Yunchang entered the outpost on the outskirts of Beijing to rest and was immediately stopped by an officer.
“Stop. Identification please.”
“I’m General Guan Yunchang. I came all the way here from the border.”
“Not possible. It takes almost two days to travel here from Mongolia”.
“Believe it or not, I’m not bluffing, not this time. Is the Commander-in-chief here?”
"The Commander-in-Chief has explicitly prohibited me from disclosing her whereabouts to anyone lacking proper authority."
“I already told you, I’m a General, Guan Yunchang, that’s my name. Tiring, isn’t it? If you don’t believe me…”
Yunchang tossed his sword to the officer.
“Take this sword to her. See for yourself if it’s legit. I’m too tired for this.”
Without waiting for a response, Yunchang pushed the officer aside. As he walked down the hallway, Yunchang stumbled upon an office that clearly belonged to a high-ranking officer. Without hesitation, he stepped inside, sprawled across a settee, and settled in for a nap. Observing the room, he noticed the decorations resembled Han Yin’s office back in the border. Standing, he wandered around, sat on the desk, and rummaged through the drawers, finding a jar of candy.
“Candy? Huh. At least there’s something to snack on.”
Popping a few into his mouth, he grimaced at the overwhelming sweetness.
“Eww, why is it so sweet? Never mind, after hours of light-foot, this will do.”
As he munched, the door swung open, revealing a white-haired woman carrying a file in one hand and his sword in the other. She frowned upon seeing him.
“I believe this is yours.”
Startled, Yunchang nearly choked on the candy.
“So, how did you even get here so fast? It takes over a day from Mongolia—”
“I used light-foot.”
“You? Light-foot? For that long?”
“How else would I get here then?”
Yunchang stood up and walked past Han Yin, treating her as if she wasn’t there. Though frustrated by his attitude, Han Yin held her tongue, allowing him to leave without a word. Once outside the military base, Yunchang strolled through the outskirts of Beijing, taking in the sights and exploring the area at his leisure.
Stolen story; please report.
“The capital isn’t much denser than Shanghai,” he thought, passing by taverns. Remembering Beijing’s reputation for fine wine, he entered a nearby establishment, ran by an old man.
“Owner, three bottles of rice wine.”
“Coming right away.”
As he waited, he noticed a peculiar chess position framed on the wall.
WHITE TO PLAY AND WIN THE GAME
image [https://i.imgur.com/DbxNKJ6.jpeg]
“Weird. Usually, chess puzzles tend to have few pieces left. This one’s still crowded with all the major pieces from both sides.”
As the owner walked out with his wine, he asked: “Owner, what’s with that chess position?”
“Ah, that one two years ago, when The Commander-in-chief and her people visited our humble tavern, she left it here as a gift. She also said that anyone who solves the puzzle will be rewarded 10 pure gold bars. I’ve been curious about chess ever since but even after all this time, I haven’t had any luck solving it. None of my patrons could either.”
“You’ve got a chessboard? Let’s analyze it together.”
Two men, divided by generations, united by fine wine and chess. With each sip of wine, their conversation deepened.
“I think pawn to E3 is strong, it chases the bishop,” the owner suggested.
“I’d say rook to D2 is better, It puts an extra defense on E2 and allows you to stack both rooks on the D file within the next move” Yunchang countered.
Their analysis continued until Yunchang declared, “I’ll solve this tonight and claim you all the golds, but under one condition. All the wine I’ve had today, it’s on the house.”
The owner laughed. “If you actually solved it, I’ll give you free wine here for life!”
“Deal, but I drink a lot, mind you.”
“That’s the spirit. You remind me of myself ages ago…”
That night, within his room, instead of strategizing against rebels, Yunchang pored over the chessboard, painstakingly calculating moves. He spent most of his time thinking, only ever touching the board once every half an hour. This continued until 4 a.m., during which he carefully calculated 55 additional moves that he believed to be the most accurate. Yunchang's analysis brought him to the following conclusion:
image [https://i.imgur.com/9C49fxV.png]
“The position is still incredibly difficult to crack. The white knight has to always stay beside the white king to cover all potential checks from the black queen. I evaluated the white knight to be stronger than the black bishop, but black is also threatening to play queen takes E3 check protected by that bishop. Moving one of the rooks to E5 to defend the pawn seems decent at first glance, but if black plays bishop takes E3 instead, no matter which rook was placed on E5, the black queen would simply capture the other one. The resulting endgame—a black queen with two pawns against a white rook, a knight, and two pawns—it’s a draw. Even if white manages to capture the H5 pawn later, white still can’t progress due to perpetual checks from the black queen”.
For most people even when looking at this more simplified position, it would take at least half an hour to analyze thoroughly and accurately. Many might not even notice the potential threat of bishop takes E3 check at all. But for Yunchang, It only took him 4–5 seconds. He paced around the room, muttering to himself as he worked through every variation in his mind. It was still a dead draw.
“She must have known it was a draw,” he murmured. “If it took me five seconds, it shouldn’t take her more than two. Damn that greedy bitch! She really made it that no-one would ever get their hands on her precious golds.”
Yunchang glanced at the chessboard one last time before finally resigning in disappointment. It was almost 5 a.m. now. He decided to leave early to avoid getting caught up in administrative hours. Just as he was about to pack up, he spotted a breakthrough. He calculated meticulously, spending seven minutes staring at the board before breaking into a smile.
“Checkmate!”