Lucas frowned, almost irritated he asked; "Is that supposed to mean something?"
"Of course! He recently won the national chess competition!!"
"Oh, that's great..."
"Please don't!" she pleaded. "Don't play with him please Jack's bad news. Let's just take our winnings and bail."
But it was already too late. What was to happen next was already written in the stars. It was fated to happen.
Lolita and the other continued to plead with Lucas, but the sound of their voices sounded like the faint buzzing of bees in the distance. Only one thing was on Lucas' mind now. And coincidentally, the same thing was on Jack's mind as well.
He took one long look at the chess board at the end of Lucas' match and quickly ascertained that Lucas' was an excellent player. Immediately, Jack deemed him worthy. He and Lucas locked eyes, and he made his way towards the young man. As he approached, the sea of people parted for him like he was royalty.
"That's quite the move you got there."
"Thank you."
"You play well don't you?"
"I do alright."
"From what I can see, you're more than alright. I have a chess academy where bright minds spar with each other and better themselves. Come join us."
Lucas was taken aback.
Jack sweetened the proposition further; "Before you say anything, I want you to know that you will be eligible to go for official tournaments as a professional chess player. And of course..." he paused for effect, "it goes without saying that there would be prize money, instead of, you know..." he flicked his hand around, "BETTING."
Lucas could tell the man was intelligent. The way and manner he had proposed this offer was a clear testament. Jack discerned that he was in it for the money. He was blatantly telling Lucas that there was more- he could have fame, respect and money of course.
Jack's very blunt and very public acknowledgment of Lucas stirred a lot of envy from the other players whom he had beaten. Apparently, being on Jack's team was a pretty big deal. Majority had worked their entire lives just for a chance, and here Lucas was having it offered unto him on a silver platter.
Monica's mind had gone far and wild. As the one among the trio who was more predisposed to having a good life, he mind began to conjure up fantasies that revolved round about living happily ever after with Lucas. Basking in his sucess and the pleasures that came with it. Her eyes virtually twinkled with delight as she day dreamed.
But much to her horror (and much to everyone's surprise,) Lucas dropped the verbal equivalent of an atomic bomb.
"What a generous offer, but I'm afraid I cannot accept it."
Monica felt like a lightning bolt struck her. She whizzed her head in Lucas' direction, and with pleading eyes, she begged him to reconsider. But Lucas ignored her completely.
If Jack was surprised, he certainly did not show it. "Is that your final answer?" He asked calmly.
"Yes, it is."
"What a shame..."
Monica was covertly tugging on Lucas' sleeve trying to stop him from shattering her dreams. He ignored her, and took the conversation with Jack in another direction entirely;
"How about a match?"
The muffled sighs that escaped the mouths of everyone in the room was something that Lucas would never forget. It was a cacophony of sighs of a very surprised crowd. Lucas seemed to be adept at inventing new ways to surprise everyone. This time, Monica stopped being gentle and started to pull even harder at his sleeves! She spoke no words, but her message was loud enough; WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!
The sighs quickly broke into a series of murmurs and excited chattering. The new guy had guts, as well as skill. It was evident. If Jack accepted Lucas' challenge, this would be the match of the decade. No, it would be the match of the century. The prospect of such a high stakes match lit a spark in the gambling den.
Lucas was a force of nature and obviously an adversary to be reckoned with. Jack on the other hand was a seasoned expert who had proven his skill ten times over. So, it was basically the old guard versus the new. With the way the gamblers were giggling excitedly, one could tell that there were going to be a lot of angry housewives that night.
All that remained was for Jack to accept the challenge.
With a calm smile on his face, Jack replied the younger man; "You've got a set of balls on you kid, I'll give you that for sure."
"Well?"
"Not so fast young man. How about we make this interesting?"
Lucas had a faint idea where this was headed. "Sure, what do you have in mind sir?"
Without hesitation, Jack swooped in with his counter proposal; "When I win, the prize would not be the money. It would be you joining my team."
Lucas was impressed. The older man had found a way to sneak in his original goal by factoring it into their match. "And if I were to win?"
"That would mean I would give you a thousand coins. That is if you somehow manage to win of course."
It was Lucas' turn to smile. He had done pretty well for himself. But this was a deal he could not afford to miss. "A thousand gold coins it is. DEAL!"
Several people whistled at the casual mention of such a lump sum of money. It was a tasty high stakes deal that could go either way! Every other game going on was suspended. This was where the real action was! The rush was thrilling! For every single gambler knew that this was a high stakes game.
The bets started to pour in. From all sides, gold, silver and copper coins rolled in steady streams and Jack finally took his seat at the table. As the manager set the pieces, Jack officially introduced himself;
"They call me Jack in these parts."
"Oh I know, your reputation precedes you."
And thus, the game began.
As expected, almost everyone (especially the seasoned veterans in the betting game) cast their lot with Jack. The young stranger was obviously skilled, but Jack (simply put) was Jack. Only a handful dared to veer to the left and bet on Lucas. They had their reasons, but it was chiefly because they believed Lucas was the hand that would turn the table around.
At the dawn of the match, Jack deployed the famous tactical opening called "Queen's Gambit." It was a favorite opening of the elites where the pawn right in front of the queen was sacrificed in order to break open the game, with the bishop following close behind of course to defend it.
Lucas was overcome with a sense of nostalgia. The Queen's gambit was a very popular opening even back in his time. So, for Jack to begin with this, it only mean he knew his stuff.
This classic tactic was in essence a bait. It afforded the player an opportunity to get into an extremely passive position with just one wrong move.
Unfortunately, even though it was a classic move, the downside was that it was well popular. And thus, it had been studied thoroughly by modern players. So, several counter measures had already been designed to counter this move with even more provocative ones. Lucas also had an ace up his sleeve which he had not deployed yet- the Heaven A.I system.
So, as several pairs of eyes watched the men go at it, the tension in the room began to build up.
Jack himself seemed to have lost that cocky, egregious self-confidence with which he had started the game. For a man at his level, he had the bone chilling ability to think up to seven moves ahead. Only a high functioning mind could hope to keep up with him, let alone beat him.
As they both approached the crevice of the middle part of the game, Jack realized with a start that Lucas had not made a single wrong move! On Jack's part, he assumed he was the sole creator of the Queen's gambit. As tit was not so popular there, there was virtually no one that could hope to defend so well against it.
But Lucas had it on lock. It was almost as though he could aniticipate every single one of Jack's moves. So, he took advantage of the one single weakness of the Queen's gambit and swooped down on the opening like a bird of prey.
Still trying to process the shocking turn of events, before Jack knew it, Lucas shocked him again. "You moved a wrong way! Check!!"
The crowd growled like a bunch of hungry bears. They could not believe it! The game was not over yet of course, but they did not expect Lucas to be on the offensive!
Great beads of sweat began to form on Jack's forehead. It was a pitiful sight. Here was a man who had not known defeat all his life, being humbled at his own game by a stranger! He had been trapped- and in a very neat way! Like a cornered animal whose back was aginst the wall, his eyes ran back and forth across the board searching for a way out!
But alas, he might have as well been trapped between the powerful crushing jaws of a crocodile. So, after what seemed like an eternity of consideration, with a heavy heart, and to the utter disbelief of everyone, Jack replied Lucas in a very gentlemanly manner;
"Well played, well played indeed. I concede."