After my mom subtly flexed on Amanda (Jacob's mom) who's name I just learnt about my awesomeness, we decided to leave the hall and go and do some shopping. I mean there's no point staying in the hall anymore, after all it's not like I'm trying to analyse my opponents.
If I was scared of losing then maybe I'd consider it but these people all look like noobs so I should be fine.
"Luna do you want to get groceries or go clothes shopping?" Mom asked with a twinkle in her eyes at her own mention of clothes.
While I wouldn't call have called myself ignorant in terms of fashion or dress sense back when I was a man. As a girl I believe I would firmly fall in the ignorant category in comparison to my peers.
For me function over form is a must. Wearing skirts is a no go, while I'm not averse to the idea, I mean it's just a piece of clothing and my previous sense of maculinity isn't so fragile to have broken me just by putting it on.
Although it doesn't mean I'll just wear it to prove a point.
In my previous life I heard a mother complain about how schools forcing girls to wear skirts discourages women from doing sports.
I mean if you are a girl in a mixed school trying to play soccer at lunch and you have to worry about flashing everyone you're not going to be as likely to play soccer as the boys are.
Of course one could always wear shorts underneath but at that point just wear shorts in the first place and don't bother with the skirt.
Well basically skirts aren't practical for my lifestyle so I'll avoid wearing them when I can.
Not to mention the fact that my home is already filled with sports apparel from grandpa's company, so there's really no point in ever going clothes shopping.
"Let's do groceries mom, I want to try out the some more protein ice cream flavours." I rejected mom's idea of clothes shopping.
"We can just make protein ice cream at home though." Mom answered with a sulk.
"But mom what if one day I'm lost and am starving inside of a grocery store, what will I eat? If I don't go and try out one of the flavours now how will I know if I can eat it?" I gave mom a hypothetical that'd bring tears to her eyes.
"...You know what let's just go home." Mom paused and then told me.
"No! Protein ice cream!" I exclaimed in protest.
After mich haggling (me not backing down) mom agreed to go grocery shopping but I could only grab 1 flavour.
In Australia there are 2 main grocery chains, these 2 chains create a bit of a duopoly and only recently with price hikes and record profits from them have people started to take issue with it.
But to be honest I think most people are just ignoring the power they have as customers. There's another alternative grocery chain which is cheaper and although they've had some quality control issues in the past are just as good as the main stores in the current day.
Of course for those living in rural areas this isn't really an option due to limited stores but most people live in cities where they are located. Anything but blaming the company am I right guys?
Anyway we ended up going to one of the 2 big brands and after the usual grabbing of bananas, veggies, bananas, yoghurt and did I mention bananas (and other fruits) I made my way to the freezers.
"Luna..." Mom grabbed ahold of me before I could go and inspect the protein ice cream.
"C'mon mom we don't need bread, pasta, oil, sauce or anything else just protein ice cream." I confidently told her all of things the triplets would definitely need to not be cranky at home.
"Nope stick with me or I'll put you in the trolley."
And like that I obediently followed behind her.
I mean what kid would want to sit in a trolley being spun around 180 degrees every 5 seconds because their mom isn't sure if she grabbed the right item or not.
Wait actually a few kids would probably like that, but after a few times it goes from weee to trying and hold in your guts.
After grabbing all the other essentials we finally made our way over to the freezers and low and behold I saw the protein ice cream.
Sadly there was only 4 flavours to choose from: cookies and cream, chocolate flake, salted caramel and vanilla custard.
Obviously cookies and cream is the best and it's only... $10!
For 475ml!
What kind of a scam is this?
I could make 5 times the amount at home for the same price.
"You know what mom, you were right we can make it at home." I said seriously.
"Heh, I did tell you didn't I." Mom said with an arrogant smirk.
After getting home and helping unpack the groceries I then went and practiced my signing, did some random exercises that any adult would look at say 'oh she's just playing around,' and did some chess puzzles.
And like that the next day came and my second round was about to start.
Amanda and Jacob, the people from yesterday seemed to find us almost immediately.
"Luna did you win yesterday? I lost both of my games." Jacob said with sadness in his voice.
Apparently for the younger age groups they do shorter matches and play a few more games each day.
They don't play for the full 8 days though, only 4 days with the same total of 9 rounds with 2 on each day except the final day which has 3.
"Yeah I won my game and I'm going to do the same today." I stated with confidence.
After talking for a bit longer I helped Jacob slowly gain confidence that he could get at least 1 point in the tournament from my sweet talk.
Of course, I didn't tell him he'd get the point because there was an odd number of players in his age group thus giving him a guarantee of getting a bye due to the small amount of players.
While for Jacob scoring anything could be deemed a win I'm going for a full 9/9 with a win giving a point, a draw half of one and a loss giving none. Meaning I want to win every match.
As I was deep in thought imaging myself lifting up the winners trophy the arbiter announced that the pairings were posted on the walls.
Like last time I found the open section and was placed on SC-1 like last time but this time playing as black.
This time my opponent seemed to be a bit younger probably about 16 or 17 and seemed very confident even dismissively saying, "little girl if you forfeit now you can go and play with your mommy right away."
To which I put my hand up and told the arbiter immediately with him receiving a warning for his manipulative behaviour.
After which the kid looked like he was trying to stare daggers into me if it were possible.
Well it didn't really matter because after 18 moves I was up 2 pawns and he wasn't able to castle after I checked his king making him move it to escape, thus destroying the possibility of his king ever getting to safety.
And from there it was just slowly whittling down his position until I was up 4 pawns, a knight and a bishop which equates to 10 points, more than a queen up.
At that point he resigned muttering to himself, "Note to self, never try to intimidate a little girl ever again."
Of course he didn't say that because he lost miserably but because I purposefully annoyed him throughout the game by tapping the table or repeatedly saying "adjusting" and touching every piece on the board every 10 seconds to annoy him.
While one could most definitely go try and claim bad sportsmanship with the arbiter I could easily just say he was making it up and claim he kept telling me to forfeit like a good girl or something like that.
Of course that's because I told that to him directly after he tried to first raise his hand.
Hehe, another win for feminism... or is it me?
Eh, who cares I won that's all that matters.
After reporting the score and going to the spectator area where mom was it only took about 40 minutes.
"You won right Luna?" Mom asked.
Well if she was paying attention and saw me go up to the arbiter after the game she should know I won but maybe she hasn't played enough chess to know that.
"Yeah mom, my opponent tried to intimidate me and tell me to forfeit like a good girl and then I reported him to the arbiter and messed with him for the rest of the game. It was really funny watching him try and keep his composure and not scream." I spoke with glee as I described the torment I inflicted upon my opponent.
"Kids these days are terrifying." I heard Amanda mutter.