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Chessville
Chess
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The Case of the Diogenes Club By John
Watson, M.D. “As I’ve had occasion to observe before,” began Sherlock Holmes, motioning with his briar, “such a gathering of un-clubbable men is highly unlikely anywhere save here at the Diogenes. If we hadn’t the messy affair of Mycroft’s to deal with, I’d gladly pass another day solely in observation of the goings-on.” I had to agree with my companion: the members were an odd lot. Those two over there, for example,” I pointed out, “first one, then the other, going off to the sitting room and then leaving, scarcely in time for the partner to arrive. It’s as if they were purposely avoiding each other, and making a game of it, at that!” Holmes swiveled in his armchair to look in my direction. With a winsome smile he nodded, adding “You are right, Watson – far more than you realize. There, now; one is leaving. Come quickly and I will show you what is afoot!” I sprang up to accompany my friend down a corridor, brushing shoulders with a club member, but observing the sacred Diogenes tenet of not recognizing his existence (let alone chancing a word or two of apology) outside of the Strangers’ Room, which we’d just vacated. At Mycroft’s club, one gathered with like kind – to be alone. After a few paces, we turned into the sitting room, which was in fact empty, save for a chessboard and pieces. “On alternate days,” began Holmes, anthropologically, “the original position is set up, and any passer-by who wishes can come in and make a play – with either Black or White, depending upon the move. All games are played to mate, whereupon another is begun. “And on the other days,” I wondered aloud. “On the other days two individuals might contest a match, without ever having to meet over the board, of course. The first person places a coin at the side of the board; the second takes up the challenge. The presence of a purse is a sign to the others that a game is in progress.” “You have witnessed such games, Holmes? Ah – is that how you learned the moves of the game?” I asked with a short burst of insight. “I have been meaning to call you back to what you said after that engagement at Simpson’s Divan. Tell me, did you ever play a game here at the Club?” “Indeed,” said Holmes, ruefully, and I noticed the muscles in his face tighten. “Far more than anything else, that game was cause for my lack of appreciation of board pastimes, be they of chance or skill…” I fear Holmes would have returned in depth to his thesis of game-playing – a not at all uninteresting, and, indeed, quite an enlightening proposition – had I not interrupted. “The time is short, Holmes, and the players are sure to return soon. Can you recall that nefarious game?” Holmes scowled. “Your vicarious nature is a disappointment in a man of science,” he chided. But I noticed that he was already setting up the pieces. “After a score of moves or so,” began my friend, “we reached this position, which you might in jest refer to as ‘Checkmate in 9 moves’.”
But Holmes,” I protested, “it appears to me that there is an immediate mate, beginning with…” “And so did it appear to me,” interrupted the detective, with a chuckle. “From the position I played 1.d8=Q+, expecting to see upon my return Black’s toppled King, and the stakes moved over to the victor’s side – the sort of thing one routinely comes to expect in these sorts of games.” “However,” I prodded. “Instead, I found the board moved 90° from the normal, in a counter-clockwise direction!” Holmes demonstrated. “In addition, my mysterious opponent had played the now possible 1…bxa, eliminating the checkmate”
"Foul!” I cried. “That is hardly what you would call ‘a legal move’ is it?” My sporting sense was offended. “At the bare minimum, there is not even the requisite White square at the first player’s lower right hand corner.” Holmes raised a palm to silence me. “I am not without my sense of whimsy, my dear Watson,” he returned. “Besides, I played then 2.d8/Q+, with a sense of satisfaction; it is checkmate again, you see.” “Astonishing! Truly, a position with many hidden resources! How much of a purse did you collect?” The sportsman in me, again, was curious. “I’d rather not speak to that,” said Holmes, sourly, “at least at this moment in time. You see, when I again returned to the board, I saw that…”
“…not only had the board again been rotated 90° -- and the subsequently permissible 2…bxa been played – but that Black had “Queened” his Pawn on his King’s Eight square!” “This is evil – dastardly” was all I could gasp. “Sensing the oddity of it all,” Holmes continued undaunted, “I played at once 3.e8/Q+. Checkmate.” He drummed his fingers impatiently. I couldn’t tell what the man was looking for. It was all over, and I was glad for it to be so. “Upon my return, the board had once more been rotated 90° counter-clockwise, and I found that my opponent had thusly responded: 3…bxa. No mate. There, too, on the board, sat a new Queen at Black’s Queen Eight. The movements of the board had “promoted” it; let me show you…”
As he did so, I must have paled, as he lightly offered “A bit surprised by the tenacity of the defense, no? Now, we’ll have at it. “From here, Watson, I again played my ‘final’ move – 4.e8/+ and mate – again to return to see, after another twist and 4…bxa –
“Three Queens!” I groaned. “Surely, my friend, this has gone on long enough.” “Fear not, old man,” said Sherlock Holmes. “I ended the charade with 5.e4 mate, fixing the board solidly to the table with a pocketknife through the h1 square. “That, by the way, is five piece moves plus four board ‘moves’ – ‘Mate in Nine moves’,” he chuckled. “Showing,” came a voice behind us, “the folly of it all, in part and in parcel, as the same move would have won outright – eight moves earlier! 1.e4 mate. Is that not correct, Sherlock?” We both turned to face the massive figure of Mycroft Holmes, and I realized a more serious matter was now at hand…
Return to the Sherlock Holmes Index Page Read Rick's Perry the PawnPusher Stories too!
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