checkbishop:
“Black has checkmate on you in three moves.”
It was a beautiful day in Conner’s Creek. Afternoons like this, with the sun beaming over the mountains in the distance, Check really started to feel at home in Washington. It reminded him of Vermont. The good memories, like little bees that buzzed around the dandelions, working hard while 20-somethings slacked off with Ultimate Frisbee and old men gathered together to play Chess.
Well, old men and one young ultra nerd.
Check came upon William from behind, rounding the Chess board where it appeared he was playing both sides. He traced five moves with his finger, showing William what he’d meant.
“See? Your destiny’s all laid out for you and it’s a losing one,” he said, sitting down in the seat on the opposite side of the board. “Unless you mean for black to win, in which case…” He bumped his fist against his chest. “My brother.”
He moved the knight to the space he’d traced only seconds before.
“You really concentrating on the game or are you thinking about the ghost of football past?”
@williamdeuxfois
📖-📖-📖
William had always found chess to be a focusing activity for him. Whenever he needed to think, he brought out his board and played himself, working through his own problems while making it as difficult as possible to win against himself.
It took great effort for him not to speed through that day’s game, knowing that he had research to do (and papers to grade) on the other end. He was on his third set (best three out of five) and had been playing for precisely twenty-two minutes and sixteen seconds when Check arrived and broke his concentration.
It wasn’t so hard to break something that was already hanging on by a thread, however.
“I never play with any one side’s winning in mind, just to challenge myself,” Will remarked, offering the male a nod instead of a more formal greeting. “But yes, you would be correct. I will let you do the honors. I was doing out of five, but this would be three for black so it’s a destiny sealed on multiple fronts.”
And then Check was seated, and it was a quick march to the finish.
Luckily, it was easy enough to converse around an already decided game.
“I am able to have multiple focuses at the same time, but I will admit that ghosts is not one of them. I’m theorizing about the football predicament, though, certainly. It would be nice to not have to have meetings in whichever classroom or lecture hall we find unlocked. I think a sense of consistency would help the group a great deal.”
