How very interesting. It appeared as though his future Queen was more talented than he had previously imagined, or at the very least more talented in the ways of strategy and tactics than she had originally let on. Uesugi knew already that she had a very talented body, in terms of athleticism and sex appeal. A package deal that made this whole arrangement so very... Enticing.
On the other hand... His real opponent today was that irksome King, sitting on the sidelines and seeming not to move or care while other pieces may well be moving around him unnoticed. Uesugi could not see or comprehend what trick might be in play, though he knew well enough that meant precious little when someone like him was around. Whichever the case might well be, Uesugi did not particularly mind either way. He had been prepared for an eventuality such as this in any event.
Within a regular game of chess, the strategies of chess follow certain patterns. Both players are attempting to maintain or acquire a level of control over the board, so that their every move can entice the opponent into responding in a particular way. With that mindset, each game between real master told a story of its own, with each move flowing into the next. Move. Countermove. Check. Escape. Retaliation. Difficult decisions, ambushes, clearing a path to the enemy King while leaving him cornered with no place left to run. This was the hallmark of a regular game of chess. Not so in this instance. With the element of dice added, the game changed in a radical manner.
Now the game focused around flexibility. It was impossible to develop a real long term plan, so therefore it was necessary to think along the following lines. What move is, right now, going to “limit” the enemy in some manner? What move right now will free my own limits on future moves? What moves put my pieces in the least risk? What moves put my opponent’s pieces at most risk? The game was transformed from one of long term planning to short term risk assessment. Ah, but that might explain how she was doing quite as well as she was? Was the martial artist more adept at determining short term risk versus the longer term?
Whichever it was, soon enough it would not matter at all. The girl was trapped and didn’t even know it yet. Uesugi allowed himself to revel in a lecherous leer, which to his delight caused his opponent to shudder in the most unintentionally erotic way. Oh yes, she was destined to make a fine Queen, no question of that!
“An excellent move,” Uesugi said, sounding about as annoyed as he actually was. Certainly, his victory was in no question but it wounded his pride a little to have to use this failsafe plan. “I believe it is now mine?”
Looking at the board for a moment, Uesugi then closed his eyes... Then opened them wide and discarded the shorter term risk assessment in favour of the longer term plan. Certainly, his opponent’s moves were still rather unpredictable, but he ought to be able to limit her options a little bit... To start with he needed to roll...
<hr>
It was only natural that Tomoko would have some skill with chess. A famous game like that, routinely used as a metaphor for intelligence? How could she not learn a game like that? Especially since it was so firmly rooted in complex mathematics that were still simple enough to be programmed into a computer. Nobody had solved the complex mathematical problem that the game created, but that didn’t mean parts of the equation hadn’t been solved. Small parts. Rather insignificant in the grand scheme of things, but still elegant solutions to a problem explainable in plain and simple language.
This particular variant had the effect of taking that thrust and parry, planning ahead and made it both more and less complicated at once. Neither player would be able to know what their opponent’s next move might be. Nor could they guess what they might be able to do next. Furthermore, it was entirely possible for a player to technically escape a checkmate if their opponent was unable to take advantage of it, and forced to move a piece in a way that did not take the King. A simple check might also end the game, simply because the King could not be protected given the roll of the dice.
That was the most fundamental change within the game. The objective was no longer to trap the enemy King, but to ensure a capture took place. Without the ability to properly long term plan, only short term, it became an absolute necessity to adopt an entirely different strategy: Erase the enemy army as efficiently as possible before they can do the same to yourself. Why? Because, this greatly inhibits the options available to the enemy when options are already under a strong inhibition. It makes it much harder for them to reliably keep their King safe or mount an offensive. In this game the “short term” gain was far more beneficial towards the “long term” goal than it would be in chess, where carelessly taking an enemy piece could easily lead into a devastating ambush.
Tomoko was so wrapped up in thinking about these things that she didn’t even notice that, in order to allow Shino to read what she was putting into her phone, she was leaning comfortably on his shoulder and smiling as if she was lost in a dream. However, this is rather far from the point she was leaning towards. She even typed it into her phone, exactly what was worrying her.
“Uesugi’s last few moves make no sense,” she typed.
Shino took the phone from her a moment, and quite quickly typed “Would it make sense in normal chess?”
She read the message, looked over the board, replayed the last several moves... He’d employed a fork to take a Rook, and was now pinning a Knight in front of a Bishop. If the Knight moved, the Bishop could be lost. Tomoko sat up straight and nodded, wondering what that could possibly mean. However, she didn’t get the chance to ask. Shino was smiling.
“Yukako,” Shino whispered. “I’d like you to go and get me something. It shouldn’t take long, so you shouldn’t miss much...”
“The beloved Yukako must, alas, depart upon a menial task set about her by a slave driving, maid collecting gambler that had won her freedom and crushed her revenge,” Yukako wearily stated while rising reluctantly to her feet. “What is it that you wish now? Yukako asked with justified caution. So long as it is a reasonable request, it was her intention to fulfill it quickly and dutifully.”
“No, nothing complicated,” Shino shrugged. And then he told her to go and get something that confused Tomoko a little. What? Something like that at a time like this? He then slipped the phone back towards the genius, who read what was on the screen with rapidly, exponentially increasing surprise and shock. Why would he - What possible purpose could he - “I have a funny feeling you won’t miss the end of the game,” Shino said. “But do try to hurry, I’d like it pretty soon.”
<hr>
So here she was. Staring at the board. Pissed off beyond her ability to express. Her back to the wall, and her fists unable to do a damn thing about it. All of her life, Toshiko had trained and fought. She had built up her strength. Built up her speed. Built up her endurance. Right now she was sweating something fierce but had barely done more than reach an arm across a table.
“Something the matter, my dear Queen?” Uesugi chuckled. “Finding it a bit challenging, are we? I will provide a free tip for you: Move your Bishop on your next turn. If you do not, I may capture your King.”
This seemed true enough from what she could tell on the board. Damn him and his mind games! And damn Shino as well! Shouldn’t he have stepped in more by now instead of relaying messages through his sister? Speaking of which, Shina’s advise the last couple of turns had outright sucked! It had made things much worse for her, cost her half her damn non-pawn pieces and now she was stuck with nothing to do but wait for the inevitable!
Toshiko picked up the dice. Alright. She needed a three. Come on, dice don’t let her down now! Give her a five! Give her a -
Give her a two was more like it. The other dice read a five, and hers a two. She had neither Queen nor Knight on the table. Which meant her turn was forfeit, which meant he had a one in six chance of capturing her King. She had five Pawns, a Rook, and a Bishop left over while Uesugi still had his Knights, a Bishop, four Pawns a Rook and they were all lined up in a far more effective manner than her own pieces. An impenetrable wall pushing her back. Toshiko gave a hopeful look over towards Shina, and felt the bile rise up in her throat when she saw <i>that</i> neckline.
“All I need do now,” Uesugi said, picking up his dice. “Is roll a four. My Rook shall sweep along the board, take your King, and I think it would be only fair if you wore Shina’s lovely dress while Shino barters for your freedom. Wouldn’t you say?”
“You’re slime,” Toshiko said through grit teeth. Both of them was what she meant, but right now she’d direct her ire towards the bastard that was betraying her. But Uesugi seemed unfazed. He simply lifted his hand dramatically into the air, ready to cast the dice as if he knew for a fact that it would come down on the right number and somehow she felt that same certainty -
“Hold it!” a chirpy voice interrupted, and suddenly a female hand was holding Uesugi’s wrist high into the air. A hush fell over all present. Toshiko herself couldn’t believe it, and her heart felt like it was trying to break her ribcage open. A reprieve. However brief, it was still a reprieve! “Uesugi darling... This isn’t what you promised us this morning!”
Her name was Akemi Ochi, the most visible face of the student council. For good reason as well. Sure, there were prettier girls in school. Sure, there were nicer girls in school. Sure, there were smarter, more athletic, more talented and more just about anything else you could possibly name - But even in spite of that Akemi had one quality that could not be denied.
Everybody loved her. They just couldn’t help it. Not, you know, love love her or anything like that. Some did, others just admired her or liked her or wanted to be friends with her... Akemi was the kind of person that could charm almost anyone she met. Boys went wild for her, and the weird part was that girls didn’t much seem to mind. Looking at her now, she was in the same uniform as the rest of them but it looked so much more flamboyant when she wore it. Her very presence, inexplicable and sudden as it was, drew attention in an irresistible manner. It made you wonder how she even managed to get that close without drawing attention to herself until right then, but she always did have a knack for dramatic timing. Yep. Everyone loved Akemi. With just one single solitary exception.
...”Oh. Hello there,” Toshiko groaned. “Fancy meeting you here.”
“Hi, hi!” Akemi waved flirtatiously at Toshiko. “Be with you in a sec, hun! Just gotta deal with this dweeb first, then I’ll be right with you. ‘kay?”
“If you must,” Toshiko rolled her eyes. Honestly, she’d been grateful of the reprieve right up until the very second she saw who it was. Far better it be Shino than this would be charming idiot. It frustrated her to no end that everybody else seemed to fall for her stupid and innocent act.
“Ah, my beloved Queen of Queens!” Uesugi crooned, and Toshiko had to resist the urge to barf as her supposed co-conspirator struggled to free his wrist while staring rather obviously at Akemi’s breasts. “Is there a problem? I would so hate to disappoint you -”
“Right to the point,” Akemi tilted her head just a little and smiled at him. Half the audience nearly fell off their seats. Come on, she’s got a pretty face but not nearly <i>that</i> pretty! “Akemi likes that, Uesugi darling. Bu~ut, what Akemi doesn’t like is when people make promises that they don’t deliver on.”
“Don’t deliver on?” Uesugi said, and was it Toshiko’s imagination or was he turning paler than usual all of a sudden. “What do you mean, my dear? After I win this game, Shino will have no choice but to swoop in like a White Knight to rescue his Queen!”
Akemi released Uesugi’s wrist, and just in time as well. It was starting to change colour in a rather different way than the rest of his body. Akemi twirled around to face the audience with her hands clasped behind her back and said, in a voice dripping with sugar, “Shino darling, were you going to do just that? Rescue your dear friend Toshiko honey from mean old Uesugi darling?”
“Why should I?” Shino shrugged. “A chance to see Toshiko dressed up in an outfit designed by my annoyingly genius little sister?” At which point, Shina stopped her work on the costume and gave a curtsey to the audience. “What kind of a man would I be if I passed <i>that</i> chance up?”
“Hey!” Toshiko yelled. “I am not a dress up doll! Pervert!”
“Such a shame,” Akemi said, suddenly right behind Toshiko, a fact that became particularly apparent when there were suddenly a pair of very small but powerful feminine hands grasping her breasts from behind and giving them a very thorough squeeze. “Toshiko honey, you certainly have a figure that would drive most fashion designers wild! Oh dear, Akemi had been hoping Yukako honey would have been here to agree with me, but she seems to be elsewhere... Such a shame.”
“H-Hey! Let go!” Toshiko squirmed, but only managed to ensure that Akemi was able to run her hands along her curves, culminating with a pat on her butt before backing off. Toshiko wheeled around, intending to kick the girl’s teeth in, but found nothing but empty space. Ugh! Hate! So much hate!
“In any event,” Akemi continued from next to Uesugi, peering at him in the same way as she had the crowd, but with a slightly more playful lilt to her tone. “It’s such a shame really. What Akemi means is, the chess club’s budget is still technically up for renewal. If it turns out that its president can’t keep a simple promise he made, unprompted, directly to the student council in exchange for permission to temporarily delay certain classes...”
The colour change was complete. You could put Uesugi up against a whitewashed wall and if he were naked, he’d be camouflaged perfectly. And also, ew, let’s not dwell on what he’d be doing if invisible and naked. Damned perverts everywhere were getting to her.
“Alright, King!” Uesugi yelled. “You say you will not play in exchange for her freedom? Then name your gamble! What stakes would you play for? Name them!”
“Ah, ha, ha!” Shino chuckled. “You really don’t know the first thing about negotiation, do you? Never sound desperate. Besides which, the only reason you seem to want to see me play is because the student council wants me to. If I were to bet on anything, it would be for knowing that reason.”
“Done deal!” Akemi declared with a little celebratory skip. “If you win, we tell you anything you wanna know Shino darling.”
“Hold on now,” Shino said with his hands up. “There is also the issue of what we’ll be playing. After all, I have no intention of simply playing chess. Even a modified version of this requires knowing the game’s strategies. That is hardly a gamble of any kind, as one player has a clear and obvious advantage over the other. With that in mind, I would like to request a few reasonable rules modifications, to make it into a proper gamble.”
- Substitute into the current game. How do they deal with the conflict of interest issue?
- Play a new game after this one is completed. Toshiko is made to wear the dress and cheer for Uesugi.
- The current game is thrown out by order of the student council. However in exchange, Akemi insists that Toshiko has to wear the dress for the rest of the day.
- Something else
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