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Chessville
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The Kennedy Kids: Mary Elizabeth, Jon & Matt
Having brothers who play chess can be fun. Unless they argue:
“The key to chess is tactics,” said my little brother Jon. “Rowwwwf!” snapped Marty the dog, who doesn’t like it when his kids fuss at each other. The situation called for a girl’s touch. “Boys,” I said, curling a strand of my hair around a finger, lazily. “You’re both right. Tactics. Strategy. And a sense of calm.” I aimed that last one at Marty. “Still,” I mused airily, “I do like my tempos. Why, I’d play either one of you a game without any pieces at all – just my King and pawns – in return for just a move for each missing piece.” Matt looked at me like I had grown a second head. “You’re on,” he said not so nicely, and he quickly set up the board to look like this:
“Dear me,” I said, as I looked over my sorry position. “What a mess!” “Be careful what you wish for” smiled Matt. “Oh, yes!” I said suddenly. “My tempos! I am missing two Rooks, two Knights, two Bishops and a Queen – that’s 7 tempos. I’ll take those moves now.” I played 1.e4, 2.e5, 3.e6, 4.g4, 5.g5, 6.g6 and 7.exf7 checkmate. Matt was speechless. “Whoo Hoo!” said Jon, when he realized he was out of arm’s reach. “I guess I was a bit too greedy,” Matt admitted. “I should have left you a Knight to play with. Have a horsie.” So he set up the board again.
“You are too kind, big brother,” I said sweetly. “This way I have only sacrificed six pieces. For six tempos.” Then I played 1.e4, 2.e5, 3.e6, 4.Nh3, 5.Ng5 and 6.exf7 checkmate. Matt looked stunned, but he quickly countered “No fair taking advantage of you, little sister. I meant to give you a Bishop, not a Knight. See if you can make that work.” So we began again.
“People make mistakes,” I said. “Still, with six of my pieces gone I do have those six moves.” Then I played 1.e4, 2.e5, 3.e6, 4.Bc4, 5.Ke2 (Here I winked at Matt) and 6.exf7 checkmate. By this point, Matt was smiling too. “Well, Mary Elizabeth,” he said, “I still think I have been too grabby. You should at least have a Knight and a Bishop.” He set up the board again – and then grabbed Jon and sat him across the board from me.
“Oh, Jon,” I teased, “You only let me sacrifice five pieces. I have only five moves in return. What will I do? What will I do??” Then I played 1.e4, 2.Bc4, 3.Nh3, 4.Ng5 and 5.Bxf7 checkmate. Jon looked up, suddenly remembering he had some math homework to finish. Matt said he had to help Dad with the high speed muffler bearings on the car. I turned to Marty, who had set his head on my lap. “That was fun,” I told the dog as I scratched behind his ears. I smiled. “You know, tactics are one thing, but I would never try to take on two of my brothers without having prepared a winning strategy beforehand.” I stole a quick glance to our bookshelves.
Marty smiled. (This story
was inspired by a tale in The Complete Book of Chess
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