Bongcloud in India

The next stop on the tour was India. I had been here many times before, but never could I have imagined how different it would be. Marble appeared to line every street with everything looking far more futuristic. If it wasn't for the Taj Mahal, I might not even know I was in India.

"Bet you're surprised. India was only on the cusp of becoming an economic powerhouse in your era, but now... BAM! One of the world's top 3 largest economies, though economics aren't really that big a deal today. Still, 200 years ago when it was, India ruled the world, and not just in economics. So Hana, notice anything about the streets and sidewalks?"

"They're marble?"

"Yes, but I'm looking for a more specific answer, think carefully about the patterns."

Well that was kind of vague, but it did make me recall something. While most sections of the street were a beautiful white marble, there were also some sections that were black, though I don't think it was asphalt. But black and white, hmm I want to say a checkerboard, but why would India adorn their streets like a checkerboard?

Croatia would make more sense as the checkerboard is part of their coat of arms, though it's actually red and white instead of black and white. India also isn't the first thing I think of when I hear checkers, but I'm positive there was a board game they were known for.

What was it? Backgammon? Chess? ...

"CHESS!"

"Pin pon, right you are! And India's chess dominance started in your era, shortly after you entered amberstasis. In fact, why don't I just show you."

I followed Irina until we reached a large garden of an area. A large grassy lawn with a giant chessboard in it's center was present with statues of both chess pieces and players adorning the lawn.

"Now how about a game? Fair warning, regular chess has become a solved game, at least if you play certain openings, but here you can play every old and new chess variant out there. Fischer random, atomic, 4-player, even Gothic, Seirawan, and Capablanca 960 just to name a few."

"Capablanca 960?"

"Basically the Capablanca chess version of Fischer random. Gothic chess is technically a fairer version of the original Capablanca chess, which is why when they started randomizing the back row on the 10x8 board. There are easily way more than 960 possible configurations, but the 960 just stuck I guess. So up for some chess?"

I ultimately decided to just go for normal chess, as that's the only thing I somewhat know how to play. I wasn't a complete rookie, I knew how to move the pieces and about castling and en passant, that move where you can make a weird pawn capture. There was also a video that popped into y feed back in the day that showed a opening that was said to be the greatest ever. Even though Irina says chess has been solved, perhaps that opening will throw her off.

Once we were in position, I was allowed to play as White, meaning I had a chance to play that opening. The first step was e4.

"Going basic, huh. Well, I'll match," Irina chuckled as she moved her pawn to e5.

Perfect. Now, I can unleash the move said to be the greatest of all time; 2. Ke2, The Bongcloud Attack!

As soon as I completed the move, Irina burst into laughter. "The Bongcloud!? Oh girl, you're a hoot. But too bad for you, cuz I'm playing... THE DOUBLE BONGCLOUD!"

With the snap of her fingers, Irina's king moved to e7. Now I had no idea what to do so I just moved my king back to it's starting square. Irina mirrored me, prompting me to move my king back out to e2, but Irina mirrored me once more! We kept repeating this until suddenly a notice appeared informing me that a "threefold repetition rule" had been triggered ending the game in a draw.

"Well talk about dank and based. We just played like the top players of your era," Irina grinned.

"What do you mean?"

"Heard of Magnus Carlsen and Hikaru Nakamura?"

I couldn't say I had. Bobby Fischer and Garry Kasparov were the only two names I knew when it came to chess.

"You don't know about Magnus!? Guy was the top player of your era and still regarded to this day as being one of the greatest chess players of all time!"

"Wait, really!?"

"Yeah. Though here in India, none could be more important than this fellow over here," Irina grinned as she walked up to a statue.

"Who is that?"

"Viswanathan Anand, the 15th undisputed world chess champion, and the first ever grandmaster from India."

"The first ever?"

"Hard to believe considering even in your era, India had a gazillion grandmasters, including the 18th undisputed world chess champion, Gukesh Dommaraju, who earned his title just a few months after you went into amberstasis, believe it or not. But India's rise all started with Vishy. That man inspired a nation and it lead to it becoming THE chess dynasty of the world, to this  day. Even when things went galactic and normal chess got solved, India still remains the center of Chess."

I was honestly a bit taken aback by the revelation. This man had lived in my era, and at the time, India had only begun to morph into a Chess powerhouse. But today, India was the true king of Chess. I never followed chess closely so this didn't impact me too much, but it did five me a sense of regret. Imagine if I had been more associated with chess, then I could appreciate this achievement so much more.

Taking notice of my sadness, Irina wrapped her arm around me. "Relax, lots of stuff was happening in your era, so don't worry if you weren't on top of everything. Besides, there was no way of knowing what would be big in 500 years and what wouldn't. And if that still doesn't improve your mood, I'll let ya in on a secret; I don't really follow chess, heck I literally just looked up how to play chess perfectly moments before we got here."

"Huh? Then what was that about 'playing like the top players of my era'?"

"Oh, it was part of the notable games pack I downloaded. So get this, the origin of the Double Bongcloud was in a game between Magnus Carlsen and Hikaru Nakamura. Apparently Hikaru was known for popularizing the Bongcloud so when Magnus played the move against him..."

I couldn't help but smile at Irina. She claimed she had no interest in chess, yet she was explaining everything so passionately. I don't know her like the back of my hand, so I can't say this with absolute clarity, but I feel like she's the happiest she's ever been.

...

Listen to me yapping about chess. I don't know why, but the game's always fascinated me since I was young. The problem is, the game is solved. Sure, there's other variants, but I'm into the OG chess.

Before Hana, there were a few chess fans and players that were brought out of amberstasis. Many were disappointed to know Chess had been solved, but when they heard of India, their eyes lit up. One old guy, who was also a grandmaster, even proclaimed he'd make a pilgrimage to India to pay his respects.

But problems arose when I played some of these folks. I knew everything so it was boring. Sure, I could spice things up by speeding things up or throwing in some odds, but I still had an advantage there.

But when Hana played the Bongcloud of all things against me, I couldn't help but smile. Sure I know how to beat it, even if I play the Double Bongcloud, but nobody ever plays crazy stuff like that anymore. So when I saw it, drawing out of mutual respect was my plan of action.

If Hana fought on, sure I'd crush her, and then play another game where I push for her to play the Double Grob, so I can make things interesting and play the Coca-Cola gambit. But for now, I'm just happy. Happy she's willing to listen to me rave on, and on about something I've been into. I'll treat her to the finest curry, both for that and for playing the Bongcloud, since both are worthy of praise.