Cherry Blossoms and Chess Pieces

Cherry Blossoms and Chess Pieces

          I sat down on a wooden bench within one of Tokyo's many beautiful parks, the local cherry blossoms were in bloom with petals spread wide as if stretching from a long, wintry sleep. The planks I was sitting on weren't the most comfortable in the world, but it was better than sitting in the dirt so I couldn't complain. "Finally, some quiet..." I sighed to myself as I lifted my arms for a stretch. The sleeves on my suit jacket bunched up against my shoulders as the flannel bent over itself. Some may ask "What would possess a man in his late 50's to board a plane to Japan?" I'm glad you got that far, I'm still working on "What would possess my older brother of 68 to move here?" Thomas always seemed to be one for adventure, of course, I was like that once as well but left it behind in my 20's. At least Tokyo has quiet spots like this.


          I looked upon a small wooden box resting upon my black dress pants containing the one game I still enjoy, Chess. It's such a simple game to learn, but takes decades to master. The amount of possible games to be played numbers higher than the amount of people on the planet, and most importantly after all these years since I learned to play at the age of 6, It still hasn't lost any of it's splendor. I opened the box and set it to the right of me on the bench, now leaning over it as I set up the board piece by piece. The pawns taking formation as they stood loyal to the king and queen, both standing tall in their regal natures. On either side of them were their advisers, the bishops, followed by the protective knights of their two-dimensional land with the rooks marking the extent of their territory. The White Kingdom gleamed in the afternoon sun thanks to the decades of polishing. The black Kingdom standing just as tall with a sliver sheen on every piece accentuating their sleek form. At this moment I breathed in before giving a light sigh as the eternal battle began once more.


          This game may be only played by me, but these practice games are what help any self-respecting Chess player, novice or grand master, develop new strategies and tricks for their trade. I started the White side with a standard D2 pawn up to D4, the white side making an obvious bid for control of the center, Black countering with F7 to F5, from there White would stand for no resistance, immediately deploying the G1 knight to F3. From that point on the beginning of the game unfolded with White's knights ready to pounce and Black biding their time, looking for an opening as the two were locked into temporary ceasefire for planning. Then, out of nowhere black moved in for, "Excuse me, Konichiwa," Strange... usually chess pieces didn't talk to me, maybe my faculties were declining in my old age? "Sir, would you mind if I sat on this bench as well?" A look up from my chess board would reveal a Japanese man of old age, possibly as old as me, wearing one of those loose fitting, button-less shirts that you see Asian actors wearing, combined with similar pants held up by a small rope tied around his waist colored of a dark green. His hair was long unlike my own sparse scalp, however we did share the silver color one gets in the later years. "No, by all means." I replied in my gruff, rugged tone.


         He accepted the permissions, then smiled with a nod while closing his small, dark eyes. "Ari Gato." He said gratefully before taking a seat next to my board on the bench, which was sufficiently long enough to hold the three of us comfortably. "My name is Ronbo," he greeted while getting as comfortable as you can get on wooden planks, "What is your name?" A logical follow up question we're all used to, I went back to my chess board and casually answered Mr. Ronbo, "Frank, I'm here on vacation visiting my brother." After my response I finished Black's move of claiming the first casualty, one of White's pawns. "We get many tourists here in the city, mostly the younger crowd with too much time on their hands running around the shopping districts." Now I was playing the middle game, continuing the conversation while playing out the bloody section of the battle, the part where you try to get through with as little damage as possible while trying to catch your opponent into a bind and trigger the End Game. "We have a saying where I'm from, 'Youth is wasted on the young.'" This seemed to make Ronbo laugh an old wheezing laugh, "Hahaha... that is very true, but I think it would be more accurate to say the young waste their youth." Strangely enough, this retort made me laugh my own low chuckle, not from the humor but more of just how factual it actually was. "Say, it is very strange what you're doing, playing that game by yourself." The seemly wise, old man next to me suddenly commented. "Well, this is my way of revising my technique and spotting flaws, but if you play I wouldn't mind the company." The thin Japanese man nodded with a small smile, "Sure, I've played it on occasion."


          He helped me reset the board, it seemed he did have some knowledge about the game, at least where the pieces went anyway. Still, I've practiced and played Chess as if it were my religion for the past half century, and from what Ronbo said, he didn't have that much experience... but having an opponent was still more fun than playing by yourself. I started as white by Ronbo's insistence, and began with a standard D2 to D4. I expected something along the lines of a reclamation to the center, maybe a D7 to D5 or F7 to F5, but Ronbo surprised me. Instead of trying to fight for control of the center, he merely moved his B7 pawn to B6. From a strategic standpoint it was as if he wasn't even trying to counter my advance. "Does he even know what he's doing?" I thought to myself as I followed up with a G1 knight to F3 for even more control and to back up the pawn. Ronbo then moved to the other side of the board and moved his G7 pawn to G6, another ignorance of my growing forces. things continued in the fashion until I triggered the middle game and took one of his pawns. Like I mentioned before, this is usually the bloodiest part of the game with the most casualties... but this was one of the exceptions, I sat there trying to pick away at his forces and Ronbo merely sidestepping me. occasionally he'd swoop in and take a pawn, or maybe a knight or bishop, but then he'd fly away to the edge of the board and evade my trap!

         Then, I realized something, I'd been taking down his forces, mainly pawns, a knight, a bishop... But somehow, we ended up in the End Game, the section of the game where the winner finishes off the loser. A few minutes later, after his remaining pieces continued whittling me down slowly, Ronbo uttered in a small, light voice, "Checkmate, yes?" I was stunned, someone who supposedly only played the game on occasion defeated me and kept me in the dark the entire time... by the time I knew what was happening, it was too late. "Yes Mr. Ronbo, that's Mate. Very impressive." I replied, stunned, "H-How did you defeat me with as little skill as you said you had?" I asked. Ronbo then smiled, "I never said I didn't have skill, just not much practice." It was then that Ronbo explained something to me, I was a grand master at chess, but he was a grand master at the Japanese game 'Go.' "In your Chess," he began, "The usual approach is to continually take away from your opponent's resources and make the board lighter and lighter as pieces are taken away. While the board in my Go starts out empty and is filled as the game progresses, each side gaining territory over the other in that fashion and only using what you need." I began to understand, yes, I was taking away much of Ronbo's pieces in the match, and in a normal chess match, I would have won against such a player. However, Ronbo didn't require, or even plan for that matter, to use all of the pieces anyway, he merely sent out the fodder to be killed and disturb my formation. "The more pieces I gave you, the farther you reached, which is no good in Go. To reach too far is cause for imminent defeat, as your opponent will split you into, as you say, 'bite-sized chunks.'" Suddenly, I found myself with a smile on my face, and then bursting with laughter seemingly without reason. "R-ronbo, such a simple technique, yet so powerful! I've been playing for decades, years upon years, until I've mastered the sport. Then, you come along with your own strategy and completely derail everything I've come to learn about Chess!" At this point Ronbo joined me in laughter. As we laughed, a slight breeze blew through the strangely empty park, blowing the blooming cheery blossoms from their parent's beds as they leaped into the wind. "Look Mr. Frank, It seems the blossoms have become scattered among your board as well as the park." At this I grinned, "Cherry blossoms and chess pieces." I said to myself, thinking for a few moments before lifting my blue eyes to my new friend's own dark pupils. "Perhaps, Ronbo, you could teach me this 'Go' game of yours?" I asked, closing my old Chess set. "I've come to master Chess, maybe it's time I learned a new game." I finished with a smile.


          Now I understood why my older brother Thomas moved here, he'd traveled the world over from America, to Europe, and even a few safaris in Africa. However, in this one game of Chess, I learned that this land was a place all it's own, with it's own rules and strategies, and now I, to, would learn them as a student once more. I'd found my adventuring spirit once again.