. “Jack… Wha-what are you doing here?”

“I’m here to collect my debt, Klaus,” Jack said cooly, pulling out a handkerchief from his suit jacket pocket and flicking it out before resting it softly on the bar. “Rather dated place, isn’t it? But it’s a place with a ton of historical relevance in the fabric of our great nation. And all places can fall on hard times.” Klaus barely noticed the two larger men who crept up behind him and stood at attention, almost twice the size of stocky fisherman. “The owner came to me a while back, you know,” Jack continued. “Needed some additional barins to keep the place running and the lights on. As a big fan of the cultural and historical value this place brings, I couldn’t refuse.”

Jack looked across the bar into the central stand, locking eyes with the bartender. The bartender gulped in what Klaus could only assume was fear, before putting down the glass they were cleaning and quickly shuffling into the back of the bar behind a private door. “But they are much like you, young master Rothbauer. They couldn’t pay me back when the time came. I find that unfathomably rude; always an excuse as to why the barins weren’t there. At the end of the day, you can only take so many renditions of ‘patrons are still going to the newer pub up the road’ before you have to take some form of action.”

The private door opened once more, and a large man was pushing the bartender back out from the room into the center of the bar. Klaus twisted his head around the room, trying to spot anyone who could swing in and save the day. But the sometimes busy central room of the Nervous Kitten was now dead silent. The room which had previously held hundreds, now just had six - Jack, Klaus, the bartender, and Jack’s three burly henchmen. The man guiding the bartender pushed him onto the floor, as finally he started to speak.

“Mr Eulemann! Always a pleasure to see you, I imagine you’re wanting your barins back that we owe you. But, and I’m so sorry for this, we can’t afford to pay you the full amount at the moment.”

“John, John, please,” Jack said, pulling a bottle of whiskey across the bar and popping open the top of it. “The time for that is past. I’m afraid I can’t leave the premises without full reparations.” Jack nodded and the man grabbed John the bartender again, holding him firm. One of the men guarding Klaus moved to leap over the bar while the other man grabbed Klaus firmly. Klaus bristled in shock, but was held down tightly. He was being locked into watching what was unfolding before him. The man leapt over the bar and pulled out some rope from the inside of his suit jacket, before grabbing and slamming down John’s right arm against the bar. It must have been with some force, as John screamed out in pain, distracted from the fact that the man was now tying his arm with rope and looping it around the upper part of the central bar.

“You see Klaus,” Jack said nonchalantly, “I always get my money back. And I’ll follow people to the end of the world to make sure of that.” The man slammed John’s other arm down against the bar and begun to tie him up as John continued whimpering in pain. With both arms tied to opposite ends of the central bar, John was suspended a little in midair, struggling to remain still as Jack walked around the side of the bar to head into the central hall.

“Jack please,” John pleaded. “You’ll get your money back, I’ll take out another loan, I’ll sell the place, please! Please listen to me!” But Jack continued to advance, picking up a small crate and sticking it under the scrambling feet of John, allowing him to stand up properly for a moment, settling the bartender down somewhat.

“You’ve had your time, John,” Jack said calmly. “But you’ll serve a much greater purpose for me here.” John’s eyes went wide in panic. Klaus could do nothing but sit and watch. The man who had tied John to the central bar pulled out one final piece of rope, and tightened it into a noose, wrapping it over the head of John and tying it to the chandelier which sat atop the roof of the central bar.

“Please, Jack. You have to believe me,” John continued to plead, tears streaming down his face. But Jack had instead turned his attention away from the bartender, running his eyes over the bar, as if he was searching for something. A smile cracked across his face as his eyes met something on the bar. A long knife utilised for lime cutting.

Jack picked up the knife and turned back towards John. “Klaus,” he said. “You better be watching, as this is what happens when people fail to give me my money.” And then he slashed at John’s chest repeatedly with speed. Screams echoed through the halls of the Nervous Kitten, but noone was forthcoming. Klaus tried to look away, but the man holding him down grabbed his head and twisted it towards the scene. Finally, after what felt like hours, Jack stopped and took a step back from the now heavily bleeding bartender. Admiring his work, he wiped the knife off on a nearby towel and placed it back down on the bar. John’s chest and down was drenched in red, the man who was just moments ago pleading for his life now deathly silent except for some faint wheezing.

“I want my money by the end of the week, Klaus,” Jack said. And then he kicked loose the crate John was standing on, snapping the ropes together and causing the wheezing of John to get louder for a few moments before stopping entirely. Jack simply made his way back around the bar and nodded at his three men. “Have a good evening,” he said as he pushed his way out the front door of the Nervous Kitten. The henchmen holding Klaus let go and also began to make his way to the door, while the two in the central section quickly went to work scrubbing any massively incriminating evidence before making their exit out the private door. Klaus was locked in the spot by fear and fear alone, before snapping back into reality as he actually took in the grisly scene which now laid before him.

He burst out the front door a moment later and started sprinting down the road alongside the banks of the River Cuomo to find the first taxi he could find. He didn’t even need to think where he was going when he eventually flagged one down, he just knew he had to get there as if his life depended on it. The next morning, he was stepping off the ferry in Ynysgard, twisting his head in suspicion at everyone on the ferry alongside him. He needed to find those who would understand. He needed to find the Ynysgard Chess Club. And he would find them later that evening in the Fisherman’s Arms. They would be his shield, his protection, from the deadliest game of chess he had ever gotten into. He would quickly find Emilia, leading a brief social meeting of the club that evening and pulled her aside for a few drinks, where he would hatch his plan in his only attempt at ensuring he would stay one step of Eulemann.

“Join me on the multiversal circuit, Em. You and me, we need to show the world that we weren’t a fluke.”

[South Newlandia]

Cutoff

Second Stage

Saturday, 16:00
The Kytler Peninsulae 3–1 The Martian Independent Republic
Lanansia 1½–2½ Eshialand
Katzeburg 3½–½ Hapilopper

Saturday, 18:00
The Martian Independent Republic 1–3 Hapilopper
Eshialand 1–3 Katzeburg
The Kytler Peninsulae 2–2 Lanansia

Standings

P                                     Pld   W  D  L   PF  PA  PD  Pts 
1 Katzeburg                             4   3  1  0   11   5  +6    7
2 The Kytler Peninsulae                 4   2  2  0  9.5 6.5  +3    6
3 Hapilopper                            4   2  0  2  7.5 8.5  −1    4
4 Eshialand                             4   1  1  2  6.5 9.5  −3    3
5 Lanansia                              4   0  2  2    7   9  −2    2
6 The Martian Independent Republic      4   1  0  3  6.5 9.5  −3    2

P                                     Pld   W  D  L   PF  PA  PD  Pts 
1 Katzeburg                             3   2  1  0    8   4  +4    5
2 The Kytler Peninsulae                 3   2  1  0  7.5 4.5  +3    5
3 Eshialand                             3   1  1  1  5.5 6.5  −1    3
4 The Martian Independent Republic      3   1  0  2  5.5 6.5  −1    2
5 Hapilopper                            3   1  0  2  4.5 7.5  −3    2
6 Lanansia                              3   0  1  2    5   7  −2    1

Eagle-eyed Elefriends may have picked up on the fact that this clinches a spot in the final for both Katzeburg and The Kytler Peninsulae. Given the final MD will be exclusively dead rubbers (in the case of the Katzeburg-The Kytler Peninsulae matchup, a meaningless preamble to the actual final) and the apparent general lack of interest we just had for the alive rubbers, I have decided to scorinate MD5 today as well and move the final up by a cutoff.

Second Stage

Sunday, 11:00
Lanansia 1½–2½ The Martian Independent Republic
Katzeburg 3–1 The Kytler Peninsulae
Hapilopper 3½–½ Eshialand

Standings

P                                     Pld   W  D  L   PF  PA  PD  Pts 
1 Katzeburg                             5   4  1  0   14   6  +8    9
2 The Kytler Peninsulae                 5   2  2  1 10.5 9.5  +1    6 (ahead of HAP via H2H)
3 Hapilopper                            5   3  0  2   11   9  +2    6 - Bronze Medal
4 The Martian Independent Republic      5   2  0  3    9  11  −2    4
5 Eshialand                             5   1  1  3    7  13  −6    3
6 Lanansia                              5   0  2  3  8.5 11.5 −3    2

Elephant Chess Cup 11 Final
Sunday, 14:00 // the team listed first has white on boards two and four

The Kytler Peninsulae - Katzeburg

[Katzeburg]

Ivory Crown Hotel, Newport
South Newlandia

The Ynysgard Chess Club had plenty of reason to celebrate. The team had somehow made their second straight Elephant Chess Cup final after romping through the Super Six stage with four wins and a single draw to their name, including an emphatic win over their fellow finalists The Kytler Peninsulae in what, to be fair, was a dead rubber on Sunday morning.

But as the team gathered around their table for lunch ahead of the final itself, the mood was anything but celebratory. Klaus had continued to unravel, his fears around being swept up by Jack and his men causing his mental state to decline further over the course of the Saturday games. When he failed to turn up for the team’s clash with Eshialand on Sunday evening, Emilia had to act fast to swap in Kristine. With the youngster thrown into the deep end, she tried her best but could only manage a draw against Eshialand’s Jamie Cartwright.

Klaus thankfully hadn’t been swept up by Eulemann and his team; he was instead found cowering in a small cupboard in his hotel room by Mark after his match wrapped up, shaking in pure terror knowing that by tomorrow afternoon, the competition - and likely his life - would be over.

Mark spent most of his evening trying to talk Klaus down from his mentally-placed cliff, which he achieved to some success - with Klaus even managing to take to the boards on Sunday morning - but now the final moment had come. The team had one more game left, and despite the fact the Ynysgard Chess Club were aiming to somehow pull off a second-straight miracle title, the emanating mood around the table was one of uncertainty.

Klaus simply stared down towards the table and his non-alcoholic cocktail which he had rather uncharacteristically been nursing. “I never thought South Newlandia would be where I’d reach the end, truth be told,” he said monotone. “I mean, a country with no alcohol is like a salesman trying to sell air; it just doesn’t make any sense.”

“It’s not the end, Klaus,” Emilia said, stretching her hand over the table to rest on top of Klaus’ hand. “We can still go to the police. We can end all of this with a simple phone call and get you into their care and protection.”

“You don’t get it,” Klaus said. “Jack has people everywhere. He told me he will chase me down to the ends of the world to get his money back. It’s only a matter of time once the competition ends before he’ll come for me.”

“He may have people everywhere in Katzeburg,” Nora started. “But South Newlandia? I’d like to see it. The fact he is here in person should be more than enough to tell you he’s operating blind.”

“But then how did he find me?” Klaus said, snapping his head up towards Nora in anger.

“Are… Are you serious?” Mark said. “You quite loudly declared your intention to pretty much everyone in Ynysgard that you were heading over here for the ECC. I would have been amazed if he didn’t know you were over here.”

“Me and my big, dumb mouth,” Klaus groaned as he slapped his forehead. “It still doesn’t matter.”

“There’s the police, Klaus,” Emilia urged again. “I know you’ve been against it the whole time, but it’s really the best and at this point, only, option to make sure you are safe come the end of the tournament.”

“Why are you against going to the cops?” Nora said, swirling her drink thoughtfully. “It’s not like you’ve done anything wrong in terms of the criminal sense. Gambling is legal back home and while running up a big debt to a bookmaker is certainly moronic, it’s not an offence.”

“What is this, the ‘let’s kick the crap out of Klaus Rothbauer’ hour?” Klaus said, slamming his hand down on the table. “Ignoring the fact that that rhymed and I will definitely be keeping it in my ideas book for future KBC pitching, I know I’ve made some stupid mistakes! I… I just can’t go to them because once I do, I’ll lose everything. And I’m not willing to do that.”

“What do you mean everything? What’s stopping you?” Kristine said out of confusion. Klaus dropped his head once more, as if he was embarrassed he had to spell it out entirely.

“I… Look. Chess is the only thing in my life that I’ve had any real talent at. Other than drinking of course, but you can hardly turn that into a professional career.”

“I don’t know, have you seen some of our politicians?” Mark interjected, before a sharp jab to his ribs from Emilia stopped him from going further.

“I didn’t think that I could find something I’d actually be good at, something I could turn into a career, and something where the people I was playing alongside were legitimately great people to be around. The truth is… I love this club. It means more to me than anything else I’ve ever had in my life. I can’t explain it; hell, it barely makes sense to me upon reflection. But deep down there, I know that if I was to lose this club, it would kill me much more than anything Eulemann could ever do to me.”

“But… why did you leave then?” Emilia said cautiously. Klaus scratched the top of his head.

“I wish I could tell you. I thought back then all I needed to do was break out on my own, it was the chess which was the thing that was making me happy and leading me to a good life. Only now I know it was the club.”

Silence filled the air. This was the realest any of them had ever seen the loud and brash Klaus, the fisherman who loved to take the piss more than anyone else, who many of those sitting around the table thought didn’t have a serious bone in his entire body. But that wasn’t the man sitting in front of them now. Instead it was a broken, downbeat, and scared man who was coming to terms with the fact he had dug his own grave and his only escape route was giving up the thing he loved the most.

“You know, it’s not like you going into witness protection would mean we could never reach out to you, Klaus,” Kristine mused. “It would only be until they can finish the prosecution on Eulemann; I’m sure you’d be able to come out of it after the fact.”

“He’d had men come after me, even from jail. I’d never be safe.”

“You’re forgetting how good the South Newlandian protection scheme is,” Mark said. “The only thing you’d really lose is your name, not the people who know you and what you stand for.”

“Exactly,” Emilia said. “Besides, even if South Newlandia was to become your new home, you’d only be a short trip away given we are basically right next store geographically speaking.”

“Hell, I’m sure I can pull some strings and try and get you some alcohol every now and then,” Nora said. “What good is there to being a local government official if you can’t bend the rules to flout federal laws?”

“Probably going to have a bit less luck there, Nora,” Mark said. “Remember it’s me who has to justify and sign off those checks for the council.”

“Oh fine. But the point still stands. You’ll never be alone Klaus. You’ll still have us by your side, whether it’s back home in Ynysgard or wherever you would end up.”

Klaus just sat silently, tears running down his cheeks. Were they tears of sadness? Or tears of pride? Not even Klaus could truly know, but as he looked back up at the table, he forced out a weak smile.

“Thanks guys,” he sniffled. “I’m sorry to have derailed our competition completely with all this.”

“Are you kidding?” Mark said. “Your situation has spurred us all on to play our best to keep you here, it’s probably the only reason at all we’re in the final to begin with!”

“But where do we go from here? The final is in half an hour. Once that’s done, Jack will be coming for me.”

“We need to make the call, Klaus,” Emilia said. “Once we get in touch with the police, you’ll be safe.”

“I know, but I can’t. I just want a little bit longer with you all. I just need a little bit longer. I’m not ready to go.”

“We know. But we’ve at least got the final ahead of us. We can put the call in now ahead of it, and then you can go out and put in one last incredible performance for the Ynysgard Chess Club and for Katzeburg to help us win the trophy before we get you to safety. This could be your heroic swansong here, Klaus.”

“It’s not enough. Please, you have to understand that this isn’t enough time to let this go. I’ve not been ready, I don’t know if I’ll ever be ready to let this go, to let my friends go,” Klaus pleaded.

Emilia and Mark exchanged a look of concern. As if they had been hiding something from Klaus and his steadfast refusal to engage with the police was something they were expecting to have shifted ahead of the final. Mark pushed himself up a little in his chair, as if he was preparing to break the news that Klaus’ pet had been put to sleep.

“Klaus, I’m afraid it’s already a little too late,” he said calmly. Klaus shook his head, unsure as to what he meant by that. He shot his eyes towards Kristine and Nora to gain some understanding, only to see Nora shy away from looking back at him while Kristine looked like she had been hit by a truck and was only just catching up with what had just been pushed out across the table.

“What… What do you mean it’s too late?” Klaus said with a mix of fear and anger in his voice, as if the last cell of power he had in controlling his own destiny had just been extinguished. Mark took a deep breath before breaking the news.

“I made the call half an hour ago.”

[The Kytler Peninsulae]

So this is where we're at.

The Saturday night showdowns meant that the final was known to be Katzeburg v The Kytler Peninsulae before the two met on Sunday morning for what amounted to a dress rehearsal; even if the Scholars lost (which they did) and Hapilopper won (which they also did), the head-to-head tiebreaker would resolve in favour of the former. Furthermore, while top spot was on the line, this edition of the format doesn't provide the Super Six winner with the tiebreaker, but instead there are actual tiebreakers - including Armageddon if needed, though only between the top two boards. "If we could move Ben Higgins to the second board to get him in Armageddon we'd seriously consider it, but that's out of the picture because of what we did on our debut, so that's one fewer decision to make," laughed Prof. John Roach, the now non-playing team leader who was the playing team leader when the Scholars did shuffle their boards famously on their ECC debut in the absence of a rule against it.

What they could do was bring in the reserve player (fellow semi-retired organiser Prof. Hahnea Izorigor), and they did so in relief of top board Julia Willis to ensure none of the four boards would be true rematches (although there would also be a colour flip anyway with the way this one went). So take the 3-1 score here with an entire container of salt, especially as Prof. Izorigor was on the end of one of the defeats (to Mayor Nora Keller, who was able to take advantage of the openings in the centre left by the trademark Izorigor hypermodernism). The aggressive Mark Jensen claimed the scalp of Michael Ridley in the other Katzeburg board victory, while both Higgins and Stijn van Dijk claimed draws with white against Klaus Rothbauer and Emilia Ziegler respectively. As it turns out, with Katzeburg listed first for this match and second for the final, the returning Scholars will be playing the same piece colours as they did in this match - Higgins and van Dijk will have the white pieces again but this time against Jensen and Keller, while Ridley will face Rothbauer with black.

"We haven't shown our hands, and I doubt they really have either, but we certainly haven't," Prof. Roach noted. "It's going to be decided the same way as always in the Elephant Chess Cup - two players on white and two on black for each team, most points wins. It's just that this time, the winner gets their hands on a trophy. We've been there before, they obviously did it last time, I think we've proven we're the two best teams in the multiverse right now and here we are competing for the right to say we're the best." A new dynasty against the old one? "It still feels weird to call our era an old one, it's less than a decade since we were here for the first time and broke out, they did the same two years ago, and I believe this will not be the last time we compete in an Elephant Chess Cup final."

Prof. Roach was also asked if he noticed the sombre mood within the Katzeburg camp even as they won this dead rubber. "I did, we all did but didn't want to pry at all in case we were intruding on them, I don't think they would want that with us being about to meet in the big one. But if they are going through something horrible, I gather from Hahnea that sometimes that can inspire people, she said something about there being a theory about the sorrow reaction being physiologically similar to the effects of RPD use. I don't know. Our players have their own game to focus on, and I'm sure they're as ready as they'll ever be."

[South Newlandia]

Cutoff (apologies for the delay)

Elephant Chess Cup 11 Final
Sunday, 14:00 // the team listed first has white on boards two and four

The Kytler Peninsulae 1½–2½ Katzeburg