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The Great Pawn Hunter
Chess Tutorial

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The stone skipped off the water...one,two,three hops and then a mighty KERPLUNK! and disappeared beneath the surface. The chess players had gone to the pond after their chess lesson was over. "Wow! three hops, that was good," thought the Great Pawn Hunter. But, then he remembered what his chess coach had told him in the lesson earlier that day. The coach said "Once you find a good move, find a better one!". Here is what the coach had showed them:

Taking the rook with the queen is a good move. However, there is a better move on the board and that is checkmating the Black King with 1) Qxh7 checkmate!

So staring down at all the pebbles on the shore, he started to sort them out...one by one. Hours and hours went by with no luck. He tried short ones, long ones, fat ones, and skinny ones but none could beat the "three hopper" he had found earlier in the day.

The Restless Knight came down to the shore to visit him. "Whatcha looking for?" said Restless. "I'm looking for a four hopper," said the Great Pawn Hunter. "How about this one?" said the Restless Knight. "I think it's pretty." and she opened her hand to reveal a beautiful white stone! But the Great Pawn Hunter just kept on looking at the ground, searching in earnest. "Pretty, has got nothing to do with it!" said the Great Pawn Hunter. "You obviously have no experience skipping stones!" said he. Well, she got so mad that she threw the stone at the water and guess what... not one, not two, not three, but four hops off the water and an even mightier KERPLUNK! than the first one. She smiled an inward smile and walked away.

After she left, the Great Pawn Hunter searched and searched...and later that day, when Restless was eating dinner at her house, the doorbell rang. She opened the door and who was standing there but Old Maestro. The Great Pawn Hunter had asked him to give her a gift...and in Old Maestro's quiet and magic way, stretched out his arm, waved a twig over his fist, and opened his hand to reveal a beautiful white stone. It would be given to Restless to make amends and yes, friends once more. She smiled and invited him in for dinner.