Chapter 13 - Tour De Force
Fueled by the bewilderment of a sudden surrender, the crowd filled the stadium with silence and utter shock of Claudia's first resignation from a match! Their expectations were valid from her previous matches, but they became voided when she was up against Kore Thesmophoros.
In this situation, people were in a state of being stupefied while also experiencing such a stupendous moment coming from Kore, who has been publicly known as a Maiden in high society, is always there to assist people in tough times, and seems to constantly have a packed schedule ahead of her..
..Yet she's in a league of her own against Claudia, who has defeated many chess players to reach this stage of the tournament?
"Incredible.. Is there anything Lady Kore cannot do?!"
"This is insane material to write a newspaper about! I knew I could count on Lady Kore to give me a new scoop!"
—Chitter-Chatter!
"I dare say I'm at a loss for words. Lady Kore has never mentioned chess as her hobby during her tea parties."
"Perhaps I'll have a match with her in the near future. I hope an invitation comes swiftly."
—Whoosh…
"T-The winner is Kore Thesmophoros! Please give her a round of applause!" Delayed by a few seconds amidst the wonderment, Evelyn's announcement grabbed everyone back to reality.
—Clapping..!
—CHEEERRR!
In spite of the finalist's loss, the crowd didn't lose hope and wasn't expressing any sign of disappointment. In fact, it was actually the opposite.
Excitement endows the audience when the final obstacle of this tournament is a qualified individual who will test the participants! It was their way of expecting this event's victor to be talented enough to defeat the Underworld's Representative!
"Man, I didn't believe my own eyes when it happened!"
"I almost thought Lady Claudia was going to win right then and there!"
—Chatter!
"Quite a sight to behold. It's a shame I didn't participate."
"I beg your pardon? It would frankly be impossible for you, my Lady."
—Clapping..!
"It appears someone wishes to come forward." Hermes averts her glance at a certain finalist.
In due course, Kore was soon sitting beside herself when Claudia made her exit, prompting another individual to step forth.
A hand extended toward his opponent, Wilhelm gave his greeting through a handshake before taking a seat to have a glimpse of the chessboard right afterward.
When the gentleman was done taking a deep breath, the commentator started the countdown immediately.
"3.. 2.. 1! Let the match commence!" Once Nathan's voice reached their ears, Kore and Wilhelm proceeded straight away!
One, two and the next! The pieces assumed their positions in order to begin with one of their strategies! The seconds were ticking down, but the game's momentum didn't die down!
Although Wilhelm hadn't watched how Claudia's match went, he realized the lady's defeated yet dumbfounded face when she walked to the waiting room where he was.
It was this moment that told Wilhelm what he needed to know, and it was to have his guard up while facing Kore!
As such, the suspense was getting to the crowd as Wilhelm was putting up his defense before almost smothering Kore's king! After he finally set up his pieces, he began to go on the offensive by attacking Kore's pieces one by one!
While the Black and White pieces were put to the side when captured, it didn't prevent Wilhelm from going to the defense and was instead putting pressure on Kore to prompt her into making an irredeemable move!
The audience and commentators were soon flabbergasted when Wilhelm, who should have won, considering how he handled Kore to the point of making her close to losing to a smothered checkmate at the beginning, was in a disadvantageous position at the most shocking turn of event!
The moment the audience thought the match might last longer than Claudia's, Kore unexpectedly made an unbelievable play!
Rather than promoting her pawn into a queen, Kore went for a Knight! And from there, she checked Wilhelm's king as well as a fork for his queen!
Not only did she feast on the queen, Wilhelm's entire pawns that were aiming for a promotion were eaten completely by Kore's rook, resulting in her win!
"This is hard to.. believe! Kore Thesmophoros has surprised us all yet again with a fathomable match! Two contestants failed to beat Kore, and only one is left!"
With Evelyn's words and the utter surprise of Wilhelm's loss, the crowd was in complete silence. No applause was made and no one dared to cheer for the unnoticed third contestant.
Everyone entrusted their tickets to Claudia and Wilhelm in the earlier rounds, but they were defeated by the hands of the genius Kore in a matter of seconds!
"Will there be no representative for us?! Will Kore be the only one who'll face off against The Underworld's Representative?!" Evelyn shouts out desperately.
"This is not the conclusion to the Chess Tournament. We only have one remaining contestant who'll bring forth a miracle for us who covet a victory." Hermes calmly spoke, lending the people hope for a winner.
'But Claudia and Wilhelm have already lost.. It would be impossible for someone to beat Kore who had won against strong opponents already.' Musing, Evelyn is in despair about the fact this tournament might end without a winner.
"Caissa Thea Skaki, step forth and proceed with the match!" Hermes utters with an optimistic tone to get the audience in the mood for another round.
—CHEEERRRR!!
"Greetings, Miss Caissa." Kore speaks to the young teenager who's strolling her way towards the former.
Before taking her seat to initiate the final match of this Chess Tournament, Caissa lends a bow to her opponent, responding in due time.
"Greetings as well, Lady Kore. It brings me great joy to make your acquaintance, for you are an embodiment of honor and virtue."
A minute it took for the arbiter to reset the board to its original state, and it was enough time for Kore to inspect her opponent's movements, body language, and so forth to assist her in the upcoming chess match.
It was the same for Caissa.
—Fwoooosh!
"Without further ado, let the long-anticipated final match of the Chess Tournament's finale begin!" Evelyn cries out at the top of her lungs to at least regain the audience's spirit!
—Thud.
The hourglass flipped for only a second, yet it led to Kore to take action instantly with an unfamiliar opening in her turn! A startling moment as it proved to everyone that this contestant wouldn't be able to put up a fight at all.
"Is Lady Kore hoping to finish this after the two talented chess players were defeated?"
"Yeah, I wouldn't bother to watch after she beat Lord Wilhelm and Lady Claudia."
—Bustle! Bustle!
"That poor commoner. She finally got the opportunity to be a finalist only for her fate to be beaten a few minutes later."
"I bet my finest wine that this commoner won't last a minute."
At first, Kore played normally by moving her pawn on the board before Caissa came with her own pawn, putting it front to front with Kore's.
After a period of time, the second Kore put everything in place. She took on an offensive approach by lining up her knight to attack Caissa's pieces.
..Something seems to be a bit off for Caissa when witnessing Kore's opening firsthand.
Even though the young teenager had experienced many openings of chess in the past, she had never encountered this opening before.
In other words, once Caissa responded with a knight to defend against Kore's pieces, the latter made a devastating play of sending her bishop out next to the former's knight!
It was an advantageous field for Kore! Her bishop is in range of Caissa's knights as well as her queen!
All of a sudden, the young teenager wasn't fazed by the white bishop's overwhelming pressure! And she's promptly developing her other knight instead?
Not to defend or attack, but to bring out a knight? The board is in Kore's favor and Caissa is playing rather strangely by making an unnecessary move..
In the blink of an eye, Kore managed to take out two of her opponent's pawns, leaving her knight in Caissa's knight's range.
Out of nowhere, Caissa did something baffling!
"What's this?! Is she going to sacrifice her most powerful piece?! Why now?!?" Evelyn was shocked.
Although Caissa was able to capture her opponent's knight, people thought that she failed to notice her most important piece being in harm's way! When moving her knight away, Caissa essentially created a clear path for Kore to overtake the young teenager's queen!
That's to say, Caissa's queen is in the middle of the field with a high chance of being captured!
As a consequence, Kore took this opportunity to seize Caissa's queen with her bishop, leaving the teenager with lesser pieces.
Gradually as it goes, the teenager is facing a board where her opponent's piece is stationed ever so closely to her king; a few more moves and Caissa will be out!
With a bishop that has conquered a queen, Caissa should have captured it with her king in order to diminish the irritating bishop!
To everyone's surprise, the teenager's own bishop, that was standing in wait, speedily emerged on the right side of the board, landing her opponent's king on a check!
None of Kore's pieces can be sacrificed to save her king from a checkmate, unless she sacrifices her queen! From there, Caissa took Kore's queen and, in turn, Kore captured Caissa's bishop with her king.
Outside the board, there are more White pieces than Black pieces. In addition to that, Caissa has single-handedly broken Kore's pawn structure before putting her in a position where the former has two developed pieces on the board ready to eliminate most of the pieces!
"This is a shocker! What an unexpected display of ingenuity!" Evelyn eventually bursts into an overjoyed mess!
"Lady Kore is in trouble, which is what I wouldn't entrust my faith in if I hadn't seen it. However, this is the kind of situation where I have to trust my eyes!" Nathan expressed with a baffled tone, including his widened eyes!
"This is it! Caissa might have a chance at winning this! Caissa, Caissa! Caissa!"
"Caissa! Caissa!"
The crowd chanted for Caissa, the commoner, to triumph against Kore, who was undefeated by Claudia and Wilhelm! The skills needed to outmatch Kore are there within each of Caissa's plays, and the audience is seeking them all out!
The intense and nerve-racking ambiance was all presented at this very moment, and people were feeling an adrenaline rush by the second!
After all, this is the deciding match for the Representative! And…
"Lady Kore Thesmophoros has astonished us with her adroit planning and prudent plays for which we have been bested by her numerous times.." Hermes stood up amidst the pause when the match finally ended.
"I thank her dearly for coming to this tournament and allowing us to witness the new beginnings of Caissa Thea Skaki, the Representative of The Empire of Olympus!"
—CHEEEEERRR!
"Give her a round of applause!" Evelyn literally shouts at the megaphone, which isn't enough to beat the people's outcry of cheer and clamoring claps!
—TRUMPEEET!
"HURRAH!"
"CAISSA! CAISSA! CAISSA!"