𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐐𝐮𝐞𝐞𝐧'𝐬 𝐆𝐚𝐦𝐛𝐢𝐭 ♕From Beth the Eyes of Beth Harmon

IX-All Pawns, No Hope

Episode 3

Doubled Pawns

Part 1

Cincinnati, 1963

All Pawns, No Hope

♕♛♕♛♕♛

The Gibson hotel was a marvel to me. Light flooded the main entrance room from every corner, whether through a large window or a grand chandelier. The chic brown patterns on the floor tiles matched the pillars that stood tall in the middle of the room. The staircase split into two, leading you to separate ends of the hotel, just like how I'd seen in movies.

Just when I think my world can't get any bigger, I am pleasantly surprised.

My mother and I walked into room 352, our room. It was welcoming. We both walked around a bit, inspecting the fancy furniture. There was a print of the globe on the wall, a nice ornate rug on the floor, and a huge window with taupe curtains in the center of the room.

My mother sat down on one of the beds. "I asked for a pleasant room," she felt the bedding underneath her fingertips, "and I believe they gave me one."

I was amazed. The only thing that felt right to do in the moment was to run at full speed and jump onto the bed. My mother laughed a hearty laugh.

I went downstairs to sign in to the tournament. I walked up to the desk and began filling out my playing card.

"I'm Beth-"

"Harmon." The man finished for me. "Kentucky state champion. Nice to meet you." I couldn't help but smile at the fact that I was already recognized. "There are two games a day, and the time control is 120/40." My brows furrowed in a puzzled manner. "You get 2 hours to make 40 moves." He clarified. I handed him my card. "Welcome to Cincinnati." He said as he took it.

"Thank you."

The matches were going to be held in the hotel's grand dining hall where they held events for special guests. With a bit of time to kill, I decided to explore it a bit before they started. I was making my way up the stairs when I heard men's voices next to me discussing something, what sounded like chess. I paused halfway up and turned my head to peek through the metal banisters, where I could see right next to me was a table in which the men were sitting around.

But then my heart seemed to skip a beat.

One man was sitting in a chair that looked much too big for his thin body. But that wasn't the first thing that stuck out to me. It was his cowboy hat I noticed first. He was also wearing a black leather trench coat, typical. And I immediately saw this knife sitting on his hip. It was exactly like what I had seen in the pictures.

My god, it's US Champion Benny Watts.

I listened in to the conversation while trying to remain unnoticed. He was explaining why the Caro-Kann defense is useless. "It's all pawns and no hope." I caught a glimpse of the faint mustache sitting on his upper lip.

"I'd take the knight." The words tumbled out of my mouth before I could even help myself. He turned his head to see me inches away from his face, separated by the banisters. Now that I made my presence known by accident, I made my way up the rest of the stairs to get a better look at what they were doing.