Author's Note
The game this story is based on.
4. Bc4!?
Igneous Rock looked at his daughter and sighed. “Really?” he asked. “Aren’t you tired after a whole day in the quarry?”
“Hmph,” Marble replied. Her mane was messy, covered in chalky dust, and her hooves earned quite a few cuts and cracks from crushing rocks. In spite of that, she stood in front of her father, pointing at the small table behind her.
“Right.” Igneous nodded. He stood up and coughed a few times, wincing. “When I was your age, I could work on the farm for a whole day and then go to Rockville, spend the whole night in the bar, go back home, and go to work again at dawn. But this was a long time ago, before I met your mother and Limestone was born.”
“Hmm…” Marble said.
“Yes, I am aware that Limestone is probably in the bar right now.” Igneous smirked. “You can tell her that back then we did not exactly drink in a bar. Instead, we’d either wrestle each other or throw rocks. I remember Mascara Maroon’s father was the best at rock throwing.”
Marble chuckled. “Hmm?” she asked.
“Back then we didn’t have darts.” Igneous shook his head and slowly walked to the table. He coughed a few times and cleared his throat. “Also, do you think Limestone is in the bar with the doctor who was here today?”
“Hm.” Marble chuckled, blushing slightly.
“I did notice you were both looking at him.” Igneous stifled a sneeze and smiled. “In fact, I would sooner expect Limestone to go and work in the Northern Field, leaving you to chat with our nice doctor.”
“Hmmmm…” Marble blushed even more and covered her face.
“Fine, I will stop.” Igneous turned to the table.
There was a big chessboard there, made of bits of fine Makrana marble and jet, both of them grown on their own farm; Marble remembered an old wooden chessboard they used to have when they were foals. It was definitely a mistake to try to teach Limestone to play chess. She just lacked patience.
Marble, however, could be very patient. First she managed to defeat Pinkie, then, after a lot of training, her mom. She could play on more or less even terms with Maud, although they didn’t have a lot of occasions to play as of late.
Igneous, however, was still undefeated. For years, Marble tried various strategies, tricks, traps, and feints, but none of them worked. A few times, she managed to draw her father; sometimes, she felt victory slipped right through her hooves.
She sat at the board. Back when she was a filly, the pieces were so old and battered by years of use and generations of Pies that they were barely recognisable. Mascara and other friends of Marble’s sisters often joked that only a true Pie could tell them apart.
This changed when Marble was a teenager. She spent a whole week picking the right pieces of rock and sculpting them almost without a break until her job was done. Now, the rooks stood proudly in the corners of the board, resembling the old towers of the past age, the ruins of which could still be seen around Rockville. White Queen, king, and bishops menaced with the spikes of jet; similar spikes of marble adorned the black pieces.
Igneous used to grumble, but he eventually got used to them. Even though Marble was sure he’d rather move to Manehattan than admit he enjoyed something that wasn’t pure, enormous rocks grown by his ancestors, he did appreciate fine craftsmanship.
“Fine,” Igneous said, sitting at the other side of the table. “I hope you are not too tired.”
“Hmph,” Marble replied, pushing her pawn to e4. Her father moved a black pawn to e5, where it stood, facing Marble’s pawn.
Marble lifted the knight and put it on f3, attacking Igneous’s pawn. The old stallion moved the knight to c6, defending his pawn, and looked at his daughter, waiting for her next move. He knew that throughout the years, Marble tried different things. When she was a little filly, she’d often put her bishop on c4; Igneous defended her countless attacks, even the cunning gambit he himself learned from a retired ship captain and then showed to his daughters, teaching them that an unremarkable pawn on b4 can bring doom to a careless player.
Maud, being way less hot-headed than her sisters, quickly switched to queen’s pawn openings, as more befitting her temperament. Pinkie just attacked to the last pawn; this, however, often left her forces reduced to just this last pawn and a trapped king, forever trying to escape its destiny.
Marble, however, was different. She just kept trying new things, figuring them out and working hard at improving herself. For a while, she was a devout follower of a certain Andalusian wizard, who claimed that bishops belonged on b5. It was, however, far too easy for her to get lost in the meanders of a tricky counterattack Igneous often played. Marble knew that its inventor kept it hidden for years just to play it against his greatest opponent, but she herself became ensnared by its complications way too often for her likings.
Thus, Marble kept searching. She pushed her pawn to d4 and Igneous took it. However, instead of retaking it with her knight, Marble moved her bishop to c4.
“Interesting,” Igneous said. He made no effort to defend his pawn, knowing well what disasters it could bring. Instead, he pushed a pawn to d6.
Marble still didn’t feel like taking her pawn back. She picked up her king and castled. Then she looked into her father’s eyes, as if trying to guess his next move.
Igneous moved his knight to f6, expecting his daughter to take the pawn now. However, she still didn’t do that; instead, she put her knight on g5. Igneous shook his head. “That wasn’t good,” he said.
“Hmm?” Marble asked.
“That’s why.” Igneous moved his knight to e5, defending the pawn on f7 and attacking Marble’s bishop. He expected her to take his pawn with the queen now, but instead, she retreated her bishop to b3.
“Are you sure you are not tired?” Igneous asked, looking at the cracks on his daughter’s hooves. “You really should not have dug in the Northern Field without waiting for me to get better. Or you could have asked Limestone for help.”
“Hmph!” Marble replied.
“That is a rude thing to say about your sister.” Igneous coughed a few times and pushed his pawn to h6, attacking Marble’s knight. “If your mother heard you, she would already be bringing the soap.”
Marble retreated her knight to f3, realising her mistake. If she moved it to h3, her father would immediately take it with his bishop, opening her king. On f3, the knight was already attacked by Igneous’s knight, so if he brought out the bishop, pinning the knight to her queen…
Igneous, however, didn’t do this, instead pushing a pawn to c5. Marble sighed with relief and took his knight from e5. Igneous took back and Marble realised, in horror, that now not only she couldn’t have gotten her pawn back, but also her father now had a strong triangle of central pawns on d4, c5, and e5.
She immediately attacked them with f4. Igneous still didn’t castle, so she decided to attack. He defended by moving his bishop to d6. Marble took the pawn on e5, but he just took back with the bishop, ready to castle on the next move.
Marble sighed and pushed c3, again attacking the centre with her pawns. Igneous ignored it and castled. Marble took on d4 and her father took back with the bishop, putting her king in check. She retreated her king, putting it in the corner or the board, while her father took the pawn on e4 with his knight.
Marble groaned, realising that she missed it. What was worse, she realised that the pawn was there, undefended, for quite a few moves. She rested her hooves on the table and lowered her head, her mane nearly touching the pieces.
Igneous coughed a few times, which brought her back to her senses. She looked up, her back muscles suddenly aching. She was indeed tired after dragging granite slabs out of the ditch for the whole day, but she was sure it would never stop her. Even now, when she was clearly worse.
She moved her queen to f3, attacking the knight, but her father just retreated it to f6.
Marble sighed, seeing that she still had some undeveloped pieces. Normally, she’d quickly mobilise her whole army, but today for some reason she went for the quick attempt at attack that most definitely failed. She moved her knight to c3, to which her father responded by moving his queen to b6. Marble immediately attacked it with her knight, moving it to a4.
“You know what they say about knights on the rim?” Igneous asked.
“Mhm,” Marble replied. She was quickly running out of ideas and felt that it’d end up in her defending a lost position for a long time. Igneous moved his queen to a6 and Marble finally moved her other bishop, putting it on f4.
Her father also finished development; he put his bishop on g4, attacking Marble’s queen. She moved it one square to her right, but Igneous was just getting started; he moved a pawn to b5, pushing her knight back to c3. He then pushed the pawn to b4, attacking her knight again. Marble groaned and rolled her eyes – all the squares closer to the centre of the board were covered by her father’s pieces and she had to put the knight back on a4.
Igneous kept trying to attack on the queenside. This time, he moved a pawn on c4, attacking Marble’s bishop. Two jet-black pawns were getting closer and closer to Marble’s lines.
She retreated the bishop to c2, careful not to accidentally leave her rook undefended. Her father also retreated his bishop, moving it to d7. It was, however, quite a different retreat; instead of running away, he was now attacking her knight with two pieces and the knight was only defended by her bishop.
Marble looked at her pieces; she almost played b3, but then she realised she’d hang a rook and then it’d be just waiting for certain defeat. Instead, she moved her rook from a1 to d1, attacking Igneous’s bishop.
Igneous took her knight on a4 with his bishop. Marble raised her eyebrows: her knight couldn’t move and was almost worthless, while Igneous’s bishops ruled the whole board. She took the bishop with her own bishop; if queen took it, she could’ve taken her father’s other bishop with her rook.
Instead, he grabbed the bishop and took the pawn on b2; Marble shook, almost in rage, and retreated her bishop to c2.
Igneous coughed again, gasping for breath. Marble looked at him unsurely, but he waved his hoof.
“It is fine, my child,” Igneous said, pushing the pawn on b3. Marble furrowed her eyebrows, staring at the pawn and at her father again. Then she took with her a-pawn, and when her father took it back, she took another pawn with her bishop.
“Hmm?” she asked.
“No, I am really fine,” Igneous said. “And your situation is not good either.” He moved the knight to e4, attacking Marble’s queen, but she just moved it back to f3. For a while, Igneous’s hoof hovered above the board and he moved the knight back to f6.
“Hm?” Marble asked, pointing at her queen and the g3 square.
“No, I don’t want a draw.” Igneous shook his head, so Marble moved her bishop to c2 instead. Igneous was not impressed; he moved his queen to c4 and when Marble attacked it with her bishop, he just moved it away without paying much attention. Marble yawned. She moved her queen to g3, hoping to attack the pawn on h6 with her bishop.
She blinked and cursed under her breath, looking at the board. Only now she realised that her father’s queen was on c6. Somehow, for the first time in his life, he left it for her to be taken and she missed it! She rubbed her temples and groaned.
“Oh,” Igneous muttered. “Looks like we’re both tired. Maybe we really should call this one a draw?”
“Hm!” Marble exclaimed. Igneous shrugged and moved his knight to h5, attacking Marble’s queen and bishop. Marble, still shaken after the previous few moves, moved her queen to g4. Her father took the bishop and she took his knight with the queen.
Igneous moved the rook from a8 and put it on d8, facing Marble’s rook, with only Marble’s bishop between them. She still had two pawns less and she was caring less and less about the game; in fact, her back hurt, and she knew on the next day she’d have to come back to the Northern Field.
She moved her bishop to e4, attacking her father’s queen. He thought for a moment, rubbing his mane, and moved his queen on c5.
Marble froze. Much to her surprise, she realised that her father had just lost the game. Well, she missed it before, but now the chance presented itself clearly.
She took the rook on d8. Igneous’s eyes widened as he, too, realised what just happened. His hoof shaking, he took the rook back and then Marble took the pawn on f7 with her queen, checking her father’s king.
He moved it to h8 and Marble immediately put her queen on g6. Now, her queen and bishop formed an unstoppable battery along the diagonal and no matter the next moves, queen to h7 was going to be checkmate.
“RIght, it’s over.” Igneous shook his head and poked his king with his hoof, tipping it over. “Congratulations, Marble.”
“Mhm.” Marble sighed.
“You did pretty well,” Igneous said.
Marble shook her head, her mane almost completely covered her face. She took the pieces and shuffled them a bit, going back to the moment she attacked her father’s queen with her bishop. However, instead of c5, she moved the black queen to b6. Now, the queen was defending the rook on d8, making Marble’s attack on the pawn laughably easy to defend against.
“Well, we are both a bit out of shape,” Igneous said. “This does not make your victory any smaller.”
Marble smiled and hugged her father. He tried to free himself, but she held him close.
“Hey, watch out for the pieces!” Igneous exclaimed. ‘Not to mention my old bones.”
“Hmph,” Marble replied, but she let go of him and returned to her seat. “Hmm?”
“Yes, I think we should wait with the rematch until tomorrow. And this time wait for Limestone before you go to the Nor–” Igneous paused, hearing the front door opening. After a while, Limestone walked into the room, her mane somehow messier than Marble’s, and her coat full of muddy stains. She was accompanied by two more ponies: her sister Maud, and a tall, lanky stallion with dull grey coat.
“Hi, dad,” Limestone said. “Guess who I met in the bar.”
“Technically, you met us in front of the bar,” the stallion replied. “And you still didn’t thank us for saving your flank.”
“Technically, I was doing pretty well on my own, thank you.” Limestone rolled her eyes and turned to Maud. “Where did you find this guy? A nerd cave?”
“Yes,” Maud replied, looking at the chessboard. “I see you’re better, father. How’s our mother?”
“Playing bridge with her friends by Holder’s Boulder,” Igneous replied and turned to the stallion. “You must be Mudbriar, right?”
“Oh no,” Limestone muttered, running to the window. “Mom? Don’t touch Holder’s Boulder! Remember what happened last time?”
“Is she always like this?” Mudbriar asked Maud.
“You should’ve seen what happened when Cheese Sandwich climbed on the top of Holder’s Boulder,” Maud said.
Mudbriar looked at Limestone and shrugged. “What happened?”
“Hmph,” Marble replied.
Maud nodded. “Exactly that. It wasn’t pretty.” She turned to Igneous. “Pinkie and Cheese will arrive tomorrow.”
“Good.” Igneous nodded, wiping his eyes.
“Hm?” Marble asked.
“It is nothing, my dear,” Igneous replied. “Just… I’m happy to see you all here.”
