Classroom of the Elite: The true Geniuses

"The field of defeat is not peopled with failures, but with men who fell before they won."

Sora's Pov:

All the pieces of the chessboard were arranged smoothly.

Shiro was sitting next to me while Ayanokouji was sitting in front.

"Are you sure you want to keep the black pieces, Ayanokouji?" I couldn't help but ask.

Usually, the one who starts with the white pieces has a slight advantage on the board by having the first move and since it is one against two, it is only fair that he should have the first move. Chess can be quite simple for people who have played for a long time, but the stamina to withstand the mental stress is very important, and again, it is one against two, so he is at a disadvantage in that as well.

Does he have some kind of tactics, or is it just overconfidence? If he's really confident that he can beat both of us easily, then he's going to suffer a pretty humiliating defeat. But seeing his face, it doesn't look like that.

Shiro next to me was staring at him, waiting for his response, which didn't take long.

"Yes. I think I'll be able to play easier with the black pieces, it's not because I'm underestimating you or anything like that."

I still didn't quite understand, but if he feels comfortable playing with the black pieces who am I to say otherwise? Also, I am very curious to see if Ayanokouji is like Shiro. In fact, a part of me wants him to really be just like her.

According to what our classroom teacher said, our class is made up of "geniuses," but clearly they are not all geniuses. An example of this is myself. I am no genius, I have tried very hard to be able to stand next to Shiro, but still I don't feel that I am really next to her.

Of course my classmates can be considered "geniuses" in specific subjects, but I can't imagine a class composed of true geniuses. Why refer to us as "geniuses"? However, if there is one person that I am sure is definitely a genius, excluding Shiro, it is our classroom teacher.

Seeing that Ayanokouji was ready, I sent a glance to Shiro. She understood and began to move her hand to a white pawn. Shiro was able to beat several machines designed to defeat the chess masters themselves 20 times in a row without losing a single game. The reason for this is that the machines always make the best move, so it is easy to predict the moves the computer will make.

Well, technically, the best chess player in the world is no longer human. In the eyes of many, computers are the best chess players there are. And the reason for this is simple, computers are very good at doing calculations with closed systems.

In terms of calculating the best possible moves on the chess board, there is no comparison, Shiro is light years ahead of me. And that is why it is better that she starts playing, making the best moves to develop our pieces efficiently. If I see that something is wrong, I will intervene.

Shiro played with a D4 pawn.

E4 pawn is probably the best first move in chess, according to the computers, but Shiro played with D4.

Wasting no time, Ayanokouji played with the D5 pawn.

Shiro quickly played with a F4 bishop.

Ayanokouji responded with Knight C6, aiming at Shiro's D4 pawn. Without much trouble, Shiro quickly played with E3 pawn, defending D4's pawn.

Shiro was playing with a "London system" which is a more positional opening. This is an opening where the position is closed, is technically easier to play against engines (computers), and is a type of game that Shiro likes a lot. But why is she using this opening against Ayanokouji?

Ayanokouji responded with an E6 pawn, followed by Shiro's F3 Knight. Next, Ayanokouji played with B6 pawn, and Shiro played with the bishop that was F1 to D3.

The game initially began at a very fast pace. Both Shiro and Ayanokouji did not think for even 4 seconds before making their moves. But I knew that when the game became more complex with the need for me to intervene, things would be quite different. For now, it was just both sides developing their pieces.

"Tell me, Sora, Shiro," Ayanokouji spoke suddenly as he moved his bishop from F8 to D6. "The chessboard is finite, and each piece has a finite number of ways to move. In other words, no matter how the pieces are positioned, there are always a finite number of possible moves."

"... You are right, but what exactly do you mean by that, Ayanokouji?" Shiro asked as he moved Knight from F3 to E5.

I was also a little curious where he was going with this. Looking a little at the chessboard, I could tell that my turn to enter the game was coming.

Ayanokouji replied while moving his bishop from C8 to A6: "Both white and black pieces can be moved in a similar way. With two moves you can make a few dozen possible positions, and both a computer and a person would be able to evaluate these positions using a certain amount of time."

He was right. Shiro stopped moving the pieces for a while as she looked at him, waiting for him to finish.

Well, we didn't agree on any specific time for the chess game, so technically there was no problem. That is, apart from the fact that we will probably go past curfew time. But since we stay in dorms very close to each other, it shouldn't be that much of a problem.

"That is of course with only 2 moves. For example, if the number of moves is 10, the number of possible chess games is almost 70 trillion. On average, a chess game has at least 80 moves. There is a very large number of possible 'paths' that the game can take. That's why computers are better than humans at navigating this maze of possibilities and coming up with the best possible move to make at that moment."

Even if I know it is possible to make many moves, still, 70 trillion with only 10 moves? How the hell did he arrive at that number specifically? I can see Shiro looking at Ayanokouji with a twinkle in her eyes.

However, I still couldn't see exactly where he was going with all this, although I have an idea.

Shiro made the Queen's E2 move. Ayanokouji quickly played the bishop from A6 to D3, taking our bishop that was on that square. For the first time since the game began, a piece was taken. It looked like he wanted to exchange both bishops.

Without wasting any time, Shiro took Ayanokouji's bishop with the Queen, and it was at this point that I realized that the game was about to get more turbulent. The moment for me to go into action was proving to be closer and closer. From this moment on, I looked at the chessboard more seriously than before, looking for the possible traps that Ayanokouji might be planning to make.

As Ayanokouji made the Rookie to protect his King, he spoke again: "When a good chess player evaluates dozens of different positions, the computer evaluates thousands or even millions of different configurations. But that raises a good question that I wanted to ask both of you."

Shiro moved Knight from G1 to E2 while she and I looked at Ayanokouji, waiting for his question.

He answered while moving Knight from F6 to H5, touching Bishop from F4, "Would it be possible for a computer to calculate all possible chess matches in such a way that it would be impossible to beat it?"

That was a very interesting question. Shiro didn't try to move the pieces, she is probably thinking seriously about his question. I was the same as her. Just as he said before, while a person calculated dozens of possible moves, a computer calculated thousands of moves.

This is clear for normal people. Shiro does not fall into that category. After thinking for some time, I moved my eyes upward to answer Ayanokouji's question.

"The theoretical answer is yes," as soon as I started, I noticed Shiro starting to look at me, "However, Shiro doesn't fit into that, she is capable of beating the best computers we currently have," I answered with total confidence in my tone of voice.

Even I am not sure that I could beat the best modern computers we have today. Technology is constantly growing. The machines are getting smarter than previous versions. A normal person wouldn't be able to beat such machines, but Shiro? She is not a normal person, she is far from being a normal person.

She is better than a simple computer, I have full confidence that she would not lose to a machine that always makes the best moves.

"Is that true, Shiro?" Ayanokouji asked.

"... If nii think I'm capable of it, then I am," she replied as she moved her bishop from F4 to G3.

"Well... using the modern rules there is a finite number of rounds with a finite number of possible bids. In other words, there is a finite number of possible chess games, and having a finite number of games means that chess is what people call a [closed game], and as you said before, it would be theoretically possible for a computer to assemble a list of all possible games."

Ayanokouji moved his pawn from C7 to C5 when he finished saying that.

"However," he began to speak again, "if in 10 moves there are about 70 trillion possible games, how many chess games are possible in total?"

"That's impossible to calculate, isn't it?" I said as I stroked Shiro's hair. I could understand some of what Ayanokouji was trying to do, it was my turn to play a little. I moved the pawn from C2 to C3.

"Well, not exactly," he replied. "If we count all the games imaginable, we would have around..."

""10¹²³ possible chess games."" Both Ayanokouji and Shiro spoke at the same time.

"..."

I just stared at Ayanokouji with a blank face. I looked at Shiro and then at Ayanokouji again, I repeated this a few times before I stopped and looked at him again and spoke the only thing that was on my mind right now.

"...What the hell?"

Seeing how confused I seemed to be, he spoke, "For comparison, there are 10^80 atoms in the universe. A computer calculating a million moves per second would take about 10^90 years to calculate all those moves. That's long enough for part of the black holes at the end of the universe to evaporate."

"..."

What the fuck is he talking about here?

Also, why are you looking at him like you understand him perfectly, Shiro!? I know you're good with numbers, but what the hell!

"Could you translate it into a language I can understand? Preferably a non-alien one."

"Even if we wanted to use better computers to enable such computation, there simply isn't enough computing power for that. If humans ever find a strong solution to chess, it would take a revolution in computing first," he replied.

I see. In other words, what he means is that it is impossible to solve chess mathematically.

"And what I just said doesn't even take into account storing that computation. The end position table for 7 pieces has about 140 terabytes of data. And setting up a similar table with 8 pieces would take 5 petabytes (5000 terabytes) of information. In other words, given our current technology, it is inconceivable to compute and store every possible chess set."

"..."

"..."

I am totally speechless here, and Shiro seemed to be the same. That kind of information...

"... Are you good with computers, Ayanokouji?" After a few seconds in silence, Shiro asked.

Shiro and I use computers to play games 100% of the time, so I guess it's normal that we don't know about these things, right? I mean, are there any high school students who even have this information? I can't help but think how insane the person in front of me is.

"Not exactly. I only know these basic things, actually, I'm not good in technological areas," he answered nonchalantly.

Basic stuff? Did he really say 'basic stuff!?'

"I see..." Shiro replied.

No, you can't understand, Shiro! I'm the only one here who didn't understand almost shit about what he said before!?

After some time of talking, we returned to the chess game. I was still not happy about the fact that I didn't understand most of what he said, and I consider myself pretty decent at math! Not even close to Shiro, of course, but still...

Maybe he really is like Shiro.

Ayanokouji moved the pawn from C5 to C4. At this point I could see that Shiro was a little confused. He was basically giving us two choices at this point.

Take the pawn with the Queen or back the Queen off. After thinking for a few seconds, I moved the Queen back from D3 to E2.

Ayanokouji quickly took our Bishop with his Knight and I wasted no time in taking the same piece with my pawn from H2. He exchanged his Knight for our bishop. Our King was very well protected, and currently our pieces were: 8 pawns, 2 knights, 2 Rook, the King and the Queen.

We lost our pair of bishops, but in return our pieces were with solid developments, the center was a little contested, but our position here is better.

He moved the Pawn from H7 to H6.

As we played, I quickly remembered something I have to ask.

"Hey, Ayanokouji," I began, attracting his attention. "Could you explain to me and Shiro why you decided to take exactly 50 points in all school subjects? I'm very curious about that."

I wanted to understand why he did it. I doubt it was something like "I was bored" or "I got lazy," it must have been something different. Ryuzaki had casually commented that it's as if he wanted to get the school principal's attention, and I somewhat agree with that.

But if that is really the reason, why exactly does he want to get the school principal's attention?

"...You really haven't forgotten that, huh," he sighed, "Let's say it's because of some personal matters, so I had to get the school principal's attention. But I didn't expect to fall into a class of 11 people who are considered geniuses in the eyes of the school."

I really sensed a slightly sad tone when he mentioned that last part. Personal problems, he says, huh? Well, I guess it's not good to get too deep into that, all people have problems, and Shiro and I were no exceptions to that. I decided not to get too deep into it.

Shiro pulled the sleeve of my uniform to get my attention. She pointed to a part of the chessboard. We had a few options here. We could move our knight from E5 to G4 and then sacrifice this knight by taking the pawn on H6.

After thinking for a while, Shiro and I agreed to play H5 Queen. Ayanokouji responded quickly by taking his knight from B8 to D7, making it possible to exchange knights. If I take his knight with mine, he takes my knight using Queen.

The question at hand is, do I swap knights? Our position is very good right now. I asked Shiro and she suggested that we take his knight with ours, it would be better for us, so that's what I did, I took his knight with mine and he then used his Queen to take my knight.

"Hey, Ayanokouji. What do you think of our classroom teacher?" I asked as I moved the pawn from G3 to G4.

"Ayame-sensei? Well, she explains the subjects decently, I guess," he replied.

"Although I don't doubt it, you haven't even paid attention to her explanations properly. You've probably already studied what we'll be learning this year, right?"

"Maybe. But we haven't yet had a class on the subject she is specific to, which is science. I'm quite curious about that actually, since she mentioned that she is strict about it," he replied as he moved the Queen from D7 to B5.

I quickly became confused by this move. I can't see any great strategy to lead him to victory.

"You really have no idea who she is?" I asked a little surprised.

He looked at me with some confusion in his eyes.

"Should I?"

Really? He really has no idea who she is? If she were just any teacher, this would be a normal reaction. But that woman received a lot of attention around the world, and even Shiro and I, who spent the whole day playing games, know who she is.

"Ayame Himuro, single 23 years old, she is a science and technology researcher who wrote 4 revolutionary articles for science and technology that were published by Nature when she was only 17 years old. She received several offers from famous research labs around the world, but turned them all down," Shiro replied while doing Rookie.

"Really?" Ayanokouji looked surprised for the first time. "Wait, if she turned down the offer from world famous labs, why did she accept to be a teacher in this school? Even if it is the best school in Japan, isn't that a little strange?"

Yes, this is true. I discussed this with Shiro the first day after school ended. My classmates didn't seem to know who she really is, or if they do, they just didn't care that a scientist like her is teaching us, a small class of 11 people.

"... It's weird," Shiro agreed.

Ayanokouji looked very thoughtful since Shiro mentioned that she wrote four revolutionary articles for science and technology. For a brief moment, I could have sworn I saw a dark gleam in his eyes, seeming to have come to some conclusion.

"I see..." he muttered.

After that, Ayanokouji didn't say another word for quite some time in the chess match. As we made our moves, one part spent more time thinking. In the beginning we made our moves in a few seconds, if you take away the times we kept talking about something.

The level at which we were playing was totally insane. If a person who only plays chess once in a while saw this match, he would probably have a brain frying trying to understand what the hell is going on in this game.

I didn't know how long it has been since we started this match, but it sure was a long time. It got to a point where Shiro and I were thinking for about four minutes straight. Of course Shiro had calculated the most efficient move immediately, but as I thought it was a trap of his, so we had to think carefully about our next move.

Shiro was the person who calculated the best moves and I was responsible for the strategies and for preventing us from falling into a trap. This is one of the reasons why the two of us together never lost, especially in chess. Shiro was the person who played based on her calculations and I was the person who played unpredictably with formidable strategies, but I am nowhere near Shiro's calculations.

For Ayanokouji to be playing without backing down against both of us was definitely something. In fact, I was becoming a nervous wreck as the match was in progress. Shiro also seemed to be the same, seeing the face she was making during the match. I started biting my nails.

If we're not careful... it's possible that we could lose this match.

I was still a little confident, our position on the board was definitely better than his. If he played against only 1 of us, he would probably win. But we are playing together and Blank doesn't lose.

"Shiro."

Ayanokouji's voice spoke after quite some time in silence.

Shiro raised his eyes and looked at him.

"Yes?"

"You remember what I said before, about the possibilities of a machine calculating the chess games, right?" Shiro just nodded. "Sora mentioned that you are able to beat the best computers, so I am in doubt about something... all the possible games that computers are not able to calculate with our current technology..." he paused as he looked directly into Shiro's eyes.

"Are you capable of that? Are you capable of calculating all this...?"

According to what he said, in 10 moves 70 trillion games were possible. And with all the moves we've made so far... I think I understand why he was curious about this. At first I thought he was like Shiro, but now I think I understand that it's not quite like that...

Shiro who was holding a pawn in her hands, stood thinking for a while before answering his question.

"...I can," she replied in a low tone before looking at Ayanokouji with some kind of hope. "You...are not able to do that?"

It was Ayanokouji's turn to be silent for a while. When his answer came, all the hope that Shiro and I had was evaporated.

"...No. Although I am confident in my mental ability, I am not capable of such a thing."

Shiro looked down as she murmured, "...I see."

She was clearly sad. The chance of having someone gifted like her was very low, but at the thought that there might finally be such a person, she gained hope that she wasn't the only person with a monstrous talent...

Again, I am no genius. I worked very hard to be able to stand next to her, and it seems that Ayanokouji is just like me. A person who was not born a genius, but had to work very hard to achieve great abilities. I tried hard to make sure Shiro didn't feel alone, but I know she still feels awkward about being the "only" one to possess such abilities.

And it was these same abilities that caused people to abandon her and become frightened because of her "monstrous" - as they put it - talents. Well, that little war also contributed a lot to that.

At this moment, the answer Ayanokouji gave to the question the bus driver asked came back to my mind.

"All they see is a monster in a human's body."

He's not wrong, after all.

"But you shouldn't feel bad about it, Shiro," Ayanokouji spoke again, causing both Shiro and I to look at him. "Being different doesn't mean something bad, in fact, that's a good thing. Don't care what people think, don't care what they said about you before. I don't know what you have been through, but you have clearly suffered, haven't you? However, was this really a bad thing? I mean, didn't that suffering make the two of you closer?"

The moment he said this, my eyes widened.

He is completely right. Shiro and I grew closer because we both only had each other. The people in society... all those damned, especially our own families that abandoned us...

But thinking about it... if those bastards hadn't abandoned us, it's possible that Shiro and I wouldn't have met before. And if by some chance, we did meet, it's possible that we wouldn't be as close as we are now. Even if it was shit what we both went through, that's why we became so close.

He continued.

"I wasn't born with the genes of a genius, I fell many times before I conquered my abilities. But even so I know that I have no right to feel envious of people who were born talented. In fact, I find this talent of yours incredible. You are really someone amazing, Shiro. Don't put yourself down because of envious people, go your own way."

The moment he said this, I can see the eyes of Shiro who is standing next to me, widening in a way that I have never seen before. This was the first time she had been complimented by someone other than me, something she certainly wasn't expecting, in fact, not even I was expecting it.

I couldn't help but smile at this. Shiro was in total silence that lasted for a few seconds. That silence could have lasted for a few minutes if Ayanokouji didn't speak.

"For now, let's continue the game. We can't waste too much time, right?"

After that, Shiro just nodded.

All my excitement for this game came back in an incredible way. Opening a smile, we resumed the game.

The game restarted in a wild way. Time went on, and even though it was just a game of chess, I was sweating as if I had run an entire marathon - although I certainly wouldn't be able to run even half of one. Looking at Ayanokouji, I saw that he had a rather strange expression on his face, something that made me a little curious.

As time went by, the game only got more complicated than it already was.

Our next step will determine life and death.

I waited for Ayanokouji to make his move, but he again spoke up.

"Tell me, Sora, Shiro," getting our attention, he continued, "don't you think chess is a flawed game?"

I raised my eyebrows at such a question. From my side, I could see that Shiro was also curious about the question he had asked us. Looking at the chessboard for a few seconds, I spoke up.

"What do you mean by that?" In what way is Chess 'flawed'?

"What I mean is, the King is technically the most important piece in chess, since losing the King results in defeat. But still, for most of the game all the King does is protect himself and hide behind the backs of the other pieces on the board. Being the most important piece in the game, shouldn't he also be the most powerful piece of all? Shouldn't the King be the one responsible for leading the 'soldiers' to victory?"

That...

"That's a very interesting analogy, Ayanokouji," I said.

Shiro seemed quite interested in what Ayanokouji said. In fact, the King is technically the most important piece in chess, since losing him results in your own defeat, yet at the same time he can be the most useless piece if we consider this way he spoke.

It was at that moment when Ayanokouji held up the King's piece in his hand.

"In a war, if the King doesn't move, how does he expect his soldiers to follow his order without complaining? How about we make this chess game a little more interesting?" He moved the King into a space that made no sense at all.

"?"

Shiro was confused and so was I.

However...

What was this excitement I was feeling? With a smile I put my hand on Shiro's head, causing her to look at me. I took our own King's piece and stood up, causing her to look at me strangely.

"What do you say we play his game?"

Her face was that of total confusion, she didn't understand what Ayanokouji and I were doing. But even if she didn't understand, she trusted me, which is why she shook her head and spoke:

"I trust Nii, let's go."

From this point on, the game that was already completely complicated, became confusing as hell. We kept attacking non-stop as we moved our kings to the front line while avoiding a possible checkmate.

Our mental state was getting quite weak, but Ayanokouji suffered the most from this, since he was facing two opponents instead of one.

1 minute, 2 minutes, 3 minutes, 4 minutes, the time passed as the chess game was nearing its end.

...

...

...

...

"...It is my defeat."

Ayanokouji's voice came out with a bit of weariness as he loosened the tie of his school uniform.

The reason he admitted his defeat is the fact that no matter what moves he made, he would be checkmated in the next three moves. Experienced chess people, especially grandmasters, know when there is nothing they can do to avoid checkmate, so they declare their defeat before their opponent leaves him in checkmate.

"Geez!" I exclaimed while breathing heavily. I threw my body onto the hard floor as I looked up at the ceiling of my dormitory.

"That was hard," Shiro's voice said from beside me.

To say it was hard is an understatement; this match was completely insane. At some points I really thought we were going to lose this match. Ayanokouji is simply insane, if it were only me playing, he would destroy me completely, but against Shiro it would be more difficult, I think.

Without a shadow of a doubt, this was the hardest match Blank has ever faced in any match.

"... It's 11:29 pm," Ayanokouji's voice brought me out of my thoughts.

What the hell? We've been playing for more than two hours, seriously?

Shiro also looked quite surprised.

"Well, I guess I'd better leave. Good night, Shiro, Sora," after putting the chess game in his backpack, he said goodbye to us and started to leave.

"See you tomorrow, Ayanokouji."

Shiro who was now sitting on her bed, waved her hand and said goodbye in a low voice.

"... Until."

The sound of the door opening and closing reached my ears. Before long, a silence settled in the room as Ayanokouji left. I looked at Shiro sitting on the bed, she was still looking at the door to which Ayanokouji left with distant eyes. Well, I guess the words he said to her before are still in her head.

I quickly got up from the floor and while looking at her with a smile, I asked.

"So, what do you think? Was it a waste of time coming to this school?"

Shiro said nothing for a few seconds, she lay down on the bed while hugging her pillow, and then with a small smile on her face, she answered.

"No. This place... it's not so bad."

"Indeed."

I looked at the door to which Ayanokouji had exited. I really can only thank him.

"Well," I stretched out a little, "I've worked up quite a sweat in this chess game, I'm going to take a quick shower so we can get some sleep, classes start at 7:30 a.m. after all. If you need anything or feel uncomfortable, just stay close to the bathroom door."

Even though we can't be too far away from each other, it wasn't much of a problem in this dorm. It's just the two of us, so there's no reason to despair, and Shiro always talked from time to time to hear my voice. One of the reasons we came to this school is to try to correct this flaw of not being able to stay very far away from each other that we have.

This would be a very difficult thing to fix, and I feared that it would not be possible, but there is no point in thinking negatively. The chess match that Shiro and I had against Ayanokouji lit a flame inside me. The possibility of a really difficult game is much more fun than a game where I am sure I will win. And I am sure that Shiro thinks the same as me.

As I went into the bathroom to take a short shower, I couldn't help but think.

It looks like studying at this school is going to be more fun than I thought.

Ayanokouji's Pov:

After the chess match was over, I quickly went to my room and put my backpack away. Moments later, I decided to leave again.

Normally I would go to sleep in order to wake up early for class tomorrow, and I wouldn't take any chances leaving the dormitory when it is almost midnight. However, I really needed some fresh air after that chess match, and staying in my room would not provide that.

Facing the dark dorm corridor, the sound of my footsteps was the only thing that reigned over the place.

I began to remember the chess match I had against Sora and Shiro.

I gave it my all in that match, but still I lost.

Of course I was at a big disadvantage, like playing against two people who were very experienced at the same time, and there is also the fact that I chose to play with black. If I had chosen the white pieces, perhaps my chance of victory would have been greater, or perhaps the result would have been the same.

There was also the fact that they both took away each other's disadvantage. Shiro was the kind of person who played based on calculations, so I tried to lure her into a trap based on that, but Sora intervened and started making unpredictable moves. Basically, Shiro was the person who calculated the best moves and Sora was responsible for making sure she didn't fall into any of my traps, so he was the one who took care of most of the strategies in the game.

Of course, the chess match took a very interesting turn in the end.

Well, disadvantages or not, a defeat is a defeat and I lost.

Remembering what Shiro said about Ayame-sensei, I couldn't help but think a little about something specific. If she really is the person I think she is, then it would explain some things, but if I'm just overthinking it, then it's a waste of time. However, I will try to investigate this in the future, there is no need to rush, after all, I still have 3 years to enjoy at this school.

In the chess match, I asked Sora and Shiro a question which was, "Would it be possible for a computer to calculate all possible chess matches in such a way that it would be impossible to beat it?"

However, the answer I gave them is not the only way to answer the question.

A "strong solution" is not the only type of solution. The second type is called a "weak solution," which as the name implies is the opposite of the strong solution. In a weak solution the goal is not to calculate all possible chess games and create a complete map of possibilities. But rather to find a single strategy that guarantees the best possible result from the initial position.

In other words, to find a strategy for the white pieces - which play first - that guarantees the best possible result regardless of how the black pieces play. This result can be either a win or a draw. And considering that most computer chess games end in a draw, it is very likely that a "perfect" chess game will end in a draw.

If you take a moment to think about it, it makes sense.

In short, finding a "weak solution" is a simpler goal, because instead of calculating all possible moves, you just try to calculate all well-played games. Ignoring obviously bad moves, such as delivering the queen in less than 4 moves, something that new players end up doing unintentionally.

With these constraints there are an estimated 10^40 possible games of chess. This is much less than what is needed for a "strong solution" which is 10^123 possible games of chess. Using a computer doing one million computations would take about 10^26 years.

If we use our best computer currently doing about 1 quintillion computations per second, it would need to occupy it for 1 trillion years, which is 100x the age of the universe.

But even with all this, it is still not feasible. But with such computation, it might be possible with a more technologically advanced and patient humanity, unlike the one we have nowadays.

However, it seems that Shiro is a person who outperforms computers themselves. Even if it was hard to believe, the fast calculations she made in the chess match is really something impressive. She was certainly a person who indeed deserves the title of born "genius".

A person - not a machine - with the ability to calculate totally ridiculous numbers with a speed that even the computers we have today are not capable of doing.

I wonder what would happen if Shiro were part of the White Room...

...Actually, now that I think about it, isn't its very existence proof that the White Room was a failure?

A facility that was designed to bring "normal" people to human perfection, with the goal of surpassing the "true geniuses".

By now I was out of the dorms, walking around the school campus. As expected, I was the only person walking around the campus, which is understandable since it was past midnight.

I quickly felt a liquid hit my face. Looking up, I saw that it was starting to rain. I stopped walking as I continued to look up, looking specifically at the moon in all its splendor while my hands were in my pants pockets.

Before long, the rain that was falling slowly, began to fall at a much faster pace, but still I showed no signs of moving to get out of the rain.

"...Looks like I'll have to wear the other piece of my school uniform."

Good thing the school distributed 2 uniforms to all students. My current uniform was already all soaked.

My thoughts went back to the chess match.

I lost.

Even if it was in a certain area, that doesn't change the fact that I lost.

My defeat means the defeat of that man.

In other words, he also lost.

He failed in his goal to create an invincible Masterpiece.

However, what is this strange feeling I'm feeling?

I thought that I would be happy with my defeat, after all it is something that I have been pursuing for a long time. However, this feeling I was feeling was not happiness, and I was sure of it.

Then what is it?

As I continued to stare at the bright moon under the rain falling on me, I came to a possible conclusion of the strange feeling I was feeling after having thought about it for some time.

"I... am I frustrated by the fact that I lost?"

...

"There are some defeats more triumphant than victories