Chapter 18: King's Gambit Accepted, Fischer Defense
31 December 1992
Harry felt satisfied learning about the En Passant capture. Later, the ten Slytherin second-years had dinner with the other guests. The adults were discussing random topics about the wizarding world and politics.
Then, Gaius Avery cleared his throat.
"Harry, I've been aware that Malfoy has been teaching you about Wizard's Chess for the past year. We should play a game right now, just to see what you've learned."
"Okay, then."
Everyone watched as Harry and Gaius gathered around the chessboard. Harry had the white pieces and Gaius had the black pieces.
"Pawn to e4", Harry said. The white pawn on e2 moved to e4.
"Pawn to e5", Avery said. The black pawn on e7 moved to e5.
"Pawn to f4", Harry said. The white pawn on f2 moved to f4.
"Pawn to d6", Avery said. The black pawn on d7 moved to d6.
"Knight to f3", Harry said. The white knight on g1 moved to f3.
"Pawn to f4", Avery said. The black pawn on e5 yanked out its sword and demolished the white pawn on f4 into numerous pieces.
"Pawn to d4", Harry said. The white pawn on d2 moved to d4.
"Pawn to g5", Avery said. The black pawn on g7 moved to g5.
"Bishop to c4", Harry said. The white bishop on f1 moved to c4.
"Pawn to g4", Avery said. The black pawn on g5 moved to g4. This move attacked the white knight on f3.
"Knight to g5", Harry said. The white knight on f3 moved to g5.
"Queen to g5", Avery said. The black queen moved from d8 to g5, stabbing the white knight on g5 with her sword before replacing it.
Shoot! Harry thought. I didn't even notice the black queen was attacking that square. This is going to be bad.
"Castle Kingside", Harry said. The white king on e1 moved to g1, and the white rook on h1 moved to f1.
"Bishop to e6", Avery said. The black bishop on c8 moved to e6.
"Pawn to d5", Harry said. The white pawn on d4 moved to d5.
"Bishop to d7", Avery said. The black bishop on e6 moved to d7.
"Bishop to f4", Harry said. The white bishop on c1 moved to f4, capturing the white pawn on the f4 square. This move also attacked the black queen on g5.
"Queen to g7", Avery said. The black queen on g5 moved to g7.
"Knight to c3", Harry said. The white knight on b1 moved to c3.
"Knight to e7", Avery said. The black knight on g8 moved to e7.
"Queen to d2", Harry said. The white queen on d1 moved to d2.
"Knight to g6", Avery said. The black knight on e7 moved to g6.
"Rook on a1 to e1", Harry said. The white rook on a1 moved to e1.
"Knight to f4", Avery said. The black knight leaped from g6 to f4, smashing the white bishop on f4 into bits before replacing it.
"Rook to f4", Harry said. The white rook on f1 moved to f4, obliterating the black knight on f4 into numerous pieces before replacing it.
"Bishop to e7", Avery said. The black bishop on f8 moved to e7.
"Rook on f4 to f1", Harry said. The white rook on f4 moved to f1.
"Castle Kingside", Avery said. The black king on e8 moved to g8, and the black rook on h8 moved to f8.
"Knight to b5", Harry said. The white knight on c3 moved to b5.
"Bishop to b5", Avery said. The black bishop on d7 moved to b5, slicing the white knight with its sword before replacing it.
"Bishop to b5", Harry said. The white bishop on c4 moved to b5, capturing the black bishop.
"Pawn to a6", Avery said. The black pawn on a7 moved to a6. This move attacked the white bishop on b5.
"Bishop to e2", Harry said. The white bishop on b5 moved to e2.
"Knight to d7", Avery said. The black knight on b8 moved to d7.
"Pawn to c3", Harry said. The white pawn on c2 moved to c3.
"Bishop to g5", Avery said. The black bishop on e7 moved to g5.
"Queen to d3", Harry said. The white queen on d2 moved to d3.
"Rook on a8 to e8", Avery said. The black rook on a8 moved to e8.
"Bishop to g4", Harry said. The white bishop moved from e2 to g4, capturing the black pawn that was on the g4 square.
"Knight to e5", Avery said. The black knight on d7 moved to e5. This move attacked both the white queen on d3 and the white bishop on g4.
"Queen to h3", Harry said. The white queen on d3 moved to h3, defending the white bishop on g4.
"Knight to g4", Avery said. The black knight on e5 moved to g4, capturing the white bishop that was on g4.
"Queen to g4", Harry said. The white queen on h3 moved to g4, capturing the black knight on g4.
"Bishop to e3", Avery said. The black bishop on g5 moved to e3. This move also gave check to the white king on g1.
"Rook to e3", Harry said. The white rook on e1 moved to e3, obliterating the black bishop on e3.
"Queen to g4", Avery said. The black queen on g7 moved to g4, capturing the undefended white queen on g4.
"Rook to g3", Harry said. The white rook on e3 moved to g3, pinning the black queen on g4 against the black king on g8.
"Queen to g3", Avery said. The black queen on g4 moved to g3, obliterating the white rook on g3.
"Pawn to g3", Harry said. The white pawn on h2 moved to g3, capturing the black queen on g3.
Harry knew he was losing this endgame, as Gaius Avery had two rooks, while Harry only had one. He figured he would go down fighting.
"Rook to e4", Avery said. The black rook on e8 moved to e4, capturing the white pawn that was on e4.
"Pawn to b4", Harry said. The white pawn on b2 moved to b4.
"Rook on f8 to e8", Avery said. The black rook on f8 moved to e8.
"Pawn to a4", Harry said. The white pawn on a2 moved to a4.
"Rook on e8 to e5", Avery said. The black rook on e8 moved to e5.
"Rook to f3", Harry said. The white rook on f1 moved to f3.
"Rook to d5", Avery said. The black rook on e5 pulled out its sword and stabbed the white pawn on d5 into numerous pieces before replacing it.
"King to h2", Harry said. The white king on g1 moved to h2.
"King to g7", Avery said. The black king on g8 moved to g7.
"Pawn to a5", Harry said. The white pawn on a4 moved to a5.
"Rook on d5 to e5", Avery said. The black rook on d5 moved to e5.
"Rook to f1", Harry said. The white rook on f3 moved to f1.
"Rook to e1", Avery said. The black rook on e4 moved to e1.
"Rook to f4", Harry said. The white rook on f1 moved to f4.
"Rook to h5", Avery said. The black rook on e5 moved to h5. This move put the white king on h2 in check.
"Rook to h4", Harry said. The white rook on f4 moved to h4, blocking the check.
"Rook to h4", Avery said. The black rook on h5 yanked out its sword and demolished the white rook on h4 before replacing it.
"Pawn to h4", Harry said. The white pawn on g3 pulled out its sword and stabbed the black rook on h4 into numerous pieces before taking its place.
"Rook to c1", Avery said. The black rook on e1 moved to c1.
Harry knew that he was going to lose this game, since Avery was up a full rook. But maybe he would get lucky. Maybe Avery would stalemate him.
"Pawn to g4", Harry said. The white pawn on g2 moved to g4.
"Rook to c3", Avery said. The black rook on c1 captured the white pawn on c3.
"Pawn to h5", Harry said. The white pawn on h4 moved to h5.
"King to f6", Avery said. The black king on g7 moved to f6.
"King to g2", Harry said. The white king on h2 moved to g2.
"King to g5", Avery said. The black king on f6 moved to g5.
"King to f2", Harry said. The white king on g2 moved to f2.
"King to g4", Avery said. The black king on g5 moved to g4, capturing the white pawn that was on g4.
"King to e2", Harry said. The white king on f2 moved to e2.
"Rook to b3", Avery said. The black rook on c3 moved to b3.
"King to d2", Harry said. The white king on e2 moved to d2.
"King to h5", Avery said. The black king on g4 moved to h5, capturing the white pawn that was on h5.
"King to c2", Harry said. The white king on d2 moved to c2, attacking the undefended black rook on b3. This threat could easily be taken care of, however.
"Rook to b4", Avery said. The black rook on b3 moved to b4, capturing the white pawn on b4.
"King to c3", Harry said. The white king on c2 moved to c3.
"Rook to b5", Avery said. The black rook on b4 moved to b5.
"King to d3", Harry said. The white king on c3 moved to d3.
"Rook to a5", Avery said. The black rook on b5 moved to a5, capturing the white pawn that was on a5. Now the white king was the only piece Harry had left on the board.
"King to e3", Harry said. The white king on d3 moved to e3.
"Rook to e5", Avery said. The black rook on a5 moved to e5. This move gave check to the white king on e3.
"King to d3", Harry said. The white king on e3 moved to d3.
"Pawn to f5", Avery said. The black pawn on f7 moved to f5.
"King to c3", Harry said. The white king on d3 moved to c3.
"Pawn to f4", Avery said. The black pawn on f5 moved to f4.
"King to d4", Harry said. The white king on c3 moved to d4.
"Pawn to f3", Avery said. The black pawn on f4 moved to f3.
"King to c3", Harry said. The white king on d4 moved to c3.
"Pawn to f2", Avery said. The black pawn on f3 moved to f2.
"King to d4", Harry said. The white king on c3 moved to d4.
"Pawn to f1", Avery said. The black pawn on f2 moved to f1. "I'm promoting this pawn to a queen."
The game is over, Harry thought.
"King to c3", Harry said. The white king on d4 moved to c3.
"Queen to c1", Avery said. The black queen on f1 moved to c1, giving check to the white king on c3.
"King to b3", Harry said. The white king on c3 moved to b3.
"Rook to b5", Avery said. The black rook on e5 moved to b5, giving check to the white king on b3.
"King to a4", Harry said. The white king on b3 moved to a4.
Avery smiled as he said, "Queen to a1".
The black queen on c1 moved to a1.
"Checkmate", Avery said.
Harry shook hands with Avery. "Good game."
Harry was slightly disappointed that he had lost, but he was thankful for what he had learned. It had been an instructive lesson. Overall, the game had lasted 52 moves.
Draco then decided to interject.
"The opening you played is a variant of the King's Gambit Accepted, known as the Fischer Defense. There were several mistakes you made during the game. Your first mistake was on your sixth move, when you played your knight to g5. A better move would have been to play your queenside bishop to f4. Your next mistake was on your fourteenth move, when you played the rook on f4 to f1. A better move would have been to play your knight to d5. Your next mistake was on your nineteenth move, when you played your queen to d3. A better move would have been to move the queen to d4. Your next mistake was on your twentieth move, when you played your bishop to g4. A better move would have been to play your rook to f5. Your next mistake was on your twenty-sixth move, when you played your pawn to b4. A better move would have been to play your rook to f3. Your next mistake was on your twenty-eighth move, when you played your rook to f3. The best move would have been to play your pawn to b5."
"Thanks, Draco," Harry said.
"Not a problem, Harry. Always here to help."
The New Year's Eve party went on, with everyone gossiping and discussing random topics. Eventually, midnight approached.
"It's almost time", Pansy exclaimed.
5.. 4.. 3.. 2..1….
"Happy New Year!", Tracey Davis shouted.
"Farewell 1992!", Pansy shouted.
"And hello 1993!", Tracey shouted.
Tracey leaned over to Harry and kissed his cheek.
Pansy then kissed Harry's other cheek.
Harry smiled and hugged both girls.
This is the life, Harry thought. I love being in Slytherin.
