Chess Game Ch. 01

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The Gambit: buildup to Indian wife's life-changing chess game.
6.2k words
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Part 1 of the 4 part series

Updated 10/26/2022
Created 01/21/2010
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urbanslut
urbanslut
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Note: The idea of this story is not originally mine. One of my readers, who wants to be identified only as "The Knight" sent me this idea, asking me to write it. It seemed interesting, but I don't know chess too well. So I replied, saying I would write the rest of the story if he could fill in the chess parts. We worked on it back and forth for a couple of weeks. And now we finally think it is ready to be shown to the world.

A caveat -- This story has a slow, very slow build-up. If you are expecting sex right away, it ain't happening. So if you are one of those people who likes a story to get straight to the banging, leave this and move on to the end of the 2nd part or to the 3rd part.

Chapter 01: The Gambit

The personal impact of a recession can bring out the best or the worst in people. In my case, it was both. But on balance, whether it good or bad, I still haven't been able to figure it out. Only time will tell, I guess. But I am getting ahead of myself.

Let me start at the beginning. My name is Prerna and until a few months back, my husband Dhruv and I were living the vaunted Indian middle class dream. We were both working in mid-level positions in the same small but influential financial corporation. In fact we met as colleagues, became friends, then fell in love, and then got married. We had decided to postpone having children until I got promoted to a managerial position. So two decent incomes without any children translated into a pretty comfortable lifestyle. We had both grown up in families with financial troubles, so when we had a good income, we spared no expense at acquiring any luxuries. A sea-side 2 bedroom rented apartment in Juhu equipped with every luxury from a flat screen TV to a washing machine and even a drier. An expensive foreign-made sedan. Frequent foreign trips in Europe and East Asia. And of course, the services of a drive, a maid and a cook.

The problem is, we started living more like middle class Americans than middle class Indians. And by that, I mean, we racked up quite a debt. Our salaries were decent, but not lavish enough to pay for all these luxuries out of our pocket. So almost everything had been financed by loans, and most of our incomes went in paying the monthly installments, credit card bills, and the rent. The thought of saving for a rainy day did cross our minds occasionally, but Dhruv and I always said that we'd start saving once we get promoted to senior positions and our salaries grew really big. After all, the stock markets worldwide were booming, our bonuses every year were growing, our stock option value was multiplying, and our company was considered one of the rising stars in the financial sector. So we thought that as long as we were both young, we should enjoy our lives, and start saving later. The later, as it happened, was really bad.

In late 2008, the meltdown hit. Almost overnight, our company went belly up. Our shares in the company were not worth the paper they were printed on. And both Dhruv and I found ourselves unemployed. Even after that rude shock, we waded in our delusions for a few months. Surely, we would get a job elsewhere. Of course, we probably wouldn't have the convenience of working in the same office, having lunch together, and commuting together. But given that we had worked in such an awesome firm, we would find jobs soon. We sent our resumes to all the big banks and financial institutions, and continued charging our expenses to our credit cards.

Three months later, our credit cards were maxed out and neither of us had a job. We had been called for the occasional interview, but the niche nature of our previous jobs meant that there were few positions available in the top firms. And neither of us wanted to "taint" our resumes by working in a second tier firm. So we kept our fingers crossed and prayed to the lord.

The next month is when we really found our backs to the wall. We had only enough money left in our joint account to pay two months rent. We could not make any of our installments, from the car to the flat screen TV to the fancy three door fridge. It was impossible to pay the massive credit card bills. And of course, we had no money left to pay the driver, maid or the cook. That is when we were forced to take a realistic look at our situation. That is when we truly understood the meaning of the proverb "beggars can't be choosers".

There was however, a small sliver of hope. One of Dhruv's old bosses, who had also lost his job, had been hired in a mid-level privately-owned bank that had been largely unaffected by the meltdown. There was a position on his team, and he called up Dhruv to ask if he was interested. Normally, Dhruv would have laughed at the idea of working in what we called the "lalaji" firms. The salary was barely half of what he made at our old firm. And the company was in Powai, so the commute from Juhu would be horribly long. But like I said, beggars can't be choosers. So Dhruv took the job.

In one week, we were living "downgraded" lifestyles. With a heavy heart, we returned the car, the flat screen TV and all the other fancy gadgets that demanded monthly installments. We told our servants that their services were no longer needed. At this point, if we had no debt, we could have still lived reasonably well. But the credit card bills were massive, we had to live well within the lifestyle Dhruv's new salary could have afforded us. So the unkindest cut of them all - we had to leave our darling apartment in the posh seaside Juhu building, and rent a one bedroom apartment in an old building in Kanjurmarg.

Although Dhruv asked his boss to look for a job for me in the company, his boss said that simply was not possible. My experience was in a different sub-sector and there was no way I could be hired by them. So I was still unemployed, still sending out resumes, and waiting for the occasional interview call. But fortunately or unfortunately, thanks to our new low-brow lifestyle, that did not mean I was sitting at home with nothing to do. I had been forced into the life I had always dreaded - the busy housewife. We could just about afford a maid for washing the clothes and the dishes, but I had to clean the house and cook. Even though it was a small house and it was just the two of us, a decade-long break from any kind of housework meant that it all took up most of my day.

Things got worse in other ways too. Experiencing financial troubles for the first time, we started bickering about every little thing. Fights between us, once a rare twice-a-year phenomenon, now became an almost daily thing. We fought mainly about how to spend or not spend the little money we had. But also about other things. Working in the same company meant that even if we worked long days and nights, we were close to each other. But now, when Dhruv had to work late hours, and I had to sit at home waiting for him to return, it started annoying me. Dhruv started getting annoyed by how "housewifely" I was acting. It was the nadir of our previously rosy relationship.

That wednesday, it felt even worse. Dhruv and I had a long three-part argument before he left for work. First, he got upset at me for spending too much money on food, by buying imported chesses, expensive baked goods, and such. Then I got upset at him when he told me he would be working the whole weekend. And then we both got upset, blaming each other for the situation we were in, blaming each other for not wanting to save any money when times were good. Dhruv stormed off to work without touching his breakfast, and I sat there, ready to burst into tears.

Once I got over the fight, I realized that it was now almost 10 and the maid had still not come. She usually came to our house at 8, so she was two hours late. I prayed that she was not taking the day off. I really was not in the mood to wash clothes and do the dishes by myself. Another hour passed and still no sign of the maid. That got me worried. I decided to ask around. From what Ratna told me, she worked in only one other apartment in our building. Some old man in 43A on the fourth floor. So I trekked up to the fourth floor to check if Ratna was there.

The door on 43A looked different than all the others in our building. First, it was spotlessly clean, unlike other old dust-ridden doors in the building, including ours. Second, instead of a doorbell, it had an ornate brass knocker on it. And third, instead of the small cheap plastic nameplates on the other doors, this one had a big copper plate, and etched in it was the name "Lt. Col. H.D. Mehra, Retd."

I grabbed the knocker and hammered it a couple of times, and immediately a booming voice shouted, "COME IN!!" Surprised, I pushed the door slightly and it swung back a little. "COME IN I SAY!!" the voice boomed again, and I pushed the door open and walked in. Inside, I saw two old men sitting in armchairs, facing each other, looking downwards. As I took a few more steps, I saw that they were staring at a chess board laid out on the coffee table between them. The men paid no attention to me as I walked up to them.

"Excuse me, I stay in..." I said, but one of the men, bald with a thick handlebar moustache and a pipe in his mouth, held up his outstretched palm as if telling me to stop, so I stopped mid-sentence. He kept his hand up, so I stood there silently, shifting on my feet for a few seconds, and then finally started looking at the chess board too. It was clearly an expensive "designer" chess set, not a tawdry plastic one you see in stores. The board was made of wood, probably mahogany, and had hand crafted patterns along the edges. The big pieces looked like they were made of ivory. Next to the board was an ancient-looking chess timer. Under the timer were two crisp 100 rupee notes. I admired the ornate board and pieces for a few seconds and then started examining the game itself. The moustache-pipe guy, almost certainly Col. Mehra, was playing with black, and seemed to have gobbled up most of white pieces, played by his opponent, also an old man with a heavy white beard and neatly combed white hair.

"Just one more second." the colonel said, picked up a rook, took it to the last row, placed it there and hit the clock. He then looked at me and asked, "Yes, young lady, how may I help you?"

Instead of answering his question, I kept my gaze on the chess board and instinctively drew my breath inside audibly. The colonel and his friend heard me and started looking at the board with puzzlement. Meanwhile, my brain registered his question, and I replied,

"I stay in 32B, and my maid Ratna hasn't come to work yet. I was wondering if she came to work here today."

"Ratna...Ratna..." the colonel said absent-mindedly examining the board, "Yes, that stupid cow. Hasn't come yet. Goes AWOL like this regularly."

"Okay. Thank you." I said, turning to leave, but with my gaze still on the board. The colonel noticed this and said,

"Why did you react like that when I moved the rook?"

I looked at him and then at his opponent who also looked back at me, confused.

"Well?" the colonel asked.

"I don't know if I should say it. You are obviously playing for money and I don't want to butt in." I answered.

"No, please, go ahead." the colonel said.

"Okay, if you say so." I said and stepped towards the board. I picked up white knight that was languishing in a corner surrounded by pawns and killed a pawn with it. "You did not protect against this move. If white plays this, your queen is doomed."

"What?" the colonel said. "No, I can still move her to.....ohhhh....if I do that.... yes, I see your point."

"Thank you!" the other man said to me with a broad smile, hit the clock and said, "Your move, sir."

"Lucky break for you, Major!" the colonel said and moved his bishop to threaten the knight for damage control. But his queen was toast, and the Major gobbled it up straight away. The loss of the queen also opened up the colonel's king to attack, and the major did not need me to point that out. From then on, they made their moves rapidly, and I watched as, within a few minutes, the colonel had no choice but to knock over his own king in submission.

"I will take that, sir, thank you very much." the major took the money from under the timer, and then extending a 100 rupee note towards me said, "This is rightfully yours."

Surprised at this offering, I said, "No, no, it's okay. It was your game."

"Nonsense. you've earned it." the major said and pressed the hundred in my hand. I looked at the note in my hand, realizing that for the first time in months, I had actually earned some money.

"So you're good at chess, then? Ever played competitively? Been formally trained?" the colonel asked, as he started rearranging the pieces for a new game.

"No, not really. I just played it with my father, for fun. Never got any formal training." I lied. I don't know what made me lie. Maybe false modesty. But in a previous life, I had played chess competitively. Yes, I started off playing with my father for fun, when I was in middle school. But then, I got good enough at it for him to send me to a chess coach. And I was quite good at under-15 and under-17 levels. After finishing high school, I actually had the option of making a career in chess, trying for a WM norm. But like I said before, my family was not financially flush, so instead I took the well-trodden and safe path of academics, degree, and so on. But in our living room cabinet and on the walls, I still proudly displayed my chess trophies and a picture of Vishwanathan Anand handing one of them to me.

"Really? The way you spotted that move, you sure you're not some Judith Polgar in disguise?" the colonel said and let out a booming laughter at his own feeble joke. The major joined in with his own moderately booming laughter. I smiled.

"No, in fact I haven't played chess in years. In fact gosh, it's been many years since I even saw a chess board." This was not a lie. After going to college, I lost track of my chess buddies. In college, none of my friends were really into chess. Occasionally if I did find someone interested in chess, they were not very good. I would beat them with ease and then they would stop playing me, saying I was too good. The same thing happened with Dhruv too. He was moderately good at chess, but no match for me. In the initial days of our courtship, he would play with me, mainly, I suspected, to make me happy enough to let him do stuff to me. Once we were committed to each other, or in other words, slept together, he refused to play chess with me, saying I was too good at it. It had really been almost 5 years since I even saw a chess board.

"Is that so? Then come on, let's play a game. If you're not busy that is." the colonel said.

"Well, if Ratna is not coming, I will have to do all the work myself....." I said tentatively.

"Oh come now!" the colonel said emphatically, taking the pipe out of his mouth and reaching for his tobacco bag. "Just one game. We play with a 15 minute time limit. What do you say?"

"Do stay for one game." the major politely added with a smile.

"Oh what the heck. Sure." I said. The major got up and moved to the couch next to the table. I sat down in the armchair. The colonel finished filling his pipe and then started winding up the timer. It was one of those old analog timers with the flipping numbers. It looked older than me, to be honest.

"Your choice, my lady. Blacks or whites?" the colonel asked.

"Whites are fine." I said. Actually, I was always stronger playing blacks. But I didn't want to show off.

"And dear me! Where are my manners?" he stretched his hand in my direction and said, "Introductions! I am Colonel Harchand Dayal Mehra, formerly of the Maratha Light Infantry. This is Major Shakeel Raslan who used to serve under me. Also retired."

I gave him my hand and he pressed it gently but firmly.

"I am Prerna Soni-Mahajan." I said, and also shook hands with Major Raslan who got up from the couch to greet me.

"Soni-Mahajan? Hyphenated name! One of those empowered modern women, I see. Does not give up her maiden name. And teaches army men how to play chess." the colonel said, stayed silent for a second and then again, that booming laughter. The major and I joined in. Yes, I was very possessive of my maiden name. Even the nameplate on our door said 'Dhruv Mahajan, Prerna Soni-Mahajan'.

"So Mrs. Soni-Mahajan...is that what I should call you?" he continued.

"Prerna is fine." I said.

"So Prerna, care to make it interesting?" he asked.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, you just got that hundred from the major. Put that up in the stakes. You win, you get my hundred. I win, I get yours." he said.

"What do you think, major?" I asked. "It is your money after all."

"Well Prerna, I always find that a game without anything at stake is a boring one." he smiled and said.

"Okay colonel. You're on." I said and put the hundred next to the timer.

"Your move, then." he said, and I moved my king's pawn two squares ahead.

Over the years, whenever I have played chess with amateurs, I assess their abilities using what I call the "4-move-checkmate test". The 4 move checkmate is the most hackneyed tactic that newbies use. They move the king's pawn ahead, then the king's bishop three squares, then the queen two squares, and then try to checkmate you with the queen. The more evolved amateurs can neutralize the threat easily. The experts can actually neutralize the threat by being on the defensive in a tantalizing way that makes the opponent keep pushing for that win, and then corner their queen.

The colonel started with the 4-move maneuver. Amused at his newbie-ness, I drew him in, and within minutes had cornered the queen.

"Holy hell!" the colonel exclaimed. "You've got my queen again!"

With a smile, I moved the big ivory queen off the board. And then I mounted my offensive. Nothing too sophisticated. Just advanced my troops deep into his territory. The major was chuckling at the worried look on the colonel's face. That got the colonel even more riled up.

"What's so funny, major??" he said hotly.

"Sir, nothing, sir." the major said and suppressed his chuckle.

He had lost any chance he had just eight moves into the game. But he gamely fought on, as I took both his bishops, both his knights, and one rook in addition to the queen. Actually, I could have ended the game long ago. But I was enjoying playing chess after so many years. And I loved how the pretty ivory chess pieces felt against my fingers. So I strung him along. Also, I made the moves almost instantly, while he labored over his. After a while, I had used up barely two minutes of my time and he had used up 13 minutes of his.

"Prerna." the major said.

"Yes, major?" I asked.

"Just end his misery. This is like torturing ants using a magnifying glass."

I laughed at the analogy but the colonel, clearly not amused, scowled. He glared at the major for a few seconds and then went back to thinking his next move. After he moved his rook in a futile attempt to threaten my king, I decided to have mercy, and went in for the kill. Two more moves, and it was checkmate.

"Nice game, colonel." I said, with a smile.

"One more!" He boomed, chewing on his pipe in annoyance. "One more game. Double or nothing!"

"Colonel, I really have a lot of work to get to. The clothes and the dishes." I said.

"Oh stop being so damn effete!" he exclaimed.

"I am a woman!" I responded with a chuckle, and the major burst out laughing.

"Oh you know what I mean. Have some balls. No, I mean...." he said, searching for a gender-neutral metaphor for being brave.

"Alright colonel. One more game. Double or nothing." I said. Actually I had been hoping for another game. I just didn't want to sound too eager. There were two reasons I wanted another game, if not many more. One, playing chess was very relaxing for me, and it was melting away all the worries I had about my comatose career and the financial troubles with my husband. And secondly, without taking any significant effort, I had won 200 rupees. Given how cash-strapped we were, that was a welcome addition. And the colonel was clearly no match for me in terms of chess abilities. If a fool was so eager to be parted from his money, why shouldn't I be the one to take advantage?

urbanslut
urbanslut
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