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Chessville
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For Want of a Pawn, a Kingdom was Lost By Matt Kennedy O Tannenbaum, O Tannenbaum, Wie true sind deine blatter… Today had again been cold and bitter, and tonight it would probably snow. A “silent night,” the men would say. Here we sat. Our enemy, that fox, General Washington, and his rag-tag rebels had been driven across the Delaware, and British General Howe and the rest of his stuffed-shirt officers had retired with their men to Brunswick. Nothing to do here except wait for spring. “Good evening to you, Colonel Rall, sir.” A soldier’s voice called out to me from the hall. “A good evening to you, too, soldier,” I replied, returning his salute, “and a Merry Christmas as well. What are you doing, calling on your Colonel on this dreary Christmas evening?” I called out cheerfully. “Sir, the men know of your love for the game of chess, so we all got you a present.” He handed me a box. I opened it, and I saw a brand new, sparkling chess set with a new board as well. “Well, well, soldier,” I mused, allowing a smile to cross my face, “this is a very interesting gift. Unfortunately, I can’t tell you if it will be of any use to me.” The soldier’s face fell. “I won’t know until I’ve tested it out first!” I laughed, watching the expression on the soldier’s face. “Go find someone who wants to play against me, and have him meet me in my quarters for a game.” “Yes, sir!” The soldier marched away, and I ambled across the ground. I set up a table, and prepared to enjoy myself. I hadn’t played chess since my last board had been blown up and the pieces scattered (after all, it was a war!) After several minutes, the soldier returned with another man. He nodded, and took his seat. We began our match. I was totally immersed in the game. My only thoughts were of the game. I was in a spot of trouble, with him threatening my Knight, but I could move… “Sir! There is a messenger with an important message, sir.” “Send him away, I’m busy!” I ordered. “Can’t you see?” Drat! I had lost my concentration along with my Knight. We continued on, neither one of us making any mistakes. I was threatening his Rook, and I was certain I would get it in the next few moves when a little boy burst into the room with two soldiers chasing him. “Colonel, it’s them. They’re going to…” His voice trailed off as my men grabbed hold of him. “Sorry about the disturbance, sir. This rascal has a message for you, but I told him to wait.” “That’s very nice, but keep him out of here!!” I screamed. Ahhh! I had lost my train of thought again! I couldn’t figure out how I had been planning on capturing the Rook. The game took two steps forward for me as I captured pieces, but then two steps back as I lost pieces. We were into a good endgame by the time that annoying nuisance broke in again, trying to give me a note of some sort. “Fine, fine. I’ve got your note, so leave!” The boy seeing it was so, left peacefully. I stuffed the note into my pocket, and resumed my game. As we finished, I announced triumphantly,
“Checkmate!” “Good game.” My opponent smiled weakly and left.
(Note: the
next day, George Washington led his men across the Delaware River,
surprising Colonel Rall and the Hessians. Rall was killed, and on his
body was found the note he had stuffed in his pocket, unopened. The
note warned that the rebels were preparing to cross the Delaware river and
attack.) Index of all Kennedy Kids Stories Index of all Fiction at Chessville
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