If Sun Tsu Played Chess, (what did not make it into the book part 2!)
June 30th 2008 22:52
I did not load the diagrams into this so you will have to just play it out on your own board.
The Return to the Park
After years of being away from the park, Allen decided to return, but this time as an adult with years of playing experience. He too would become a hustler, but not because he needed the money. The original goal when he started out as a teenager was to get just a few extra dollars to get candy with. So, as an adult he liked to think of himself more as a Ronin, or Samurai for hire, who wanted to raise capital for a much desire Latte investment.
The usual park visit consisted of a game or two of chess, earning about ten dollars or so. After the compulsory matches of the day, Allen would head across the southern end of the park and cross Washington Square East to arrive at his new favorite place, Starbucks. Latte and a bagel please! Most of the weekend workers knew him at this location because those were the two days of the week that he would run his “chess for latte” business. This lackadaisical approach to chess, and his life in general, would soon come crashing down like a house of cards.
Allen was seated very comfortably in his usual spot at Starbucks reading whatever magazine he had at the time, when he happened to look up and see a tournament style chess set held under the arm of a short man of some sort of Asian descent. What initially caught Allen’s eye, was the fact that the rolled up board was blue and white, not black and white or green and white. This was the first glimpse of the man that would ruin Allen’s comfortable existence. The second glimpse was after this man of small stature placed his order for a venti oolong tea and walked over to where Allen was sitting.
There the little man stood, directly in front of Allen, in his gray colored wool suit with his chess set in one hand and a well-used wooded cane in the other. He said to Allen in an authoritative tone beyond the meager limitations of his short stature, “You play blitz game with me?” “Sure”, Allen said as he put his magazine aside. The man promptly laid out the somewhat unsettling blue and white board, set up the clock, and then they both set up the pieces. In an increasingly thicker accent he said, “We play two minute game, you are white side, I am black side”. Allen thought to himself, “This little man is toast”. As white, Allen would have the first move and be able to easily set a tempo that should crush this little Asian man.
Allen opened with standard e2-e4 and his opponent answered with the usual e7-5. This would manifest into what is called the Bishops Opening. To Allen’s surprise this game was not even going reach the full two minutes allotted.
White: Black:
1. e2-e4 e7-e5
Allen then brought his bishop out to f1-c4, which stopped the opponent’s usual plan of d5-d7. Allen’s plan was then to use d2-d3 to buttress his pawn at e4, then to use f2-f4. His opponent played Ng8-f6, to attack the e4 lead pawn. Allen went ahead with the d2-d3 plan, and his opponent played c7-c6. Allen was not exactly sure why. He thought that it was probably to bring his Bishop or Queen into play, maybe Qd8-a5 .
2. Bf1-c4 Ng8-f6
3. d2-d3 c7-c6
4. f2-f4 e5xf4
The opponent’s e5 pawn taking Allen’s f4 pawn was expected, which is why his queenside bishop struck back instantly.
5. Bc1xf4 d7-d5
His pawn chain was intersecting with Allen’s pawn chain, so Allen took what he could at the moment, which made the opening game somewhat of a cliché war of attrition.
6. e4xd5 Nf6xd5
Why did his Knight take Allen’s pawn? Was it just to threaten Allen’s f4 bishop? Why not c6xd5? (To have a Knight Outpost and less segmented pawn chain is the answer) Allen began to feel some emotional distress. But why? They were even with both taking two pawns from each other. It was because Allen’s opponent was comfortable with how things had, and would, take place all the way to the end, and Allen was becoming a little uncertain about how to proceed from here. Did Allen underestimate this guy? What was he trying to set Allen up for?
Allen had ideas of course. Get his Kingside Knight out and castle on the Kingside. This was on the forefront of his mind, but what would his opponent do?
7. Ng1-f3 Bf8-b4
8. Nf3-d2 Qd1-h4
9. Bf4-g3 Qh4-e7
10. Qd1-e2 Qe7xe2
With four consecutive checks from Allen’s opponent and the loss of both of the Queens, he had no time to castle, and now no ability to castle.
11. Ke1xe2 Bc8-g4
12. Nd2-f3 0-0
13. Nb1-d2 Rf8-e8
14. Nd2-e4 Nd5-f6
15. Ke2-e3 Nf6xe4
16. d3xe4 Bb4-a5
17. Nf3-e5 Ba5-b6
18. Ke3-d2 Re8-d8
19. Kd2-c1 Bb6-e3
20. Kc1-b1 Bg4-h5
Finally, Allen had his first real attempt to strike back. Up to this point Allen’s opponent had controlled the game, with almost every move equating to a check. Allen felt better now, Knight, Rook, and Bishop all aiming at the enemy King.
21. Rh1-f1 Rd8-f8
22. Rf1-f5 Rf8-d8
This looked like the enemy Bishop was Allen’s, or enemy pawn at f7 was available to Allen’s Knight on e5, and from there Allen could strike the enemy Rook next. He could also use Bc4xf7 and then, for the first time in the game, actually say the word “Check!” So he did. Allen was, after all, really getting tired of hearing his opponent saying check on virtually every move.
23. Bc4xf7 ?? Bh5xf7
24. Ne5xf7 Rd8-d1 Checkmate
Allen fell for it. His opponent made him feel totally overwhelmed with all the offensive moves, and once his opponent allowed him to see an opportunity to get ahead, his opponent knew that he would take it. In so doing, Allen would overlook an obvious mate, which was not obvious to him at the time due to the emotional state his opponent created in him. Looking back he should have simply moved 23. Bc4-d3 and blocked the enemy rook. All of this happened before the Asian man’s tea even reached our table.
As Allen’s army lay there in shambles, emotions of his first game in the park started to come vividly back to remembrance. He had not lost that bad since he was a teenager. The little Asian nemesis said in a confident tone, “We play again.” So they did, Allen played black this time and used the Caro-Kann defense to answer his opponent’s e2-e4 opening. Allen’s Caro-Kann quickly turned into his opponent’s Genghis Khan style offense, with much raping and pillaging of Allen’s pieces, and climaxed in Allen’s King’s utter humiliation of being defenseless, pinned, and in checkmate.
“How about a five minute, or ten minute game?” Allen asked in a newly found tone of humility. “No, you play two minute game, you are not worth more than that.” He proclaimed. Allen thought to himself, “I am not worth more than a two minute game?” Another two-minute game it was then. Allen played the white side again, as he did in the first game, but this time he opened with the Four Knights opening. This quickly turned into the four horsemen of his own personal chess apocalypse, with blood really flowing as high as his horse’s bridal. Allen was destroyed in every way three times in a row. He then realized that he was still only and amateur player. In fact, it would be years before Allen would even be able to create a draw or tie with this man.
Allen asked his opponent what his name was. He said to call him Professor Tzu. Allen figured that Professor Tzu probably taught at the university. Over the next few months they became good friends and would go on to play many games together, always with a postmortem analysis and games usually much longer than two minute! This was for Allen’s education in the art or war. Professor Tzu was full of surprises, as you will see.
The Return to the Park
After years of being away from the park, Allen decided to return, but this time as an adult with years of playing experience. He too would become a hustler, but not because he needed the money. The original goal when he started out as a teenager was to get just a few extra dollars to get candy with. So, as an adult he liked to think of himself more as a Ronin, or Samurai for hire, who wanted to raise capital for a much desire Latte investment.
The usual park visit consisted of a game or two of chess, earning about ten dollars or so. After the compulsory matches of the day, Allen would head across the southern end of the park and cross Washington Square East to arrive at his new favorite place, Starbucks. Latte and a bagel please! Most of the weekend workers knew him at this location because those were the two days of the week that he would run his “chess for latte” business. This lackadaisical approach to chess, and his life in general, would soon come crashing down like a house of cards.
There the little man stood, directly in front of Allen, in his gray colored wool suit with his chess set in one hand and a well-used wooded cane in the other. He said to Allen in an authoritative tone beyond the meager limitations of his short stature, “You play blitz game with me?” “Sure”, Allen said as he put his magazine aside. The man promptly laid out the somewhat unsettling blue and white board, set up the clock, and then they both set up the pieces. In an increasingly thicker accent he said, “We play two minute game, you are white side, I am black side”. Allen thought to himself, “This little man is toast”. As white, Allen would have the first move and be able to easily set a tempo that should crush this little Asian man.
White: Black:
1. e2-e4 e7-e5
Allen then brought his bishop out to f1-c4, which stopped the opponent’s usual plan of d5-d7. Allen’s plan was then to use d2-d3 to buttress his pawn at e4, then to use f2-f4. His opponent played Ng8-f6, to attack the e4 lead pawn. Allen went ahead with the d2-d3 plan, and his opponent played c7-c6. Allen was not exactly sure why. He thought that it was probably to bring his Bishop or Queen into play, maybe Qd8-a5 .
2. Bf1-c4 Ng8-f6
3. d2-d3 c7-c6
4. f2-f4 e5xf4
The opponent’s e5 pawn taking Allen’s f4 pawn was expected, which is why his queenside bishop struck back instantly.
5. Bc1xf4 d7-d5
His pawn chain was intersecting with Allen’s pawn chain, so Allen took what he could at the moment, which made the opening game somewhat of a cliché war of attrition.
6. e4xd5 Nf6xd5
Why did his Knight take Allen’s pawn? Was it just to threaten Allen’s f4 bishop? Why not c6xd5? (To have a Knight Outpost and less segmented pawn chain is the answer) Allen began to feel some emotional distress. But why? They were even with both taking two pawns from each other. It was because Allen’s opponent was comfortable with how things had, and would, take place all the way to the end, and Allen was becoming a little uncertain about how to proceed from here. Did Allen underestimate this guy? What was he trying to set Allen up for?
Allen had ideas of course. Get his Kingside Knight out and castle on the Kingside. This was on the forefront of his mind, but what would his opponent do?
7. Ng1-f3 Bf8-b4
8. Nf3-d2 Qd1-h4
9. Bf4-g3 Qh4-e7
10. Qd1-e2 Qe7xe2
With four consecutive checks from Allen’s opponent and the loss of both of the Queens, he had no time to castle, and now no ability to castle.
11. Ke1xe2 Bc8-g4
12. Nd2-f3 0-0
13. Nb1-d2 Rf8-e8
14. Nd2-e4 Nd5-f6
15. Ke2-e3 Nf6xe4
16. d3xe4 Bb4-a5
17. Nf3-e5 Ba5-b6
18. Ke3-d2 Re8-d8
19. Kd2-c1 Bb6-e3
20. Kc1-b1 Bg4-h5
Finally, Allen had his first real attempt to strike back. Up to this point Allen’s opponent had controlled the game, with almost every move equating to a check. Allen felt better now, Knight, Rook, and Bishop all aiming at the enemy King.
21. Rh1-f1 Rd8-f8
22. Rf1-f5 Rf8-d8
This looked like the enemy Bishop was Allen’s, or enemy pawn at f7 was available to Allen’s Knight on e5, and from there Allen could strike the enemy Rook next. He could also use Bc4xf7 and then, for the first time in the game, actually say the word “Check!” So he did. Allen was, after all, really getting tired of hearing his opponent saying check on virtually every move.
23. Bc4xf7 ?? Bh5xf7
24. Ne5xf7 Rd8-d1 Checkmate
Allen fell for it. His opponent made him feel totally overwhelmed with all the offensive moves, and once his opponent allowed him to see an opportunity to get ahead, his opponent knew that he would take it. In so doing, Allen would overlook an obvious mate, which was not obvious to him at the time due to the emotional state his opponent created in him. Looking back he should have simply moved 23. Bc4-d3 and blocked the enemy rook. All of this happened before the Asian man’s tea even reached our table.
As Allen’s army lay there in shambles, emotions of his first game in the park started to come vividly back to remembrance. He had not lost that bad since he was a teenager. The little Asian nemesis said in a confident tone, “We play again.” So they did, Allen played black this time and used the Caro-Kann defense to answer his opponent’s e2-e4 opening. Allen’s Caro-Kann quickly turned into his opponent’s Genghis Khan style offense, with much raping and pillaging of Allen’s pieces, and climaxed in Allen’s King’s utter humiliation of being defenseless, pinned, and in checkmate.
“How about a five minute, or ten minute game?” Allen asked in a newly found tone of humility. “No, you play two minute game, you are not worth more than that.” He proclaimed. Allen thought to himself, “I am not worth more than a two minute game?” Another two-minute game it was then. Allen played the white side again, as he did in the first game, but this time he opened with the Four Knights opening. This quickly turned into the four horsemen of his own personal chess apocalypse, with blood really flowing as high as his horse’s bridal. Allen was destroyed in every way three times in a row. He then realized that he was still only and amateur player. In fact, it would be years before Allen would even be able to create a draw or tie with this man.
Allen asked his opponent what his name was. He said to call him Professor Tzu. Allen figured that Professor Tzu probably taught at the university. Over the next few months they became good friends and would go on to play many games together, always with a postmortem analysis and games usually much longer than two minute! This was for Allen’s education in the art or war. Professor Tzu was full of surprises, as you will see.
Starbucks Chess
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