Curiosity by Gary Blackwood

Author:Gary Blackwood
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: Penguin Group US
Published: 2014-04-10T04:00:00+00:00

FOLDING MYSELF UP INSIDE THE CABINET was even more painful than usual after the drubbing Maelzel had given me. On the bright side, the Carcel lamp proved to be a big improvment over the candle. It gave off far more light and far less fumes. It was also quite sturdy and stable, and I knew from childhood experience that, even if I did manage to knock it over, I wasn’t going to immolate myself or the Turk; the flame would simply go out.

Otso and I made short work of the two audience members who played endgames against us. After a short interval, Maelzel set the board up for my game against Mrs. Fisher—whoever she was. I didn’t know what to expect; I’d never played against a woman. If she wasn’t a strong player, it would be nearly impossible for me to lose without making it obvious that I was doing it on purpose.

Early on, she did something that suggested she was a rank beginner: She made an illegal move with her knight, moving him two spaces forward and then two to the side, instead of two and one. I shook the Turk’s head, picked up the offending piece, and returned it to its previous spot.

But a few moves later, she made the same mistake with her other knight, and I concluded that it wasn’t a mistake at all; it was a test, to see how the Turk would react. Maelzel could have corrected her, of course, but he obviously preferred to let the machine handle it, to demonstrate how clever it was. This time I drummed the Turk’s fingers impatiently and replaced the knight more forcefully than before.

It soon became clear that she was no beginner; in fact, if I didn’t pay attention I might conceivably lose without meaning to. But ultimately she made a genuine mistake—the same one that I’ve seen hundreds of others make. You may already know what castling is; if not, I’ll just say that it’s a move in which the rook and the king swap places. Cautious player that I am, I usually castle early on. That way my king isn’t right in the thick of things, but tucked safely away in a well-protected corner.

Some see castling as a defensive move, a wasted play; they’d rather take the offensive. Mrs. Fisher was one of those. The trouble was, she couldn’t move all her pieces freely, because some were needed to protect her king. All I had to do was keep threatening the Black monarch and I could pick off his subjects one by one.

Out of old habit, I started to do just that. And then I remembered that, oh, yes, I was supposed to lose. I was going to have to hold back, to make some inconspicuous error of my own, to give Mrs. Fisher the advantage. But for some reason I couldn’t bring myself to do it.

As I’ve said, prior to the game I had no real qualms about throwing it. But from inside the Turk, things looked different.

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