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Just Another Game

This piece from LittleBadWolf back in April of 2021 was perfect to illustrate an idea for a lightly comedic short story.

In works of fiction, one of the most common forms of shorthand to represent that a character is intelligent is to make them good at specifically chess. Oftentimes, just having possession of a chess set appears to boost a character’s smarts in the eyes of the audience.

Since I’ve already established through other means that Enigma is an intelligent character, I wanted to play on that a little by having use his magic to cheat at the game, rather than have any genuine skill of his own.

And yet, what I also didn’t realize is that I was invoking the same trope with Edmund that I was subverting with Enigma, but using Edmund’s actual skill at chess to inform the audience that there’s an intelligence that belies his otherwise boisterous persona.

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Transcript Below:

“Check”. The mind mage gazed into the eyes of his opponent, another student among the many who routinely challenged him in one of the oldest games on the plane of Crossroads. Enigma had taken notice of him during one of his lectures, scrawling vigorously into his notebook while discussing the topic of mana manipulation. Having just finished grading exams, he knew this student had passed with flying colors. And yet, the wolf-kin sat with a furrowed brow, starring holes into the younger man.

For his part, the tiger-kin, well-built with bright green eyes and a shock of blonde hair on his head, had his eyes firmly affixed to the board. The two of them stood and sat in silence for some time, until at last he moved his knight into position. Features forming into a grin, he looked back at his professor. “Not bad, teach, but this one’s mine…. Check.”

Looking back up to Enigma, the feline took in his teacher’s unchanging expression, eyes still as hard as they were moments before. Under the weight of such harsh scrutiny, his heart began to quicken, as he rushed to keep his head down.

That’s when the mentor made his move, placing his queen next to his pupil’s king. “Disappointing. Checkmate.”

At that moment, the tiger’s heart dropped. His skill at chess was one of the few things his father had left him. When the guys in class said that Enigma was a tough opponent, he had hoped it could be a good ice-breaker. To hear his teacher so callously admonish them was almost too much to bear. “That was a close match. Isn’t it rude to call it ‘Disappointing’?”

“You don’t actually think I’m talking about the game, do you?” The mentor’s face had begun to soften from his formerly icy demeanor, melting to a more neutral expression. “At least now I know what’s been bugging me about you.”

“Whadya-”

“Think for a second. Why would people play me in Chess when I barely know the rules?”

The tiger tried to respond, opening his mouth to speak, and as the realization dawned on him he could sit in his chair, frozen as his opponent began to clean up the result of their match.

“It’s one thing to know the material, but another to know how to use it. You’re a good kid, but you need practice.” The wolf finally, after all this time, started to crack a smile. “It’s Edmund, right?”

“Yes, teac… Professor.”

“Come to my office hours, Edmund. We’ll work on your countermagic. A bit of practice, and you’ll be able to tip the odds back in your favor.”