The universal language of chess [D1EE, Market Ward] (Open)

[Dare Shah]

Queen's knight in front of enemy queen (C6). Clock.

"Though usually not as literally as the Hive, it is indeed a cutthroat environment. And, also like the Hive, you can easily spot those who've frequented them for years and the innocent lambs going to the slaughter."

[Ikkit the Bastard]

"Lambs?"

He appeared broadly unfamiliar with the concept.

Having evidently bought a bit of breathing room, he left his queen where it was and instead sent his second knight out into the gap in his line [D2].

"Y'mean marks?"

[Mysti]

Mysti walked this route almost every day. Sometimes multiple times a day -- depending on the goings on within the city and where her particular talents were needed. Lately, it had been rather slow. Funny how - as a supposed protector of peace in the city - life became rather boring when peace was achieved. Fortunately, however, it would only be a matter of time before said peace was shattered.

That's when she noticed this tent that hadn't been there yesterday. Tents and stalls and various outdoor shops came and went all the time -- that wasn't unusual. The unusual thing about this tent was that no one was actually selling anything. Hmm -- a chess club. In a tent that wasn't here before. Unfortunately, these kinds of gaming tents were not unusual either. The reason why they came and went so quickly is because there was almost certainly an angle - some kind of scam going on. Cheating. Hustling. Outright theft. There was always a reason.

Not that Mysti was too terribly worried about it. People should be wise enough by now not to get hooked by these cons, but there seemed to be a never-ending supply of people who just didn't know any better.

She walked up to the tent flap but didn't enter, deciding instead to watch from a discreet distance, one hand resting on her rapier, the other propped up on the tent pole.

[Dare Shah]

"Lambs?"

He appeared broadly unfamiliar with the concept.

Having evidently bought a bit of breathing room, he left his queen where it was and instead sent his second knight out into the gap in his line [D2].

"Y'mean marks?"

Queenside castling. Clock.

"This is the moment you accuse me of cheating and I cannot really blame you for that.

Castling is an actual move, 100% legal and all. Yet it indeed looks completely made up. Two pieces moving at once? The king moving two steps in one go? The rook jumping other another piece? It basically breaks every single convention established so far.

That's the one big oddity of chess rules. A move originally designed to speed up the game by freeing the rook earlier that, like any supposedly quick and simple tinkering, devolved into something totally out of place, with rules within rules. Like when you want to add a simple strength enhancement module to your armor and have to redesign every single arcanic diagram to compensate for what seemed like an innocuous change at the start."

As she talked, she pulled out the pamphlet detailing castling, all the numerous conditions needing to be fulfilled to be allowed to use it, and what exactly it did. It wasn't that long, but still felt like it made for a good third of chess rules on its own.

"Marks? Not sure I understand what you are saying. I was referring to the children of sheep, which are ritually sacrificed to some deities. Maybe you are more familiar with the similar idiom ‘rats following the piper’?"

[Ikkit the Bastard]

Queenside castling. Clock.

"This is the moment you accuse me of cheating and I cannot really blame you for that.

Castling is an actual move, 100% legal and all. Yet it indeed looks completely made up. Two pieces moving at once? The king moving two steps in one go? The rook jumping other another piece? It basically breaks every single convention established so far.

That's the one big oddity of chess rules. A move originally designed to speed up the game by freeing the rook earlier that, like any supposedly quick and simple tinkering, devolved into something totally out of place, with rules within rules. Like when you want to add a simple strength enhancement module to your armor and have to redesign every single arcanic diagram to compensate for what seemed like an innocuous change at the start."

As she talked, she pulled out the pamphlet detailing castling, all the numerous conditions needing to be fulfilled to be allowed to use it, and what exactly it did. It wasn't that long, but still felt like it made for a good third of chess rules on its own.

"Marks? Not sure I understand what you are saying. I was referring to the children of sheep, which are ritually sacrificed to some deities. Maybe you are more familiar with the similar idiom ‘rats following the piper’?"

He cocked his head to the side.

"Thing is, y'got no need to cheat, an' nothin' t'gain if y'do, so... that tracks."

He took the pamphlet and gave ti a gnader. He seemed less able to follow her commentary on Artifice, his eyes seeming to glaze over a bit.

"Anyway. Yeah, a mark's, like... say I was runnin' a shell game in the Lower Wards, an' I saw you looked like y'had plenty'o jink. I'd try an' rope you in to skim some. Which'd make you a mark. Which is a bit like rats following the Piper, but it's more... pip[ers gets all the rats can hear. A mark's more like if most rats are savvy enough t'give it a miss, an' a couple are fool enough t'fall for it."

He made a face.

"Don't hold with it, myself. Prefer dealin' square so I don't gotta look over my shoulder for Hardheads every time I make a sale. But y'gotta be peery of it in the places I do most'a my work, coz plenty don't think long-term."

He then promptly made a move whose long-term relevance was questionable at best, moving the second pawn from his left two spaces forward.

[To B4]

[Dare Shah]

Queen takes D4 pawn. Clock.

"I get the idea. My daily job is to unveil rotten shell games, except instead of literal shells it's paperwork pretending something that isn't there is there or the other way around.

I don't mix my duty to the city and chess though. This club is neutral ground except for heinous acts."

[Ikkit the Bastard]

"Same mind, though."

Queen takes queen.

"That said, 'sa'good way t'meet folks y'otherwise wouldn't. Don't get down t' the courts all that often."

[Dare Shah]

Knight takes queen. Clock.

"Indeed. Sometimes end up with funny situations when chess friends who meet in different circumstances have nothing to say to each other as their only common ground is chess. Otherwise, they're basically sun and moon."

[Ikkit the Bastard]

He moved his righthand knight back to its nice homey hidey-hole.

"Can't argue with a bit o' variety, though."

[Dare Shah]

Knight C2, takes pawn. Clock.

"Check.

We can probably stop the massacre after I take your second rook.

Before we start analyzing what happened, are you sure you didn't play chess before? Not a trick question, just to avoid telling you things you actually know.

Your plays looked more like the moves of someone pretending to be bad than of someone truly inexperienced. For example, actual beginners usually play almost exclusively with the queen, as it's the most powerful piece by far and they've yet to understand the subtleties of the others."