First Lesson

Su Lin sat at the chess board as instructor Gao Han introduced the chess pieces to her. King, Queen, Bishop, Knight, Rook, and the foot soldier Pawns- it sounded like a fairy tale to her. She concentrated as she learnt how each of the pieces move. It was a little tricky as each piece moved differently- the King just one step, the Queen on all sides, the Rook along straight lines, the Knight two and a half squares and the Bishop along the same color diagonals. Why was the Queen so much more powerful than the King? The King was more like a princess that needed to be protected all the time from being captured, whereas the Queen was more of a prince. It really didn't make any sense.

Anyhow, Su Lin just memorized whatever she was taught. She had a good memory, and learnt quickly. At the end of the day, Gao Han gave her a booklet with chess rules, and told her to learn them by heart. Once Su Lin returned home, she concentrated on learning the booklet. There were many words she could not read, so she waited for her mother to explain them. There were rules about how to use the chess clock and end of time flagfalls, how to promote pawns, how to say 'j'adoube' to adjust pieces, and many others that she really could not follow.

Her mother seemed to be a little impatient as she explained. She had another argument with Su Lin's father, and was in a bad mood. At dinner, the family was not at the table. After their argument, Su Lin's dad went off somewhere and did not come back yet. Mei Lin went back to her room in a huff without having dinner. Su Lin was too frightened to stay in the living room, so she grabbed a few pieces of candy and returned to her room. They didn't have a chess board at home, so she couldn't practice. She just closed her eyes, and thought about the green and white chess board and the movement of the pieces she had learnt today. Then somehow she fell asleep.