Wizard Chess

[blondferret]

WHO: Derek Matthews and YOU
WHERE: The Three Broomsticks or a local park
WHEN: Throughout November
WHAT: Derek is playing Wizards Chess
WARNINGS: violence and swearing from the chess pieces



When Derek got his wizard chess set from the mailbox, he was a bit floored at first. Was this for real? His eyes had about popped out of his head when he realized the pieces moved ad talked. He knew they were going to do that, but it was still surprising to see for the first time.

Once he felt he sort of got the hang of it, he would go out a couple of times a week and sit in a park or at the Three Broomsticks and set up the board. Usually he ended up playing a ghost, but every one in a while, an actual person came up to him and asked to play. He readily accepted and became amused when his opponent realized the pieces moved and insulted them.

If you happen to see Derek with his chess set, ask to play. He's not great, but the game will be entertaining none the less.

Comments

[zerotohiro]

[Who's wandering into the Three Broomsticks today? It's this guy. Hiro's been recuperating from everything that happened over the last month and he comes in with a backpack slung over his shoulder. As he sees Derek with the chess set, he approaches curiously and lingers back to get a better look at the set-up here.]

I didn't know you played.

[blondferret]

[Derek looks up from the board and over at Hiro.]

Hey kid. I uh... sorta play. I'm not the best, but I got this in the mailbox so I'm trying it out. It's a bit different than your conventional version of chess if you get my drift.

[zerotohiro]

[It's pretty obvious what Derek means and it piques Hiro's interest almost immediately. Give him a moment to shuffle a little closer. If there's magic in this chess board, he wants to see it in action.]

It looks pretty different already. Have you already played a match against somebody? [Subtle.]

[blondferret]

Yeah, an NPC. You wanna play?

[Derek nods at the seat in front of him.]

[zerotohiro]

[Derek probably only gets as far as "wanna" before Hiro practically scrambles into the seat and drops his bag on the floor by his feet. He's maybe a little excited.]

I'm not that great at the game myself, but sure.

[blondferret]

[Derek grins and turns the board so he is playing white.]

So commanding the pieces is fairly simple. Think of it as a graph for you. The x-axis is letters, the y-axis is numbers. So for example. Pawn to C4.

[The correlating white pawn moves forward two spaces.]

See? The x-axis from right to left is for me is A through H. For you left to right is A through H. The Y-axis is numbered 1 through 8. Row one starting with you and ending with row 8 on my end. You choose a letter and number and command the piece where to go. Now you try.

[zerotohiro]

[He's absorbing the information pretty rapidly and he looks at the board critically as he leans closer to the pieces. He gets how the board works, at least, but he looks up at Derek again briefly.]

There's no limit how far I can move the pieces, right? [But with the pawn so close to his half of the board:] Pawn to C3. [For some reason, it's only when it's his own piece that moves on his own that he realizes the pawns are moving and he stares at them again.]

...are...they supposed to be doing that?

[blondferret]

[Derek smirks and Hiro.]


Wizards chess.

[Derek stares at the board for a minute, thinking.]

Pawn to E4.

[The pawn moves to the indicated space.]

[zerotohiro]

They're not going to start casting other spells, are they? This is awesome. [He's distracted easily enough by the pawns moving but he looks at the board again.] Uh. Pawn to H5? [Can a pawn move that far? We just don't know.]

[blondferret]

[The pawn in the H row starts to move, but not forward, it turned around towards Hiro. And then proceeds to yell at him.]

"THAT IS NOT HOW I MOVE! DO YOU EVEN KNOW HOW TO PLAY?"

[Derek tries his best to hold in his laughter.]

Only two spaces mate.

[zerotohiro]

[He jumps in surprise because why is it yelling?]

Okay, fine. Move yourself then! [Is he trying to argue with the pawn? You bet he is.]

[blondferret]

[The pawn just stares at Hiro before yelling at him again.]

"THAT IS NOT HOW THE BLOODY GAME WORKS!"

[Derek just bursts out laughing.]

[zerotohiro]

Not cool. [He's glaring at the chess piece before he does the utmost brilliant thing and tries to pick it up to look it directly in the eyes.] And I've only ever played online! It's a lot different.

[Not really, but now he's just embarrassed.]

[blondferret]

[The pawn starts frantically wiggling between Hiro's fingers yelling.]

"WHAT BLOODY IDIOT DOESN'T KNOW THE PAWN CAN ONLY MOVE ONE OR TWO SPACES IN ITS FIRST TURN! WHO TAUGHT YOU TO PLAY? A MONKEY! YOU'RE A----"

[And then the small piece starts shouting multiple profanities. Is Derek being of any help at all? Hell no. He's still laughing his ass off.]

[zerotohiro]

[He's just going to close his hand around the pawn so it can yell into a muffled abyss then :)]

Do you always let your chess pieces insult people like that?

[blondferret]

[Derek finally controls his laughing enough to respond to Hiro. He still has this amused grin on his face.]

This would be the first time someone has gotten that sort of reaction out of the chess pieces.

[zerotohiro]

I can't tell if that's a good or a bad thing. Are they going to calm down if I actually play the game right? [...maybe it's a little funny. If you squint.]

[blondferret]

[Derek shrugs.]

Hopefully if they follow any logical train of thought.

[zerotohiro]

They're chess pieces. At the end of the day? Who knows what they're thinking. [But fine, fine. He puts the piece down and resets it.] Pawn to H4.

[He also leans back a little just in case it starts yelling again.]

[blondferret]

[ooc. Just realized Derek was suppose to be saying C5 and E5... my bad.]

[The pawn moves to the indicated space without complains.]

[Derek smiles slightly and then stares at the board for a bit. Finally he decides.]

Pawn to H5

[dornen_kiste]

One actual person heading your way, Derek!

It might be the off season for gymnastics, but that didn't mean he couldn't keep fit! He would have to go back eventually, after all, and he was going to start going to that training club too! And, well you know, looking fit for his boyfriend ~ He sees him during one of his jaunts through the park, smiling at spotting his friend and puttered over, growing even more curious when he saw what was in front of him.

"That's a neat chess set!"

[blondferret]

[Derek grins and motions to the seat in front of him with his hand.]

Would you be up for a game? I'm not the best, so I won't be much competition, but it is just a game.

[dornen_kiste]

Hmm, you'd have to teach me the basic rules. I know checkers, but chess is a really different game even if the pieces are the same color.

_{[ He sat down across from Derek, peering down at the pieces. ]}

Aw, they're kind of cute!

[blondferret]

[Derek cocks and eyebrow.]

Cute? Chess is a game of the mind. But yeah, take a seat, I can teach you the basics. I can at least do that much.

[dornen_kiste]

I know all the pieces have certain ways they can move, right? Like, the pawns can move the most, and everyone else is more restricted, and the point is to make it so the... king piece can't move anymore?

_{[ A high level overview, and a wobbly one, he was sure. He had mostly grasped it from movies he'd watched or snippets in podcasts or other media here and there, but not nearly enough to even dream of playing. ]}

And yeah, they're cute! I like it when at stores that sell them you see sets with more stylized pieces like this.

[blondferret]

That's... a very crude explanation, yet correct. Ok...

[Derek starts pointing at the different pieces.]

Pawns move forward. Two spaces in the beginning, then single spaces after that. They attack diagonally.

The Rook goes up and down, there is no limit to how many paces they can go, but no jumping.

The Bishop moves diagonally. No limit to spaces as long as nothing is in it's way.

Queen can move diagonal, side to side, and up and down. No limit to how many spaces.

The King, can move the same as the Queen, but he can only move one space at a time.

And finally the knight. This one moves in an L shape. Like, this...

[Derek points with his finger on the board what kind of L shape he was talking about.]

The knight can jump over other pieces if they are in it's way. That is the basic movements, understand?

[dornen_kiste]

_{[ Yogi furrows his brow as he concentrates on the other's explanation. It doesn't sound to hard, but also hard at the same time? Was that possible? He shifted in his seat when Derek finished, considering the pieces and finally just letting out a nervous laugh. ]}

I think I got it all, but I guess you'll correct me any time I get it wrong, right? Maybe this first time doesn't totally count as a match?

_{[ He held his hands up in a "pretty please" prayer position and the sweetest smile he could manage. ]}

[blondferret]

Yeah, sure it won't count. But I just explained to you how to play muggle chess. Wizard chess is a bit different. For example:

[Derek sits up a bit more straight and talks to the board.]

Pawn to C4.

[The coordinating pawn moves two spaces forward on it's own.

See? It's like playing battle ship and you have to tell the pieces where to go. Think of this like a graph. The x-axis from right to left is for me is A through H. For you left to right is A through H. The Y-axis is numbered 1 through 8. Row one starting with you and ending with row 8 on my end. You choose a letter and number and command the piece where to go. Get it?

[dornen_kiste]

_{[ If someone could actually have the swirly eyes of confusion from cartoons, that was what Yogi would be featuring right now. That was certainly a lot to remember! How to move, where to move, calling things out. He could remember routines well enough, but you like burned that stuff into your body. This was all total brain power. But the pawn moving on it own was cool! So he's a strange mix of confused, excited, and awed at the same time. ]}

Haha, well, I'll try and remember it all! I guess if I say a wrong space and the piece can't move there it won't?

[blondferret]

Well... it won't move to a space it can't go to if that's what you're asking.

[Though it might yell at you...]

[dornen_kiste]

Yeah, that! So the pieces will help out and I won't mess up the board!

_{[ Would it be scary if they yelled? It would probably be kind of cute. It was always cute when tiny things yelled. ]}

[drydrown]

[Well, on one of the occasions Derek is set up in the park, he will be joined by A Human Person - or, well, he'll be joined by Cumore, who's a good argument for why people make soulless lawyer jokes. But you know what, he's probably close enough.

This is also one of the exceedingly rare occasions where he's utterly bored by being inside all the time. So. Here he is.]

My, my. You're just full of surprising hobbies, aren't you?

[blondferret]

Hobby? Eh...

[Derek shrugs.]

It's a way to pass the time and I got this in the mailbox. You see, this isn't just any chess board. This, is wizards chess. You interested in a game?

[drydrown]

That depends on the differences between that and non-wizard's chess, I'd imagine.

[blondferret]

[Derek chuckles at his friend.]

Cumore they just move. Its a very hands free game. You tell them where to go, similar to Battleship if you've every played that game. There might be an occasional insult if the piece thinks you're making a wrong move.

[Derek is just gonna leave out the fact that piece beat each other up and drag each other off the board. He has to keep some surprises for himself!]

[drydrown]

...This is going to be interesting, then, given that I don't play very often.

[Strategy games aren't his strong suit? But okay, fine, he'll join you, let's go.]

Not that I'm opposed, at any rate.

[blondferret]

Here...

[Derek puts a few of the pieces back in place and turns it so that he is playing white.]

Watch this. The concept is easy enough. Pawn to C4.

[the Correlating pawn moves froward two spaces and then stops.]

See? The x-axis from right to left is for me is A through H. For you left to right is A through H. The Y-axis is numbered 1 through 8. Row one starting with you and ending with row 8 on my end. You choose a letter and number and command the piece where to go. Now it's your turn.

[drydrown]

[That seems to amuse him, at least.]

I do understand how to play, you know. It just isn't particularly a pastime of mine.

[blondferret]

Really? Before you saw my chess board you knew that you would have to talk to it and watch the pieces magically move on their own?