Zugzwang

Main Gaming Hall, Tryismo Chess Club, 9:45 A.M

Daniel entered the game hall. He went to the two hosts.

"Do either of you know what a zugzwang is?" Dan inquired.

"It is German for 'compulsion to move.'" Margaret spoke.

"It is when you create a situation wherein no matter which piece your opponent moves, he or she will be in a losing position." Joseph added.

"But neither of us could do it justice." Margaret added.

"If you really want to know more, you should talk to the Baron about it." Joseph added.

"Where can I find this baron?" Dan inquired.

Joseph and Margaret double checked their chart. "Table twelve." They spoke coordinated.

"We can see him from here." Joseph spoke.

"But we could never remember which table is which or see the number on his table from here." Margaret added.

"The organisers are very messy, uncoordinated, so until the competition, we are uncertain about things, but now you know where to go." Joseph added.

"Are you two twins?" Dan said jokingly.

"No." Joseph and Margaret spoke simultaneously. A few seconds passed before they added: "But sometimes it feels like we are." Again, they spoke simultaneously.

The trio laughed before Daniel stepped away from the podium.

Alex Prode, a young boy no older than 8 came from behind the podium and joined Daniel. He was a blond-haired kid with sharp emerald eyes, he wore a shirt with the victim's face plastered on it. Daniel was not ready to tell his grandson what happened to his idol.

"You should have heard me Dan-Dan." Alex spoke to Daniel as if he were talking to another child.

"Oh? Were you good?" Dan inquired.

"Gooder than good, what is the word for that?" Alex asked.

"Great, fantastic, exceptional. There are other words, but I should not fill your brain with too many words." Dan chuckled.

"Then I would say I did fantatic."

"Fantastic?"

"Yeah, that one."

Daniel went to the Baron.

The Baron looked up. "Ah, Daniel Smith, right?" Wang said.

"Yes, and you are the Baron of the Zugzwang, right?" Dan asked.

"Are you serious Dan-Dan! Of course, he is the Baron of the Zugzwang." Alex shouted; he then took a coaster from the shopping bag with the chess club's insignia on it and showed it to Daniel. The coaster had Wang's face on it with his title printed on it with huge bold letters.

"The kid knows his stuff." Wang added. "He even pronounced my title right."

"So, if you would not mind, would you tell me what a zugzwang is?" Dan asked.

Wang laughed. "Would I? Of course, I would. In about 70% of the games I have won, I won because of zugzwangs. Forcing your opponent to decide and no matter what piece they move, my next move is checkmate." He moved a piece on the chess board and the lady opposite him examined the board in extreme concentration.

"Is this your first time playing so close to Tryismo, the city of competition?" Dan asked.

"Burick is just a suburb, we are technically in Tryismo now, as the city of Tryismo owns this land. But no, this is not my first time playing here. The first time I came here I did not even pass the first round. The people of this city are vultures. I had to adapt my strategies and then my GM title no longer seemed a lie." Wang explained.

"You were rivals with Liam Blake, right?" Dan asked.

"Child, you may want to cover your ears, the adults have to do some adult talk." Alex nodded his head and went back to the hosts. "I was rivals with him."

"Are you aware of his death?" Dan inquired.

"Yes. I had to stop playing for exactly one minute. Thankfully, the blitz rounds are later in the day otherwise I would have run out of time before beating my opponent." The Baron replied.

"Did you know that he left us a message?" Daniel asked.

"No."

"Why do you think he left that message? Zugzwang."

"Look, I do not know why he wrote that in his blood, but if I had to guess, he was trying to say that by him dying that he was putting his killer into a losing position."

"So, in other words, not only did the victim know he was going to die and that when he did there would be no escape for the one who killed him."

"Have you ever played chess?"

"My game is 'connect four,' you do not even want to try beating me at that game, but yes, I have. I can win against most of my family, but..."

"That little one that was beside you, he beats you, no?"

Daniel had a look of slight shock on his face. "That is right."

"So, I take it he is your grandson." Wang noticed that his opponent made a move, and he took his turn.

"I see you observe words just as well as you observe the board. I do lose against Alex; he might be able to beat you."

Wang laughed. "It is not as easy as you think to beat the Baron of the Zugzwang, unfortunately, for this game, I will not be using a zugzwang for this game." His opponent moved a piece and he moved. "Checkmate!"

The lady examined the board and saw that there was nothing she could do, her king had fallen. She pushed it down and shook Wang's hand.

"Oscar said you met with the victim at 8:30. What happened?" Dan asked.

"Nothing happened. I went there and opened the door since I had a key to the room, but he did not show up. So, I left."

"The time for practice will soon end, we will start bringing around sticks for you to pick from." Joseph stated.

Margaret was holding a pouch with sticks inside. She went to Wang, and he picked out a stick with an image of a red square. Whoever else picked out a stick with a red square will verse him in the first round. "Looks like I am on the shapes side this month, last time I was gems side." Wang noted.

"So, if you get to the grand finale, it is likely that you will go up against somebody who got a stick with a gem on it." Daniel stated.

Wang nodded.

Daniel shook Wang's hand. "Thank you for your time, Baron."

"Oh, Daniel, our game has not yet ended." Wang spoke.

"What do you mean by that?" Daniel asked.

"You will know when the time comes." Wang finished.

Daniel walked away. What did that mean? Daniel thought about it, but nothing came to mind. If anyone could understand the mind of a chess master, it is another chess master. Sure, Leonard Raycloth was there, and Daniel had met him before, but another name was at the front of his mind.

Could he have some answers? Will Dan find what he is looking for? Things still felt complicated.

Dan went to Alex. "Sorry, Alex, but Dan-Dan must go somewhere. Do you want to go home?"

Alex looked up with puppy dog eyes. "But I want to play chess."

Joseph stood down. "He can stay if he wants. I will bring in Miss Airis. She will take care of him in the junior area." He spoke.

Daniel nodded. "Look after him, my daughter and his mother Catherine will not be happy."

Joseph patted Dan's back to confer to him that his grandson will be okay. Daniel nodded his head and off he went to his car. He had a far way to go. The place he wanted to visit was over 5 hours away by car. So, he would have to get there in a faster manner.

Daniel drove his car to the TPD, as underneath lays a system that could get him to where he needed to go in far less time.

#

Everleason Psychiatric hospital, Mt. Everpeak, Cascoss, 6:12 A.M (Cascoss is 4 hours behind Tsaria)

Daniel arrived in the parking lot and parked his car. His phone rang.

"Hello?" Daniel asked.

"Did you get the copies yet?" Fi asked.

"No."

"Where are you?"

"Everleson Psychiatric hospital."

"Oh? So, you went to see your best friend and rival, have you?"

"He spoke with you?"

"He joined in the minute of silence; he is aware that he died."

"Will you send the copies to their printer, and I will pick it up inside."

"I heard other detectives paying your friend a visit, but I would never have expected you to pay him a visit."

"I am a little stuck, and I think I need his perspective."

"Ok, I will give the hospital a call and make sure you get the documents."

"Hold on, when did he die?"

"Yes, we have the time of death. He died at around 8:00 A.M, Tsaria time."

Daniel nodded. "Farewell." He hung up. He put his hand on his chin. Now he knew that the Baron told a lie. He said that when he went to the room at 8:30 A.M but there was nothing there according to his testimony. Either he lied or the killer had their own key, moved the body before 8:30 and then put it back. Daniel saw the scene himself, nothing pointed to the body being moved. Daniel did think something about the scene was strange, something that did not fit. He just did not know exactly what it was yet.

He would have to confront Wang later.

He wanted to see what Simon George had to say on this matter.

Daniel entered the hospital and went to the receptionist. Avary, the receptionist, took the documents that the TPD sent to her to be printed and placed them in one of the hospital file holders.

"Up early?" Dan joked.

"Simon awoke early today for the contest." Avary announced.

"Why?"

Avary passed the files to Dan. "Have not you heard. He is participating."

Dan had a surprised look on his face. He looked at the photos and read the reports, the coroner's report was in the file holder as well. Avary did not peek at any of it. "How is he doing that?"

"Maybe you should ask him and Dr Pinwalk."

Dan nodded and headed into the visitor's room.

Simon was sitting across from Laurance Pinwalk. Laurance was 32 years old, he had short brown hair and piercing green eyes. He had a moustache but no beard. He was shorter than Dan by 12cm. He was wearing a doctor's coat.

"D S Smith. It is nice to see you again." Simon announced, there was a chessboard on the table he was sitting on, he was winning the game. "You know, I have been wondering about your middle name. Is it Steven? No, that does not sound right. Sylvester? Not your style. Solomon?" Daniel gave him a look. "That's it! your name is Daniel Soloman Smith."

"I did not come to talk about middle names Simon." Dan said.

"No. I am aware of that. Other detectives have come to me in their darkest hour when they are truly stumped. But I never expected you to come to me."

"There were others?"

"I just said there were, do you not believe me?"

"Well, it does make sense."

"I let you checkmate me once, Daniel. But I will not let that happen again."

"Because you will not be committing crimes anymore."

"I will keep my promise, one would be a fool to disappoint you."

"I heard you will still be playing chess for the tournament. How?"

"Simple. Dr Pinwalk will be the intermediary for my opponent and someone at the tournament will be the intermediary for me."

"That makes sense."

"You must be wondering how I did it."

"Did what?"

"You remember captain Edwin Orange of the EPD."

"I work for him, so, yes I remember him."

"You are wondering how I helped his wife out of this place."

"That is not at the top of my list right now."

"It was a game, simple yet elegant. We played a game of Risk, and she was healed. She moved on from her sadness and her grief."

Daniel put the file on the table and showed Simon everything. "What do you think Simon?"

Simon looked at the pictures and the time of death and read the reports. "Looks like you have everything you need to solve this one." Simon noted.

"I cannot see everything you see."

"I cannot just give you the answer, just a clue. You do not want to lose respect, do you?"

Dan shook his head.

"So, do you wish for a small hint?" Simon asked.

"What do you have?" Dan asked.

"The king is our killer."

"I was already aware of that."

"That is all I can say. You already know the answer, but it has not yet come into your mind."

Dan put his hand to his chin and paced back and forth.

Dr Pinwalk's phone rang, and he answered it. "Simon, you got the diamond stick."

"What did Leo get?" Simon asked.

"He got a pink circle." Laurance replied.

"How about Wang?"

"A red square."

"That's a shame, I wanted to go up against both of them." Simon noted with a slightly sad tone. "Oh well, we'll see which one of them I get to face."

"Poor Wang." Daniel added. "He is going to get ruined by the Baron."

Simon chuckled. "Wang is the Baron."

"Wang is the Baron?"

"He is."

"The Baron's name is Wang?"

"I just established that."

"I have to go!" Daniel announced and he headed off. He was wondering how close he was getting to the solution now. It should not be long until the whole mystery unravels.