"The Brain"

Vanessa De Vries (The Brain) is a chess prodigy much like Nate Wright.

Appearance
On January 8, 2001, Nate and Vanessa competed against each other on the championship round of a chess tournament. According to Francis Pope, it was "the biggest chess tournament they ever played in". Nate wasn't primarily concerned about their match and Vanessa's mastery in the game because he was more interested in going on a date with her instead. In fact, he bet her that if he won, they would go on a date. Nate managed to win the match.

However, despite him winning the bet in conjunction to winning the chess match, Vanessa told him that betting wasn't allowed in chess tournament matches. As a result, Nate took home the championship trophy in a depressed mood.

Trivia

 * Vanessa managed to beat Nate in a prior summer chess camp.
 * Her nickname is "The Brain" because she is the best at chess.
 * Nate has a crush on her.