Friday, July 20, 1990. Ami entered the Mita Iwai building and spotted a sign on an easel which read in large red characters: "All-Japan Junior Chess Championship, Floor 2, New Conference Room." She heard faint chatter and footsteps above her. Once reaching the second floor by elevator the bustling and noise played out before her. Already a number of people were sitting at white tables and playing skittles games with plastic pieces on vinyl boards, pressing down on wooden analog or plastic digital clocks. Ami studied the faces of the players, tense and unmoving, wrinkled and quivering, and smiled. Many were wearing their school uniforms; it was the last day before the summer break began.

"Okay, you won a great game in the end, but you missed ... c5 on move 19, winning the Bishop on b4. ... c5 begs to be played but you played ... Nc6 instead."

"Well, it's still a good, natural move."

"But you could have won the game earlier."

"Who knows?"

"Good attitude, Miura."

"Tch. You don't know me, Kusonoki..." went the banter at one board. Ami listened in for a moment and then asked, "Would one of you like to play a game?"

Kusonoki looked up. A kid, that either means she's not that good or... "Sure. Miura, if you wouldn't mind."

"Maybe I wanted to play her," Miura sneered.

"I don't mind either way!" said Ami.

Yeah. "I'll go, and then Miura can?" Kusonoki shrugged.

"All right then... let's see what you've got," Miura replied, standing up from his chair.

"Thank you!" Ami took a seat. "We're playing three plus two, right?"

"Nah, I'd rather go for five, no increment, if that's okay with you."

"That's fine with me." As long as I get to play.

"I'll let you have the White pieces."

"He's rated 2000, you know," Miura chimed in.

"Ooh, nice," Ami replied.

Not sarcastic. "Okay... here we go." Kusonoki started the clock.

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nxe5 d6 4. Nf3 Nxe4 5. d4 Bg4 6. Bd3 f5 7. O-O g6

So far, each move was made in one second.

8. h3

Kusonoki hesitated a moment.

"Come on, man, you've got one move," Miura quipped.

"I know, I know," Kusonoki huffed, making it: 8. ... Bxf3 9. Qxf3. "How old are you, anyways?"

"Eleven," replied Ami.

"You've got more incentive to win now, man," Miura chuckled.

"Yeah, yeah." Now once again Kusonoki took his time before selecting a bad move: 9. ... Nf6? 10. Re1+ Crap. He touched his King, shook his head, growled a little, and moved it: 10. ... Kf7

Ami thought for eight seconds and then developed her other Bishop: 11. Bg5

"You could have taken on b7," commented Miura. Kusonoki raised his eyebrow, wondering, Why didn't she?

It's a butcher's move, and I'm not a butcher, thought Ami. 11. ... Nc6 stopped the threat, and the game went on: 12. Nc3 h6 13. Bc4+. Sweat began to form on Kusonoki's forehead. 13. ... Kg7 14. Bxf6+ Qxf6

"Where are you from?" Ami wondered.

"Miura and I come from Nagoya. What about you?"

"I'm from here. I live close by, actually."

"Yeah. Seems like..."

15. Re6?

Ah. Kusonoki snatched the d4-Pawn with 15. ... Qxd4. Now Ami spent thirty seconds thinking about what to do: retreating the c4-Bishop was obvious. Miura watched with folded arms, containing a smirk, while Kusonoki fiddled with the recently captured White Pawn in his hand, realizing that his nose was stuffed and that he needed to be quieter with his breathing. "Seems like there are a lot of Tōkyō people here." 16. Bb3. Now Kusonoki set the Pawn down, looked at Ami's Queen on f4, then at his Knight on c6, back at the Queen, and then back at the Knight for... yet another mistake with a Knight move. 16. ... Ne5?

"Ooh," Miura let out, wincing as Ami finally took the b7-Pawn: 17. Qxb7. Kusonoki's teeth clenched as the sweat accumulated on his forehead. "Think one of the girls here is from... she's from, uh... ... Numazu." After sixteen seconds he played 17. ... Rd8, reasoning that he could defend the seventh rank with his Rook. "Rest, I dunno. Ah, hell." Ami took another Pawn, 18. Qxc7+ Rd7 19. Qa5 Be7. Now she threatened Kusonoki's Queen on d4: 20. Rd1. He thought for a minute and retreated with 20. ... Qxb6. Ami looked at her e6-Rook and the Black e5-Knight and saw that she could take it with the Rook, defending her Queen, 21. Rxe5! because after 21. ... dxe5 came 22. Qxe5+.

Ah, dammit! Kusonoki threw his arm out, resigning. "Good game!" "Good game," replied Ami, shaking his hand. Her hand is so light! I think I'm more embarrassed now... he thought.

"... yeah, she's probably going to destroy me if I try. Thanks for the effort, Kusonoki." Miura chuckled.

"I'll still beat you most days, you know," Kusonoki stated as he stood up and pushed his chair in.

"But my one win against you, that really was a masterpiece."

"Oh, shut up," and the two continued throwing remarks at each other as they walked towards the other side of the room. Ami checked the clock: 9:50 AM. Oh! I should make sure that I'm checked in, and succeeding at that, she took a seat on one of the couches near the entrance of the room. Opposite that door were a series of double doors that led into the main conference room, where stood long rows of tables covered in white tablecloths and adorned with wooden chess boards and pieces. Ami caught glimpses inside every time someone walked through those doors. She eavesdropped on more conversations. One went:

"You hear that Timman lost to Karpov? Badly."

"That Karpov guy just doesn't give up, huh?"

"I really wanted Timman to win, too. Seems the Best of the West just isn't good enough."

"Kasparov will whip him again, don't worry."

Another: "Where'd you train?"

"At the Calbee potato chip factory."

Then another: "Can you believe it? Takahashi scored ten points too, but the Filipino won on tiebreaks. Can you believe it, the Japanese Chess Champion isn't even Japanese this year," moaned a certain player with glasses.

"Well, it's not like we have very many chess players anyways. Everyone's following shōgi. There are tons of young rising stars right now, you know? Satō, Tanigawa, Habu... I mean, everyone's seen Habu's win against Katō. And he's already a Ryūō!" You might share a surname with Akira Shima, Shigeru, but you have nowhere near his ability. In any game, really. The truth hurts.

"All-Japan, All-Japan, it's got to mean something for once!" Shima scanned the room. "Where are the foreigners at, huh?"

A short boy with messy blond hair glanced with a raised eyebrow at the high schooler.

Through lenses dotted with water spots Shima gave him a long look. "You a Grandmaster?" he questioned, pointing at him.

"Not really."

"What's your name?"

"... Yevgeniy Moiseyevich Klein."

"Are you Japanese?"

"I am now."

"Quit it, Shima," his friend muttered, nudging his shoulder with his elbow.

"My mom told me to expect this. I can handle it," Yevgeniy announced, crossing his arms. "I can be as Japanese as anyone here."

Shima simply clenched his fists and pursed his lips.

"You'll have to forgive him, he's very... nationalistic."

You had to use that word. Shima gulped, very quietly.

"I'm proud to be Japanese," Yevgeniy noted.

Ami stepped over. "What's going on?"

"Watch. I, Shigeru Shima, will take the All-Japan Junior Chess Championship for Japan, and then the Japanese Chess Championship, and one day, the World Championship too! The Soviets will shake in fear at my name!"

"... oh, boy." Shima's friend placed his hand over his face and sighed.

HE thinks he can be World Champion one day? ... Sure. Yevgeniy chuckled.

"They're not being mean to you, are they?" Ami asked, squatting and looking the boy in the eyes. "You said your name is Yevgeniy, right?"

"Right. I come from the Soviet Union. From Birobidzhan, in Siberia. From But my parents decided to leave because they don't see a future in the country. They decided on Japan because China and Mongolia don't seem like good choices."

"I see. And how long have you been playing chess?"

"Since I was five. I learned from my dad. He's not very good though." He smirked. "But I read a lot of books and played a lot of games against myself. It's funny. You can buy all the great masters' chess books in Siberia, but you can't find people who actually read them, because there sure aren't very many players. Only once we moved here could I find good opponents. Most of them are scared of me, I think. I'm only nine, don't be afraid."

"Everyone, the first round pairings are up! The first round games will begin in five minutes! Please report to your assigned table," rang a woman's voice throughout the room. In succession, a few building employees and arbiters opened the double doors, and the players crowded towards the walls where the first round pairings were posted.

"Oh, no, I gotta play against Nogami? ... Dammit." One player sighed and headed towards table 1 with a hung head.

"Oh. Morioka is here, after all!" Shima's friend darted for table 23.

"Nakajima? The kid who had to repeat senior year?" Miura chuckled. "Since when does he play chess, anyways?"

"Ooh! I get to play Endō!" Shima smiled cutely. "Heh, heh." He eyed Yuki Endō as she made her way into the conference room.

Ami managed to catch a glimpse of one of the pairing sheets and saw her name in a box above another name, "Shinjirō Sakurada, unrated." Okay... here we go. She made her way towards table 16.