The Four Knights' Game

The Doctor called out - "Josh could you please move to the King Bishop's Square, third one in?"

Josh mischievously thought of breaking the rules and walking out two in front of his own row and staying there, and ignore the rules of chess. Just because the board was set up as a chess board did not mean that he had to play a traditional game. He had free will, after all. Just a harmless move to the third square of the knight's file.

When Josh started to move though, it was if there the chessboard was a paper-thin veneer, and he would break through the surface and fall from a great height if he made the 'illegal' move. He told himself that his fear was irrational, but he could not overcome it. He became giddy, and rushed between the king knight's and king bishop's pawn to the empty white square before the king bishop's pawn. He exhaled, much relieved when he stopped on the safety of KB3.

"What took you so long, Josh?" the Doctor asked. The doctor had barely finished his question when the knight on the opposite side of the board slid smoothly in between the pawns to the square just in front of the black king bishop's pawn.

The Doctor called out, "Susan, go two squares past the queen's bishop. You will be three squares to the left of Josh."

Susan hesitated. Josh noticed that she was starting to go to the left, but she then shut her eyes and lurched toward the right, as if she were dodging a snake. He nodded his head. So he was not the only one who felt the compulsion of the game's rules. This was indeed a weird feeling.

The fourth knight came out, three squares in front of Josh. What was the doctor going to do now? Surely he would push a pawn.

The Doctor called out in a monotone, "Demivixen Astra, please move to the queen knight's fifth row." The demivixen Astra glided gracefully down the diagonal to the designated spot. She looked at the great black statue of the knight, and felt excited. She was in a position to capture it. Although the pawns behind the knight were menacing, suddenly she felt more powerful, if also a little more vulnerable.

The statue of the black knight skittered away, as if afraid of the demifox Astra. He was exactly five squares in front of the black queen. Astra now realized that she was not only threatened, but unprotected. She hoped that the Doctor had something planned. Josh, on the other hand saw that one of the pawns was no longer protected. If Demifox Astra could get out of trouble, the pawn would be his, and there was not anything that the opposition could do about it. And then what?

"Demivixen Astra, move back one to the rook file." Demivixen Astra complied, glad to be out of immediate danger. The black king's bishop moved four squares along the open diagonal to the black queen bishop's file, supporting the nearby knight.

"Knight takes pawn," declared the Doctor calmly. Josh jumped into the fifth row of his white king's file, where there was a pawn. He had no idea what to expect. As he crossed onto the square, the sculpture of the pawn vanished! Josh blinked. He was disappointed. He felt that there would be some sort of reward or discovery, and that the pawn would not simply disappear.

Josh started to thrust his hands into his pockets, but suddenly something came from the far right corner of the room. A glare burst from the right of the board. The seven live pieces closed their eyes, the afterglow of the light still visible even with their eyes closed. After a few seconds, Josh looked on the ground and opened his eyes into a squint. The glare had gone. He now looked up. The black king was now safely behind a row of pawns, and was guarded by a rook. The 'castling' move was truly spectacular.

The excitement now over, Josh found that there was something in his pocket that was not there before.

(The game thus far:

1 P-K4 P-K4
2 N-KB3 N-KB3
3 N-B3 N-B3
4 B-N5 N-K5
5 B-R4 B-QB4
6 NxP Castles)

1. It was a black pawn, a much smaller replica of the one he had captured.

Add New Option

Go Back

View Forward Story Tree
View Back Story Tree