_Player_ _Wins_ _Losses_ Machine 5-1/2 2-1/2 Votbinnik 5-1/2 2-1/2 Angler 5 3 Jal 4-1/2 3-1/2 Lysmov 4-1/2 3-1/2 Serek 4-1/2 3-1/2 Sherevsky 4 4 Jandorf 2-1/2 5-1/2 Grabo 2 6 Krakatower 2 6 LAST ROUND PAIRINGS Machine vs. Angler Votbinnik vs. Lysmov Jal vs. Serek Sherevsky vs. Krakatower Jandorf vs. Grabo After studying the list for a while, Sandra said, "Hey, even Angler could come out first, couldn't he, if he beat the Machine and Votbinnik lost to Lysmov?" "Could, could--yes. But I'm afraid that's hoping for too much, barring another breakdown. To tell the truth, dear, the Machine is simply too good for all of us. If it were only a little faster (and these technological improvements always come) it would out-class us completely. We are at that fleeting moment of balance when genius is almost good enough to equal mechanism. It makes me feel sad, but proud too in a morbid fashion, to think that I am in at the death of grandmaster chess. Oh, I suppose the game will always be played, but it won't ever be quite the same." He blew out a breath and shrugged his shoulders. "As for Willie, he's a good one and he'll give the Machine a long hard fight, you can depend on it. He might conceivably even draw." He touched Sandra's arm. "Cheer up, my dear," he said. "You should remind yourself that a victory for the Machine is still a victory for the USA." * * * * * Doc's prediction about a long hard fight was decidedly not fulfilled. Having White, the Machine opened Pawn to King Four and Angler went into the Sicilian Defense. For the first twelve moves on each side both adversaries pushed their pieces and tapped their clocks at such lightning speed (Vanderhoef feeding in Angler's moves swiftly) that up in the stands Bill and Judy were still flipping pages madly in their hunt for the right column in MCO. The Machine made its thirteenth move, still at blitz tempo. "Bishop takes Pawn, check, and mate in three!" Willie announced very loudly, made the move, banged his clock and sat back. There was a collective gasp-and-gabble from the stands. Dave squeezed Sandra's arm hard. Then for once forgetting that he was Dr. Caution, he demanded loudly of Bill and Judy, "Have you two idiots found that column yet? _The Machine's thirteenth move is a boner!_" Pinning down the reference with a fingernail, Judy cried, "Yes! Here it is on page 161 in footnote (e) (2) (B). Dave, _that same thirteenth move for White is in the book_! But Black replies Knight to Queen Two, not Bishop takes Pawn, check. And three moves later the book gives White a plus value." "What the heck, it can't be," Bill asserted. "But it _is_. Check for yourself. _That boner is in the book._"