Free Write - Chess

 

 

Rick's Free Write

Marcello stared at the remaining chess pieces on the board. His blacks. His younger opponent’s whites. He stroked his stubble, looked away, then slowly circled the board – painted on the sidewalk in the park along the Vasastrasse, downtown Stockholm’s primary thoroughfare. He stopped next to his foe and stared at the pieces some more, playing head games with the relative youngster (in his 30s). The opponent feigned confidence but you could notice the sweat, even on a November afternoon.

There must have been 100 or more spectators observing the match. Some were friends of the foe. Most, like us, were just passersby who got caught up in the intrigue of a public game, young versus old, mind v. mind.

Marcello considered himself the ‘King of Street Chess’ in the Swedish capital, undefeated he told us after when we approached to congratulate him. He looked to be in his 70s, maybe 80s, and you could tell he lived for these moments.

After a harrumph, he retracted his steps to his side of the board and made a move that looked to many to be possibly fatal. The younger man quickly pounced with his own move.

Three moves later, Marcello had him in checkmate. 

D-L's Free Write

Since Katrina was a little girl growing up in Prague, she was fascinated by chess, She would watch her father and Uncle Damian play every Friday night.

"Teach me to play," she begged.

"Chess isn't for girls," they would answer.

When she grew up, she discovered an outdoors, life-sized chess pieces in a park. By now she knew the moves and could tell when a player was about to make a mistake.

"Let me play," she would ask over and over through the years. 

"Chess is a man's game."

When she was old, she was still begging.

"Why not? She's been our most loyal fan," one of the old men said.

Katarina won the first game.

"Beginners luck," the old men said. 

And she won the second. And the third.

"Girls can play chess," Katrina said. "Now let me treat you to a coffee." 

Julia's Free Write 
“Brrr…it sure is cold” I said to my little sister. “I don’t even want to go on the swings, so what should we do?”

It was a winter Wednesday afternoon and as we had no school my aunt had brought us to the park.

The park of the Bastions they called it, although as I couldn’t see any who knew what or why.

In our town this park was located very centrally, easily reached by busses and trams so a good place to come for a few hours. If we were lucky, we’d even be able to have a hot chocolate in the restaurant later.

We did this often as our parents both worked so our aunt took care of us on those Wednesdays of no school – a. local tradition that was not at all convenient for working parents.

Fortunately, there was our aunt.

From one end of the park was a good distance so we worked off some energy then lacking anything else to do we wandered over to see who was playing chess on the outside “boards”.

One old man looked like he was on the point of wining. Check and mate. Another afternoon gone. 

About the Free Writers 

Rick Adams is an aviation journalist and publisher of www.aviationvoices.com, a weekly newsletter reporting the airline industry  top stories . He is the author of The Robot in the Simulator. AI in Aviation Training.  

Visit D-L.'s website  https://dlnelsonwriter.com, She is the author of 15 fiction and three non fiction books. Her 300 Unsung Women, bios of women who battled gender limitations, can be purchased  at https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/300-unsung-women-d-l-nelson/1147305797?ean=9798990385504 

Visit Julia's blog. She has written and taken photos and loves syncing up with friends.  Her blog can be found: https://viewsfromeverywhere.blogspot.com/