[Main POV]
I simply nodded at her words. I didn't feel like speaking. Then, our match began.
Every move was a battle. My frustration mounted. Trades were made, clearing the board. But in the end, all that remained were our kings.
Overall, our match was short. Lasting 156 moves and 10 minutes, both of us spending virtually not time thinking, as moves were made immediately after the other. But alas it was a draw.
After taking my last pawn, she held her hand out for the final handshake of the match. In front of all the reporters, I had no choice but to accept. It was humiliating.
"I quite enjoyed the dance," she remarked softly, "I look foreword to continuing this tomorrow."
I continued to give the silent treatment. Unlike her, I did not enjoy this. To my satisfaction, she looked slightly put-off by my silence.
After finishing an unusually long handshake, I brushed off all reporters and headed to my room, tailed by Emily and the secret service agents.
Inside the room, I approached every location that contained a camera or microphone and willed them to disintegrate.
Once I was confident Emily and I were alone, I snapped.
"What the ACTUAL FUCK! Why is she here? Why am I facing her and not Karpov? How the flying fuck is a goddess of hunting so good at chess?"
Emily was kneeling before me, sweating from all the heat I was radiating.
"My lord, please calm down, you'll set the fire alarm off."
Glancing downwards, I noticed that my entire body was on fire, even burning parts of my clothes, which usually didn't happen. Taking many deep breaths, I went into the bathroom, filled the tub with cold water and spent some time cooling down.
Afterwards, I returned to Emily, who was still kneeling, and asked her, "Tell me everything you know."
She looked up and told me everything she knew, "I heard some members of the Politburo talking about her. Artem—"
"DON'T SAY HER NAME." I shouted. "Names have power." I explained simply.
Emily's eyes widened in realization, "Wait, her name… You don't mean… Is she?"
"Yes, it's her. Now tell me what you heard."
Emily thought for a second before continuing. "Well, I heard that, um, You Know Who, being referred to as the Communist Party's secret weapon. She was found at a Russian orphanage on the morning of January 1st, 1980. You Know Who shows signs of enhanced physiology, including strength, speed, and intelligence. Apparently, she beat Karpov 23 times in a row last week to become the new World Champion."
I growled in frustration. Why was she so smart? Artemis wasn't the God of Intelligence. The only explanation I could think of was that she was a Goddess. Which automatically meant you got an increase in all stats.
While I was probably smarter, it would be impossible to definitively express that in a standard chess game. Chess was a solved game with finite combination. Perhaps if we had a 100 x 100 chess board with 400 pieces...
"Did you happen to hear anything else," I asked desperately. "Any quirks or weaknesses? Anything I could use against her?"
Emily continued to think. "I heard someone ask the General Secretary the same thing. He told them she was unstoppable. The politburo intends to groom her as the future leader of the USSR."
Well, fuck.
.
Our stalemate continued day after day. 12 ties later, we continued playing continuously, which resulted in tie, after tie, after tie.
After what felt like a million games, I felt extremely bored and anxious. What could I be doing with this time? Making an anime? Inventing the iPod? Literally anything else.
Looking at my opponent, she didn't seem to share my boredom. She explicitly told me she enjoyed our game after every match, and at first, I didn't believe her. But at this point, I had to wonder: was she actually enjoying this?
Catching my eye, we briefly made eye contact before she blushed gold and looked back at the board. How did I not notice this previously? Was I a blind anime protagonist?
I blinked before looking back at her. She was smiling, as she initiated a queen trade. Now I was smiling, yes, I was smiling because I had a plan.
Seeing me smile seemed to make her smile reflect mine, brightening it, like the moon reflecting light from the sun. Once again, eye contact was made, before she looked down and shuffled in her seat.
"Hey Artemis, how about we spice things up?" I whispered.
"Really? How so?" she whispered back quickly.
"From now on, we'll make all our moves in 2 seconds or less." I stated as I take her queen.
"Haven't we already been doing that?" she asked.
"Yes, but this makes it official." I coolly replied, once again smiling.
"Official?" she squeaked before composing herself. "Oh okay, let's do it."
As we played, I started doodling on my notepad, which normally would be used to write moves.
4 moves later, she was about to move her rook when our eyes met again. I took this as opportunity to smile and wink. Her hand faltered, and I casually stated, "Sorry, beautiful, you're so hot I need to draw you as proof that I met an angel. In fact, do you mind putting your rook right there? Cause after this game, I'm going to treat you like my homework. Slam you on this desk and do you all night."
Any semblance of confidence that she had was shattered. Her eyes widened, her face blushed gold, and most importantly, her hand stopped. Leaving the rook in a perfect position for my pawn to kill and promote to a queen.
Not even noticing her blunder, she simply sat in her seat processing my words. She only started functioning when my hand moved towards her.
"Wait, not in front of everyone – !!"
I simply ignored her as I captured her rook, promoted to a queen, and checkmated her king. Winning me the game, and the match.
I was the 1984 World Chess Champion.