A Chess Master chapter 1

After graduating from college, Tom returned to his hometown, a small county, in order to take better care of his frail and sick parents. Recently, he had just finished taking the civil service recruitment exam for the county tax bureau and was waiting for the results to be announced. Seeing Tom so confident, his dad was both happy and worried.

One day after dinner, Dad said to Tom, “Tom, how’s your chess skills these days?”

Dad asked this question for a reason. Tom’s hometown has been known as a chess – loving place since ancient times. Both men and women are proud of being good at chess, and the county organizes a county – wide chess competition for all the people every two years. Tom’s dad is an excellent chess player, and Tom was a well – known chess prodigy in the neighborhood when he was a child.

Hearing this, Tom said proudly, “I haven’t stopped playing chess since I went to college. I’ve also studied a lot of chess theories and won the campus chess competition championship for four consecutive years. Dad, why do you ask?”

Dad said mysteriously after hearing this, “That’s great. Come out with me right now. It all depends on you tonight!”

Without giving Tom a chance to refuse, Dad took him out. The father – son duo rode their bicycles through a series of twists and turns and arrived at a remote place. They got off their bikes, and Dad gently knocked on the door of a house. Tom wondered beside him, “Where is this place?”

Unexpectedly, Dad put a finger to his lips and hissed, motioning him nervously not to speak. Just then, the door opened.

Tom followed his dad and slipped into the house sideways. The person who opened the door silently led them to the inner courtyard. Seeing his dad looking so nervous, Tom didn’t dare to say another word. When they entered the inner courtyard, he was stunned! There were many tables lined up in the inner courtyard. There were two people playing chess in front of each table, and there was a pile of money, more or less, in front of each person. Now he understood: this was an underground chess – gambling den. But why did Dad bring him here? Did he want him to participate?

At this time, a man stood up from a table, looking extremely frustrated and muttering to himself, “I lost again!” As he said this, he reluctantly pushed the pile of money in front of him to the other side and then left without another word. Tom took a look. That pile of money was at least one or two thousand dollars. My God, the stakes were so high!

Seeing an empty seat, Dad immediately pushed Tom over and said, “Tom, come and learn a thing or two from this gentleman!” Tom thought to himself, was this learning? This was gambling! Seeing his hesitation, Dad magically took out a stack of money from his pocket and put it in front of him, saying, “Tom, if you trust Dad, don’t ask any questions. Just play chess. Don’t worry about the rest.”

Tom sat down hesitantly. He looked at his opponent, a middle – aged man with a thick beard. Then he looked down at the unfinished game. The opponent was also a good player, and he suddenly felt nervous. He didn’t understand why his honest and upright dad would suddenly bring him to gamble on chess. But since things had come to this, all he could do was not to lose. Dad’s money was hard – earned from his job. As he was lost in these thoughts, the dealer came over, took out a coin, and asked the two of them to guess heads or tails to decide who would play with the red pieces and who with the black. Tom guessed black and moved first.

After a hard – fought battle, Tom won the first game. Without saying a word, the bearded man immediately handed over a thousand dollars, and Dad took the money with a big smile.

At this time, the middle – aged man proposed to play another game. According to the rules, the losing side could propose to play again, but not more than ten games in total. Tom had no choice but to agree.

Tom won the second and third games as well. Dad got another two thousand dollars and was grinning from ear to ear. At this time, the other tables stopped playing, and several people gathered around and whispered. Tom vaguely understood that this bearded man was one of the top players in the small town. No one expected him to lose three games in a row to a young boy. They all found it incredible.

The bearded man was so angry after losing that he proposed to play again. According to the rules, Tom couldn’t refuse and had to play again. Unexpectedly, from the fourth game on, the situation changed completely. Tom lost game after game, losing four games in a row. Not only did he lose the three thousand dollars he had won earlier, but he also had to pay an extra thousand dollars. Dad’s face immediately turned very ugly. At this time, Tom proposed to play again because as the loser, he had the right to make such a proposal.