Praveen Vs Praveen
Very softly
I blurted , almost in whisper “ Anna ..Check mate..!!!”
With no
expression in my face, I saw time in my wrist watch. Its 12.30 am. That was the
end of match I waited for three months which wound up in 45 minutes exact.
All the
decorum and decency suddenly left me as I maniacally started laughing and
rolling over. It was kind of volcano of vented up frustration gone amok.
45 minutes
absolute silence broken by maniacal laughter
The beginning
of this story began 3 months back when I was horribly defeated in chess just in
3 moves by satya Praveen anna (10 yrs ago I adopted him as my unofficial older
brother,). None of other games I played lasted more than 5 minutes. Frankly I
never play chess as it strains my tiny brains. Even baby can beat me with eyes
shut and never in my life did I ever win any game. But losing in 3 steps is record in itself.
Otherwise he
would deliberately tease with me without checkmating me as he in great leisure swallows
one after another pieces . Frustrated as SRK in Jab tak hai jaan, I made a tripartite
agreement with God-I-don’t-belive-in and this Bhaiyaa that I would go back and
be back to challenge him every month in Bangalore, till end of time. Even if it
takes me to be re born million times over, I wont rest till I defeated him on
his own turf. Ala Arnold Schwarzenegger in Terminator-2, I said “ I will be back”
I object to being called a chess genius because I consider
myself to be an all around genius who just happens to play chess, which is
rather different.—Bobby Fischer
Cut back to
present. And I am back.
We both dug
our heads into our hands concentrating deeply. It was his move. I could see
that if he pushed his Castle straight, I am screwed. It’s scary. Give bhai even
one chance, he would unleash worst genocide on chess board. I wondered how to
skew his mind now. Shall I play some dirty mind games at this juncture? Shall I
rake up some old painful memories so his mental balance goes for a toss?
During FIFA
finals, opposition player Marco Materazzi deliberately abused Zidane of france which enraged him
consequently losing world cup due to loss of judgment in crucial moments.
- Tactics flow from a positionally superior game. Best by test. -.—Bobby Fischer
But somehow
my mind was too intense and words failed to come out. Moreover as I was
debating about fair play, instead of taking Castle forward, He took it behind
to protect his King.
Gods of Luck
are certainly on my side today.
Thanks to my
more than 300 games I practiced everyday in last 3 months on my laptop. I
recognized the pattern of play. Even slight expression on face would alert him,
so I buried my face further in my palms though deep inside me, I was having a
wicked laughter.
It is difficult to play
against Einstein’s theory.
- Mikhail Tal, after his first loss to Fischer,
When we sat
for a match , my only goal was just to extend the game for more than 15
minutes, if possible try taking few of his soldiers. Not more. Don’t think this
bhaiya as ordinary man. He is one of the youngest regional mangers, country
managers and rose to high ranks in Siemens with brilliant maneuvering of his
hyper shrewd mind. Even before can you react, his calculating mind would have
gone miles into future before he makes his next move. His negotiating skills
are real intellectual treat to be witnessed.
I'm not afraid of Spassky. The world knows I'm the best. You
don't need a match to prove it. .—Bobby Fischer
But all
biographies of eccentric chess genius Bobby
fischer I read in last 3 months prompted me to be little bolder. I made
mental strategy.
1) Control the centre
2) Protect king through strong castling
3) Play defense drag the match for more than 15 minutes
Winning was never my goal. I know how dangerous this guy is . so I didn’t
commit mistake of being hyper ambitious. So this was a small defensive tactic
rather than an elaborate long range combative strategy
When I began
the game , this is what I did. My pawns went to control the centre of board
thus restricting his long range attacks. Next I fortified my King with
Castling.
Being follower
of Gandhi and believer of non-violence, I didn’t start any killings though I
had a chance. He drew first blood by breaking my pawns dominance of
Centre. Though blindly I allowed my second
wave of pawn movement on Centre field, later I realized, by not killing I made
smartest move. Without killing I totally restricted anykind of movement in
centre field. (my goal is, no matter what, not to let Centre field to fall)
With centre field
locked, he was not able to breach his ranks into my side of board. But
conversely it also doesn’t allow me to go for long range attacks. But my goal
is just to drag match for more than 15 minutes or longer. Stale mate or Draw
can be icing on cake.
I the mind, body a mere auxiliary –Sherlock Holmes
Like bobby
fischer who specialized in openings, bhai specialized in queen-attacks with deadliest consequences on
his opponents. The moment I feared came when he brought out his Queen to
unleash its deadly dexterity on my soldiers.
As I said
earlier, Lady luck is just in awesome love with me this day. I countered his
Queen with oddest and least expected piece . My Horse.
Frankly I
have to feel proud about following moves. My horse went on rampage of millennium.
For first time, he went on defense by taking back his queen back to his side of
board. But nevertheless my Horse went amok with absolute impunity. I triple
forked him. Meaning my horse was in such position, that his three most
important generals: Castle. Bishop and Queen were within my sniper cross hairs.
Wow. I breached into his side of board.
I was little
perplexed with turn of events which started moving at blind pace. I wondered if
I should slow up a bit to relax my stretched brains.
Didn’t
Krishna advised to Arjuna so did Morpheus to Neo in matrix. “Damn the
compassion and Go for kill” or put bluntly like Branson of virgin Atlantic. ” Screw it, lets do it”
In swift
executions, In subsequent moves, i finished off his Castle, Bishop, and finally
his Nuclear missile: The Queen.
With his
long range missiles like Castle, Queen dead, I relaxed my hold on centre. I let
all my pieces to run amok. What followed was blind killings and suicide bombings.
We both killed as many as we could. Randomly and blindly.
“One” he
screeched, as all his pieces died leaving his King standing alone on battle
field.
“WON”? I got
confused? Is it Draw or Stale mate.
Vishwanath
anand committed same mistake in past. Taking his superior position granted, he
unwittingly Stale-mated his game thus screwing the game which he was about to
win.
Only later I
understood. That in next 16 moves I have to end the match or else its Draw.
Now iam in
sticky position. All he need to do is fend me off for next 16 moves and my goal
is to stop his dance of dilly dallying PLUS KILL him.
His goal is
Status quo and I cannot imagine at this juncture that Status quo is status of
future.
Now pendulum
of victory can move either side. Now what began was battle of wits. I know this
guy better than anyone, I saw him in
negotiating avatars. He can bring out ace even in most sticky positions.
Topolov (Bulgarian grand master)once played against 4 chess players
blindfolded. I tried same, trying to see all next moves in mind.
TWO.
THREE.FOUR : I merely allowed some aimless movements as quietly I cut of all
escape routes with my Castle and Queen
Five: I
cornered King
What
followed was similar to
Bobby
fischer vs VladmirSpassky
V Anand vs
Topolov
Tendukar vs
shoib akthar
Harry potter
vs voldmort
Micheal
corleaone vs barzini n 5 other mafia families
a Clean kill…!!!!
Six: Very softly I blurted , almost in whisper “
bhaiya Check mate..!!!”
Phew . I
muttered myself. No rebirths. No re matches. (luck can be fickle and my skill
is totally unpredictable)
At 12.30
am.14.june.2013. 45th minute is my golden moment. I know , this is
no big match or atleast competitive. But for me. This personal battle means a
lot. It my word.. Buttress to my will. Fulfillment of my word, oath I took 3
months ago.
Thank god ,
the feat that I felt would take million
re births, ended in 3 months.
Didn’t SRK
in Don say something like this\
“ Praveen ,breaking his promise is not remote probability but an absolute impossibility”
