Ami started the clock.

I should be honest, this is one of the most incredible games I've ever seen. I was compelled to ask a certain Grandmaster Gyula Alvinczi, an acquaintance of mine from Debrecen, to aid me with the analysis of this game.

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. Nf3 O-O

The King's Indian Defense. Its name belies Black's ideal plan: to go for an attack against White's King if it castles Kingside.

6. Be2 Nbd7

Fischer always preferred 6. ... e5 and development of the b8-Knight to c6. The Knight is better placed for Kingside operations on e7 after White attacks it by pushing d4-d5.

7. O-O e5 8. Bg5

Usually not the best square for the Bishop. Kicking it away with Black's next move prepares the Pawn push g6-g5.

8. ... h6 9. Be3 c6

Solid. 9. ... Ng4 is also good, as White is generally compelled to preserve the dark-squared Bishop and lose a tempo by moving it away.

10. d5 cxd5 11. cxd5 Ng4 12. Bd2 f5 13. h3 Ngf6 14. exf5 gxf5

So far this follows the 1972 game Möhring-Uhlmann, played in Görlitz, East Germany. The thirteenth and fourteenth moves for both sides were switched in this game. That game continued 15. Qc1 f4 16. Qc2 Rf7 17. Rac1 Nf8. But, anyways, that game is interesting because Möhring won the 1963 East German Chess Championship, but Uhlmann... he's won it eleven times in the past thirty-two years. Incredible. Möhring was not yet titled when this game was played, and Uhlmann was already a Grandmaster for thirteen years. However, Möhring eventually won the game. Uhlmann went on the attack first and won an Exchange, but his play petered out and Möhring took the initiative, Uhlmann made a simple blunder, and Möhring capitalized and upset the Grandmaster.

Gyula insisted I add this in.

15. Nh4

The Knight is headed for g6, where it cannot be easily shaken off.

15. ... Nc5

This square is an option for the Knight when ... Nbd7 is played, but it's not comfortable here, as it may be kicked away with b2-b4 at any moment.

16. Ng6 Rf7 17. b4 Nce4 18. Nxe4 Nxe4

Here 17. b4 may not have been so good, because the Knight comes to a good square and is not easily kicked away with f2-f3, which weakens g3.

19. Rc1

Moving the Rook off the a1-h8 diagonal and exerting control over the c-file.

19. ... Nxd2 20. Qxd2

Now Black enjoys the Bishop pair and ought to open up the position to take advantage of it.

20. ... f4 21. Bd3 Bf5!?

An immediate ... Qg5 was better.

22. Rfe1? ?

Yevgeniy spent little time on this move. Ami responded to his blunder with...

22. ... Qf6?

White missed 22. ... Qg5, winning the Knight, but Black missed it too! Unfortunate indeed. 22. ... Qg5 23. Bxf5 Rxf5 traps the White Knight, though after 24. Rc7 White has counterplay. Mizuno's move doesn't work because after 23. Bxf5 Qxf5, as played in the game, the White Knight escapes. Black has pressure on the Kingside, but not enough to cause White any major problems; Klein moreover has the aforementioned Queenside counterplay with Rc7.

23. Bxf5 Qxf5 24. Nh4

Yevgeniy bobbed up and down in his chair. Ami, meanwhile, crossed her arms and looked at the pieces on the Queenside. Oh. ... I was supposed to play Queen g5... ah. Well...

24. ... Qg5

An aggressive response from Mizuno. She wants to attack!

Yevgeniy looked up at Ami for a few seconds after she made this move, but responded swiftly.

25. Nf3 Qg6

Now the players could repeat moves with 26. Nh4 Qg5, but of course, both want to go for the win.

26. Qe2 Bf6 27. Nd2

Black prepares to make a battery on the g-file, while White prepares to defend g2.

27. ... Rg7 28. Qe4 Qh5

Trading Queens serves White's plans more, so Mizuno wisely declines the offer.

29. Kh1 Rf8

At this point both players remained with an hour on their clocks.

30. Qc4!?

A strange move from Klein. The Rooks are supposed to lead the Queenside attack.

Yevgeniy kept shooting glances at Ami. At one point they made eye contact but quickly returned their eyes to the board.

30. ... Kh8

Preparing to double Rooks on the g-file. The g7-Rook defends the seventh rank sufficiently for now.

31. Rg1?!

A passive reply from Klein. He should have found and acknowledged the strange Queen move, and brought it to a better square.

31. ... Bh4 32. Ne4?!

This defends the f2-Pawn, but the Knight on d2 had prevented Mizuno's next move.

32. ... f3! 33. g4!

But Klein responds to a good move with another. 32. ... f3 intended to break up White's Kingside, but 33. g4 forces Black's Queen to retreat. It's an interesting scenario where a Pawn moves to the third rank and is passed by an adjacent enemy Pawn that moves two squares forward; not an en passant scenario, of course.

33. ... Qg6

Ami looked over at Morioka's and Nogami's board for the first time. She noted that the material was even, but that Black had castled Queenside while White had castled Kingside. Already the players were looking ready to start steaming their Pawns forward in attacks on opposite flanks against the Kings. Nogami's Black King seemed a little less secure at the moment.

34. a4?

Another weird decision from Klein, and a losing one! Klein thinks that he's going to generate that counterplay on the Queenside, but not only does he have nothing, but he's overlooking the fact that Mizuno's Kingside attack is becoming more potent.

34. ... Rf4! 35. Rge1?! Bxf2

White's Kingside is beginning to collapse. Things are heating up.

36. Qc8+? Rg8

Klein had few alternatives. The e1-Rook can't stay on the e-file, so if it moves the e4-Knight drops; otherwise, after Black takes the Rook and White recaptures, ... f3-f2 wins (again, the e4-Knight is chopped off).

Klein spent a long time looking at the position. His eyebrows jumped up a few times, and once again he seemed to twist slightly in his seat. He, too, looked at the table 1 game, but did not take close stock of the position.

37. Nxf2

Sadly, Klein's best chance in this game. Again, other moves lead to the loss of the e4-Knight and/or the push of the Pawn to f2.

37. ... Rxc8 38. Rxc8+ Kh7 39. Rc7+ Rf7 40. Rec1 Kg7 41. Kg1 e4 42. Rxf7+ Kxf7 43. Re1 Qg5

Now Klein has a fighting chance with the Rook and Knight against Mizuno's Queen. His goal will be to take as many Pawns as possible, harass the Black Queen, and push his own Pawns.

I don't like this, thought Ami, pouting as she looked at the position. He's holding the draw here, isn't he? Well... She sat back and looked up at the ceiling, thinking for a moment. I feel so weird. As if... I want him to win? Once more she looked over at Morioka and Nogami. Her eyes widened. Nogami is losing! He can't defend this! Now her clock read fifty minutes. She glimpsed the time briefly and sat up straight once more, looking back at the position. I want to see if Yevgeniy can win. Surely he can.

44. Nxe4 Qd5 45. Kd2 Qa2+ 46. Kxf3 Qxa4?!

Mizuno needed to win the b-Pawn with ... Qa3+ or Qb3+ first, so that she could defend her d-Pawn for as long as possible.

47. Nxd6+ Kg7 48. Nf5+ Kf6 49. Re4 Qd1+ 50. Kf4 Qf1+ 51. Kg3 Qg1+

A telltale sign that a draw is imminent. Gyula and I thought that White had better winning chances here because his Pawns are more advanced, but Black might be able to blockade these Pawns and find a perpetual check with the Queen.

52. Kh4

Ami looked over once more. That's it! It's... oh, wow! She watched as Morioka and Nogami shook hands and left the table. The position they left behind: White's pieces all massed on the Queenside, bearing down on Black's King, which no longer had a Queen to defend it. Morioka had won Nogami's Queen and succeeded with his attack. Nogami's never materialized; his Pawn storm was too slow compared to Morioka's.

52. ... Qf2+

To the side Ami made out the commotion in the waiting room. "Nogami lost!" "Morioka won!" and so on. Now the players huddled by the double doors, looking across the room at table 2, one of the few still occupied by the time the clock read 7 PM. Yevgeniy quickly processed the sight: They haven't left? Oh, man. ... I've gotta hurry up and win this. I must be winning.

53. Kh5 Qg2

Obviously the h6-Pawn is untouchable because of 54. ... Qxh3+ with mate on the next move.

54. Re3 Qf2 55. Rd3 Qf4

Even Gyula thinks that the position is very unclear. It should still be a draw if White can manage to get one of his Pawns up the board. He is likely to lose his b4-Pawn, but Black's Pawns are on their starting squares and likely won't make it to the promotion squares in time.

56. Rd6? Ke5!

Gyula finds 56. Rd6 dubious. I think it's a mistake. Now White can't gain tempos on the Black King by checking it with the Pawns.

57. Rxh6 Qxb4 58. Rh7? a5!

Uh-oh! Now Mizuno's Pawns are advancing. White's King and Rook block his Pawns, and they may well be too far away to stop Black's! Gyula thinks that White is already lost, though he asked me to give my own thoughts before admitting it. Well, I agreed with him after all.

59. Kg5 a4!

Both players were down to thirty minutes on their clocks at this point. Ami saw more fidgeting from Yevgeniy, who kept darting his eyes between her Pawns on the Queenside and his on the Kingside.

60. Re7+?

The turning point.

I should have lost by now... Yevgeniy's not doing this correctly. Ami leaned forward and gazed at the pieces. She eyed her Queen, Yevgeniy's Rook, her Pawns, and his Knight. The a4-Pawn took up most of her attention. ... I'm winning! His Knight can't come back. But his Pawns... will they be able to Queen first? She rested her elbows on the table and cupped her hands over her head, thumbs on her temples. Her clock ticked down. Twenty-five... twenty. By then she'd lowered her hands and placed them on her lap. Fifteen.

What's she thinking about? Yevgeniy thought at first. She's gotta go King d5. She can't sack her Queen here. As the time passed, though... ... she's thinking about sacking the Queen, isn't she? ... ... Suddenly his heart began to race. The vibrations jumped up his torso.

Ami closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and made her move.

60. ... Qxe7+

Not worthy of an annotation. White is lost.

61. Nxe7 a3

Ami played her sixty-first move instantly.

62. Ng6+

But now she took a few moments to consider her reply. By this point the players had been allowed to move back into the conference room to watch Ami's and Yevgeniy's game, seeing as all the other games were completed. Any kibitzing was quickly silenced by the tournament director and other employees. Silence hung deep inside Ami's ears.

62. ... Kd4 63. Nf4 a2 64. Ne6+ Ke5 65. Nd8 b5 66. Nc6+ Ke6?!

Black is still winning, but she's letting White move his Knight towards the promotion square, which is what she was trying to avoid in the first place.

Oh, no... I messed up again! Once more, Ami placed her hands on her head and eyed the board closely.

67. Nd4 Kd5 68. Nc2 Kc4

Black's Pawns win the race.

69. h4 Kb3 70. Nd4+ Kb2

These moves came quickly. Butterflies churned in Yevgeniy's stomach. Sweat formed on his hands. Ami felt cold.

71. Nxb5 a1=Q

Black gives up the b-Pawn but brings a Queen back onto the board. Now she just needs to bring her King back and use it and her Queen to stop White's Pawns. The Knight is a very tricky piece, of course, so she needs to take extra care not to blunder any forks, or simply let the Knight chase her King away. Note that from a1 the Black Queen controls the h-Pawn's queening square.

72. Nd4 Kc3 73. Nf5 Kd3 74. h5 Ke4 75. Ng3 Kf3 76. Nf5 Qc1+

Still winning, but centralizing the Queen with 76. ... Qe5 is a superior choice. Of course it might stand in Black's King's way or be more susceptible to Knight attacks.

77. Kg6

77. Kh4 Kf4 and White is quickly checkmated. Now he has to give up the g4-Pawn. It looks as if his h-Pawn is coming close to the Promised Land, but...

77. ... Kxg4 78. Nh6+ Kf4 79. Nf7 Qg1+ 80. Kf6 Qg8 81. h6 Qh7

Black has successfully blockaded White's Pawn, and her King will soon come in to push away the Knight and collect said Pawn. Mizuno still needs to tread carefully.

82. Ke7 Kf5 83. Ke8 Kf6

Yevgeniy sulked and held his hand out. "Good game." The spectators roared in applause as the two shook hands. "I thought I had you there. You did great."

0-1

"You made me work for it!" Ami beamed. "That was a lot of fun."

He smiled, eyebrows drooping. "Yeah. Heh. It was."

What a game. Not perfect by any means, but certainly top-level nonetheless. Both players should be proud.

"You did it, Mizuno!" "Ami-san! Great work!" "Awesome stuff, Mizuno!" cheered the spectators. Ami shivered a little, observing the crowd around her, and her face turned deeper shades of red as they continued. Seeing Yevgeniy darting his way out of the conference room, she followed after him; the other players were now occupied with discussing how the standings had turned.

"Yevgeniy! Are you okay?" She found herself alone with him and Máté in the waiting room.

"Yeah." He rubbed his eye and sniffled. "I'm fine."

Ami frowned and looked down at the ground. "I thought you were going to win that one, Yevgeniy."

"Really?" Another sniffle. "I thought it was hopeless. Maybe I could trick you."

"Well..." She smiled a little now. "That's why it's important not to give up, right?"

"Yeah. I guess. I just really wanted to win."

"Mizuno! Want to go over the game?" Máté offered.

"Yeah. Yevgeniy? I think Máté would love to see how you did."

"I'll go easy on him!" promised Máté.

"He'll go easy on you," said Ami, smiling a little more.

Yevgeniy managed a smile too. "Okay. Let's do it."

As Ami exited the building she looked up at the indigo sky and the stars, past a little light pollution. The moon was all but new that night; she could see just a little sliver of the waning crescent left. Maybe I can win this tournament, she reckoned. I'm tied with Morioka and ahead of Nogami and Klein now. Maybe I just need to go for it. And then... what then?

Damn. That Mizuno could well win this thing, thought Máté as he sipped a Coke near the vending machine. What a game.

"Ten thousand yen for what? Ten thousand yen for what," groaned Kitano—who had lost four games and only managed one draw, against Sakurada—into his canned coffee. His armpits were drenched in sweat thanks to the humidity. He shivered as the wind blew past him.