Prez
Chrono Cadet
Stephen Hawking once held a party for time travelers, and didn’t release the date until after the event happened.
Sadly nobody showed up. Stephen may have been disappointed, or perhaps, elated that his understanding of physics wasn’t challenged on that day.
Except, nobody showed up because the party was lame & was a setup. So, some frosty travelers decided to flip the script.
On the day in question, Adam showed up with his chess set.
“I’m here for the chess tournament!”
There was no chess tournament though. Only a lonely Stephen Hawking waiting for someone to bust through the door and declare they were time travelers.
He wasn’t alone either. Stephen had a few aides with him, presumably because he needed them or wanted to gain further validation.
“What chess tournament?” One of his aides said.
“I read a flyer that said there was a chess tournament today, for an opportunity to play Stephen Hawking. It said to meet here and bring your own board.”
The aide assumed it was somehow a joke. Stephen seemed to be confused but interested.
Sadly there was no chess tournament, only a time travel party, and I was all by myself with Stephen and his aides. It was a lame party.
Then she walked in.
It was as if time stopped. Mere Seconds felt like minutes that became hours. I could not help but be amazed at the effect she had on me.
I remember her vividly. She was short, pale, and flawless (to me at least). Long chestnut hair with a blue bow. Blue pinafore dress. Knee high socks with ruby red slippers. She clinched her chess board in front of her like a textbook.
“Is this where the chess tournament is?” She asked.
I chuckled back, “No, I guess this was supposed to be a time travel party. There’s no chess here.”
Stephen was becoming noticeably more active, probably equal parts interested and confused. By this time in his life, he wasn’t really able to communicate well or quickly. He kept looking at his aide, who picked up on something funny going on.
“I suppose since there’s no tournament or game with Stephen on the table, there’s no reason to be here.” She said in a somewhat defeated voice.
“Would you fancy a game with me before we go?” I asked. “I came all this way with my board and never have anyone to play with.”
She sat down at a nearby desk. “Sure, let’s go!”
We each pulled out our chess boards. Hers was a classy and respectable Staunton set, made of black and white marble. Mine was the official Harry Potter wizards chess set.
After setting our pieces up using her set, we shook hands over the board. “I’m Adam, by the way.”
“Evelyn, but everyone just calls me Eve.” She replied.
“You’re kidding me right?! What are the chances the only two to show up for this chess night are Adam and Eve.” I was so excited.
“Well, if I’m being honest, my names not really Eve.” She replied.
“Starting out with a lie, are we?” I bantered back. “Well, Since we’re being honest with each other…my name isn’t really Adam either.”
I was on the white pieces, she was on black. I moved first. Pawn to D4.
“What’s your real name?” She replied with her pawn to D5.
“Why don’t we find out who wins and then maybe we both come clean?” I moved pawn to C4, the Queen’s Gambit.
She smirked and played D5 takes C4. “Gambit accepted.”
I played knight to c3. She responded with knight to C6, transposing the game into a Chigorin defense (a variation of the Queens Gambit declined).
“I thought we were playing Queens Gambit Accepted” I joked while playing pawn to E4.
Eve played knight to F6. “I changed my mind.” She said, as a matter of fact.
The Chigorin is a strong response to the Queens Gambit, which violates several classical chess principles in order to have more active pieces & tactical opportunities. However, her first accepting the gambit > then transposing to a Chigorin variation, left her with a disadvantage.
"Hey, can whoever wins this game play Stephen?" I asked his aide.
"We're not really here for that." the aide said, rather short and bluntly.
By this time Stephen's affliction had left him almost completely unable to communicate. He relied on his aides and students to solve lesser problems. Only certain words or phrases were possible with a particular twitch, to which Stephen interjected.
"Yes." said the voice that was known as Hawking. I knew he wanted to play. He just couldn't.
Sparing the boring details of the game, my advantage became so overwhelming that everyone could see checkmate in three or less no matter what move was played. Every move Eve made was perfect, but it did not matter. Once the advantage was lost, there was no hope for recovery. The advantage was lost from the very beginning.
To that end, I offered a draw. Neither of us would play Stephen Hawking, or we both would.
Sadly nobody showed up. Stephen may have been disappointed, or perhaps, elated that his understanding of physics wasn’t challenged on that day.
Except, nobody showed up because the party was lame & was a setup. So, some frosty travelers decided to flip the script.
On the day in question, Adam showed up with his chess set.
“I’m here for the chess tournament!”
There was no chess tournament though. Only a lonely Stephen Hawking waiting for someone to bust through the door and declare they were time travelers.
He wasn’t alone either. Stephen had a few aides with him, presumably because he needed them or wanted to gain further validation.
“What chess tournament?” One of his aides said.
“I read a flyer that said there was a chess tournament today, for an opportunity to play Stephen Hawking. It said to meet here and bring your own board.”
The aide assumed it was somehow a joke. Stephen seemed to be confused but interested.
Sadly there was no chess tournament, only a time travel party, and I was all by myself with Stephen and his aides. It was a lame party.
Then she walked in.
It was as if time stopped. Mere Seconds felt like minutes that became hours. I could not help but be amazed at the effect she had on me.
I remember her vividly. She was short, pale, and flawless (to me at least). Long chestnut hair with a blue bow. Blue pinafore dress. Knee high socks with ruby red slippers. She clinched her chess board in front of her like a textbook.
“Is this where the chess tournament is?” She asked.
I chuckled back, “No, I guess this was supposed to be a time travel party. There’s no chess here.”
Stephen was becoming noticeably more active, probably equal parts interested and confused. By this time in his life, he wasn’t really able to communicate well or quickly. He kept looking at his aide, who picked up on something funny going on.
“I suppose since there’s no tournament or game with Stephen on the table, there’s no reason to be here.” She said in a somewhat defeated voice.
“Would you fancy a game with me before we go?” I asked. “I came all this way with my board and never have anyone to play with.”
She sat down at a nearby desk. “Sure, let’s go!”
We each pulled out our chess boards. Hers was a classy and respectable Staunton set, made of black and white marble. Mine was the official Harry Potter wizards chess set.
After setting our pieces up using her set, we shook hands over the board. “I’m Adam, by the way.”
“Evelyn, but everyone just calls me Eve.” She replied.
“You’re kidding me right?! What are the chances the only two to show up for this chess night are Adam and Eve.” I was so excited.
“Well, if I’m being honest, my names not really Eve.” She replied.
“Starting out with a lie, are we?” I bantered back. “Well, Since we’re being honest with each other…my name isn’t really Adam either.”
I was on the white pieces, she was on black. I moved first. Pawn to D4.
“What’s your real name?” She replied with her pawn to D5.
“Why don’t we find out who wins and then maybe we both come clean?” I moved pawn to C4, the Queen’s Gambit.
She smirked and played D5 takes C4. “Gambit accepted.”
I played knight to c3. She responded with knight to C6, transposing the game into a Chigorin defense (a variation of the Queens Gambit declined).
“I thought we were playing Queens Gambit Accepted” I joked while playing pawn to E4.
Eve played knight to F6. “I changed my mind.” She said, as a matter of fact.
The Chigorin is a strong response to the Queens Gambit, which violates several classical chess principles in order to have more active pieces & tactical opportunities. However, her first accepting the gambit > then transposing to a Chigorin variation, left her with a disadvantage.
"Hey, can whoever wins this game play Stephen?" I asked his aide.
"We're not really here for that." the aide said, rather short and bluntly.
By this time Stephen's affliction had left him almost completely unable to communicate. He relied on his aides and students to solve lesser problems. Only certain words or phrases were possible with a particular twitch, to which Stephen interjected.
"Yes." said the voice that was known as Hawking. I knew he wanted to play. He just couldn't.
Sparing the boring details of the game, my advantage became so overwhelming that everyone could see checkmate in three or less no matter what move was played. Every move Eve made was perfect, but it did not matter. Once the advantage was lost, there was no hope for recovery. The advantage was lost from the very beginning.
To that end, I offered a draw. Neither of us would play Stephen Hawking, or we both would.
