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ArabicClassroom of the Elite: Standing Firm in Class A — Chapter 11
Chapter 11: Victory on the Board
[System Shop]
[Purchase: Skill: Grandmaster of All Chess – 250 points]
[Confirm.]
[Points -250. Remaining points: 473.]
[Skill: Grandmaster of All Chess has been equipped.]
A torrential influx of chess theory—complex openings, mid-game tactical traps, endgame precision, historic grandmaster matches, and complex positional evaluations—flooded into Kaedehara Tetsu’s mind, fusing instantly with his own consciousness.
In the span of a single breath, the wooden board resting on the table before him completely transformed. It was no longer just a collection of carved pieces on checkered squares. The advantages and disadvantages of every conceivable opening, the branching variations of future moves, and the lethal geometry of classic tactical combinations mapped themselves across his vision as clearly as innate instinct.
“I leave myself in your care, Sakayanagi-san.”
Tetsu’s voice was entirely flat, yet it carried an absolute, quiet confidence.
Borrowing a vacant table from an accommodating upperclassman, the two of them settled into their seats to begin the match.
“Let us draw for sides,” Sakayanagi Arisu said. She picked up a white pawn and a black pawn, hiding them in her closed hands to prepare for the customary draw that would decide who held the first-move advantage.
“There is no need.” Tetsu offered a casual gesture of invitation. “Ladies first. I will take black.”
As soon as those words left his mouth, faint whispers broke out among the surrounding club members. In high-level chess, playing white and moving first grants a distinct, measurable advantage. To willingly surrender the initiative to an opponent of unknown skill was a display of sheer arrogance.
“In that case, I will not hold back.”
Extending her slender fingers, Arisu elegantly pushed her e2 pawn to e4.
It was a standard King’s Pawn Opening, a textbook move intended to immediately contest the center of the board and open firing lines for her kingside bishop and queen.
Tetsu responded almost before her fingers left the piece, sliding his e7 pawn to e5. A perfectly symmetrical King’s Pawn Opening.
The opening phase proceeded with a deceptive calm. Both sides methodically developed their minor pieces, jockeying for control over the central squares. Arisu’s pace was brisk and decisive, demonstrating a rock-solid foundation and a high degree of technical proficiency.
Yet, Tetsu’s responses were even faster. He moved with a terrifying fluidity, as if he required absolutely no time to calculate, as though every single trap she laid was already factored into his expectations.
Soon, both players castled, tucking their respective kings away into the relative safety of the flanks.
Once the pieces were fully deployed and the board was primed for contact, Arisu was the first to draw blood.
Capitalizing on the initiative she held from playing white, she aggressively swung her Queen to the kingside. In a matter of moves, she aligned her queen, bishop, and knight into a lethal, coordinated trident aimed directly at Tetsu’s seemingly solid kingside defense.
‘A very sharp, venomous offensive spark,’ Tetsu evaluated internally, his eyes tracking the geometry of her attack.
Arisu’s playstyle was fiercely aggressive. She was a predator on the board, highly adept at forcing weaknesses and creating opportunities out of thin air. An average amateur expert would have had their defenses shredded and their position collapsed under the sheer weight of her storm-like assault.
However, through the lens of Tetsu’s master-level vision, this ferocious wave of attacks was far from flawless.
He precisely calculated the branching variations for the next dozen moves. He realized instantly that if he simply turtled up and defended, he would be bled dry in a passive position. But if he inverted the pressure…
Instead of choosing to reinforce his besieged kingside, Tetsu suddenly made a seemingly inconsequential, quiet move: Queen from d8 to e7.
It was a stroke of positional genius. The move subtly reinforced the protection of his e5 pawn, secretly positioned his Queen to support a devastating counterattack through the center, and cleared the d7 square to activate his c8 bishop.
Arisu’s momentum hit a brick wall. Her offensive stalled out completely. She keenly felt the shift in the atmosphere; if she blindly continued to press her kingside attack, her own overextended rear would be exposed and slaughtered. Forced onto the back foot, she had to waste a precious tempo adjusting her pawn structure just to consolidate her crumbling center.
Tetsu immediately seized the opening. He drove a wedge into her position, pinning Arisu’s knight while simultaneously threatening to shatter White’s kingside pawn shield through a calculated exchange.
In the span of three moves, the game violently shifted from Arisu’s one-sided execution into a suffocating, complex mid-game grind.
Every single move Tetsu made not only neutralized her lethal threats but systematically accumulated tiny, agonizing advantages—a slightly better pawn structure here, a more active knight placement there. He was slowly tightening a noose around her neck.
Arisu’s brow furrowed tighter and tighter. Her previously brisk playing speed slowed to a crawl.
She realized with a sinking feeling that the boy sitting across from her possessed a terrifyingly sophisticated style, bottomless calculation depth, and a deep understanding of the board that eclipsed her own. Every response he made left her feeling physically uncomfortable, as if all her hidden intentions were being read like an open book, and all her attack routes were being boarded up before she even committed to them.
Did he really ‘only know a bit’? This was undeniably professional level, if not something even higher.
The surrounding spectators, especially the veteran club members who actually understood the board state, began to realize the gravity of the slaughter taking place. The tactical depth these two were displaying was entirely divorced from what high school students should possess.
“This… their level of play is completely abnormal… they’re too strong!” someone whispered, eyes wide with amazement.
“Especially that guy playing black. His calculation speed is terrifying.”
On the board, pieces were being traded in a flurry of calculated violence.
Fine beads of sweat broke out across Arisu’s porcelain forehead. She pursed her lips tightly, her sharp eyes staring fixedly at the sixty-four squares, desperately searching for a single sliver of hope, a single tactical blunder she could exploit for a comeback.
Tetsu, on the other hand, remained a picture of absolute calm. He rested his chin on his hand, possessing the leisure to simply watch the girl across from him. He thoroughly enjoyed the quiet, stubborn unwillingness radiating from this proud girl as she slowly drowned in a desperate situation of her own making.
Ultimately, Tetsu used a flawless rook-bishop coordination to weave a mating net, creating an unresolvable checkmate threat.
She was trapped. She would either have to sacrifice her rook for nothing, or be checkmated on the next turn.
Arisu’s fingers hovered over the wooden pieces for a long, agonizing moment before finally dropping powerlessly to the table.
She reached out and gently tipped over her white king, the universal gesture of resignation.
“I lost.”
Her voice maintained its usual calm cadence, but if one listened closely, a very faint, almost imperceptible tremor could be detected beneath the surface. For a girl who always presented herself as an untouchable, composed queen, this was a massive emotional fluctuation.
Tetsu looked at the girl with her head slightly bowed and chose not to rub salt in the wound. He knew perfectly well that this crushing defeat carried far more psychological weight for Sakayanagi Arisu than their previous encounter, where he had merely exploited a technical loophole in the rules.
Arisu slowly raised her head, her expression having already smoothed back into its customary, doll-like indifference.
“You lied to me, Kaedehara-san.” She spoke slowly, her eyes locking onto his. “You said you ‘only know a bit’.”
“I did say that.” Tetsu admitted frankly, leaning back in his chair. “But what I left out was that my definition of ‘a bit’ might differ slightly from the common understanding.”
He paused, a dry, playful amusement coloring his tone. “Besides, is it not much easier to secure a victory when your opponent underestimates you? That, too, is a valid strategy.”
Arisu remained silent for a long moment, staring at him, before she suddenly let out a soft, airy laugh.
“It seems I not only underestimated your methods, but also your actual skill—or perhaps I should say, your terrifying ‘learning ability’?” Her words were pointed, heavily implying her suspicion that Tetsu had been deliberately hiding his true fangs all along. “However, next time, I assure you I will not let you win so easily.”
“Anytime.”
Just as the tension between them settled, the upperclassman who had lent them the table walked over, his eyes shining with blatant admiration. “The chess skills you two just displayed are absolutely top-notch. Do you have any interest in officially joining our club? With your level, you could easily represent the school in various national competitions.”
Arisu glanced at Tetsu. She did not speak, simply gazing at him quietly, waiting to see how he would handle the intrusion.
Seeing her shift the burden to him, Tetsu shrugged helplessly and spread his hands. “Did I not mention it earlier? I have no desire to waste my time on such trivial things.”
Hearing his answer, Arisu slowly turned her attention toward the expectant upperclassman, a faint, polite smile gracing her lips.
“I am terribly sorry. As for your club, I believe I will have to decline. After all, having witnessed the level of play exhibited by your members here today, it is exceedingly difficult to muster any genuine interest.”
Although her tone was perfectly refined and polite, the sheer arrogance behind her words was devastating. She had absolutely no interest in their club, and she was making it abundantly clear that their collective skill level was entirely beneath her notice.