Short Summary of Strategic Combat

 

(after Kasparov vs Karpov, 1986)
,

The playground is open, with white to move.

D4 F6. A few pawn boys make a safety zone

out by the swings, waiting for Father to go for the ruse.
.
.

C4 G6. Everyone calls the queen Sis’ Loretta

when she jumps over the Treatment Room’s steps

to the battlefield. The fifth move: Q to B3.
.
.

By the eleventh round, the game enters

a phase of hand-to-hand combat. Father attacks,

we defend on each side. Sister gets hurt,
.
.

two pawn boys, sacrificed, but nobody castles.

Our fight, bishop to rook. Check on the playground

as the last knight falls at the match point.
.
.

Most pieces are gone on both frontlines. Thirty-one

moves. Checkmate. From the opposing team,

Father says we are playing a game bigger than us.

 

 

 

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© Maria Stadnicka, 2020
Illustration: Claire Palmer

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