A Little Old Chess Poem
By Tomas Forsman
Once upon a time there was a King and a Queen --
In fact, there were two of each.
One couple had the most beautiful country ever seen,
The others had a house by a rocky beach.
Both countries had people who loved them dearly,
But did the royalty love them back?
The poor King called them pawns; which so clearly
Showed the compassion he lacked.
Talking about Knights, both Kings had two,
And the poor white Queen had an affair with one.
And the King had a plan on what to do,
To find out who was the father of his son.
He declared war upon his rich dark neighbor,
Asked his pawns prepare for a fight.
So they dropped their labour,
And they left that night.
His son was one of the first to attack --
At least so it seemed but the King showed his power.
He held his son back,
And he hid him in a tower.
The King watched his Queen, how would she react
When she saw her son fall in a fight.
Then suddenly, the pawn was attacked,
And the Queen fell in the arms of a Knight.
In anger the King sent the Knight
Away from the Queen and into the fight.
Deep in his heart he thought he was right.
He couldn't think clearly, try as he might.
The King lost his people, his wife and his son,
And he looked for someone to blame.
But when the other army came he realized what he'd done --
He never even knew a single pawn's name.
From the National Championship, in between today's preparation and a walk outside, confronting the winter's wrath, I wish you all a great day!
To my shame, I must admit that my cultural knowledge is lacking Jorge Luis Borges' famous masterpieces. The Argentine writer and poet came to my consciousness today, thanks to Jan Timman and his book, Een sprong in de Noordzee. Amongst many interesting chess stories which you can enjoy reading his book, Timman is also talking about literature, art and different cultures he encountered through his chess tournaments.
