Photo by: Barbara W. Beacham
Chessmate
They say that life is a game of chess. No one knew this better than young Terrance Morgan. At eight years old, he saw chess pieces in a far different way than anyone else. This difference came to a head during a family cruise to Belize. The ship had a giant chess set. Its king stood tall as Terrance. He moved a bishop. “Checkmate!” he cheered.
The vein at Joseph Gruden’s temple quivered madly. His teeth ground and his knuckles popped in his fists. The seven-time world champion growled menacingly at Terrance, “How are you doing this?”
“Instincts,” shrugged Terrance.
Gruden had never been beaten by anyone more than twice. Terrance had beat him twelve times! He pointed a quivering finger at Terrance. “Again!”
Gruden moved his pieces into place while Terrance moved his king. A face appeared as if by magic in the chess piece. It said, “Think he’s guessed yet that I’m helping?”
“Not a chance,” grinned Terrance.
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Each Monday it’s time to finish the story. This week, the story must begin with, “They say that life is a game of chess.” The visual prompt is Barb’s picture of a huge chess set above. Look here for more stories answering the prompts: http://mondaysfinishthestory.wordpress.com/2014/12/15/mondays-finish-the-story-december-15th-2014/
EagleAye
Good story! I particularly like the face in the chess piece! Stay tuned for next week’s challenge, and again, thank you for participating! Be well! ^..^
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Thanks Barb! The face in the king was a visual in my imagination. Freaky and cool all at once. I’ll be there next week as well! 🙂
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I could just see that myself too! Great! Stay tuned! 🙂
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Sorry, but this story I can’t buy. 🙂 Any chess player good enough to become a world champion can easily remember the position of all the pieces at every move (and often for multiple ongoing games at a time), and would certainly notice if the pieces start “helping”.
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Ah! The pieces weren’t moving independently. They were telling Terrance what moves to make. Who could possibly know more about chess than a chess piece itself?
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Sounds like Terrance likes trolling the Chess Master. Of course, if they keep helping him, he really could become a world champion. 🙂
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Thing is, if he told Gruden the chess pieces were telling him what to do, would he believe it? It’s hard to be truthful when nobody would accept it anyway. Yes, Terrance might someday become champion, or he could make a lot of money in underground chess gambling. 😉
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Funny and well-written story EagleAye. 😀 The Chess Master better be careful or he’ll have a stroke. Looks like his pride got a much needed kick. Each chess piece seems to have a great sense of humor. 🙂 — Suzanne
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It looks like Gruden is going to pop a blood vessel, doesn’t it? Perhaps he does need a sound beating to improve his skills. He might become complacent. Glad you had fun with this. Thanks so much for the visit! 🙂
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Fun to read. I enjoyed the story and especially how the young boy get one over on the chess master.
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Thank you! I’m glad you had fun. That’s the whole idea. 😉 Thanks for stopping in!
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Ooh, the little cheat! There should be a “no magic” rule on that there ship. I hope poor Gruden doesn’t blow an aneurysm 😦
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Me too. Maybe he needs to take a break. Terrance wouldn’t have a chance without the help of the chess pieces. Perhaps Gruden will figure it out after all, before he needs to visit the hospital. Thanks for stopping by! 🙂
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Great story. You conveyed the guy’s frustration and anger well, and I liked the face in the chess piece.
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Thank you! I hoped his fury would come across completely. With more words I would’ve described the face on the king, but it seems to have worked well enough as is. Thanks for the visit! 🙂
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Oooh something supernatural, eh? Well done.
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Yup. Just to keep things spicy. Thank you! 🙂
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I particularly like how I got such a strong sense of character in such a short piece. That really draws me in with any fiction–sketching a character just enough that I get a picture, without over-doing it. Plus I like the fantasy take (I’m a sucker for fantasy).
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Thank you! When the piece is required to be short, a sketch is about all you can get. I like these challenges because they are a good exercise in minimalism. The trick is, making a well-defined character in very few words. I’m glad it worked with this one. Be sure to visit again. There’s always a little fantasy floating around in my blog. Thanks for stopping in!
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