"Don't worry about that. Wild horses couldn't keep Jandorf away from a press interview. You know, his rapid-transit challenge was cunning. That's a minor variety of chess where each player gets only ten seconds to make a move. Which I don't suppose would give the Machine time to look three moves ahead. Chess players would say that the Machine has a very slow sight of the board. This tournament is being played at the usual international rate of 15 moves an hour, and--" "Is that why they've got all those crazy clocks?" Sandra interrupted. "Oh, yes. Chess clocks measure the time each player takes in making his moves. When a player makes a move he presses a button that shuts his clock off and turns his opponent's on. If a player uses too much time, he loses as surely as if he were checkmated. Now since the Machine will almost certainly be programmed to take an equal amount of time on successive moves, a rate of 15 moves an hour means it will have 4 minutes a move--and it will need every second of them! Incidentally it was typical Jandorf bravado to make a point of a blindfold challenge--just as if the Machine weren't playing blindfold itself. Or _is_ the Machine blindfold? How do you think of it?" "Gosh, I don't know. Say, Doc, is it really true that Master Jandorf has played 50 games at once blindfolded? I can't believe that." * * * * * "Of course not!" Doc assured her. "It was only 49 and he lost two of those and drew five. Jandorf always exaggerates. It's in his blood." "He's one of the Russians, isn't he?" Sandra asked. "Igor?" Doc chuckled. "Not exactly," he said gently. "He is originally a Pole and now he has Argentinian citizenship. You have a program, don't you?" Sandra started to hunt through her pocketbook, but just then two lists of names lit up on the big electric scoreboard. THE PLAYERS William Angler, USA Bela Grabo, Hungary Ivan Jal, USSR Igor Jandorf, Argentina Dr. S. Krakatower, France Vassily Lysmov, USSR The Machine, USA (programmed by Simon Great) Maxim Serek, USSR Moses Sherevsky, USA Mikhail Votbinnik, USSR _Tournament Director_: Dr. Jan Vanderhoef FIRST ROUND PAIRINGS Sherevsky vs. Serek Jal vs. Angler Jandorf vs. Votbinnik Lysmov vs. Krakatower Grabo vs. Machine "Cripes, Doc, they all sound like they were Russians," Sandra said after a bit. "Except this Willie Angler. Oh, he's the boy wonder, isn't he?" Doc nodded. "Not such a boy any longer, though. He's.... Well, speak of the Devil's children.... Miss Grayling, I have the honor of presenting to you the only grandmaster ever to have been ex-chess-champion of the United States while still technically a minor--Master William Augustus Angler." A tall, sharply-dressed young man with a hatchet face pressed the old man back into his chair. "How are you, Savvy, old boy old boy?" he demanded. "Still chasing the girls, I see."