for my opponent. Twenty-nine minutes apiece, I thought, pulling the old clock to my face to check for precision. One of us would prove superior in under an hour. Mr. Rose, my coach, assured me that I could beat him, but I wasn't listening. I couldn't listen. I could only watch the games unfolding around me. I listened as the mass of chess players pounded their boards, their pieces, their clocks. The black kid runs double fianchetto. Watch for rook snag from G2. ~eenside castle would be the best defense, but break the pawn structure to avoid an unexpected checkmate. Do these kids play en passant? Mate in three. In two. My opponent had arrived. Charles walked among the hackberry trees before his execu– tion. Two hours past noon, English guards escorted the iconoclast from St. James Park to London's city square. Hundreds ofEnglishmen waited eagerly. After muttering a short prayer, a masked executioner placed the fallen king's head on the wooden block, raised his axe, and let fall the metal upon a frail neck. It took one blow. Spectators paid to dip their handkerchiefs in Charles' blood. A handkerchief stained with the blood of a Icing, after all, would cure the most potent disease. Every game starts the same: White pawn to E4. Black pawn to ES. Kingside lmight to C3. ~eenside bishop to E4. Some say it's a game of strategy, and, of course, it certainly is. But it's far more than strategy. It's a game ofwar. Of brutality. A game of domination. Of su– periority. The true chess player does everything in her power to defeat her enemy, no matter the brutality. Chess is dictated by greed, selfish– ness, lust. It's a game of control. We play to dip our handkerchiefs in another's blood. It is, more than anything else, a game of life. The clocked ticked. My opponent sat across the battleground, smiling, waiting. I scanned the board, searching for some lost combi– nation ofmoves to save my queen. Ifl pressure his king, perhaps I can work the board into a more advantageous position. Seven moves, at least. The dock kept ticking. He won't take the bait. He'll see it. He's far too good. Would he accept a draw? Is it okay to draw? Why should I play chess ifI'm just going to offer a draw? The clock ticked. 31
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