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 Posted: Tue May 04, 2010 6:08 pm
Seeing as his favourite café had been destroyed by troll youma, Johnny King had been forced to relocate. It had taken him a good four days of careful deliberation before he'd found another location. The drink selection was fairly poor but the cherry pie was to die for. Not that that would be the only deciding factor – being left alone to eat was high on his priority list – but the café was at least good enough to enter a trial phase.
With his pie, his iced tea and his laptop (thankfully spared from last week's youma), the green-haired teen stubbornly hogged the booth at the very back of the café, eating his pie so slowly that it was a miracle there was even a dent in it. The more slowly he ate the longer he could stay and the teen was enjoying his freedom. No law papers due this week, no criminology reading and no essays to write. He deserved a little quiet celebration time with his pie, thank you very much.
But, what was some quiet time without a game of chess. It wasn't like Johnny actually relaxed or anything. He let the computer automatically sign him in to one of his more frequently used online sites, blue eyes flicking through the list of opponents names. Hmm... to pick a partner or not pick a partner....
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Posted: Sat May 08, 2010 8:01 pm
Ian sat at one of the tall tables near the window as he liked to do whenever possible and swirled his soy milk latte around in its cup as he waited for his laptop to connect to the free wireless internet that the cafe so kindly provided. The excuse to avoid his homework for a little while that they so kindly provided, the red-head thought as he pushed his glasses up his nose a little. It had not been all that bad a day at school, really, but the closer it got to summer vacation, the less willing Ian felt overall to jump straight into his homework the minute the bell rang at the end of the day.
As soon as his laptop indicated that he was connected to the internet, Ian started up ChessNutz and logged on as ParsleySage. Taking a sip of his latte - ah, still a bit too hot - he skimmed through the list of people online to see if any of his favorite regular opponents were on. The game randomizer was a nice feature when he was bored, but all too often, Ian got stuck with opponents who quit halfway through, especially if they were losing. He could shrug it off, since it was just the internet, but it still sucked.
This afternoon, though, Ian definitely wanted a challenge.
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Posted: Sun May 09, 2010 11:27 am
There was a brief flicker of a smile when Johnny's gaze landed on a familiar username. Aha. He hadn't seen ParsleySage in quite some time, playing randomizer style in the hopes of adding to his small list of decent players. It was about time they had a rematch.
Double clicking on the name, he took another forkful of his pie. His opponent would have seen something along the lines of "RedHerring invites you to table 12" with an accept or decline button at the bottom.
The words "waiting for opponent" appeared on his screen as the chess board arranged itself. If Johnny could pit his finger on one thing that he really enjoyed about online chess it would have been the chess board. Not only were the pieces exactly the same, but they all lined up in perfect order. He strived to achieve this level of precision. As first person to the table he got to choose his side and the green-haired teen picked black. Now all he had to do was wait.
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Posted: Sun May 09, 2010 6:56 pm
Ian leaned closer to his screen as he received a challenge from RedHerring. He had not played him in quite some time, to the point that he was wondering if something had come up for the other guy. He was a good opponent, though, and moreover, a standing rival whom Ian could be sure would not quit early on him without good reason.
Smiling, the red-haired boy clicked "Accept" and waited as the site connected him to the game. As soon as the table appeared with Ian behind the white side, he clicked over to the chat window to offer his greetings. Since RedHerring would be going first anyway, and all.Quote: ParsleySage: Hello, long time no see!
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Posted: Mon May 10, 2010 4:27 pm
Ah, there he was! Today was clearly his lucky day. Johnny set his fork down hastily to reply, fingers flying over the keyboard as he typed his response. Quote: ParsleySage: Hello, long time no see! RedHerring: Same to you! Ready for a rematch?
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Posted: Wed May 12, 2010 5:19 pm
Ian nodded to himself and made his own opening move, putting a pawn out to free up one of his bishops. He tried to remember how this particular opponent played, which was difficult with so many people registered on the site, in spite of having played more than a handful of games against RedHerring. With any luck, Ian would remember better after watching how the opening moves went down.Quote: ParsleySage: Hello, long time no see! RedHerring: Same to you! Ready for a rematch? ParsleySage: More than ready. I've had too many people quitting on me before the game's over lately
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Posted: Fri May 14, 2010 3:34 pm
It would be a pawn's game for the first couple of turns as each player sussed out their opponents. That was how most games started, the informal kind anyways. Johnny had read about super chess strategists who studied their opponent's games over and over until they thought they had it all figured out. As dedicated to winning as the green-haired teen was he wasn't quite that dedicated.
He typed up another response as he considered his options. Quote: ParsleySage: Hello, long time no see! RedHerring: Same to you! Ready for a rematch? ParsleySage: More than ready. I've had too many people quitting on me before the game's over lately RedHerring: Really? That's no good. Quote: ParsleySage: Hello, long time no see! RedHerring: Same to you! Ready for a rematch? ParsleySage: More than ready. I've had too many people quitting on me before the game's over lately RedHerring: Really? That's no good. RedHerring: My last game got interrupted right at a good part. Internet crapped out.
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Posted: Tue May 18, 2010 4:42 pm
Ian edged a bishop out, then moved a knight on his next turn. He had some books about chess and chess strategy, mostly gifts from his parents, but he had discovered it was more enjoyable to figure things out for himself, rather than using some other guy's favorite opening moves all the time. After all, winning all the time would get boring, and Ian figured he learned more from a loss anyway.
One corner of his mouth tugged into a sad, sympathetic smile at the fate of RedHerring's last game. It had happened to him a few times as well, but only once during a really good game. Thorough disappointment.Quote: ParsleySage: More than ready. I've had too many people quitting on me before the game's over lately RedHerring: Really? That's no good. RedHerring: My last game got interrupted right at a good part. Internet crapped out. ParsleySage: I hate it when that happens. I hope it works alright today. ParsleySage: Been alright otherwise, though? I have finals coming up, but I may be actually playing more, to help keep myself sane =P
Stupid cutoffs between letter grades, and being just under one of them.
At least the rest of his classes did not worry him too much.
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Posted: Wed May 19, 2010 10:17 am
Looks like he had bought the story, but then again there wasn’t any reason not to. Having the internet crap out during a match was much more likely than having it interrupted by monsters, though these days that was changing fast. Idly, Johnny wondered how much his opponent knew about the whole senshi-youma affair. It wouldn’t be safe to ask him over the internet, not to mention it wasn’t exactly idle chatter. Best to keep that kind of discussion between those who could actually do something about it. Quote: RedHerring: Really? That's no good. RedHerring: My last game got interrupted right at a good part. Internet crapped out. ParsleySage: I hate it when that happens. I hope it works alright today. ParsleySage: Been alright otherwise, though? I have finals coming up, but I may be actually playing more, to help keep myself sane =P RedHerring: Me too. This café’s internet seems to be holding up okay though. RedHerring: Sanity for finals is definitely a good thing. I’m trying to restore some of mine after a week of papers.
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Posted: Thu May 20, 2010 1:45 pm
Ian had similar worries of jinxing his connection by mentioning that it was stable, but had actually had pretty good luck at this place in the past, and so tried not to worry about it too much. It was a fact of playing on the internet, just like, when one played chess in person, there was always the risk of knocking the board over. Half the time, if the signal only cut out for a moment, he could reconnect to the same game on this website, anyway.
He freed up his bishops and his queen, but left the latter on her starting square, electing instead to take one of RedHerring's pawns with one of his other pawns to free up a bit more space in the center of the board, if nothing else. Maybe it was the coffee or something, or the thrill of having a good opponent, but Ian felt like playing a bit more aggressively today than he ordinarily did.
Still, though, conversation remained cordial and casual in the chat half of the screen.Quote: ParsleySage: I hate it when that happens. I hope it works alright today. ParsleySage: Been alright otherwise, though? I have finals coming up, but I may be actually playing more, to help keep myself sane =P RedHerring: Me too. This café’s internet seems to be holding up okay though. RedHerring: Sanity for finals is definitely a good thing. I’m trying to restore some of mine after a week of papers. ParsleySage: I'm taking it easy in a cafe, too. Coffee to fuel a paper of my own later. ParsleySage: What grade are you in, again? I probbaly asked at least once before, but forgot, sorry. ParsleySage: *probably
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Posted: Fri May 21, 2010 6:12 pm
The first capture of the game.
Like anyone who played games of strategy, Johnny appreciated the necessity of sacrifice. It would be impossible to play a game of chess without someone losing pieces; that was the very purpose of the game. If you couldn't take your opponent's king then why place chess at all? Still, the green-haired teen considered his next move a little more cautiously in case ParsleySage was mounting some kind of slow and deadly assault.
Having moved his knights up, he focused instead on moving his rooks into position. They would be moved to occupy the space the knights' had previously held. ParsleySage could take a few more pawns; it would free up the board to let them out. Quote: RedHerring: Me too. This café’s internet seems to be holding up okay though. RedHerring: Sanity for finals is definitely a good thing. I’m trying to restore some of mine after a week of papers. ParsleySage: I'm taking it easy in a cafe, too. Coffee to fuel a paper of my own later. ParsleySage: What grade are you in, again? I probbaly asked at least once before, but forgot, sorry. ParsleySage: *probably RedHerring: Ouch, papers. Is the pie at your café any good? I've been looking for a new place since my favourite one got crushed. RedHerring: No grades, I'm at Sovereign. It's a university prep. You're still in high school, right?
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Posted: Mon May 24, 2010 2:45 pm
Right, right, RedHerring lived somewhere in Destiny City, too. Ian squirmed a little in his seat; he should have remembered that.
Having chess on which to concentrate cut down on his habit of feeling awkward, even with the internet between him and his friend, though. He freed up one of his rooks, as well, and considered taking another pawn in the next turn or so - there were two he was threatening, but taking both of them, at this point in the game, would be a waste of a move.Quote: ParsleySage: What grade are you in, again? I probbaly asked at least once before, but forgot, sorry. ParsleySage: *probably RedHerring: Ouch, papers. Is the pie at your café any good? I've been looking for a new place since my favourite one got crushed. RedHerring: No grades, I'm at Sovereign. It's a university prep. You're still in high school, right? ParsleySage: Right, sorry. And yeah, still in high school. Almost done with my junior year. ParsleySage: Five tests and three papers between me and a few months' freedom :C
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Posted: Tue May 25, 2010 12:41 pm
Johnny drummed his fingers on the table as he dragged his mouse from piece to piece. Hrm. They were getting into the realm of strategy now, which meant he had to be a little bit more careful about who he sacrificed when. He moved a pawn further up to threaten one of his opponent's pieces but he didn't take it. The pieces would meet in the middle ground until one broke through the enemy lines and started on the defence.
He reached blindly for his pie, only to end up knocking over his ice tea instead. The teen cursed under his breath, hastily moving his lap top to the other side of the table before it could get damp. Damn, he hadn't taken any napkins. Using the dry side of the table to put his laptop he typed a quick message to his opponent before tucking the computer under his arm. He didn't think it would be stolen if he left it there, but these days one never knew. Quote: RedHerring: Ouch, papers. Is the pie at your café any good? I've been looking for a new place since my favourite one got crushed. RedHerring: No grades, I'm at Sovereign. It's a university prep. You're still in high school, right? ParsleySage: Right, sorry. And yeah, still in high school. Almost done with my junior year. ParsleySage: Five tests and three papers between me and a few months' freedom :C RedHerring: Sorry, just knocked ice tea onto the table. Need some napkins, brb
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Posted: Tue May 25, 2010 5:42 pm
The board went blank for a moment on the chess webpage, replaced momentarily with a ring of dots that rotated slowly, indicating that the server was updating the board to reflect his opponent's most recent move. It was taking a bit longer than it had been thus far that game, though, and Ian was momentarily worried he had lost connection.
Still, it gave him a moment to shift his weight a little on the chair and stretch, and then take a long drink of his latte. And, fortunately, when he set his cup down on the table again, the board had refreshed and a new message had appeared in the chat window (Ordinarily, the latter was announced with a soft ding sound from the site, but Ian had the sound muted, neither wanting to bother with headphones nor risk bothering anyone else in the cafe).Quote: RedHerring: No grades, I'm at Sovereign. It's a university prep. You're still in high school, right? ParsleySage: Right, sorry. And yeah, still in high school. Almost done with my junior year. ParsleySage: Five tests and three papers between me and a few months' freedom :C RedHerring: Sorry, just knocked ice tea onto the table. Need some napkins, brb ParsleySage: Gah, yeah, go ahead and get that cleaned up D=
When he turned back to the screen a few long moments later, he saw someone about his age or older returning to a table in the back with a wad of napkins, but thought nothing of it.
Ian took one of the pawns with one of his knights, setting up a double-threat with the piece, which he had taken the care to protect. He was not yet sure how well this offensive would work out, but, well, that depended at least in part on how RedHerring reacted.
... Hopefully the other's laptop was okay.
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Posted: Tue Jun 01, 2010 4:39 pm
The laptop remained on the other side of the table until Johnny was absolutely certain the surface was iced-tea free. Of course, now that side of the table was sticky, and with grumble he relocated to the other side of the booth. So much for enjoying his corner seat. He gave his little mouse a wiggle to wake the computer back up and typed up his reply for ParsleySage. Quote: ParsleySage: Five tests and three papers between me and a few months' freedom :C RedHerring: Sorry, just knocked ice tea onto the table. Need some napkins, brb ParsleySage: Gah, yeah, go ahead and get that cleaned up D= RedHerring: Okay, crisis averted. The table is all sticky now but at least the laptop is safe. RedHerring: Sorry about that. Where were we?
Another pawn was taken and the green-haired teen moved a single pawn up to take the closest white piece. Not a big step towards victory, but a step nonetheless. This time, when he reached for his pie he made sure he was going in the right direction. The last thing he needed was his opponent thinking he was a total klutz.
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