GAMBIT

"Oh... It"s you." He opened the squeaky door with an expressionless complexion to be greeted by one of his neighbors, Alice Violet. She has crimson eyes, twilight hair, and a fair skin tone.

She is a high spirited young woman with a very rambunctious attribute despite being a professional when it comes to Chemistry and Biology. Alice and Quartz are friends since the day she has moved to their neighborhood, they are indeed polar opposites which forges a good dynamic.

Quartz may feel annoyed or cranky at times when Alice"s rambunctious att.i.tude exceeds his threshold. Conflict may sometimes arise between them, but forgiveness will always be there to st.i.tch things up back to the way they were.

"Have you heard? There"s a student movement just outside the village." Alice Violet alerted rambunctiously.

"I know. It"s all over the newspaper, and if you"re planning to ask me to come and attend the movement, I"m not going." Quartz uttered and slowly closes the door at the same time.

"Of course not, unless you don"t know the meaning of "Student" movement." Just before the door shuts, Alice placed her foot in between, serving as a lump.

"Oh Alice, have you delivered the letters I"ve sent to your father?" Cypress interrupted after seeing the young woman from the door.

"Yes, Mr.Cypress, my father is happy to receive them. In fact, he actually asked me to give you this response letter." Alice responded with a pleasant smile as she hands out the letter to Quartz"s father.

"Ah! Finally, I"ve been waiting for a week just to receive your father"s response letter. Oh, and do you mind if you stay a bit longer?" Cypress"s soul burst forth with nothing but ecstasy after grabbing the letter from Alice"s grasp.

"A bit longer, what for father?" Quartz questioned.

"Since you are a novice when it comes to Chess, I was wondering... maybe Alice could teach you some tips up her sleeves," Cypress suggested.

"What?! I am not in need of any a.s.sistance. I am certain that I can learn the game by myself just like how I self-thought myself to play the Piccolo." Quartz complained with a frown on his face.

"I"ll be glad to teach your son, Mr. Cypress!" Alice interrupted with a blissful smile.

Quartz wasn"t happy with his father"s decision, it was his first time to disagree with his father"s idea. The young man had no choice though, but to follow his father"s instruction. All the time he has saved for reading history books will now be wasted on a board game tutorial.

"I am not a profound Chess player, but my father thought me how to play." Inside Quartz"s bedroom is where both of them played a simple game of Chess. Quartz was in fact, an amateur on this game. The only thing he could do was to entertain his mind while listening to Alice"s boring lectures and tutorials.

"This is the p.a.w.n, a chess piece of the smallest size and value. A p.a.w.n moves one square forward along its file if un.o.bstructed, or two on the first move, or perhaps one square diagonally forward when making a capture.

The rook is a piece in the game of chess resembling a castle. Formerly the piece was called the tower, marquess, rector, and comes. The term castle is however considered informal, incorrect, or old-fashioned. Each player starts the game with two rooks, one on each of the corner squares on their own side of the board. It moves in a horizontal and vertical direction.

The knight is a piece in the game of chess, representing a knight. It is normally represented by a horse"s head and neck. Each player starts with two knights, which begin on the row closest to the player, between the rooks and bishops. It moves and captures in an L-shape direction.

The bishop is a piece in the game of chess. Each player begins the game with two bishops. One starts between the king"s knight and the king, the other between the queen"s knight and the queen. It moves and captures in a diagonal direction.

The Queen, it is the strongest piece out of all the p.a.w.ns and officials. It can move diagonally, horizontally, or even vertically.

And lastly the King. It is the most important piece of the game. Once the king has been trapped by the foe"s officials, the checkmate is proclaimed.

Once the p.a.w.n reaches the other end of the board, it can transform into anything it wishes to be. In Chess, even the tiniest of men can become the bravest of souls. All it needs is the courage to overcome anything which dares to oppose it during its journey to the other side. Let"s play one game shall we?" Alice Violet explained and ill.u.s.trated every basic instruction for beginners like Quartz.

"I"m sorry, but I am not fond of this game, nor did I understand anything at all." Quartz complained sarcastically with eyeb.a.l.l.s, rolling around.

"How disappointing. Bookworms like you should have profound understanding skills, unless... the bookworm I"m talking to is lazy." Alice giggled and teased as she sets up the board.

With a little persuasion, Quartz has finally accepted her challenge with no intentions of winning or whatsoever. Board games do not please Quartz"s mind for they are plain and unrealistic... or are they?

A simple game, without the use of a Chess Clock. Both of them are in control over the two kingdoms, black and white. Quartz shall represent the white, while Alice shall represent the black. In Chess, it is a proficient rule for the white to move first.

The game continued for more than ten minutes already, and it seems that Quartz is heading to a tight position. Due to the exchange in the center, White was in a difficult situation. Black had a comfortable situation against the isolated p.a.w.n. White placed his rook on c8, the usual in this situation, waiting for the opponent to make a move with his queen. Was this the right move? White thought for a moment. He then realized he would need to move the rook to b5 in case he would need to revert back to the Carlsbad structure.

After another exchange, Quartz"s position was a lot more difficult, and his opponent"s more comfortable.

Black has moved Rook to c4

This move is the usual counter in situations like this and Alice expected Quartz to move his queen in response. Had she made the right move?

Black has moved his p.a.w.n from f4 to f5

Quartz bit his lip. He should have moved the rook to B1 instead, but he"d lose a chance to move his knight into a more protective position.

[Note: This is all randomly made up, so it is not necessary to actually record their notations on a chessboard.]

"Hmm, checkmate!" Alice declared with a pleasant heart.

"Of course you won. I didn"t know what I was doing anyway." Quartz rolled his eyes once more as his heart yearns for either books or his Piccolo.

"That game wasn"t too bad. Did you know that the game we played has the Carlsbad structure involved? Structures and openings helps in developing officials and pieces.

Anyways, I"ll be going to the bathroom first. Set up the board, let"s play for one last time." Alice stood up from the mattress as she heads out of the room. Being Quartz"s only friend, she is quite fond of visiting him and thus knows every room in his house.

As Alice takes her bathroom break, Quartz tried to set up the board according to how his friend has done it before the first match commenced.

"Ok Quartz, its just one more game. You can do this right? The lackl.u.s.ter will end any moment now." Quartz beamed with encouragement while trying to keep himself calm over the boredom aroma circulating the room.

Quartz was finally fed up from waiting for Alice in the bathroom. He decided to move a p.a.w.n forward and that"s when unexpected things start to happen.

"What the?!" Quartz"s mind was in shock after seeing the black side respond. Indeed, after moving his p.a.w.n from c2 to c4, black responded with the King"s Indian defense mechanism. No one was there, but how could someone move the piece all of a sudden?

He rubbed his eyes and responded by moving his knight, and once more the black responded without anyone playing with him unless that "anyone" is a ghost.

Things started to become more paranormal when the white pieces responded at its own. Both black and white played together without the a.s.sistance of any human at all. Could this be the effect of two proficient ghost battling against each other? Or is it something entirely different? Quartz had no choice but to glance at the lifeless siege...