Underdog 9th Grader Beats Chess Champion!

By Matisse Guereca, Staff Writer

Allister the underdog & Nicolas the reigning champ go head to head in this exorbitant game. Allister came in first, dressed casually, with security escorting him to the Chess table in the dimly lit gym. Charlie the game-master was there as well, controlling the entire area like a masterful puppeteer. Then, the students started filing in- the air buzzed with excitement as rumors spread that Magnus Carlsen himself was visiting, but that he would only appear at the end of the game. Bundles of them went and sat down, hurriedly eating their lunch, whilst Charlie was helping his  distinguished chess brothers set up the display  so the world could see the penultimate battle through chess.com. Finally, dressed professionally, Nicolas walked in. Nicolas as a seasoned veteran  wasn’t about to let some Freshman take it all away from him. No, he needed to win that vacuum pump, he thought. It was extremely important to his life’s goals (cleaning his bedroom).

Finally, as the set up was being completed,I interviewed the underdog before the game to uncover what tactics he would use to beat Nicolas. He claimed, “I’m confident, but humble. I will wait until my opponent makes a mistake. That’s how you win the game.” Quickly afterwards, I interviewed the champion himself, asking the same question. His response was, “gg easy game.” The look in Nicolas’s eyes told me this: This man was prepared to win, no matter what. After my interviews, the game began , Allister was white & Nicolas was black. Allister began with a classic start, pawn E2 to E4. Nicolas responded with pawn E7 to E5. Allister shot back by moving his knight from  B1 to C3, executing the Vienna game  However Nicolas responded with a defense, moving pawn D7 to D6 & protecting the pawn on E5. Unfortunately, by this point, club leader Charlie & his  wise chess brothers weren’t quick enough to document the lightning fast game on display and the live camera feed  was too bright for the white pieces to be seen. But, I shall share the memorable highlights with you all. Sometime in mid-game, Nicolas took Allister’s rook for a knight. Allister had blundered his piece, and the future was looking dim for him. The crowd was in chaos after this seemingly game ending move. The air became hot as the two minds clashed. These chants wilder and more frantic as the game neared its climax until, after one swift motion, Allister had checkmated Nicolas. Putting his hand up quickly, he put it back down for another second as he doubted his skill and looked at the board. Then finally sure of the mate, he put his hand up again, and all Nicolas could do was stare with cold eyes in silence as the hands struck above the board. Tragically Nicolas’ hubris had been his downfall, the end of his reign was over. This is the only photo I could gather of what the End-game scenario looked like:

The crowd rushed out to embrace Allister, jumping up and down. Allister was now a micro-celebrity, giving out signatures left and right. Likewise, Nicolas also gave out signatures. Beatboxing surrounded the  winner of the illustrious  vacuum. As it was removed from its cradle of  very expensive pillows, Allister signed it, taking the pump with him as a trophy. But, on the other hand, Nicolas walked in shame in his fancy business suit. In conclusion, this chess game was the highlight of campus life for the month of February, anyone who was anyone was there.