Your Move

I was sitting in Washington Square, playing five dollars a game, and trying to score. It was another New York Open, and I had money to burn. You don't go to Washington Square to hustle chess players, you go there to banter and lose money. I felt that I owed money back to New York, since I had come so far and had not paid any taxes here. But for some strange reason I could not lose today. My opponent was a black man in his thirties, who was playing fast but after every opening I was somehow ahead. That's when I heard, "can I take a picture or two?" I looked over to see this desi-looking girl with a camera, clicking away. I nodded without paying much attention, I was about to be up fifty, and my opponent was not looking good. "Check to his majesty!" I yelled, my opponent sank into a deep thought. I love it when there is only one move and your opponent thinks away. I think he was distracted by the girl and the clicking noise. So I looked her over, in my imagination I could see her cleavage, which was completely covered by her "Dupata" and yet I felt that I could see through her. My opponent made the only move that he could, and my clock started ticking, my rook landed on the seventh! as I touched the clock I noticed my time, I had three minutes and twenty three seconds and my opponent was down to one minute and thirteen. Click! my thoughts went back to this desi chick, I turned to her and asked "where from?" She had to be from Pakistan the way she was dressed, "Turkish" came the response. Now that I was totally wrong, I went back to my game, I was penetrating my opponent, his king was stuck in one square and my second rook was about to land on the seventh. Before I made my move I looked her over again, and with a smile I asked her if she was from GQ?
Click! I hit the clock hard as my second rook landed on the seventh. "No" she smiled back, now my opponent sank into a deep tank (thats chess terminology for a deep think). I was thinking about the girl, what kind of a person comes to Washington Square, and then as a means of flirting takes pictures, for all I know she was clicking away with no film. So I had to state categorically, "you can't publish these without my permission you know" she nodded. Click! my opponent had made his move. He had found the only defensive move that saved him from mate. So now I am thinking, but I am not thinking about my move, all I can see is this girl moving around trying to focus on me! Why me? I looked up, she was analyzing the position. And I couldn't find a good move, go random was my immediate thought, I looked at the clock I had two minutes and some and my opponent was down to thirty seconds, then I saw it! The bastard had a counter attack going on, that's why he was defending so that he could attack when my efforts were exhausted. There I was going into a deep tank, click click, tick, tick.
Now I was annoyed, "are you done? can you see that I am creating art here?" I made a quick random move, oh-oh he took a knight, for free. She was now taking his picture. Click I made another quick move, and now I was below a minute on my clock. Hey two rooks on seventh, I should have at least a draw, I decided to go for it. Check, he moved his king, Check again and oh no he takes my rook with his queen, granted that he would lose his queen but now he could afford it since I just dropped a knight! Click Click, tick tick. Move! yelled my left brain. I now had fifteen seconds and he had twelve. And then I saw it after the dust settles he had a mate with a bishop and a knight! Oh maybe in time trouble he will not see it. "Check to the Shah" he took the rook with his queen. I moved to save the mate and then came the blow, with one second on the clock, the brother found the mate with the Pawn.
Good game I shook his hand and was about to leave with my winnings when he challenged me again, "are you not going to let a brother get some of his money back?" She was looking straight at me as if I was about to rob a pauper. I said I have time for only five more games. We set up the board again. Every game after that I would get lost in these thoughts, where I would have a brilliant combinations, which were somehow turned on me on the last move. He was seeing further. And all I could see were her eyes gazing the board, she had stopped clicking now. Instead of playing just five games I kept playing and losing, I was down two hundred and thats when I decided to quit. Sheepishly I got up from the table, "catch you later". That is exactly what I did later on and found the Turkish girl and the brother arm in arm smoking a joint walking to the nearest Indian restaurant.