The_Chess_Master_Chpt_5_01.27.2022

Taisha goes to Rutgers with her family to play chess. She impresses everyone with her skills. She wins most of her games, even beating Dr. Ossint, a former teammate of her late father. She learns from her opponents and realizes that chess books aren't always correct. She receives praise and support from Dr. Ossint and her mother. Taisha is determined to improve and promises to excel in school as well. She reflects on her game with her father in her dreams and learns the importance of humility and kindness. Chapter 5. Mama drove Taisha and her brother and sisters to Rutgers on a snowy Sunday. This time, Taisha would see how much her practicing in the dark would help her be real people. Professor Oliver had set up ten tables in the campus center, making a rectangle in a big room with plenty of fluorescent lights and some windows, sitting in front of chess sets for ten people. Six looked like college girls and boys. Four more, all wearing masks, were older men and women who looked neat and tidy. One older man had white hair and wore a nice blue suit with no tie. People were still careful, even though COVID didn't take many to God anymore. The professor took Taisha's shoulder and led her to the middle of the rectangle. I'd like to introduce you all to Taisha Brown. She's seven, but has told me she memorized eleven chess books. I wish I could do that with just one textbook. I remember the good moves, Taisha said. They laughed and smiled. Sometimes the lines or full games were not worth remembering, and so she threw them in the trash can in her head, but wondered how they'd get out of her body. Sometimes parts of the books were wrong, and she changed the faulty stuff to good ideas. Don't let her small size fool you. Her dad, the sorely missed and dearly departed Professor Morris Brown, and former New Jersey State chess champion, taught her how to play when she was three, and she'd beat him once in a while. All this occurred before she started to study the game. Some of you know his lovely wife Marjorie, who teaches at Holy Name School just blocks from here. Taisha tugged on Professor Oliver's suit jacket. I wish I was a little taller. I can see, but I like to look down at the board. Okay, young lady, would you all mind pushing your sets forward a couple of inches? She smiled as she walked around and shook everyone's hands. People, the rules are, make your move when she's in front of you. Taisha, then you move and go to the next game. There will be no take-backs and no passes, because the drama club has this room in three hours, and he checked the wall clock five minutes. Also, you SCF master and former president of the Chess Federation, Dr. Darius Ossint, will adjudicate any unfinished games. He shook the doctor's hand. The white-haired man with the kind smile stood up, bent down, and held out his hand. Nice to meet you, Taisha. Pleased to meet you, doctor. A nice man. Taisha, Dr. Ossint is your first opponent. Did you know my daddy? I sure did. We played on the same team and in many tournaments. We all loved your father. I wish you all the luck, except against me. He laughed and then she did too. Thank you, doctor. I don't believe in luck. Just trying to use the talents God gave me as best I can. Me too. The doctor smiled and some laughed. She figured out what was so funny. Talents were gifts and not to be wasted. Let's begin. Professor Oliver stooped and whispered, you make the first move on every board and then when you come back to Darius, he'll make his, you make yours, and around and around you go. She had a better idea. Everybody, please move my pawn to E4, okay? They all moved her king's pawn. She smiled at the doctor. The doctor played pawn to C5, to Sicilian. She moved her knight to F3 and moved sideways to the next person. She loved racing around the tables so she could get them all goofed up as she pushed them to come up with a move too soon. Soon, the college kids were making big mistakes and one of the adults, but not Dr. Jacint, he played a known line of the nade off Sicilian, which led to equality. Since he made master like daddy, maybe a draw would be good. She ran faster. Mama had given her a great breakfast and lunch and she had taken a tiny nap. Mama had said she was full of soup, but she had a sandwich. Mama had made some sort of joke. Some of the players were hushing the noisemakers outside the room. So Professor Oliver went to the door, hushed them again and closed the door. One of the college girls with poofy hair and big round eyes opened up a stinky egg salad sandwich. Taisha didn't mind, but the girl put the sandwich away when she had got looks from her side mates. Taisha didn't care about the noise or her food. At home, it was always noisy, except when everybody else slept. Since the homes were all stuck together in a row, the neighbors got noisy once in a while. At 3.29, a boy student with a sour face and pouty lips put out his hand and resigned. She had sacrificed her queen for a mate in three by taking the bishop on D7 with check. In the book Art of Checkmate, the author called it The Corridor Mate. The other students just dropped more pieces by filling for pens, forks and skewers, except for the puffy haired egg salad girl. This girl, super careful, had no space on the queen's side since Taisha had blocked her pawn with her own. Taisha snuck over behind the black pawn with her bishop and king while keeping the girl busy trying to untrap her rook on the king's side. Once the B7 pawn fell, it opened up a path for Taisha's pawn to queen. The girl resigned. This technique popped right out of Reuben Fine's basic chess endings but with her twist on the king's side. Can I have your autograph? Taisha looked for Professor Oliver but the handsome boy next to her spoke up. You can sign your name on her score sheet and could you do mine too? You're a terror and I resign. He resigned a little early but maybe he wanted to walk out with egg salad girl. Thank you, I think? Maybe she shouldn't have said, I think but she didn't seem to mind. Being a terror was one step away from being a terrorist, right? She'd ask mom later. The adults soon followed and it was 4 p.m. The boy with the sour face and pouty lips had a better look now as he came back into the room and ran over with a big smile. He put his score sheet down. Please! Professor Oliver shushed everybody because there was one game left. Dr. Descent kept smiling as they traded moves fast. He knew something about the position that she didn't. Maybe. It seemed that bishops of opposite colors would draw most of the time as Reuben Fine's endings book said but she wanted to beat him. He moved his bishop to H3 where her G2 pawn could take it. Now, no matter what she'd do take it now or after he took her G2 pawn she'd have to capture it before it got away. She snapped it up. Could a master also drop a piece? It didn't take her long to understand. The position left her too stretched on the queen's side to fight against both his advancing D or a pawn. Yes, she saw it. Duh! She played on to see if he saw it too. Of course he did. He gave up his bishop to get the position. As soon as he retreated his queen to hit her bishop and gain time she immediately figured out the last trick and held out her trembling hand. Tears ran down her face. The doctor came around the table as did Professor Oliver and Mama to hug her. Dr. Darius bent down. Not even Bobby Fisher played as well as you at your age. Someday soon the whole world will know of your talents. I studied the way you mingle with the other players. Let me get back to the other side so we can look at the game. Professor, could you get her a chair? Thank you, doctor. I just hate to lose. Tiesha being at the board already set up the position at move 18. The problem with your position is what do you think? It's right out of modern chess openings. My mama gave me on my 7th birthday. Yep, that's a good book. If you want to get even better never trust what you read in any chess book. Prove it to yourself. Like how, doctor? What I do is look for better moves or surprises that I believe are better moves. The bishop sacrifice I did had been done before in a similar position by a great grandmaster named Alexei Shirov. He is a great attacker like you and amazing in the endgame. I see endgames in my head and I'm always sure because I make the game go to checkmate. That's great, little one. Marjorie, the U.S. Chess Federation and the U.S. Chess Trust will pay for tutors and more if that's okay. As long as she excels in her schoolwork Taisha Derris, would you like a teacher visiting you? I promise to do everything you want me to get a chess teacher, mama. I want you to want an education, too. That's it, sweetie. No more doing the minimum to get an A. I will. Later at night in bed she closed her eyes and went over and over her game with the doctor. He was so right. The lines her mind made showed that the book was wrong. He proved that Bishops of Opposite Colors could be even trickier and really hard to draw sometimes. She opened basic chess endings in her head and studied every line in the Bishops of Opposite Colors section until she slipped into sleep with daddy joining her on a giant chessboard. Taisha played white. E4, Nc6. Daddy never played this. I'm going to fool around with him. F4, E5. Nf3, Nf6. Oh, come on, daddy. Nf6 is just bad. What? If you can fool around, so can I. Go ahead, baby. Show me the way. Fxe, Nxe4. D3, Nc5. Do you do a lot of walking in heaven? Things go on forever up here. D4, Na6. Sad and just plain silly. Ne4 would have been better, but it still loses. D5, Nc6, B8. Sadder, daddier. B6, A6. Saddest. Bc4, Nc6, Q, D5. I resign. Daddy, you're off your game. You used to let me win, didn't you? Sometimes you got some good positions. I thought you needed your spears lifted after Darius scolded you. The doctor helped me. I accept my temporary shortcomings. Dr. Darius Descent is a good man, my dear. Listen carefully every time he talks to you. Is he a kid doctor? A pediatrician? No, he's a retired professor of physics at Temple University. Oh, daddy. If I'm supposed to be a real champion someday, shouldn't I never lose a game? You know better. There has never been a person who hasn't lost a game once in a while. God is teaching you humility. Always have it and be kind to every person. Kappa Phi didn't lose a game in seven years. So in seven years, I'll lose another one. Make it eight. When she woke up with the sun tickling her nose through the dirty window, it hit her. Another line in the opening book from one of her other games played yesterday had a mistake. The doctor was right. Do your homework and get a book on Shiroff if mama would buy it. So this was what it was like to be a master. Hard work and inspiration.