Chapter 5: The Prodigy vs The Caro

For the first few moves of the match, Toki couldn't keep up with everything that was going on as both teams blitzed out moves on the respective boards. On board 7, he saw Emmanuel play the same Rui Lopez set up he had played against him. On board 6… Nigel played the King's Indian. On board 5... it appeared Marcy was playing a King's Indian on white except, something was off about it. The pawn in Nigel's set up that he always placed on the c3 square instead was placed 1 square further on Marcy's board on c4.

"Did… did she mess up her set up?" Toki thought, "Why's she playing a queen's gambit and King's Indian at the same time?"

"Playing the Catalan huh?" Ms. Everstone said quietly looking over Marcy's board, "Annad would be proud."

"What? Who?" Toki asked

"Former world champion Toki," Ms. Everstone replied, "You should really study the legends if you want to get better."

"Right…" Toki thought, "Boring stuff."

On board 4, Toki shuddered from the trauma of the round before as on black, Pierre had a French Defense set up. On board 3, it looked like another Evan's Gambit from Ian as he rapidly moved his pieces already up on time. The same however, could not be seen on board 2, as already by move 14, Bobby was having trouble trying to think of his next move.

Bobby vs Sophia 1: https://imgur.com/a/xqtl1e4

As Toki looked over at Ms. Everstone's face however… he could see clear distress.

"Careful Bobby…" Ms. Everstone said quietly, "Those queen side pawns could become a problem."

Toki did not really understand how that could be the case though. After all, the kings were on the other side of the board where Bobby had a pawn advantage.

"Much to learn I guess."

On board 1, it appeared the queens had been traded as the game stood in a position Toki had been completely unfamiliar with.

Queen's Gambit: https://imgur.com/TTwCJE6

"Alright! She got this!" Toki thought eyeing the board. It appeared Evelyn's pieces were heavily invading Edward's defenses and her position was very much winning. Ms. Everstone however, simply shook her head in disagreement as she looked over at the board.

"He even accepted the gambit…" Ms. Everstone said sighing, "You can't trade queens there, there aren't any pawn breaks, this is a clear draw."

"What… how?"

Slowly, as the players began transitioning into the midgame, play had begun to settle down for everyone. Most of the positions appeared completely even. The only exceptions it seemed were that both Ian and Sofia had at least double the time on their clocks compared to their opponent's.

"Come on, concentrate team," Ms. Everstone kept muttering to herself, "You can't let the demons from last year get to you."

Though he was not playing himself, the tension of the room still transferred itself onto Toki as he could feel himself sweating just watching the matchups.

"Oh man… and this is just a placement tournament?" he thought to himself, "I can't imagine the pressure when the actual state championship comes around."

Finally, as he reached around move 30 on his board, the first result of the match concluded as Noah uttered the word, "draw?" to his opponent who nodded his head and shook his hand.

"The Petrov really? So lazy…" Ms. Everstone said sighing as Toki recorded down the result, "But a draw on black isn't bad I suppose."

Next up, Nigel's game concluded. This time a win for Lake Tech.

"How… how'd that h pawn even get there?" Toki asked eyeing the board.

"It's a common problem with the King's Indian," Ms. Everstone explained, "Just trade bishops, castle queenside, and run the h pawn as Bobby Fischer would say."

"Who?"

"A misogynist and racist… but possibly the greatest of all time."

Next up was Ian's game. And to Toki's surprise, a crushing win for Ian who as Toki examined the board, had run over Ronald's King side and forced checkmate.

"Weak…" Toki could hear Ian whisper as he left the stunned Ronald with his hands in his face in frustration as he eyed the position on the board. He sat there for several minutes before finally accepting the result and getting up from the board.

"Good work Ian," Ms. Everstone said as Ian walked over to her and Toki.

"Naturally," Ian said, "I told you I deserve 2nd board."

"Haha don't push it…" Ms. Everstone snapped back.

Next was Marcy who appeared to have drawn her game against her opponent. In the final position she was still down a pawn, the same pawn she had sacrificed… but her king was positioned in a way where she was able to force a stalemate.

"I'm proud of you Marcy," Ms. Everstone said giving her a hug when she finished though Marcy herself did not look too satisfied with her performance.

"But… but I drew on white."

"It's okay," Ms. Everstone said, "You tried a different opening and played it very well. Improving is what matters."

The next results were Emmanuel's and Pierre's games, both ending in draws as well.

"It's been an honor," Emmanuel said getting up and giving a bow to his opponent before extending his hand. His opponent gave him a weird look.

"Uhh… you too bro?" he said before shaking his hand.

All eyes turned to the 1st two boards as the score now was tied 3-3 for both sides. On board 1, true to Edward's prophecy, he was engaged currently in a rook and pawn end game against Evelyn. The pawns on each side however were all on the same row, neither side really being able to make progress. However… as Edward looked over at Bobby's game, while the material was completely equal, the structure was completely different.

Bobby vs Sophia 2: https://imgur.com/a/SK2JvYp

"That fool," Ian whispered, "he's always been weak when it's the exchange Caro. The passed c pawn will be his downfall."

Realizing this as well on Bobby and Sofia's board, Edward then turned back to his own board and began blitzing out moves.

"Shit…" Evelyn thought as she noticed her time was getting low, "Need to formulate a plan or else this game will be…"

But it was too late. As Edward used time pressure to his advantage, he continuously forced trades even willing to sacrifice pawns temporarily to ruin Evelyn's structure. By the time the dust had settled, Evelyn was still left with one pawn, one attached to her King… but directly in front of Edward's. Like Marcy's game, this one was headed for stalemate. Toki could see frustration in Evelyn's eyes as she tried her best to trick Edward, but this endgame was one he could draw in his sleep blindfolded. Finally, after the 50th move as Evelyn's pawn made it all the way to the 7th rank, the two agreed to a draw.

"Good game," Edward said extending his hand with a smile. Disgruntled, Evelyn reached her own hand out to shake it.

Everyone's attention now turned to the last remaining game. Bobby, who upon hearing the result of Evelyn's game, began to sweat profusely.

"Come on, an engine can hold this with perfect play," Ms. Everstone said nervously looking over the board.

But Bobby was merely a human. And with perfect precision, using her past pawn as a constant threat, Sofia attacked both weaknesses in Bobby's pawn chain making him dance like a monkey.

Bobby vs Sophia 3: https://imgur.com/a/2JOW5Kh

But to Bobby's credit, he defended well maneuvering his rooks and queen back and forth so that both his weak pawns were protected. But there was only one issue.

"Watch that clock Robert," Marcy thought as Bobby's clock reached under 2 minutes while Sofia's was still at a healthy 15 minute.

"Crap…" Bobby thought as Sofia continued to blitz out moves, "I can't just sit here forever, I need to think of King Side counter play. Push the h pawn? Shit… but I need my rook here for defense and…"

And then, at around the 40th move. Bobby blundered.

Sophia vs Bobby 4: https://imgur.com/a/DWPd7Bd

Wanting to avoid rook infiltration, Bobby had stacked his rooks onto the 7th row completely missing that Sofia's past b pawn on b6 guarded the rooks' ability to reach the a file protecting Bobby's own past pawn. His one hope had fallen. The whole team knew it too as they gave out a collective cringe seeing what had taken place while mini cheers could be heard from Lake Tech's side.

But Bobby couldn't regret now, not with so little time on the clock. He gave his best effort pushing his h pawn with a rook behind it to create counter play, but I was far too late for such measures. Methodically, Sofia infiltrated through the A file making the proper trades with her rooks leaving only queens and pawns left on the board. And as if she had calculated the whole thing, the final position as Bobby's clock reached within 10 seconds of his time expiring, showed the game winning b pawn, guarded by the queen, only 1 square away from promotion, and a deceptively protected King, whose pawns were set up in such a way that Bobby could not give any checks to force a perpetual.

"I resign," Bobby finally said looking as if he was about to cry as he knocked over his King. And as he did, the entire Lake tech team began cheering as they all crowded Sofia congratulating her victory. River Park had lost, only being able to taste the tears of defeat once again that day.