She was scared at first, imagine...talking with an angel of God. But then, with humility, the virgin accepted God's plan for her life and her role in mankind's salvation. Old Maestro had told the Great Pawn Hunter and the Restless Knight "If you want to know Jesus, get to know, this virgin, his mother." "What is her name?" asked the Great Pawn Hunter. "Her name is Mary," said Old Maestro. Then he said to them "If you ever sin, seek her out. For with one word from Mary, Jesus will restrain his justice, for she is the Mother of Mercy and the Queen of Heaven. Through her, your prayers are heard quickly because God has chosen to honor her in this way." "The Queen of Heaven," said the Restless Knight. "Yes," said Old Maestro.
"Old Maestro," asked the Restless Knight "What is sin?" Well, he tried to explain. Old Maestro said, "It is the lack of harmony." "Old Maestro," asked The Great Pawn Hunter "What is harmony?" Well, Old Maestro could see he was getting in too deeply and so he implemented the decoy maneuver. He handed them his presents.
With expectations of the child inside each of them, The Great Pawn Hunter and the Restless Knight, gingerly unwrapped their presents. When they took the wrappings off of the presents, each discovered a beautiful queen chess piece. They were overcome with excitement, for they had a gift from Old Maestro. They wanted to give him a gift as well. They knew Old Maestro had lost two pawns weeks before. When he opened his present he found just what he needed to complete his chess set. Yes my friends, they each exchanged "Queen for a pawn" and with his chess set completed, Old Maestro gave them a chess lesson.
However, the Restless Knight still had the question on her mind and she asked him again "Old Maestro, what is harmony?" Old Maestro was being cornered in. He said to himself "They want to learn about harmony? I will try and teach them with chess." "Harmony in chess," said Old Maestro "is when you connect the invisible paths of each of your pieces." In the diagram, the white rook and bishop have some harmony because they overlap their paths on the (d8) square. The Great Pawn Hunter replied "But, there is a black knight that is blocking the rook's path on the (d) file." "Yes, that is true and that is the problem." said Old Maestro. "For your pieces to have true harmony, all you have to do is clear the invisible paths of your pieces and your pieces will be able to work together. In this example, the black knight on (d7) must be removed from the (d) file." said Old Maestro. "Do you have a solution?" asked he.
The Great Pawn Hunter and the Restless Knight put their heads together and came up with a solution. However, it would mean that they would have to give up their Queen. After the present that Old Maestro gave them, they didn't want to part with her. But Old Maestro instructed them "It is the sacrifice of the Queen that brings harmony to the pieces." Well, Old Maestro thought they had learned their lesson. They moved the queen to (b8) and the black knight was decoyed from the (d) file. Now the white rook had its path cleared. "Do you see the answer now?" asked Old Maestro.
"Yes," said the chess players. They moved their rook to (d8) for the checkmate. But Old Maestro was not out of the woods yet. "Does that mean we should lose the Queen of Heaven to our opponent?" asked The Restless Knight. Old Maestro was definitely cornered in now. His mind churned and churned and finally he answered her. "No," said he "She is always with us. It is the sacrifice she makes with her prayers to Our Father in heaven, because of her love for us, that helps unite us all and brings us true harmony." Well, the chess players were satisfied and the lesson was over.
A week went by. Around the Christmas tree, became quiet. It was lost in the light of a New Year. The delicate ornaments were still clinging to the tips of its branches like shy children to their mother. The ornaments didn't want to let Christmas go and neither did the Great Pawn Hunter! He gathered some thread and taped it to his new chess piece. He formed a hook out of a paper clip and attached it to the thread. He slowly rose, walked over to the Christmas tree and gently hung the queen onto one of its branches. The Great Pawn Hunter sat down, motionless, as he did on Christmas Eve. Staring in quiet reverence, beside the tree, he reflected on the lesson he had learned.