
The Queen Says Part 2
It’s now White’s turn to move, he stares at the board and l know that his mind is reeling with candidate moves and the big question on everyone’s mind is “Why did Player with Black pieces take 3 minutes for him to decide to push the pawn?” The noise in the hall is getting louder, the kids are finishing their games very quickly, arbiters are trying to usher them out and reduce the noise but these two individuals are stuck in their own realm, trying to fight it out and see who will be the reigning champion. Player with White pieces glances at her clock, leans back in her chair and looks at the board. She slowly grabs her bottle of water, all the while staring at the board as if hypnotised by the pieces. She uncaps the bottle, holds the top in one hand and the bottle in the other and, and it’s as if she forgets about the water, she leans forward and does a double take. From my ‘sentry ‘ position, I believe I can see a good move but is it good enough? I notice the glint in her eyes and l can’t help but imagine a lioness on to its prey. She slowly raises the bottle to her lips, takes a sip and sets the bottle down. By now, Player with the Black pieces is physically frazzled. His fingers shake slightly as he pens down the move. A number of players have gathered round the battle field to witness who outmaneuvers the other. The Player with Black slowly scans the board, looks at his clock, raises his hand and let’s it hover over his queen. This action has the opponent charged to pounce . Player with Black is caught up in his own little world, as he signs his life away to the mercy of his opponent in what looks like a two move to checkmate. Moving his queen may seem like a good move to an untrained eye, for some value the queen , however, the opponent has her sniper of a bishop at a strategic position. As the player with the Black pieces, holds his queen in hand, l hold my breath and wait for the famous oops rejoinder, ‘adjusting, ‘ but it never comes.
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