Chess Story

"Hello, my son! How was your day at school?" Igor opened the front door and ushered his small son into their two bedroom apartment. Daniel scowled. "Bad," he huffed. "My teacher was unfair. A kid picked on me. It's so --" Igor held up a hand to stem the flow of complaints. "Why don't you and I discuss it over a game of chess?" he suggested, motioning to the wooden board set upon the table. The thirty-two wooden pieces sat silently on their squares, illuminated against the window that stood behind them. Daniel smiled ever so slightly."Okay," he muttered, scrambling up onto the chair. Igor took his place across from his son. "Now my son," he started,"How was your day?"

Daniel frowned. "Well first, my teacher gave me a D on my homework because I forgot to sign it last night," Daniel began. Igor nodded and moved his Queen's Pawn to d4. Daniel's eyes widened. "Oh, Dad!" he exclaimed. "I'm not playing against d4! You know I haven't prepared for that yet!" Igor smiled. "And yet," he said softly,"The same thing happened to you in school today. An unexpected glitch arose when you were not prepared with your homework. You were not ready, and yet you were able to continue. So, in reality, your teacher played d4! So what did you do?" Daniel stared. "I told her I would get it signed by tommorrow." Igor smiled. "So, you were able to improvise on the situation. Perhaps you can do the same in this position."

Daniel leaned forward, thought for a minute, then played d5. "Very good," Igor exclaimed. "How did the rest of your day go?"

At this, Daniel scowled. "A bully picked on me," he muttered. "He hit me on my ear." Igor looked deeply into his son's eyes. "Listen, my son," he whispered as he played c4. "Nobody can ever take advantage of you unless you let them. If someone advances on you, strike back!" Daniel looked puzzled as he scooped his father's c-pawn off the board. "How do I do something like that?" he asked. His father grinned. "As easy as playing Qa5+!" Igor smiled. Daniel's eyes widened in amazement. He played Nc6, and watched as his father retrieved his c-pawn. "So, Daniel," Igor continued. "Tommorrow, you must play Qa5+ against this bully." Daniel nodded. "I understand."

They continued to play for some time, as the pieces' reflection slowly dimmed upon the board as night began to show outside the window. They finished the game; Daniel now had a smile upon his face. "Thanks Dad," he whispered as Igor tucked him into bed."Everything is much easier to understand on the chessboard." Igor smiled, kissed his son on the head, and made his way to the kitchen. Taking a cup of tea, he sat down upon the board and stared at the pieces. The thirty-two pieces, those which couldn't move, but danced like enchantressess. Those which couldn't speak, but spoke volumes. His eyes stared, tranfixed, as the moonlight illuminated the pieces upon the wooden board.

cool

Hmm, read it again and I think it's clear.  You see, Igor suffered from dementia, this is why after taking some tea, he sat directly on the board.  Also, he started at all 32 pieces regardless of whether they had been captured or not, and although they were inanimate, to igor they appeared to "dance like enchantressess" in the moonlight.

The next morning Daniel awoke to find his Dad sitting motionless on the chessboard, staring at the floor.  After taking the now cold, untouched cup of tea from his hands, he helped Igor to lie down -- it was a painful process that took nearly an hour.  Being up all night in the same position freezes the muscles and strains the joints.  This wasn't the first time Daniel had to take care of his father, but lately the episodes had become more frequent, Daniel knew what he had to do.