Chapter 10: The Best Chess Piece
The room erupted in more murmurs, even as the king addressed DM.
“You are… the one who came up with this game?”
“…No. I didn’t invent it. …I just spread it by using it as a challenge in my dungeon.”
“If not you, then who did?”
“…I don’t know who invented it. I know the game is really old, although it hasn’t spread around before now. …I read the rules somewhere a while back and thought the game seemed fun.” DM wasn’t lying, although he was obviously omitting some of the truth as well.
“How fascinating. I’d like to ask you more, but we’re in the middle of a game. I’ll allow you make the move for now. Later on, we’ll all have to discuss if changing the rules to what you know is warranted.” The king nodded to the chess crew, and they moved the pieces according to DM’s announced move.
While DM was glad he didn’t get set back by a misinterpretation of the rules, that didn’t change the fact that he was slightly behind in the game. The king swiftly captured DM’s pawn following DM’s en passant using the black queen.
Eight turns later, DM was forced to trade his queen for his opponent’s rook and bishop. In order to win, the king would need to make a blunder. After several turns of playing cat-and-mouse, DM lost yet another pawn. He figured now was as good a time as any and resigned.
The audience applauded, both to congratulate their king on his victory and, presumably, because it was such a well-played game overall. DM was still kicking himself over that bad move from before the en passant, but there was no point in crying over spilled milk.
“Not bad, DM,” said the king. “I very much enjoyed that game. I hope we’ll get to play more in the future.”
“…Thank you. If you keep practicing, I won’t stand much of a chance in the future, though.”
“It’s funny though…” the king’s tone changed to one of bewilderment. “I would have thought someone capable of perfecting an entire kingdom’s plans for road construction on short notice would be able to outperform me in a game of strategy and tactics like this one. Were you not playing your best?”
DM paused to think about whether or not it made sense to pretend he didn’t draw up the map during Vulp’s previous visit to the capital. He could deny involvement, but the defense would be weak at best. It’s not like contributing towards the nation’s infrastructure would be treated as a criminal offense.
“…When playing chess or other games, I do not normally utilize the same methods for calculating possibilities as I do for solving other types of problems. It would be unfair to my opponent.”
The room erupted in discussions and even arguments. DM could hear some people trying to deny that DM was in fact the one who helped the kingdom perfect its plan for country-wide road construction, others insisting they knew all along, and yet others speculating about what DM was referring to with his calculational methods.
“DM, would you be able to bring those abilities to bear right now?”
“…I would need a few minutes to prepare but I could. It isn’t fair, though.”
“Nonsense. If I took advantage of your methods for improving the kingdom, I should let you use those same methods for playing chess.” The king pointed at the chess crew. “Set the board back up so that I play white this time. We’ll start once DM is ready.”
The workers finished setting up the board shortly before DM said he was ready.
“Then I’ll lead us off. Good luck on our rematch, DM. C4.” The king selected the English opening, although DM doubted anyone else knew the name.
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“…I’ll be playing a bit more slowly now,” DM warned. He needed to enter the moves into his dungeon console and let it calculate the next one.
“Not a problem. Nobody reserved the throne room for after we’re done.” The king earned a few chuckles. “I’ve recently come to believe that you can learn a lot about the nature of a man by playing him in chess. What do you think?”
“…That could be, although it may be difficult without me being in the same room.”
“True. Last game, I definitely found it difficult to get a sense of what you are like while we were playing. If you don’t mind, I’d like to ask you a few questions to make up for the shortfall.”
“…I do not mind. E6.”
“Hm. What is your favorite piece, DM? Knight C3.”
“…Knight F6. Actually, it is the knight.”
“Oh? Do you fancy yourself a knight?”
“…Not at all.”
“A king, then?”
“…No. A king, like yourself, leads people. …I merely control dungeons. I’m like an instructor for children who hope to become a knight someday.”
“Oh, an interesting perspective. E4. I actually tried playing chess with each of the people on the chess board. The pawns are clearly foot soldiers, so I invited a few into the palace. The queen didn’t care for games like this but she was willing to play once. I played chess with two bishops as well as two knights.”
“…Let me guess. You had no idea who the rook is supposed to be.”
“Hah!” The king turned to the Prime Minister. “Told you!”
The Prime Minister shrugged wordlessly as the king turned back to the game board.
“Yes, whether it is a castle or a chariot, there is nobody in particular for me to play. Shall you guess who performed the worst when it came to learning to play chess well?”
“…C5. Was it the pawns?”
The king shook his head. “It was the knights. Knights are better learned and better trained than bishops, queens, or foot soldiers when it comes to combat, and yet their performance in picking up chess was abysmal. Do you have any thoughts on why that might be?”
“…It could just be that your sample size was too small to draw any conclusions.”
“Sample size, is it…?” The king paused to ponder. “Yes, I suppose that could be it. G3. Or, now bear with me, or it could be a lack of flexibility on the part of the knights.”
DM felt bad for the chess crew who had to listen carefully among this conversation for any chess moves that were announced practically mid-sentence. “…Could be. D5.” DM’s pawn move put a lot of pressure on the king, forcing his full attention to the game for a couple of minutes.
“E5.” The king pushed one of his targeted pawns forward, aggressively attacking DM’s knight. “Even if my theory was correct, would you still choose the knight as your favorite piece?”
“…Without a doubt. D4.” DM pushed his pawn forward, also attacking his opponent’s knight in an escalation.
“Let me ask you this before we ironically capture each other’s knights. Why is the knight your favorite piece in chess?”
“…The knight’s ability to attack enemies from afar is what impresses me. They can reach past friends or foes to capture a piece further away.”
“Hm, yes,” the king agreed. “They are unlike other pieces. Is that all? E takes F6.”
“…D takes C3. Your question reminds me of the smothered mate.”
“Smothered mate?” The king looked around the room, but several people shook their heads, unfamiliar with the term. “What is that?”
“…It occurs when the enemy king is surrounded by other pieces and the edge of the board. He gets checked indirectly by a knight and cannot escape in any direction since all adjacent spaces are occupied.”
“Ah, I have seen that situation a few times, DM. Now I know what to call it, and yes, that is an impressive way to win the game, is it not?”
“…It is. It’s one of the potential weaknesses of castling. …The king, inside his castle and surrounded on all sides by friendly pieces, can still get attacked and defeated from afar by a single knight.”
The king paraphrased DM’s point under his breath. “The king, inside his castle, surrounded exclusively by allies, is easily defeated in a single indirect move by a lone enemy, you say…?”
“…That’s right. I don’t think it makes sense when you try to apply the imagery to a real-life king in a castle, though. …A knight is not able to attack a king from outside the castle, obviously.”
The king crossed his arms and stared at the board, seemingly tired of the conversation for the time being. After a couple of minutes, he spoke. “And you said you do not consider yourself a knight, correct?”
“…Correct. I have not earned that privilege and probably wouldn’t make a good knight if I tried anyway.”
“DM, if not a knight, then who or what would be able to defeat a king in his castle from outside of it?”
DM stopped to ponder the king’s question. It would be difficult to target the king using any type of indirect fire, whether with mechanical weaponry or even offensive spells. An assassin could sneak into the castle and attack the king from the shadows, but that didn’t meet the criteria of the question. One creature did come to mind—one that could defeat the king from afar. It was big and had tentacles and could use terrifying abilities like infect and spawn tentacle—abilities that the king was likely fully aware of by now.
If DM had made the connection, then the king probably had as well.