The planning of a chess tournament was a pain in the ass, at best. With the match being set between a Russian and an American, everyone was interested in catching the attention brought about by the match between the political foes. The competition was stiff, but ultimately Craig, as the International Arbiter, directed the committee toward the beautiful mountain town of Merano. Well, he'd say it was for the beautiful mountain vistas, but really the Italian city had simply offered the committee more bribes than the other cities had.

No matter. Craig wasn't really impressed with… much of anything, really. He was there to do his job, and that's all there was to it. If the chess players proved to be prima donnas, he'd put a stop to that. If the players' respective countries tried to interfere or turn the event into a political campaign, he'd put a stop to that. If the merchandisers used the rising popularity of chess to make a quick buck, well… he didn't really care about that, as long as they stayed out of his way and he got a cut.

The bottom line was that he was there to organize a chess match. He knew he was in control. There was no way that those fuckers were going to mess that up.

X

Traveling with Cartman was always tiresome, but Kyle had never been to Italy so he was at least excited about that. Not that he was looking forward to this tournament. The whole thing was a nightmare. Even if he ignored the political issues they were facing (and of course he couldn't, since he'd sought asylum from the USSR when his father was imprisoned for something or other; the government really didn't need a reason), there was always the fact that Cartman was difficult to handle, even on the best of days. And there they were, Cartman seeking the spotlight and the fame and fortune that went with it, and Kyle following behind him cleaning up the mess as usual.

It made his head hurt just thinking about it, but as they walked down the stairs from the plane, he tried to take in the scenery around him instead. The mountains didn't impress him much, since he'd been living in Colorado for the last 5 years, but the town itself was beautiful and very charming. He hoped he'd have a chance to wander off on his own at some point and enjoy the local culture and cuisine, but he knew that probably wouldn't happen. He was well known as Cartman's Second, and with the press that would no doubt be mobbing the chess tournament, there was very little chance that he'd be able to do anything even remotely enjoyable without being hounded.

Ah well. Whatever happens, happens he figured. If nothing else he could at least enjoy the view from his pricey hotel room.

X

To say that Stan was frustrated with his Second was an understatement. The Second was supposed to be a backup; someone to give him advice between matches, and to help him establish a game plan. What he'd been given instead was a KGB agent. Though she was extremely intelligent (and very beautiful, not that it mattered to Stan) Bebe had no idea how to play chess. She was there to help with PR, but her main role in traveling with him was to spy on the Americans, and to try to frame whatever might happen in a way that would make Russia look good.

He didn't give two shits about the politics, frankly. Stan was there for one thing: to win. And not to win for the USSR… he didn't care about proving a point to the rest of the world that his country was somehow superior to the United States. He wanted to win because he knew he was the best.

So as Bebe hissed directions in his ear about how to make Russia look good, he just tuned it out. He wasn't in it for anyone but himself. If he won, fine, the Russians would have some sort of symbolic thing to hold up; just another way to prove to the world that they were superior. But a whole nation taking credit for his intelligence and hard work, well, that was a little more than frustrating. He just hoped he'd be able to play without getting caught up in the media circuit that would no doubt be out in force.

There wasn't much he could do about the situation, though. The pieces were set, and he'd just have to do his best to ignore everything else.