"Hisao." Lilly says, seriously, "I have a proposition for you."
I blink, unnerved by her tone. "Eh...what is it?" Possibilities dance through my head as I try to figure out what she could possibly be asking with such formality.
"I would like it very much if we were to play a game of chess." The blonde says, taking a dainty sip of tea.
For a moment, I'm confused. But...she hasn't beaten Hanako, right? And I beat her, so...what is she...?
"Ah...okay." Either way, I'll humor her. I think it would be rude to point my thoughts out. Hanako seems to have the same reservations, but doesn't say anything, either, standing up to retrieve the chess set. I quickly finish off the rest of my sandwich as Hanako sets the board down.
The pieces have little indents on top, something I hadn't noticed while playing chess with Hanako. I guess that Lilly can determine between them based off of that, solving the conundrum of her playing blind. The board, too, is different; the black tiles are a little raised.
It's odd how I haven't noticed these things before. Usually I pay more attention to detail. Maybe because it was never really brought up until now? Hanako and I both can see perfectly fine, so I would never need to consider an alternative of some sort.
Lilly offers to play black, and I let her. I'm not sure if her offer indicates that she plays better as one or the other. Instinct tells me that she would pick the one that suits her but my conscious reminds me of her generosity.
Then again, she wouldn't know my preferred color. Or does she? This is so confusing...
"Are you familiar with basic chess notation?" Lilly asks.
"Er, yes." I'm out of practice, though. I don't typically notate my games, but I've memorized sequences for openings and I know how they work. The chess board is sectioned off by eight columns and rows. Columns are assigned the letters 'a' through 'h' and rows receive the numbers 1-8.
"If you could call out your moves as you play them, it would be very helpful." Lilly says. I don't have a problem with it, and indicate so.
I start off with a popularized opening. "Pawn to e4." Lilly's hand brushes over her own pieces briefly before moving her own pawn to e5, to block mine.
I send a knight at f3 to test her response and she cheerfully copies my move, though reversed to f6, so that both of our knights attack the opposing pawn. Nothing will be gained by this trade, so I ignore it and begin to develop my half of the board in preparation for whatever it is she's about to do.
"Pawn to a4." I say, moving the appropriate piece.
"Pawn to h5." Lilly says, moving the pawn on the opposite side, now.
Except...all she's been doing is stealing most of my moves, with a few exceptions that appear to be meaningless. Is this some kind of test, to see how I react? What is her goal, here?
Twenty or thirty moves later, I decide to take advantage of this. I sweep my bishop down the line to prepare an opening. Checkmate in four moves.
"Bishop to e5. Capture black pawn."
"Bishop to e5. Capture white bishop." Her copycat attack, as expected.
"Pawn to e5. Capture black bishop."
"Pawn to e5. Capture white pawn." A coy smile plays at her lips. What...? There's no way this is fun for her. Copying someone's moves? What's the entertainment in that?
"Pawn to e5. Capture black pawn." Last move. Copy this, then.
Lilly smirks triumphantly, then, and I realize my blunder.
"Queen to h4. Capture white rook. White in check." With a slashing motion, she perceives and destroys my offensive in an instant.
"You planned this the whole time?" I ask, as I rapidly try to fix my mistake. Hanako seems to approve of the twist in the game, if her badly-hidden smile is of any indication.
"I may have." Lilly agrees.
"...So you've beaten Hanako, then?" I ask. Another sweeping motion of hers creates a second prong I must fend off.
"No. I had to forfeit due to time when we played this the first time, and she was never caught off guard again." On hearing this, my eyes flash to the clock on the wall.
No. I won't win like that. With renewed concentration, I stare at the board.
How can I get out of this? She has the advantage in both pieces, positioning and development. And she's chasing my King around the board while taking yet more pieces.
A sacrifice is in order, then. I block off the next attack with a stray knight. She takes it with a bishop and loses it to my defending pawn.
"Rook to a1. Check." I viciously lunge across the board with my bishop to take it. Lilly frowns when she realizes what I've done.
That's right. That's the one advantage I have, no matter how slight. She can't see the entire board, being blind, and must therefore play by memory.
And it's very, very difficult to play a perfect game like that.
By a technicality, I have the lead in skill. Or maybe not. Lilly couldn't beat Hanako. Assuming that she is telling the truth, a fair assumption to make, I might actually have a significant lead.
But that doesn't come close to neutralizing the poor position I find myself in.
"Rook to a2. Capture white pawn." Cutting her losses with that attack, she seems to have settled for taking as many pieces as she can. But it doesn't matter now, I'm not being chased around my side anymore!
I can't castle any more, but I don't need to. My defense is skewered as it is, and isn't readily salvageable. My goal, then, is to put her on the defensive...but how?
I still have my Queen. Hm...
"Rook to d5. Capture black pawn." I say. I have to figure out how to work around her rook, whose horizontal capturing area is cutting off my options. I can't get my King into play without forcing her to move.
Let's see...I still have my Queen and one Rook and Bishop apiece, and about three pawns. Lilly has the same, except two Rooks instead of one, another Knight and two extra pawns.
"Queen to h1. Check." This isn't good. She's trapped me between her Queen and her Rook, and the only thing protecting me is the fact that I have a few pieces between them that I can hide around. I have to make sure to protect them with my King, or I'll lose my cover, and I can't let her use other pieces to take them.
Or...can I?
"King to e2." I say, escaping check as I take cover behind my remaining Knight, stationed on d2. Lilly frowns in concentration.
"Pawn to c3." Lilly counters. Seeing that she can't do much to keep me in there yet, she'll settle for taking yet another piece before retrapping me. Or perhaps she'll pick off some of my errant pawns on the other side?
Tch. I can't threaten her Rook with my bishop. It's the wrong color for that. Attacking her Queen with it would be suicide, and threatening the pawn would result in a win for her. A trade at this point is to her advantage, even a poor one.
"Bishop to d4." Alright. This should work. Her king is hidden behind pawns on b7 and c7, tucked in the a8 corner. Her knight lays unused on d7. And I've just cleared the way...
"Pawn to d2. Capture knight." Hanako gasps, realizing what I've done; upon hearing it, Lilly frowns, but it's too late. Her black king rests vulnerable on b8!
"Queen to a7! Check!" I blurt excitedly, my hand trembling as I slash my Queen across the board.
That was my advantage. My Queen on a5, left untouched for at least a dozen moves and completely forgotten by Lilly. And now it is protected by my Bishop, so she can't take it with her own King.
"Aha..." Lilly cringes. "I seem to have been outplayed. King to c8."
"Queen to a8. Checkmate." I say, triumphant, but also relieved. Because all that kept me from a loss was her disability. I'm sure that frustrates Lilly, too, but I also understand that pitying her for it would earn me her ire.
"And so it is." Lilly replies. "That was a good match."
"Yes. I got lucky." I say truthfully, sighing as I slump into my chair. "How much have you played before? You're quite good." Visualizing an entire chessboard and its pieces in your head must be terribly difficult, especially when those pieces move, and you still have to calculate your own movements...
"This would be my seventh game." Lilly admits with a cheeky smile as I cringe at the answer, to Hanako's amusement.
"S-Seven? You've picked up that much in seven games?" I ask in disbelief.
Is this the difference between academic intelligence and raw intelligence?
"Well, I've read a little theory. I know the basic rules, anyways..." And she extrapolated off of those? Combining basic checkmate strategies with mind games to force a slip? I guess it would only work once, but still...
That's kind of scary. I want to see how a game between Shizune and Lilly goes. I suspect neither would appreciate the question, though. Shizune would probably call her a cheater or something, especially if she won.
On second thought, perhaps I should try to arrange a game between them, if only to see this.
"That's amazing." I reply, as Hanako collects the pieces and slides them back into the appropriate container. "I wish I had that kind of skill."
Lilly giggles. "It isn't that impressive. I wish I could follow through with it, though. I would have preferred to win." Haha, there's the pride.
"I would be honored to play against you again at a time of your choosing." I bait.
"Perhaps when I pick up a new strategy." She smiles. "I may even win for once."
Our banter is interrupted by the bell going off.
"Huh? Already? I guess the game lasted longer than I thought it did. I guess we had better head off, then." I say, collecting my bags and taking my trash to an open bin.
"Ah, Hanako, may I speak to you for a moment?" Lilly asks. "Hisao, feel free to go on ahead."
I nod. "I will. See you, Lilly, Hanako."
"Good day, Hisao." Lilly.
"B-Bye!" Hanako.
And with a wave, I slip out the door and head off.
A/N: Is the game I presented theoretically possible? Yes.
Would it ever actually happen? Almost certainly not. The layout of the pieces preceding the parts I begin to notate are absolutely all over the place.
Don't worry too much about that. It's more what actually happened that matters more than how it got to be there.
How do you like the story so far? Review!
