Text A: Her Side of the Board
1Tesni set the chess pieces on the recreation center's folding table while Nalin hung his jacket over a chair. Usually, their games became lessons before she had finished deciding what to do. Tonight she placed a small card beside the board: NO ADVICE UNLESS ASKED. Nalin read it, smiled uncertainly, and sat down. Tesni wished he had argued. Then she could have delivered the speech she had practiced on the walk over.
2Their opening moves passed quickly. Without Nalin's running explanations, the room sounded unexpectedly large: shoes squeaked beyond the door, and someone dragged a chair across the floor. Tesni developed a plan to attack along one side of the board. Before each move, she almost looked up for his reaction. Instead, she studied the pieces. For the first time, the silence between turns belonged partly to her.
3Halfway through the game, Nalin reached toward a piece, stopped, and glanced at the card. Tesni saw the warning in his face. Her hand hovered above her rook. She could ask one small question without tearing up the agreement. But a question now would really mean, Tell me which move is safe. She moved the rook. Nalin captured it on his next turn. Heat climbed into her cheeks, and the hallway noises seemed suddenly sharp.
4She expected him to explain the mistake. He folded his hands beneath the table. Tesni spent a long time examining the remaining pieces, then made another move. They played on. She found one useful attack and lost it, protected another piece, and missed a chance she noticed too late. At last she tipped her king onto its side. The little wooden knock was less dramatic than the ending she had imagined.
5Nalin began putting away the pieces. Tesni picked up the fallen rook before he could reach it. She placed it where it had stood before her mistake and asked him to show her what she had overlooked. He sat back down. They examined two possible moves, arguing over the second until Tesni saw why it failed. When she reset the board for another game, she straightened the card beside it. Nalin left his jacket on the chair.
Text B: Leave the Board
1Scene One: Clearing Up. [A recreation center. A chess game has just ended. TESNI's king lies on its side. NALIN gathers pieces into a box. A card beside the board reads NO ADVICE UNLESS ASKED.] NALIN: You stayed in longer this time. TESNI: That sounds like something you say to a person learning to float. NALIN: I meant— TESNI: I know. [She takes her rook from the box and sets it on the board.] Leave the board. NALIN: We can play tomorrow. TESNI: I didn't say leave the room.
2Scene Two: Putting It Back. [The box remains open. TESNI moves the rook to another square.] TESNI: Here. This is where everything went wrong. NALIN: Before that, actually. TESNI: Then put it back before that. [He replaces several pieces. She corrects the position of one pawn.] NALIN: You remember where that was? TESNI: I was playing too. [He withdraws his hand.] TESNI: When you stopped moving your hand, I knew you wanted to warn me. NALIN: I did. TESNI: I wanted to ask. I didn't want the answer.
3NALIN: Those sound like the same thing. TESNI: Not tonight. [She tries a different move.] What happens here? [He moves a piece in reply. She studies the board, then returns both pieces to their previous squares.] TESNI: And here? NALIN: That keeps your rook, but look at the other side. [She leans over the board.] TESNI: Oh. [A chair scrapes in the hallway. Neither looks toward the door.] NALIN: I could have shown you during the game. TESNI: Then this would be your mistake that I avoided.
4Scene Three: Setting Up. [TESNI begins returning the pieces to their starting squares. NALIN closes the empty box.] NALIN: Same rule? TESNI: Same rule. NALIN: And afterward? TESNI: Afterward I might ask. NALIN: You might win. TESNI: I might lose without giving you a lesson to teach. [He opens his mouth, then shuts it. She waits until he meets her eyes.] NALIN: Fair enough.
5[NALIN reaches for his jacket, pauses, and lets it fall against the chair.] NALIN: Your move. [TESNI checks the rows of pieces. She straightens the card and moves a pawn. NALIN studies the board without speaking. TESNI's hand rests beside the open space where the box had been. Beyond the door, the hallway grows quiet. Neither player reaches for the fallen pieces from the previous game; all of them are standing now.]