A/N: The quotes are Molokov talking to Leonid Viigand.
Disclaimer: I do not own Chess.
1. The Path
"I think you'll make a wonderful second, Leonid."
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He has spent his life dedicated to a game that he cannot win. He knows this, most days. Some days, he actually thinks that he has a chance. Then Anatoly will come in and point out a flaw in his stategy. Anatoly will explain how he would beat him in six moves. Then he remembers why he is the second.
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"Your country needs you to be devoted to your game, Leonid."
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He loves chess. He lives and breathes and sometimes drowns in chess. He studies the greatest masters of the game and aspires to be one of them. He's a good player, everyone tells him, but not good enough to be the challenger.
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"You are an important player, Leonid."
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When Anatoly defects, they tell him that he is to be the new challenger. He is the best player in the USSR now, and for a little while that makes him happy. He knows that he is simply a tool to them, but he is playing chess. That is all that matters, right?
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"What do you know about Anatoly, Leonid?"
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When he learns he is to face Anatoly at first his reaction is despair. But then his resolve grows as he sees the Soviet officials that surround him now have some sort of plan for him to win. He tells himself that as long as he shows the world that he is a true player, it doesn't matter how he wins.
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"Tomorrow we shall have a champion, Leonid."
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They want him to win, but his victory is not the prize. Anatoly is. And he understands this, and he knows that everyone knows that he is not winning because he is good, but rather because Anatoly wants to be bad. The matches are tied 5-5 but winning hasn't given him the satisfaction that he craves. Chess, in the end, he decides, is what is truly important.
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"It is time, Leonid."
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He plays as well as he can, for that is what his conscience demands. He knows that Trumper has done what has been asked of him. He knows that Anatoly will beat him no matter how well he plays, and he accepts that. And for once, the game that he cannot win has given him a partial resolution.
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