Ch.1 – EP02 Rematch and Recruitment

On the way home after school, Sora stopped in front of an old bookstore by the station.

Chess, where he had been easily defeated by Momoko yesterday—that board position was still looping in his head. The moment White’s queen and bishop rushed in along a straight line. What was that, and why couldn’t he notice it—frustrating, and—he wanted to know.

Sora had a smartphone, but he’d left it on his desk at home. He didn’t do social media, and he didn’t have the habit of looking things up online. The reason was simple: he wasn’t interested. So in times like this, he’d always relied on paper books. He liked the feeling of turning pages, the smell of ink.

Passing through the automatic door, the quiet air-conditioning brushed his cheek. He moved toward the back while scanning the shelves, and what caught his eye in the hobbies/practical section was—“Introduction to Chess,” a beginner’s book that was quite thick for an introductory text. On the cover was a photo of pieces with glossy wood grain.

At the ornamentation of that queen, for some reason, his chest stirred. He had seen it somewhere.

When he opened the pages, there were explanations of piece movement, check and checkmate, castling, en passant. Photos and diagrams lined up in a gentle tone.

(There’s so much I don’t know…)

His throat felt dry. With every page he turned, unfamiliar terms increased. And yet, he felt strangely calm. If he didn’t know, he could learn.

When he bought the book at the register, the sound of it being slipped into a plastic sleeve seemed oddly loud. Gripping the corner of the bag, he ran home. The sunset dyed the rooftops of the residential neighborhood red.

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Back home, still in his school uniform, Sora opened the closet and pulled out a dust-covered wooden box from the back. An old chess set he’d heard was a souvenir from his dad. When he opened the box, the pieces wrapped in tissue paper peeked out one by one. And then a queen appeared, with ornamentation exactly like the book’s cover.

When he picked it up to look at it, there was a small signature-like stamp around the base’s rim and carved foreign letters he couldn’t read. Tracing it with his finger, within the cool wooden surface he felt a strange warmth.

Sora’s mother had passed away before he was old enough to remember. His father often went abroad on business and spent little time at home. Naturally, Sora learned to do everything himself. He was especially good at cooking; he cooked three meals a day, and he brought a homemade lunchbox to school. Even when his father was home, Sora was the one who stood in the kitchen.

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That night, after dinner, he spread the chess set on the desk and opened “Introduction to Chess.”

He imitated the initial setup, placing the pieces one by one. The positions of king and queen, the order of bishops and knights. It should have been correct, yet he checked it over and over. When he finished setting it up, the air in the room settled with a soft hush. He felt his spine straighten.

He read aloud from the first chapter of the book. “A pawn moves forward one square; only on its first move may it advance two. It captures only diagonally forward.” Moving the pieces with his fingers, he drew arrows in his notebook. On the next page were “Basic Checkmate Patterns.” Four diagrams. There was a shape he recognized.

—Scholar’s Mate: A basic pattern where the queen and bishop coordinate to mate the king in four moves.

Sora caught his breath.

This was the same shape as when he had beaten the AI two years ago. Back then he had moved the pieces without knowing why, and when he noticed, he had already won. That uncanny experience and today’s defeat were now connected by a single line.

Keeping the book open, he reproduced it on the board.

》<PGN>1. e4 e5 2. Qh5 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. Qxf7#

Black’s knight and pawn’s defenses were shattered in an instant, and the king had no escape. It was exactly like the position he’d just had. His fingers stopped.

(How to defend…)

The explanation spelled it out properly: “Block the queen’s line with g6,” “Defend f7 with Qe7,” “Strike back in the center with d5.”

He reset the pieces, moved them again and again, then reset them. Black pawn from g7 to g6. Even if White’s queen comes to h5, the diagonal is cut off. This time it doesn’t mate. Somewhere deep inside, something clicked into place, just a little.

(You can defend. If you know how.)

The corner of the page began to get a little dog-eared. He traced the castling diagram with a finger, tilted his head at the en passant explanation, and set up the basic checkmates once more.

Sora became completely absorbed in books and chessboards, losing track of time and the world around him. “Introduction to Chess” felt as if it had been written just for him, and as he read on, it felt less like “learning knowledge” and more like retracing “memories.” When he noticed, he had skimmed through the whole book, and not much time had passed.

Just before he fell asleep, Sora was smiling a little. If there’s something you don’t know, you just learn it. If you get mated in four moves, you can smile back on the fifth.

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The next day. At lunch, Momoko was eating sandwiches by the classroom window with her girlfriends. That was when Sora appeared. The girls’ gazes gathered on him.

“Let’s continue from yesterday.”

Momoko grinned.

“Hehe, I knew you’d come. Okay, I’ll be your opponent.”

Momoko washed down the sandwich with milk, then faced Sora across a chessboard on a desk in the corner of the classroom.

Her girlfriends watched the two from a distance, giggling in whispers.

They set up the pieces and started the game. The same opening as yesterday—yet Sora’s hands did not hesitate. He casually dodged the traps Momoko tried to set. With every move he made, Momoko’s expression changed.

“…Not bad. How did you suddenly get that strong?”

“Yesterday, I bought a book. ‘Introduction to Chess.’”

“Huh? No way a single beginner’s book would do all that, right?”

Momoko knit her brows and then gave a short laugh.

“Don’t mess with me. I’ve been playing chess since elementary school, you know?”

At those words, Sora shrugged.

“Then books are amazing.”

“Kurczę! (So annoying!) By the way, who’s the author of that book?”

Sora took “Introduction to Chess” from his bag and checked.

“A person named Elena Kowalska (Helena Kowalska). I decided on this book because there was a chess set at home with a queen that looked exactly like the one on the cover.”

—Momoko’s face changed color.

“Let me see that book for a second!”

Momoko snatched “Introduction to Chess” from Sora and stared back and forth between the author photo and the cover.

“Boże… (Oh God…) Elena Kowalska!? And that queen is in your house?? Sora, I’ve been meaning to ask—are you maybe half Polish?”

“More like a quarter. I’ve got Polish blood on my mother’s side. What’s that got to do with you?”

“That Elena person isn’t just some beginner’s book author…”

Lost in thought, Momoko continued the game as if testing Sora, and with the position remaining almost equal, lunch break ended. She looked into Sora’s face seriously and spoke.

“I’ve decided. You—join the chess club starting today. I’ll personally train you.”

“Huh? I’m not—”

“It’s fine. This is fate. You should play chess, and I’m absolutely not letting you slip away, Rozumiesz? (Understand?)”

With her hand tugging his arm, Sora was marched straight off to the clubroom.