─── ✦ TRISHA ›
The brunette sat in front of her laptop, headphones on. Her eyes were clear and focused on the chessboard in front of her. She was so going to win this. Or at least, that's what she told herself.
Her roommate sat behind her on their shared bunkbed, clutching a pillow against her chest, feeling secondhand nervousness. "How many games did you say this Vik guy won?"
Trisha blinked at the question. "1569."
Reya stared at her, stunned. "Repeat that."
"I've already repeated it like 10 times now, Reya."
"How many games have you won, Trisha?"
Trisha sniffed. "1200."
"Okay. Okay. 1200. That's close. That's good." Reya mumbled.
Trisha sent her a narrowed side-eye.
"Okay, I'll shut up now. You go ahead and focus." Reya mumbled, still nervous.
The sparkly green header at the top of the laptop read ChessInternational Annual League Indian Server Finals. It was pretty hard to not get intimidated by just looking at that title. And then there was her opponent. Vik12nayak. He was a legendary player on the server. He had nearly ten thousand followers and didn't follow a single person back. Something about not following anyone back made him appear cooler to most players on the server.
He won practically every game he played, with ease. He wasn't a professional player but Trisha believed that he probably went to a chess coaching class.
There were 5 minutes left for the game to commence. The official commentator had already logged in and was checking her mic. In the previous leagues, there had been no commentator but this time the organization hosting the mega-popular chess website had decided to add to the excitement by hiring one.
It only made Trisha more nervous.
Trisha watched the time. 4 minutes were left. Suddenly she heard a 'ding!' ringing in her ears, startling her.
A dialogue box had popped up on the side. Vik12Nayak sends friend request - Approve? Deny?
Trisha's eyelids fluttered in confusion. He had sent her a friend request?
Feeling nervousness and apprehension build on her shoulders, she clicked on approve. Immediately, she received a message.
Good luck.
Trisha let out a breath. With trembling fingers, she wrote back 'Good luck to you too' and clicked on send. With furrowed eyebrows, she turned to face her roommate.
YOU ARE READING
The King's Gambit | ✓
Short Story「 desi university romance novella x chess lovers 」 ▬▬ Vikram is a proficient chess player who is fully aware of all the chess moves required to win over his opponent. Trisha finds herself entrapped from the beginning; from the gambit. ▬▬ pulan uni n...
