Well...

[amyamy]

She sat at the board, contemplating her opponent. "I must say..." Her voice was the only sound in the room as the two faced off against each other. "Masterfully played. It has been a long time since I've been offered such a challenge in this game. But is it worth it? You made a mistake, you know, in your execution. It was inevitable, of course."

Her face was a mask of smooth assurance, her posture clean and controlled, but her smile was cold. She would not say it, would avoid even hinting at it, but the loss she had suffered had shaken her. This opponent she had misjudged.

"We shall see," was all her opponent would say, not looking up to meet her eyes, not giving anything else away. And while she had gleaned a little from the way the move had been made she was uncertain how the game would go from here. She had made a mistake, lost a key piece, and only time would tell how things would unfold.

"Well played indeed," she whispered to herself as she went back to contemplating the board.

Comments

[reasdream.livejournal.com]

merfle.

[amyamy.livejournal.com]

The only clues she would get came from watching her opponents. She didn't know the rules of the game any better or any worse than they did, but what she knew was how to read them. Even the best players would let their poker face slip sometimes.

But the masters... Ah, the masters. A master in the game could present a game face utterly contrary to their true intent. While they presented a front and behaved as though they held nothing in their hand it would later come out that from play one they were on top of the game. A master could create persona after persona and strategy after strategy. You could believe you had caught them out, only to find that it was all part of their plan. A master could never truely be predicted.

She was not a master. She was good, they all knew that. Every night her games would have an audience - people who wanted to learn what she knew, to find a chink in her armour, discover the path to defeating her.

This opponent was also not a master, she was sure. But it was astounding that they had managed to get in as far as they had. She thought she'd seen this one umongst her crowd of watchers, which left her wondering. If this one has found a weakness and learned to exploit it, will others? Even if I win this match I will have to face another, and another. I'm losing control of this situation.

Maybe this opponent simply had beginner's luck, maybe this play had simply been a fluke. But could she take that chance?

Of course she could. That was what the game was about.

Congratulations!

[agiel.livejournal.com]

It is with great pleasure that I, the Director-for-Life of the Goblin Awards, can present to you this award. Many journalists have entered the competition, but only you, AmyAmy, have been skillful enough at obfuscating your true meaning and purpose to deserve this award. May your tricksy ways always go so rewarded.

Re: Congratulations!

[amyamy.livejournal.com]

Excellent! I'd like to thank the accademy...

Where did you get that picture? Yet another reason why I should never, ever where my glasses. Because I look like an idiot.

And have you read part two, seen in response to reabhecc?

Part three:

Stealing herself she leaned back in her chair, ready to rejoin the game. She glanced one last time at her opponent, then, without looking, pulled a card from her hand and laid it on the table, face down.

"I do believe that we're on the last bet. Here, let's make this interesting." She held out her hand and one of the watchers - one of the many who knew her - placed a pen and paper in her hand. Less than a minute later something was written on the paper and it lay before her opponent. "That is what I will bet. Have you anything to match thoes stakes?"