Due to several factors, the size of the average human being had been
steadily increasing for several centuries. Only Wade would have been
considered a "big" man by the average person, for the average man was
over six feet tall.
They relaxed most of the afternoon, swimming and indulging in a few
wrestling matches. At wrestling, Wade consistently proved himself not
only built like a gorilla but muscled like one; but Arcot proved that
skill was not without merit several times, for he had found that if he
could make the match last more than two minutes, Wade's huge muscles
would find an insufficient oxygen supply and tire quickly.
That evening, after dinner, Morey engaged Wade in a fierce battle of
chess, with Fuller as an interested spectator. Arcot, too, was watching,
but he was saying nothing.
After several minutes of uneventful play, Morey stopped suddenly and
glared at the board. "Now why'd I make that move? I intended to move my
queen over there to check your king on the red diagonal."
"Yeah," replied Wade gloomily, "that's what I wanted you to do. I had a
sure checkmate in three moves."
Arcot smiled quietly.
They continued play for several moves, then it was Wade who remarked
that something seemed to be influencing his play.
"I had intended to trade queens. I'm glad I didn't, though; I think this
leaves me in a better position."
"It sure does," agreed Morey. "I was due to clean up on the queen trade.
You surprised me, too; you usually go in for trades. I'm afraid my
position is hopeless now."
It was. In the next ten moves, Wade spotted the weak points in every
attack Morey made; the attack crumbled disastrously and white was forced
to resign, his king in a hopeless position.
Wade rubbed his chin. "You know, Morey, I seemed to know exactly why you
made every move, and I saw every possibility involved."
"Yeah--so I noticed," said Morey with a grin.
"Come on, Morey, let's try a game," said Fuller, sliding into the chair
Wade had vacated.
Although ordinarily equally matched with Fuller, Morey again went down
to disastrous defeat in an amazingly short time. It almost seemed as if
Fuller could anticipate every move.
"Brother, am I off form today," he said, rising from the table. "Come
on, Arcot--let's see you try Wade."
Arcot sat down, and although he had never played chess as extensively as
the others, he proceeded to clean Wade out lock, stock, and barrel.
"Now what's come over you?" asked Morey in astonishment as he saw a very
complicated formation working out, a formation he knew was far better
than Arcot's usual game. He had just worked it out and felt very proud
of it.
Arcot looked at him and smiled. "That's the answer, Morey!"
Morey blinked. "What--what's the answer to what?"
"Yes--I meant it--don't be so surprised--you've seen it done before. I
have--no, not under him, but a more experienced teacher. I figured it
would come in handy in our explorations."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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