“ ‘To be, or not to be? That is the question.’ ”
“Are you still being Shakespearian, Charles?” Dorothy said. They were together in their parlor, but Charles had no book in his hand.
“No, it is a question. Wasn’t Hamlet’s great flaw that he couldn’t make up his mind?”
“He did have that problem.”
“I do, too.”
“You’ve been hoping for better choices.”
“None have presented themselves,” Charles said.
“I think I’ve lost track of all your conversations with everyone.”
“There is one point, dear, that is especially troubling me. It is from Galen Jones, on Friday. I have been trying to work out what it means.”
A breeze troubled the curtains.
“What, dear?”
“There was a hidden drawer in Derek’s desk. Mr. Jones put it there.”
The hidden breeze stirred the air in the room. “But Derek’s papers were in the book you bought.”
“Some papers were.”
Some of the breeze swirled about him; some twirled about her.
“You think there were more papers?”
“I know he had a drawer and a book, and I have what was in the book.”
“Then what was in the drawer?”
“I do not know,” Charles said. “But the point that is most troubling to me isn’t what was in each place, but why.”
“I don’t understand.”
“What is it about the papers in the book that he chose to keep them there, instead of in the drawer?” The breeze died in a maze of eddies. “Alas, poor Derek, I thought I knew him well.”
“Again! Five games, Charles, and I have yet to capture your elusive king.”
“They have all been very close, Derek.”
“And I think I see your methods. You hold back your stronger pieces longer than most players.”
“They’re wasted on a crowded board. Pawns are the power in the beginning, when they hold territory. All the other pieces’ tactics have to cooperate with them.”
“I’ve seen that you don’t like giving them up.”
“Sentiment, Derek. I don’t have the ruthless streak a real master would.”
“And you need to use your knights better.”
“That is my other weakness. They have the greatest strategic potential, but I can’t see far enough ahead with them.”
“You did quite well in taking my castle, Charles.”
“Sometimes I notice an opportunity, Derek! On the crowded board, they’re very strong, but they weaken compared to the other pieces as the board clears. I trade them too quickly, while they’re still more useful than a bishop. The key is to know the right moment, when their capabilities are becoming less useful.”
“And then sacrifice them.”
“ Trade them. I think it’s a better word.”
“You mean it’s a less ruthless word.”
“No. A trade is for mutual advantage, and even as opponents, we choose trades that benefit us both. A sacrifice is giving something up for no return. It might have no place in chess, Derek, but it has in real life.”
“Which is why I like chess, Charles. It mirrors my life quite well.”
“I would think that was a callous statement, Derek, if I didn’t know that you say such things just to provoke me.”
“All right then, Charles, consider this: If I am the callous one, and chess is a ruthless game, why do you always beat me?”