17-02-2019, 12:25 PM
"Here." I put the money on the table. "2135 rupees. The money for daily expenses. Happy?"
"I will be happy only when I beat you, Prerna. But yes, for now, satisfied and ready to play."
And we started. I won the toss and picked black. The colonel started. He pushed the king and queen pawns ahead, and then brought his knights out to the middle rows. King's Indian Attack, I immediately thought. Not a bad choice. I responded with Caro-Kann's Karpov variation. We got each others pawns and then knights, and then I thought it would be a good time to bring out my bishops. But a queen push from the colonel made me change tactics. And I went into a more prolonged mode of defence than I had originally planned. the colonel had used the week well, I realized. I set up some traps to encourage him to go on an offence, and render his queen ineffective. But he stuck to defensive moves and did not take my baits. As the number of moves entered the 20s, the board had gotten really complex, with both of us focusing on defence. The major not pulled a chair from the dining table and sat close to us, watching in rapt attention. Our clocks were almost even.
I finally decided to throw caution to the wind and try a risky tactic. The risk was a lot if you were playing an accomplished player. Basically, it involved drawing out his kingside rook and the pawns in front of it by offering my queen as a sacrifice. If he took the bait, yes, I lost my queen, but it opened up his king to an attack from my rook and bishop that was almost impossible to stave off. I had tried this tactic in my competitive days and met with success more often than not. The risk was, I would have to execute the checkmate soon. If his king did find an escape route, then I was queenless, in a bad position, and basically screwed. As I thought about all this, the colonel said,
"This is the longest I have ever seen you think before a move." and he chuckled.
"Yeah well...." I started to say something clever in response but couldn't think of anything, so turned my attention back to the board.
And I made the play. Moved my rook, bishop and a pawn into position for an attack and then offered my queen in a vulnerable position. It wasn't a straightforward sacrifice. He would have to work through a few moves to get my queen. And he'd have to spot that opportunity. He did. And yes, he bit. In three moves, he took my queen.
"Wow, Sir, you got her queen!!!" the major said in amazement. But the colonel still had a serious look on his face. That was the first time I felt the fear of defeat flash through my mind. He was not elated at taking the queen. So he clearly knew what was coming next. I had to be swift and ruthless.
I pushed my bishop and rook forward. He brought his second bishop into play. And that's when I realized...FUCK!!! I had stupidly thought it was a black-square bishop, when it was clearly white-square. It was a silly mistake, with the potential to be fatal. It made one of my rook moves impossible. I tried a couple of moves to corner his king nonetheless, and was shocked when he managed to snag my bishop. I was now down a queen and a bishop, with no way to threaten his king effectively.
Immediately, the colonel went into exchange mode. And I watched, with a sinking feeling in my stomach, as the board started getting cleared up. I could feel defeat gaining on me when he forced me into a rook exchange that I did not want to do. It now left me only with a solitary rook and a few pawns, while he also had his queen and bishop. I looked up at his face. It had a broad smile on it. He knew he was going to win. And how he decided to gloat.
"I told you, major. A woman can not keep beating me. Now I have her figured out, and she can never....I repeat NEVER beat me." he said.
"I guess you were right, sir." the major said.
I should have kept my mind focused on the game and still tried to play for a mistake by him. But I let that gloating get to me. I glared at him angrily and said,
"Never? I can NEVER beat you? What nonsense. You got a lucky break this time."
"Your move, young lady." he responded.
"And stop calling me young lady. Who calls anyone that anymore?"
"Your time is running out." he said.
"You know what? Fine. You win this." I said, and flicked over my king with my finger. "But only because I made the silly mistake of confusing the square of your bishop."
"That helped, sure." the colonel said nonchalantly as he picked up my money from the table. "But I would have still beaten you."
"No way. Let's have a rematch." I said.
"With what?" he asked.
"With what? Double or nothing." I shot back.
"Young lady....sorry...Prerna... I don't think you realize how double or nothing works. In this situation, I have won. This was already a double or nothing game. Which means you owe me back the money you got from me. You are already about a 1000 rupees in the red." the colonel said.
"So? If I win the next one, I get it back." I said.
"Yes, but what do I get if I win the next one?" he asked, with a tone of finality. And he was right. I had no more money left. Heck, I had given him all the money for the month's expenses. What would I tell Dhruv?
"I can owe you." I said, almost pleading.
"Sorry, I don't deal in credit while betting." the colonel said.
"Come on, colonel." I said. "You have to give me a chance to win that money back. It is for day to day expenses like groceries and bills. My husband will kill me if he finds out I lost it all."
The colonel stared at me for a few seconds. He then picked up his pipe and took a puff.
"So let me get this straight. You are someone who has only over 2000 rupees for expenses, and nothing extra to spare. Your family income is that limited. And yet, when you got 3200 rupees, you spent it all on one dress? Doesn't that strike you as kind of irresponsible, major?"
"Very irresponsible, sir." the major nodded.
"Clearly that dress means a lot to you. Does it?" the colonel asked.
"Well, I like it." I said, sounding defensive.
The colonel chewed on his pipe and looked at the ceiling for a couple of minutes and then said,
"Here are your options, Prerna. Option A - you get up, leave, go home empty-handed, and explain to your husband why you lost all the money. And option B - we play. I bet your expense money, and just out of the goodness of my heart, another 1000 rupees from my pocket. And you bet something worth the same amount - your dress." he said.
"Okay, sure!" I said at once. That sounded like a good deal. I liked the dress, but I didn't mind risking it to earn back the money.
"Wait, I don't think you understand what I am saying." the colonel said. "If you win, I hand over the money to you, right away. If I win, you hand over the dress to me.....right away."
I looked at him, confused. Then I said,
"Yes, if I lose, I will go to my house right away, change into something else and give you this...." and I stopped when he started shaking his head.
"That is not right away. Right away is, well, right away. You lose, you take off the dress and hand it over to me." the colonel said. I think I understood what he was getting at, but I could not believe that's what it was.
"I will be happy only when I beat you, Prerna. But yes, for now, satisfied and ready to play."
And we started. I won the toss and picked black. The colonel started. He pushed the king and queen pawns ahead, and then brought his knights out to the middle rows. King's Indian Attack, I immediately thought. Not a bad choice. I responded with Caro-Kann's Karpov variation. We got each others pawns and then knights, and then I thought it would be a good time to bring out my bishops. But a queen push from the colonel made me change tactics. And I went into a more prolonged mode of defence than I had originally planned. the colonel had used the week well, I realized. I set up some traps to encourage him to go on an offence, and render his queen ineffective. But he stuck to defensive moves and did not take my baits. As the number of moves entered the 20s, the board had gotten really complex, with both of us focusing on defence. The major not pulled a chair from the dining table and sat close to us, watching in rapt attention. Our clocks were almost even.
I finally decided to throw caution to the wind and try a risky tactic. The risk was a lot if you were playing an accomplished player. Basically, it involved drawing out his kingside rook and the pawns in front of it by offering my queen as a sacrifice. If he took the bait, yes, I lost my queen, but it opened up his king to an attack from my rook and bishop that was almost impossible to stave off. I had tried this tactic in my competitive days and met with success more often than not. The risk was, I would have to execute the checkmate soon. If his king did find an escape route, then I was queenless, in a bad position, and basically screwed. As I thought about all this, the colonel said,
"This is the longest I have ever seen you think before a move." and he chuckled.
"Yeah well...." I started to say something clever in response but couldn't think of anything, so turned my attention back to the board.
And I made the play. Moved my rook, bishop and a pawn into position for an attack and then offered my queen in a vulnerable position. It wasn't a straightforward sacrifice. He would have to work through a few moves to get my queen. And he'd have to spot that opportunity. He did. And yes, he bit. In three moves, he took my queen.
"Wow, Sir, you got her queen!!!" the major said in amazement. But the colonel still had a serious look on his face. That was the first time I felt the fear of defeat flash through my mind. He was not elated at taking the queen. So he clearly knew what was coming next. I had to be swift and ruthless.
I pushed my bishop and rook forward. He brought his second bishop into play. And that's when I realized...FUCK!!! I had stupidly thought it was a black-square bishop, when it was clearly white-square. It was a silly mistake, with the potential to be fatal. It made one of my rook moves impossible. I tried a couple of moves to corner his king nonetheless, and was shocked when he managed to snag my bishop. I was now down a queen and a bishop, with no way to threaten his king effectively.
Immediately, the colonel went into exchange mode. And I watched, with a sinking feeling in my stomach, as the board started getting cleared up. I could feel defeat gaining on me when he forced me into a rook exchange that I did not want to do. It now left me only with a solitary rook and a few pawns, while he also had his queen and bishop. I looked up at his face. It had a broad smile on it. He knew he was going to win. And how he decided to gloat.
"I told you, major. A woman can not keep beating me. Now I have her figured out, and she can never....I repeat NEVER beat me." he said.
"I guess you were right, sir." the major said.
I should have kept my mind focused on the game and still tried to play for a mistake by him. But I let that gloating get to me. I glared at him angrily and said,
"Never? I can NEVER beat you? What nonsense. You got a lucky break this time."
"Your move, young lady." he responded.
"And stop calling me young lady. Who calls anyone that anymore?"
"Your time is running out." he said.
"You know what? Fine. You win this." I said, and flicked over my king with my finger. "But only because I made the silly mistake of confusing the square of your bishop."
"That helped, sure." the colonel said nonchalantly as he picked up my money from the table. "But I would have still beaten you."
"No way. Let's have a rematch." I said.
"With what?" he asked.
"With what? Double or nothing." I shot back.
"Young lady....sorry...Prerna... I don't think you realize how double or nothing works. In this situation, I have won. This was already a double or nothing game. Which means you owe me back the money you got from me. You are already about a 1000 rupees in the red." the colonel said.
"So? If I win the next one, I get it back." I said.
"Yes, but what do I get if I win the next one?" he asked, with a tone of finality. And he was right. I had no more money left. Heck, I had given him all the money for the month's expenses. What would I tell Dhruv?
"I can owe you." I said, almost pleading.
"Sorry, I don't deal in credit while betting." the colonel said.
"Come on, colonel." I said. "You have to give me a chance to win that money back. It is for day to day expenses like groceries and bills. My husband will kill me if he finds out I lost it all."
The colonel stared at me for a few seconds. He then picked up his pipe and took a puff.
"So let me get this straight. You are someone who has only over 2000 rupees for expenses, and nothing extra to spare. Your family income is that limited. And yet, when you got 3200 rupees, you spent it all on one dress? Doesn't that strike you as kind of irresponsible, major?"
"Very irresponsible, sir." the major nodded.
"Clearly that dress means a lot to you. Does it?" the colonel asked.
"Well, I like it." I said, sounding defensive.
The colonel chewed on his pipe and looked at the ceiling for a couple of minutes and then said,
"Here are your options, Prerna. Option A - you get up, leave, go home empty-handed, and explain to your husband why you lost all the money. And option B - we play. I bet your expense money, and just out of the goodness of my heart, another 1000 rupees from my pocket. And you bet something worth the same amount - your dress." he said.
"Okay, sure!" I said at once. That sounded like a good deal. I liked the dress, but I didn't mind risking it to earn back the money.
"Wait, I don't think you understand what I am saying." the colonel said. "If you win, I hand over the money to you, right away. If I win, you hand over the dress to me.....right away."
I looked at him, confused. Then I said,
"Yes, if I lose, I will go to my house right away, change into something else and give you this...." and I stopped when he started shaking his head.
"That is not right away. Right away is, well, right away. You lose, you take off the dress and hand it over to me." the colonel said. I think I understood what he was getting at, but I could not believe that's what it was.
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