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First, some a-propos music:
"Crying"

On Day 2,268 (aka. January 4th, 2014), olivermellors answered wilfie’s offer to play the loser of the challenge issued on that same day by Rylde to olivermellors.
See: http://www.erepublik.com/en/article/challenge-to-olivermellors-2370080/1/20

The Backstory:

olivermellors used a previous match in which he lost to Rylde as precedent to accept wilfie’s challenge to the loser. Possibly, he knew Rylde would win the election the next day and would be much too busy with affairs of the state and other warmongering plots that would prevent Rylde from providing full focus to a chess match against his most vile and grammar-obsessed nemesis, mrmellors. Anyhow, it was a gentlemanly and considerate thing to let Rylde deal with more important matters while still offering eRepublikans the game of chess they so greatly expected.

Wilfie chose black; oliver is white.



The Opening Move:

oliver moved a pawn up to occupy a spot in the center, while wilfie botched his opening with a hobbled knight, an exposed king, and a definitive lack of momentum that cost him control over the center. Sensing wilfie’s waffling and confusion (which piece is black king again?), oliver concentrated on occupying the center with pawns, which wilfie felt even more threatened by and hastily countered by moving up a pawn towards center, but only after encouraging the doomed piece that it had some backup support: We got your back, e7. Go for it!

The verdict on the opening move is that oliver took control of the more important positions on the board, freed up some important pieces (namely the queen), and put his opponent on the defensive.

At the end of the first act, the board looked like this:


The Second Act:

Wanting blood and not wanting to give up his iron grip on both center spots, oliver removed the first piece of the game by knocking out wilfie’s cautiously advanced pawn. With a defensive reflex, wilfie tried to show some strength by killing off oliver’s aggressive pawn, but all he did was further expose his king and fail to advance any major pieces.

Oliver continue his aggressive stance by engaging the most powerful piece on the board (the queen) in a rather early check on wilfie’s baffled king, who did the least courageous thing of ordering a simple pawn to stare in the face of oliver’s mighty queen, blocking the check. Now the stage is set for a fork (white queen on black pawn and black rook) and further checks on the king, followed by a slow, steady bleed of attrition on wilfie’s part.

The board then looked like this:


The Third Act:

As expected, oliver took the fork in the rook, which exposed another pawn on the far left side and threatened the bottom row, namely the bishop. Wilfie then wondered if he should have tried moving the king out of check previously, then blocked the queen's escape with his knight on f6, followed by a bishop to g7. Shrugging off regret and simply wanting to save a pawn temporarily, he moved to h5 and waited for the next piece to be bitten off in what was now becoming a pinkish piranha pool.

The board then looked like this:


Denouement:

With pawns scattered and the keep overrun, exposing the rear line, little else could be done as the White Bishop swept into the fray to pin the Black Bishop against the wall in defense of the Black King. Panicked, the King under siege lept over to f7 for some relief, which only encourage the White Knight to begin a charge ahead (f3) to join in on the assault. The Black King saw the charge moving in for a check in the next move but could do little to block the advance, so opted instead to call for some reinforcements: Black Knight to c6. The White Knight galloped into place (e😎 to deliver the final check, but instead of letting the harried Black King flee once more (sacrificing another piece in the retreat, most likely), the White Knight dropped his gauntlet to offer a draw. Wilfie understood his options were quite limited and could not offer much more resistance beyond a chase 'round the mulberry bush. The draw was accepted, with honours going to olivermellors for a flawless match.

And with that the curtains dropped as the exit song playe😛 "Knight Moves"


The final results on the board look like this:




Final words of advice from Coach Addy:
"Take the draw, thank the man, and shake hands.
Good game."

And good it was. Thank you, olivermellors, for the chance to play an old game in a new way.

Pro-tips and comments are welcome here but you'd be better off following where the real game is unfolding in olivermellor's article:
http://www.erepublik.com/en/article/oliver-learns-to-play-chess-2370440/1/20