Preface

"Pain is being forced to leave the original place" - Kant

In the place where the peach blossoms are in full bloom, there is a stone pavilion named Lanke Pavilion. The pavilion has a building with two floors. The upper floor can be used for living and also stores some chess manuals and ancient books. The lower floor is supported by five square stone pillars. On these stone pillars, some end - game situations from the chess scriptures are engraved.

There are two people playing chess in the pavilion. Mist shrouds the surroundings, and the night is boundless.

The person sitting facing south is someone who looks like a cadre. He is YoungY from the Planning and Development Section of the Tourism Bureau of Wuling County. He is also the president of the local chess association. He has been fond of chess since childhood and is a national - level chess player. He can hardly find an opponent within a hundred - li radius.

The person opposite YoungY said, "For this game of chess, you need to be steady. It should be the most important game of your life."

YoungY said, "I don't want to play."

The person said, "That's not possible. What you say doesn't count."

YoungY said, "What if I win?"

The person said, "You can't win against me."

YoungY said, "What if I lose?"

The person said, "If you lose, you will die!"

YoungY started to sweat. This was a life - and - death game of chess. He took the red pieces and made the first move of setting a central cannon with a trembling hand. He was still confident in his chess skills. Unexpectedly, the other person checkmated him in just three moves.

For the first move, the knight didn't move in the "day" - shaped pattern.

For the second move, the elephant didn't move in the "field" - shaped pattern either.

For the third move, the pawn of the other person, which hadn't crossed the river yet, flew diagonally and directly took YoungY's general...

YoungY asked, "What on earth do you want to do?"

The person said, "I want to make you into a scarecrow!"