Sector 5, Radio Station
Metro City, Canada
April 22nd, 2015
5:00 PM
"Marcus Reynolds"
"And in local news," I said, "In less than 24 hours, Metro City will play host to the 25th annual Western Canada Chess Tournament."
One of the best kept secrets I have is that I'm a chess wiz. I haven't actually played in years, but I still know all the moves, strategies and rules. Back in my prime, I could checkmate an opponent in less than ten turns. Normally, I would brag about a talent like that, but, because my Dad was the one that taught me, playing chess just brings back all those painful memories.
Chess has been in my family for generations. Dad used to tell me that our family is the one that originally invented the game, but, since the earliest known version of Chess was from eastern India in the 6th century, I have a hard time believing him. Especially since our ancestors never left North America.
"This is the first time Metro City has ever hosted a tournament like this," I continued, "So, I thought it might be fun to try and learn how to play using this electronic board."
I positioned the microphone so that both my voice and the sound effects from the board would be captured in decent quality.
"Um… Let's see," I said, doing my best to sound clueless, "I'll move this horse thingy out from my back row and put it over here."
"THAT IS AN INVALID MOVE. TRY AGAIN," said the Board, "KNIGHTS MOVE TO ANY OF THE CLOSEST SQUARES THAT ARE NOT ON THE SAME RANK, FILE OR DIAGONAL. THUS, THE MOVE FORMS AN "L"-SHAPE: TWO SQUARES VERTICALLY AND ONE SQUARE HORIZONTALLY, OR TWO SQUARE HORIZONTALLY AND ONE SQUARE VERTICALLY. ALSO, THE KNIGHT IS THE ONLY PIECE THAT CAN LEAP OVER OTHER SPACES."
"Wow! This thing is cool!" I gasped, "I didn't know it was supposed to teach you how to play. I just thought it talked and made sound effects."
"Here," said Seb, "Let me show you how it's done."
He grabbed a pawn and moved it out diagonally. Just like last time, the board scolded him for trying to move a piece incorrectly
"THAT IS AN INVALID MOVE. TRY AGAIN," said the Board, "THE PAWN MAY MOVE FORWARD TO THE UNOCCUPIED SQUARE IMMEDIATELY IN FRONT OF IT ON THE SAME FILE OR ON ITS FIRST MOVE IT MAY ADVANCE TWO SQUARES ALONG THE SAME FILE PROVIDED THAT BOTH SQUARES ARE UNOCCUPIED. ONLY WHEN CAPTURING AN OPPONENT'S PIECE CAN PAWNS MOVE DIAGONALLY. IF A PAWN MANAGES TO REACH THE OPPONENT'S SIDE OF THE BOARD, IT CAN BE PROMOTED TO ANY OTHER PIECE, EXCLUDING A KING."
"You were saying?" I chuckled.
"Well, enough of this," he said, switching topics like a politician, "Coming up after these messages, we'll give you a chance to win tickets to the tournament, so stay tuned."
After the incident in Sector 21, Sebastian had really started to grow on me. He was still whiney and aggravating, but at least he wasn't under the control of a virus anymore.
"Do you think anyone will actually call in?" he asked, "Normally we give away tickets to more exciting things like rock concerts or hockey games, but a chess tournament?"
"I see your point," I said, "Chess isn't boring, its, intellectual. There's bound to be at least a few listeners that can appreciate it."
"Yeah, I suppose," he said, "So, how should we go about giving them away?"
"It's been a while since we did a trivia question," I said, "Why don't we do that?"
"But neither of us knows anything about chess."
"No problem."
I brushed away all the pieces on the board and proceeded to count the squares. Obviously, I already knew that were 64 of them, but Sebastian thought I didn't, like him, and I intended to keep it that way.
"Assuming that I counted right, there are 64 squares," I said, "That'll be the question."
"Works for me," he said, "Get ready; the ads will be over in under a minute."
The last ad was for Cosmos', the biggest burger chain in Metro City. Everyone loved them because their food was real and not questionable like McDonalds'. In fact, I did a behind the scenes interview with the CEO of the Cosmos' as one of my first segment at the station. He told me that they don't even use real beef. Their burgers are actually ground up vegetables that are coated in saturated beef fat for flavour. I never would've guessed. It tastes amazing and it's healthy.
After the ads, I began our usual spiel.
"Welcome back, folks," I said, "As you probably heard; we've a pair of tickets to the chess tournament to give away."
"And you all know what that means…" said Seb, pushing the button responsible for playing the segment title.
"Alright devoted listeners," said Seb, "The phone lines are now open. Call in if you think you know the answer."
"Here's the question: How many squares are there on a standard chessboard?" I asked.
"Aaron "Trojan" Kingsley"
"I have an idea…" I said.
"Do tell, Sire, do tell!" said Dr. Molex, excitedly.
"I think you could make a virus out of that chessboard," I said, "A virus that would trap the rangers as chess pieces until someone can defeat it at its own game."
"Can you actually do that?" asked General Berg, "It sounds rather complicated."
"This strand is designed to animate inanimate objects," I said, pulling a piece of corrupted code out of my pocket, "Use it on the chessboard."
I handed it to Dr. Molex who grabbed it with shaky hands. That happened to him a lot when he got too excited. I kept forgetting to do something about that, because dropping a strand of code in Cyberspace was like dropping a contact lens.
"Just prepare the machine for now," I said, "I don't want you to create the virus until we can guarantee that at least four of them will fall into the trap."
"Why not wait for all of them?" asked Phisher.
"Open your ears, you twit!" I snapped, "I said at least four!"
In the distance, I could a high-pitched whirring as Molex's machine revved up. After the updates he added, the viruses that the machine produces should be stronger than ever.
"Prepare yourself rangers!" I shouted at them, despite the fact that they couldn't hear me, "Because soon, the game shall be afoot!"
"Stephen "Silver" Silverstone"
"Yeah on thick crust with extra cheese and sauce," said Heath, "And um… Throw in some mushrooms, onions and black olives."
"But I don't like black olives!" whined Chloe.
"Too bad," said Heath, covering the receiver of the phone with his hand, "Because we all love them."
"No, you love them and we tolerate them because you always order them." said Rachel.
"I really wish you'd stop having pizzas delivered here," I said, "Headquarters is supposed to be secret."
"I don't have time to pick it up," said Heath, "Being a ranger is my top priority."
"After food." said Rachel.
"How am I supposed to fight viruses on an empty stomach?"
Just then, Marcus arrived. He had teleported in from above. I hadn't even noticed that he and Sebastian had signed off.
"Ordering pizza again, Oz?" he asked, "There better not be any black olives on it."
Heath made an obscene gesture at him and then returned to his call.
"Yeah, for delivery," he said, "To the largest mansion on the Sector 0 hills. Trust me when I say you'll know it when you see it."
"What's that you've got?" asked Riley.
"This? Oh, it's one of those electronic chessboards," said Marcus, "Sebastian bought it at a pawn shop and brought it into the station to promote the chess tournament."
"Do me a favour and go wait for the pizza." said Heath.
"Alright," said Marcus, "It'll give me a chance to pick off those olives."
He headed upstairs just as the sirens went off. My monitors tried to focus on the source, but found nothing. Marcus poked his head back down.
"Is there trouble?"
"If there is, I don't know from where."
I could hear the Digitizers beeping. Then, a surge of binary erupted from the chessboard that Marcus had left on the table. The board glowed after the binary dissipated, but nothing else seemed to happen.
"Please tell me everyone else saw that." said Heath.
"Oh yeah…" said Rachel.
"Whatever that was," said Riley, "It hit the chessboard."
Seconds later, in a flash of light, I heard the Rangers screaming, but the sound gradually became more and more higher pitched until it reached chipmunk level. I whipped around in my chair to see that the couch was now vacant. The sirens died down. Whatever it was sensing was gone.
"Where did they go?" asked Marcus, rejoining me downstairs.
I turned back to my console and pulled up the tracking software for the codecs. I was still getting five blips, but four of them were much smaller than they should be.
"Nowhere," I said, "They're still here."
"The chessboard!" gasped Marcus.
He dashed over to it and slid onto his knees.
"Marcus Reynolds"
I examined the pieces on the board carefully. If I didn't know any better, I would say that the others were now trapped on the board.
"Silver?" asked a high-pitched voice.
"We're on the chessboard!" hollered another high-pitched voice.
"Wait a minute," said Silver, "Because of how small you are, your voices are hard to understand."
I watched as he pulled up several programs on the screen and fiddled around with them.
"Who cares what we sound like!?" snapped Oz.
Whatever Silver did, made their voices come out normally on our end.
"Relax Heath," said Silver, "I rigged the communication network. So, now we can hear you properly."
"How do you plan to get us out of here, Silver?" asked Rachel.
"I don't think I can," he said, "You're not trapped in an alternate dimension; you've been shrunk down to the size of chess pieces."
"Actually, they ARE chess pieces," I said, "Some of the normal pieces are missing."
"Which must mean that you have to fill in for the missing pieces," said Silver, "The only way you can escape is if someone defeats the virus."
"Good," said Riley, "Marcus can do it."
"I don't mean in a fight," said Silver, "I mean in a game of chess wherein you are the pieces."
"Can't you play?" I asked.
"I never learned." he said.
"So… We're trapped down here?" asked Chloe.
"Well, once the tournament is over," said Silver, "Maybe I could ask the winner to help?"
"There's no need for that." I said.
"What are you talking about, Marcus?" asked Rachel.
"I can play." I said.
I expected the others to laugh hysterically. They usually listen to my radio show. So, either they could tell I was faking earlier, or they somehow always knew, but didn't tell me.
"Then prove it by getting us out of here!" snapped Oz.
"Chessboard Virus," I said, "I challenge you to a game."
The board lit up like a Christmas tree. A strange aura of binary had appeared around it.
"Let me guess," it said, even though I couldn't see a mouth on it, "If you win, I have to let your friends go?"
"Yes."
"But if I win," it continued, "You and everyone else in this town will share the same fate!"
"Agreed." I said.
I sat down at the table on the black side of the board, which is the same side that the others had landed on. I peered over to Silver's monitor and saw that he had created a 3D model of the board that had four glowing dots, which I assume represented the location of the others.
"Riley," I said, "Position yourself to the empty black square beside you."
"Can I be a bishop?" he asked.
"My thoughts exactly," I said, "Rachel and Chloe, you two will be rooks. Head for the empty squares on the far left and far right."
"Which means you get to be the missing knight, Heath." said Silver.
"That's "Sir" Heath to you."
"Don't let it go to your head, Oz." I said, "Remember that if this is going to work, you have to do exactly what I say."
"I swear to God if you get me killed…" he muttered.
"As I'm sure you know," said the Virus, "White moves first."
It looked like the board was controlling itself, because the virus hadn't emerged in its true form yet. Maybe it didn't have one or maybe I had to defeat it first? Its first move was knight to F3. That was the same move Donald Byrne made in his match against Bobby Fischer in 1956. My Dad taught me it move for move. Fischer was black in that game and won; which meant I should be able to copy him and have the same results, as long as the virus was doing the same thing with Byrne.
"Oz, you're up," I said, "Move to F6."
"What?" he snapped.
"Sorry," I said, "F6 means the same row as Riley, in front of him and the pawn."
"Gotcha." said Oz, moving accordingly.
The virus' next move was pawn to C4. It seemed as though it was copying Byrne.
"Pawn to G6." I said, moving the piece accordingly.
Next white should move its other knight to C3, behind the pawn from its previous move. I watched with baited breath as the move played out according to my thoughts.
"Okay Riley, move behind the pawn from my last turn," I said, "That's G7."
Once Riley was in place, the virus made its next move, which was pawn to D4. So then my next move needed to be a kingside castle. Castling is a unique move wherein the king is moved two spaces towards a rook while at the same time, the rook is placed on the space next to the king, on the opposite side, as if jumping over it.
"Rachel, you and the king are going to switch places," I said, "Go stand where Riley was so I can put the king onto the square that Oz started at."
"You can do that?" she asked, "Seems like a weird move."
"It is," I said, "But I know what I'm doing."
"Okay…" she said, moving over to where I instructed her.
"Clever move boy," snickered the Virus, "But let's see how you handle this!"
It moved its queenside bishop to F4, which was still the same move that Byrne made. I countered it by moving the pawn in front of the queen to D5.
"Queen to B3." said the Virus, moving the piece accordingly.
"Pawn to C4." I said, smirking as the virus moved the pawn that I just captured out of play.
"Queen to C4." said the Virus.
Now we were both down one pawn. The game was still progressing exactly the way I anticipated. I made my next move by placing a pawn on C6.
"Pawn to E4." said the Virus.
"Knight to D7," I said, "Not you, Oz, the other one."
He had looked up at the word and started to move. Luckily, I saw him in time to stop him. Any moves besides the ones Fischer made could instantly thwart the whole game.
The virus' next move was rook to D1. After that I moved the knight again, this time to B6. This marked the final action in single digit turns. For the virus' tenth move, the white queen was nudged from C4 to C5, in front of another black pawn.
"Bishop that isn't Riley to G4." I said, making sure to clarify.
"Bishop to G5." said the Virus.
"Knight to A4." I said.
The more moves I made, the harder it became to concentrate. I remember how happy it made me when I finally memorized all the moves of Byrne vs Fischer and used them to win against my Dad. He was so proud of me that he gave me my fist beret, which was checkered just like a chessboard.
I fought desperately against the pain. I knew that I was the only one that could defeat the virus and save my friends. If I was going to cry, it would be onto their shoulders.
"Queen to A5." said the Virus.
This meant that my next move was to capture the white knight on C3. At first glance, one might think that would only help white create a stronger pawn center; however, Fischer's plan was quite the opposite. He was setting up a risky sacrifice that would ultimately smash white's center and trap the enemy king.
"Knight to C3." I said.
"You fool!" snapped the Virus, "Pawn to C3!"
Good. The virus thought it was winning. One thing a good chess player should never do is assume that they're winning. Especially this early in the game.
"Your turn Oz," I said, "Go capture the pawn on E4."
"With pleasure!" he said, cracking his knuckles.
"Bishop to E7." said the Virus.
I lost another pawn, but didn't let it bother me.
"Queen to B6." I said.
"Bishop to C4." said the Virus.
The match was really starting to heat up. At this point, I became so absorbed in it that I had an easier time holding back those tears.
"Ready to capture another pawn, Oz?"
"Just point the way!" he said, loudly.
"Right there," I said, "On C3."
"You killed my brother…" said Oz, "Now I kill you!"
Silver chuckled, but I didn't. All my attention was focused on the game. There would be time to laugh about Oz's quotes later.
"Bishop to C5." said the Virus.
"Rachel, move to E8. That's one space to your right," I said, "Check."
Rachel now had a clear shot at the virus' king. From where she was, nothing could capture her, but the king could easily move out of her way,
"King to F1," said the Virus.
"Bishop to E6." I said.
I think the others had figured out what they could or couldn't do by now. Riley didn't try to move because he knew that bishops are trapped on their colours. He could only move diagonally along black squares and e6 was a white square.
"Say goodbye to your queen," said the Virus, "Bishop to B6!"
A lot of novice players think that the queen is the best piece on the board. I disagree; the queen is versatile, but that doesn't mean it's the best. The piece can move like bishops and rooks at the same time, but, yet, each player only gets one, so most amateurs think that eliminating the queen is a sure fire way to win. Obviously, that's not accurate. Fischer sacrificed his queen so that Byrne would create an opening for a fierce attack from Fischer's minor pieces.
"Bishop to C4," I said, "Check."
I've always thought that the bishops are underrated pieces. I guess amateur players prefer the queen and rooks because they aren't restricted to a single colour like the bishops. So, by taking my queen, the virus left its unsung piece open for an attack from mine.
"King to G1." said the Virus.
"Oz, move to E2," I said, "That'll put the king in check again."
"Not for long," chuckled the Virus, "King to F1."
"Go take the pawn at D4 Oz." I said.
"If I do, then the white bishop, knight AND rook could-"
"I know," I said, "But as long as I win, you'll be fine."
"Chess is a game of sacrifices, Heath." said Silver.
"Fine…" he said, "Here I go."
Oz captured the pawn, following my directions just like a real knight would. Knowing that it was the virus' turn next, Oz clenched his teeth and braced himself.
"King to G1." said the Virus.
I saw Oz's shoulder droop as he unclenched. I knew the virus wasn't going to take him on that turn, but, if I had said anything out loud, then the virus would've thrown a curveball and done a different move instead.
"Put the king in check again, Oz," I said, "You'll be safer on E2."
"This is getting repetitive…" he signed.
"Chess is also a game of repetition." said Silver.
"King to F1." said the Virus again.
"Let's try to get out of this vicious circle," I said, "Oz, move over to C3."
"I'm getting tired," he said, "Why couldn't we have been trapped after eating the pizza?"
"At least this way I don't have to gag on those nasty black olives." said Chloe.
"King to G1." said the Virus for the third time.
"Pawn to B6," I said, "Now you're out of bishops."
"Queen to B4." said the Virus.
"Before what?" muttered Riley, laughing to himself quietly.
"Wake up Chloe, I need you to move." I said.
"I am awake," she said, "But my legs aren't."
"Go stand next to the white queen," I said, "Over on A4."
"Queen to B6." said the Virus.
"Ready for more action, Oz?"
"Always." he said.
"Take out the rook on D1." I said.
My checkmate was really starting to take shape now. Having Oz capture the white rook had put the virus' king in a tricky position. The only place it could move was F1, but if it did, then it would be in check from the bishop on C4. Meanwhile, Rachel and Riley were still in back row, protecting our king. At this point, the virus would have to move some pawns to open a path for the white king.
"Pawn to H3." said the Virus, moving its piece into place.
"Chloe, go capture the pawn at A2." I said.
"Finally," she said, "I was beginning to feel left out."
"King to H2." said the Virus.
"Keep it up everyone, there's only three pawns left," I said, "Oz, your next target is on F2."
Again, this would put him in danger, but unless the virus planned to mimic Byrne until the last minute and then catch me off guard, I knew the queen would leave Oz alone.
"Rook to E1." said the Virus.
"I haven't forgotten about you, Rachel," I said, "Your path is clear, go to E1 and get rid of the last white rook."
"Don't mind if I do." she said.
"Now it's my turn to put YOU in check!" said the Virus sounding very deranged, "Queen to D8!"
"Not so fast!" shouted Riley, stepping over F8.
Luckily, that was the move I needed to make anyways. In a moment of realization, I remembered that Rachel was about to be taken by the virus' remaining knight.
"Knight to E1!" snarled the Virus.
The virus didn't actually transform the Rangers into chess pieces. He simply shrunk them down to the appropriate size on a board that lacked a few black pieces. The rook that Rachel was serving as had actually been in its spot, but the piece was broken, so, she climbed on top of it, and had perched up there ever since.
"Oh my God! Rachel!" screamed Riley.
When the white knight attacked the rook, Rachel fell to the ground like a limp ragdoll, while the damaged piece she had been riding crumbled, but didn't hit her. Riley was seconds away from moving and ruining my entire strategy when I put my hand in his way.
"Don't forget! We're still playing!" I said, loudly.
"Damnit!" sobbed Riley, collapsing to his knees.
"Relax Riley," said Silver, "She's just unconscious."
"Finish this game quick, Marcus…" spat Riley, getting to his feet.
"Bishop to D5." I said.
"One down, three to go," said the Virus, "Knight to F3."
"Move over to E4 Oz."
"Queen to B8." said the Virus, moving its piece at a snail's pace to egg me on.
"Pawn to B5." I said.
The virus had no idea that every black piece and pawn was defended. This meant that the white queen had nothing to do, because I retaliate on my next turn and take the queen.
"Pawn to H4." said the Virus.
"Pawn to H5." I said, blocking the piece of before it had even finished moving.
"Knight to E5." said the Virus, showing a brief sign of despair.
"Ready to call it quits and release my friends?" I asked.
"Impotent whelp!" growled the Virus, "You've already lost and you can't even see it!"
"Suit yourself," I said, "King to G7."
"King to G1." it said.
The game between Byrne and Fischer had 41 plays. A play is pair of moves, so, if white and black have both moved, then first play ends and the second one starts. After my next move, the final five plays would start. The virus couldn't win at this point one way or another, but it was being stubborn, so, I would have to go all the way.
"Riley, move to C5 next to the other bishop." I said.
"King to F1." said the Virus.
"Oz, go over to G3 and place the king in check again." I said.
Four plays left. The virus was already hopelessly entangled in my mating net.
"King to E1." said the Virus, anxiously.
"Riley, now I want you to check the king from B4."
Three plays left. Chloe had the white king trapped in the bottom row and Riley was preventing the white king from moving to the right. All the virus could do was keep moving the king to the left.
"King to D1." said the Virus, still anxiously.
"Bishop to B3." I said.
Two plays left. Now B1 and C1 were the only squares that the white king could move to.
"King to C1." said the Virus with a hopeless sigh.
"Oz, move over to E2." I said.
The last play.
"King to B1." said the Virus, so quietly that I barely heard it.
"Move to C3 and finish it Oz," I said, "CHECKMATE!"
Everyone said the last word. It was a unanimous realization that was impossible to hold in. The Chessboard Virus turned into a tornado of binary, which went all over the room. As it moved, everyone got sent flying back to where they were immediately before being absorbed into the game.
I just sat there in awe. Not only had I saved my friends, but I renewed my love for chess again. I shouldn't be dreading the fact that my Dad isn't here to play with me anymore, I should be thankful for all the dedication he showed in teaching me. I should be playing to carry on for him.
"Rachel? Are you okay?" asked Riley.
"Apart from having a broken leg." she said.
"The broken chess piece took most of the attack." said Silver.
"Great job, Marcus." said Oz.
"Why didn't you tell us you were that good?" asked Chloe.
"Because it brought back painful memories," I said, "Which, after now, I managed to overcome."
Just then the doorbell rang. Somehow, Silver had set up the mansion so that he could it hear it regardless of where he was.
"Just in time for pizza." said Oz, rushing upstairs to grab it.
Everyone gathered around me for a group hug. Even Silver squeezed himself in. Before we broke apart, Oz came back down and saw what was going on.
"How come you never group hug me when I do something cool?" he asked.
"Because you always smell like black olives." said Chloe.
Ironically, Sebastian was right. Nobody wanted the tickets. Some people called in and gave us stupid answers, but that's all. I guess sometimes the only way you can appreciate something is for it trap you inside. The others probably all thought chess was lame... Until their lives depended on it...