Anya’s Chess War
“Mmm…mmm…”
“…”
“Mmf…mmf…”
The early summer sunlight streamed into the house through the window. The gentle warmth of spring was intensifying into the stronger heat of summer.
Outside, the first hums of summer insects could be heard. Clothing was gradually shifting from long sleeves to short sleeves, with even those still in long sleeves rolling up their sleeves. The weather wasn’t hot enough yet to work up a sweat, but the city could definitely feel the arrival of summer. Inside the house, meanwhile, the air conditioner maintained a comfortable, pleasant temperature. Iced drinks were preferred now, the condensation from the glasses wetting the table.
Amidst all this, a young girl was intently peering at a chessboard while grunting.
“Ugghh…uggghh…”
“…”
“Mmff…mmff…”
It was Yuki. Her face bright red, eyes wide, she leaned in close to the chessboard, pressing her forehead against it as if trying with all her might to find some way for her king to survive, some way to make a huge comeback.
“…”
Across from her sat her father, Zeke, with proper posture as he slowly contemplated his next move, careful not to make any mistakes in delivering checkmate.
It all started quite some time ago when Yuki happened to catch Zeke and Rain playing chess, with Rain beating her father. As someone who saw Rain as a rival, Yuki couldn’t let Rain win, and she couldn’t let her father lose to Rain either.
Quite a few days had passed since then, and Yuki had somehow forgotten all about it. But just the other day, she saw something about chess on TV which reminded her of it, and she challenged her father to a match.
“Raaah!”
Yuki let out a yell as she aggressively moved one of her chess pieces. Having been on the verge of losing to her father, she desperately made a move with all her passion. She looked up expectantly at his face. Zeke stroked his chin in thought and steadily moved one of his pieces in response.
“Ah!”
“…”
Yuki’s eyes shot open wide again as she leaned in close once more to the chessboard. Zeke’s move was a crushing blow, which Yuki realized. No matter if she protected her king or moved her queen, she would be backed into a corner. The king was the piece that absolutely could not be taken, while the queen was said to be the strongest chess piece.
“Guooooh!”
Letting out a beast-like wail, Yuki collapsed over the table. It was her total defeat.
“Phew…”
Zeke breathed a sigh of relief. He was glad he managed to avoid losing to his middle school first-year daughter. Ever since Yuki had first declared [Dad, let’s play a match!] to him, Zeke had been secretly studying chess in preparation. He learned strategies so as not to lose to his daughter.
Even so, Zeke had been pushed to his limits by Yuki. She was smart, with excellent grades at school. If he hadn’t secretly studied chess in advance, he probably would have lost to her, Zeke realized.
“Uwaaaa! It’s so frustrating!”
Yuki suddenly shouted loudly as she lifted her face. She stomped her feet childishly and flailed her body in frustration over her loss. Her long blue hair swayed around violently.
“There, there…”
Zeke hurriedly went to the kitchen and brought back some snacks for Yuki.
“It’s so frustrating! So frustrating! …But snacks!”
Distracted by the appearance of snacks, Yuki’s raging settled down as she nibbled away at the snacks voraciously like a hamster. Zeke gave a wry smile watching his daughter’s behavior.
“It looks like you lost, Yuki!”
“Ah! Mom!”
“…”
Suddenly appearing in the living room was Yuki’s mother, Anya. Despite being a mother of two, she still looked quite youthful. For some reason she proudly thrust out her chest as she grandly made her entrance.
“No matter what you say, Zeke has the ability to easily get into one of the top universities in this country. You still have a ways to go, Yuki.”
“Mmff…!”
“But still ……! “
Anya pointed at her own chest with her thumb and yelled.
“I can beat Zeke! Because I’m smarter than Zeke!”
“Whoa! Mom!”
“Yuki! I’ll get revenge for you!”
“…”
Seeing his boastful wife sticking her chest out childishly, Zeke was exasperated. Anya arrogantly picked a fight with Zeke, full of confidence. Having such a mother and daughter, Zeke swallowed his thoughts down.
Yuki got up from her spot across from Zeke, replaced by Anya as she eagerly reset the chess pieces on the board.
“Alright, let’s compete!”
Eyes sparkling like an excited child, Anya challenged Zeke to a match.
About an hour had passed since then.
“Huh…?”
Anya’s eyes went wide. She was filled by a feeling of disbelief. No matter how many times she blinked in surprise, the scene before her eyes did not change. On the chessboard, the black pieces had the white pieces backed into a corner. The more she thought about it, the more a bitter feeling churned inside of Anya.
Anya was about to lose.
“…”
“…”
“…Mmgh”
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A voice leaked from Anya’s mouth as she grimaced, tentatively moving one of her pieces. Zeke also pondered in silence, responding to Anya’s moves. Anya thought hard, but with each move, her disadvantage became more apparent. The game’s progression had solidified to a point beyond recovery, Anya’s face turning red and distorted.
“uggggg …… “
” ………… “
” Gnugnugnugnug ……! “
Letting out groans similar to her daughter’s earlier, Anya had begun grunting as well.
Anya had let her guard down completely. Between these two, it had been definitively settled long ago who was smarter. Zeke could no longer keep up with Anya’s intelligence, thus ending their competition. And chess was a game that utilized the mind. In a contest of intellect, Anya was convinced she would naturally win.
But Zeke had been studying chess. He learned strategies, aggressive moves, studied grandmasters’ games, and more. He had also downloaded chess apps on his phone to practice playing games. The chess study he had been doing as a hobby to prepare against his daughter was now proving useful in this match with his wife.
Having taken her natural smarts for granted and underestimating Zeke who had studied chess techniques, this was the result.
“～～～～～Ahhh!”
Anya let out an inaudible scream and knocked over her own king’s piece. It was the sign of surrender. Her face was bright red, her mouth, eyes, and eyebrows contorted in a very frustrated expression, and she lay flat on the table. She looked like a defeated person.
Zeke had won against Anya.
“Wow! Mom lost!”
“…………”
“…………”
Yuki exclaimed in surprise, but neither Anya nor Zeke could respond. Anya remained motionless, face down on the table, and Zeke, exhausted from the continuous battles, leaned his body wearily against the back of the chair and let out a heavy sigh. He had made it a tough match for his daughter Yuki and his wife Anya.
“Surprising! Mom lost to Dad even though she’s a university professor!”
“…………”
“Mom, come on!”
Yuki shook her mother’s slumped shoulders. Anya’s body trembled as it was shaken by Yuki, but there was still no response from Anya herself. She seemed completely drained. Or rather, Zeke and Yuki thought she had been completely drained.
“Huh? Mom…?”
“Hmm…?”
“…………”
Yuki noticed something was amiss with her mother. Zeke, who had let his guard down after the victory, also realized that something was off with his wife and tensed up a bit.
It was clear that some kind of angry emotion was emanating from Anya’s curled-up body. Even without Yuki shaking her, her body was trembling slightly, and it seemed like she was stiff and tense with tension. The emotion of anger could be read from the pitiful sight of the defeated loser huddled over the table.
“…Baka.”
“Hm?”
With her forehead pressed against the table, Anya’s voice was small and muffled. Zeke leaned in close to properly hear her words.
Suddenly at that moment, Anya vigorously sat up straight.
“You idiot! Aho! Baka!”
“Whoa!”
Having leaned in, Zeke was shocked when Anya suddenly yelled loudly right in his face. Even Yuki, who the yell wasn’t directed at, shuddered in surprise.
“It’s so frustrating! So frustrating! Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!”
“Hey, what the…!?”
Anya’s face was bright red, with teary eyes. Her lips quivered in frustration as she vented her emotions in shouts.
Zeke’s eyes went wide. Anya shook her hair as she opened her mouth wide, yelling loudly. It was a face Zeke had seen many times before.
“Idiot! Idiot! Moron! Dumbass! Blockhead!”
“Are you a child!?”
Zeke was surprised and exasperated by the childlike insults. He had heard these lines from Anya many times before.
“Your mom is a pain in the ass…!”
“You know she’s your mother in law, right?”
What had changed was their relationship. Zeke thought that if his mother heard it, she would say it sounded just like Anya, but these weren’t words a mother of two would say.
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