First International Chess Tournament (IC)

[Novikov]

First International Chess Tournament

Welcome to the First International Chess Tournament! Vítejte! This aims to be the first-ever scorinated and RPed Chess tournament on NSSports. The event will be impartially scorinated, using my Chessinator v0.2, and will be jointly coordinated by myself and Pawn and King. Any nation is welcome to enter, whether an NSSport veteran or new player. Because of the holidays, this tournament will be scheduled to begin on the 2nd of January.

Signups

All nations wishing to participate should sign up at the OOC/Singups page found here: Signups/OOC. All participants should provide the following basic information in their application:

Name: 
Age: 
Player Bio:
Style Modifier (+1 to -1):

About the Scorinator

An overview of the original Excel-based scorinator (v0.1) can be found here: Scorinator Overview.

In preparation for this tournament, I have done considerable modification, attempting to fix some bugs which were producing unrealistic results (victories by players with insufficient pieces for a checkmate, or draws with far too many pieces still on the board), as well as several hours of further testing. Modifications to the program are as follows:

1) Style modifiers have been toned down, so as to prevent unrealistic draws and now a maximum style modifier of +/-1 will produce a change of +/-7 points captured and lost, rather than +/-10 points. The assumed base point capture has been increased to 20, while another 12 possible points remain entirely random.
2)Point capture below 11 points is now impossible, and is automatically increased by fifteen, increasing the prevalence of results in the mid-20s and 30s. Results between 11 and 15 are extremely rare and can only be produced if both players have a negative (defensive) style modifier.
3) To further reduce the possibility of unrealistic draws, any randomly generated result which produces a draw will automatically increase the point capture for both players by 10, if at least one player has captured less than 25 pieces. This tends to push draws towards a realistic level, with both sides capturing at least 26 points, and usually more.
4) To prevent unrealistic victories, all matches in which the loosing player has captured 36 or more points will automatically be declared a draw. This has the unintended consequence of increasing the likelihood of draws for players with aggressive style modifiers (since they already capture more points than other players). I feel that all participants should be aware of this fact going into the tournament, and I will allow anyone who has already signed up to change their style modifier in light of this information. This does not, however, increase the likelihood of a loss for aggressive players.

Any concerned player is welcome to TG me requesting a copy of the program, or just to ask questions.

A Bit About Style Modifiers

In the Chessinator v0.2, possible style modifiers range from +1 to -1, including all decimals in-between. Players with a positive style modifier play more aggressively. They are willing to trade pieces with their opponent, and thus have an increased rate of point capture and and increased rate of point loss. On the other hand, players with a negative style modifier play more defensive. They are less willing to trade pieces, and this reduces both their point capture and point loss. Because of my imperfect coding, players should know that the highest style modifiers will inadvertently increase their chance of a draw, while extremely low style modifiers will increase the likelihood of unrealistic draws (with low point capture on both sides) and 'stunning' checkmates, achieved while the mated opponent still has the majority of their pieces. No style modifier is favored over any other, and, aside from the marginally increased rate of draws for players with positive modifiers, they should have no impact on the outcome of the match.

Roleplay Bonus

In order to encourage roleplay, there will be an RP bonus of up to 2 points/day awarded to players who post roleplay that day. RP bonus will be determined by factoring in RP length, quality, creativity, and character development (not in that order), and can dramatically influence the course of the tournament. All participants are encouraged to be creative, RP, and most of all, to have fun.

Tournament Structure

Day 1 - 3: Group Stage

All participants will be divided equally into Groups A-D. Each day all members of a specific group will play a series of single matches against all other members of their group, for the course of three days. The two best-performing players from each group will be selected to advance. Performance will be ranked according to a point system, assigning 1 point for a win, 0.5 points for a draw, and 0 points for a loss. In the event of a tie, the player with the highest number of wins will be chosen. If this criteria still results in a tie, a tie-breaking series of matches will be played, with the first player to gain a win advancing.

Day 4: Quarterfinals

All match-ups outside of the Group Stage will consist of five-game series between the two players, the player with the most wins advancing. In the event of a tie, a tie-breaking series of matches will be player, with the first player to gain a win advancing. Schedule will be as follows:

QF 1) Group A 1st Place v. Group D 2nd Place
QF 2) Group A 2nd Place v. Group D 1st Place
QF 3) Group B 1st Place v. Group C 2nd Place
QF 4) Group B 2nd Place v. Group C 1st Place

Day 5: Semi-Finals

SF 1) Winner QF 1 v. Winner QF 4
SF 2) Winner QF 2 v. Winner QF 3

Day 6: Final/3rd Place Play Off

Final: Winner SF 1 v. Winner SF 2
3PPO: Looser SF 1 v. Looser SF 2

Current Participants:

1) Jim White - Adun
2) Peregrine Konstantinovich -Pawn and King
3) Mani Kostar - Patricant
4) Antoine El-Bashwari - Honourable Angels
5) Osmalad Rusegne - Karlada
6) Sergei Zatchetsky-Nablokov - Soviet Canuckistan
7) Ot'j Owvingzur - Carmadin
8) Tyrece Harrison - Vettrera
9) Sam byrrn - Homelands our
10) Chavez Del Roah - Rainious Allementos
11) Lorenzo Del Mar III - Yesopalitha
12) Adam Smithson - Ipeland
13) Christopher Van Hammel - Bergnovinaia
14) Boralz Skrapinapavotla - Russi Empire
15) Adam Bosh - Switzida
16) Robert Carson Oakleigh - Civil Citizenry
17) Rook Slide - Karditan
18) Vaclav Jezek - Novikov

[Adun]

tag

[Karlada]

tag

[Russi Empire (Ancient)]

tag

[Russi Empire (Ancient)]

In the event that things should turn... unfortunate as a result of the current elections in the Russi Empire, Boralz Skrapinapavotla would like to request asylum in Novikov. This is unlikely to happen, however.

[Carmadin]

In the event that things should turn... unfortunate as a result of the current elections in the Russi Empire, Boralz Skrapinapavotla would like to request asylum in Novikov. This is unlikely to happen, however.

Should be in the disscussion thread, my friend

Also, tag, tag, tag, heres a real Rp! (though short)

Ot'j looked at the board with grim satisfaction. This was the final game of the final 4-game match of his chessmasters crown best-of-5 series. He only needed a draw, and his plane was booked to Novikov. He smiled, a smile that never reached his eyes, when his opponent moved
right into his trap

He grinned in triumph
He moved his knight
CHECKMATE

[Ipeland]

Journal of a chess player

January 1st, 2012
New Year's Day in Ipeland (Bank Holiday)

Got up at 6am today, to travel to Novikov. Out of house at 6:30am, met trainer at train station. Stupid planes aren't running away so I had to get the train, which is still running, strangely. Train arrived 40 minutes late, in that time I defeated Bob twice and had a nap. Train arrived at 7:30, on for 6 hours, finally had a proper sleep. Had lunch at a sandwich place in Hutt River, where there was a small chess tournament going on. I watched with interest, noting good moves by the players and wondering whether they would rival me in future tournaments. Got on plane for a 15 hour journey to Novikov, played few games of chess til dark, fell asleep.

January 2nd, 2012
Independence Day in Hutt River (Bank Holiday)

Woke up just as the plane was landing in Novikov. Looks similar to my home town, apart from the recycling bins everywhere. Got on bus to the train station, where it was a comfortable 50 minute journey to the hotel where I am saying. Now awaiting first game of the tournament.

[Karlada]

Osmalad Rusegne found his seat on the plane for Novikov. On board the small jet were several ambassadors from Karlada seeking to build an embassy, a few businessmen, an explorer writing novels about distant lands, and... in the seat next to his sat Boralz Skrapinapavotla. It was going to be a very long, awkward trip for both of them, to be sure.

[Yesopalitha]

Lorenzo Del Mar III smiled grimly as he thought of the poor souls that would face him on this tournament. None had the experience he had - he had studied the game of Chess, no, the art of Chess, for years and years. There wasn't much that he didn't know, and there wasn't much that escaped him. This would be an interesting way to see which ways the World played the ancient game.

He remembered a meeting he had had with Madame Nirdasil about the tournament. She wanted him to learn more, for he had helped her win decisive battles in the past with his Chess skills. He liked that woman. She was perhaps the best leader Yesopalitha would ever have.

But first things first, this tournament.

Let the Games Begin!

[Pawn and King]

'Father, I can't speak now. Father, not now' Peregrine smiled sheepishly at the check in attendant as he hung up his phone. 'Sorry about that. He's rather flustered though, goodness knows what about'. The attendant smiled accomodatingly at him, as she verified his information. Peregrine was planning a 13 hour hoverboat journey to Pirritz, in the far north of the country, where he then had a 7 hour flight booked. Normally, Peregrine thought to himself as he absent mindedly walked onto the large hoverboat, I'd just get a plane from Smiljk, but I have so wanted to try this hypersonic travel thing. Apparently it's rather smashing.

Once seated in a pleasant leather armchair, he opened up a newspaper, and began reading it before turning to the sudoko pages. He had a long journey ahead of him, but he was patient.

Bugger, he thought,I just know I've forgotten my toothbrush.

[Soviet Canuckistan]

Moscawa International Airport,Moscawa,Soviet Canuckistan
"Sailfish International Airlines Flight 1052, service to Novikov,now boarding, repeat Sailfish Flight 1052 to Novikov, now boarding." Sergei handed his passport to the gate attendant who then handed it back to them and boarded the 10 hour flight to Novikov.

[Russi Empire (Ancient)]

Hearing the latest news from his homeland, Boralz Skrapinapavotla breathes a sigh of relief. His mind, once wandering, could now focus on the task at hand. He sat at the desk in his hotel room, staring at an empty chess board for hours, playing out the moves in his head over and over again...

[Karlada]

Osmalad Rusegne looked over the list of competitors again. Many of them were upstarts, prodigies of their own people. The Chessmaster knew not to underestimate the talents of the young, but his patience and experience always saw him through. Everyone makes a mistake at some point.
There was, of course, his self-proclaimed archival, and others with more age and experience.
Then there was one that truly intrigued him. If rumor be true, one of the competitors was over 300 years old. Such a player made even Osmalad seem young. No doubt he held secrets in his mind that could teach the other players lessons, if they were keen to pick up on what was played out before them.
He let out a sigh. This was truly going to be his greatest challenge yet. With the exception of one player, he had never faced any of these opponents before. But, he was hopeful, and confident in his abilities. 'I'm not too old yet that I can't have fun playing chess!'

[Soviet Canuckistan]

Novikov

The planes wheels touched down on the tarmac with a screech. He walked off the plane an thought "So,this is Novikov, hmm, It's quite nice." He went through security and proceeded by taxi to his hotel, where he'd play Internet chess against the internet n00bs.

[Novikov]

Welcome to the First International Chess Tournament!
Vítejte na První Mezinárodní Turnaj Šachy!

All Novikovian people, indeed all the United Kingdom, is pleased to welcome our foreign visitors, participants and spectators alike, and pray that you find our home to your liking. In order to make your visit more agreeable, the Novikovian Ministry of Tourism has prepared this brief guide to enlighten new visitors. For more information, one can visit the Ministry of Tourism’s website at: http://www.novikovtourism.gov.az, or http://www.ministerstvocestovniho.gov.nv

Languages/Jazycích:

Novikov has four national languages: Czech, Slovak, Russian, and Novójensk. When Novikov joined the United Kingdom of Oceania in 2007, English was added as a fifth national language, although it is only spoken by approx. 7% of Novikovians. Most Novikovians are bi-lingual, and speak both Russian and either Czech or Slovak, while a minority (15%) have retained Novójensk – the traditional tongue of the region. Other minority languages including Kashubian, Magyar, Polish, Romanian, Roma, and Serbo-Croatian are spoken at home by millions of other Novikovian citizens. Visitors unfamiliar with either Russian or Czech/Slovak are encouraged to study one of these three languages prior to their visit, as these are spoken by the vast majority of the population. Visitors should also familiarize themselves with the Novikovian Alphabet.

Culture/Kultura:

Novikovians pride themselves on their diversity and rich cultural heritage, which combines native tradition with a wide assortment of Eastern European arts and traditions imported during 19th and 20th centuries. Visitors to any of Novikov’s major cities will be able to find a wide range of entertainment options available to them, from jazz or folk music clubs, to traditional Russian ballet, modern theaters and cinema, disco, or the ubiquitous football match.

Novikovians are known for their lively political discourse and impassioned opinions, and openly exercise their rights under Novikovian law. Over 1.000 weekly newspapers and journals are published across the nation, by a wide range of journalistic, political and scholarly organizations. Political rallies or protests are likewise a common and healthy part of Novikovians’ freedom of expression, and visitors should not be alarmed by any such event. Visitors should also not be alarmed to find themselves challenged to political or religious debate, particularly in bars or music establishments, many of which are known as centers of local political life. Aside from this proclivity, however, visitors will find Novikovians are a tolerant and generous people.

Novikovians are also known for their love of alcohol and especially of tobacco. Alcohol is widely consumed, with beer, vodka, slivovitz, and konák Novikovskí – a traditional apple-brandy considered the national drink – being the most popular. Visitors from more repressive societies may be surprised to find that tobacco use is legal on all public property except hospitals, and is widely practiced by over half the population. Many other substances, such as marijuana, opium, and various hallucinogens are also legal, although their sale is restricted to foreigners.

Climate/Podnebí:

Novikov is home to a fairly diverse range of climates and weather patterns. Particularly in the far south, temperatures can be quite cold. Cool temperatures are also prevalent in the interior of Novikov, which are dominated by a series of highlands and mountain ranges. Because Novikov is surrounded by water, the region receives a considerable amount of precipitation. Fortunately for those attending the First International Chess Tournament, Novikov is located in the southern hemisphere, and is in the middle of summer. Visitors should still bring some warm clothing, as temperatures may drop to 11-12 °C during the night, and should be prepared for the periodic rain shower.

Location/Místo:

The First International Chess Tournament will be hosted by Univerzita Národná, the nation’s oldest and most prestigious university. Univerzita Národná has operated continually since 1668, when it was first founded by Czar Vaclav II. The University is located on the outskirts of the Old Town District in Vyšniy-Voločëk, on the east bank of the Vielodí River. The University is home to over 92.000 students, and 1.500 faculty, the best and brightest in the nation. All matches will take place in the Univerzita Národná Old Hall, which has been specially requisitioned for this purpose.

The Old Hall of Univerzita Národná, the oldest building on the Univerzita Národná campus, built between 1666 and 1668.

[Novikov]

Here is the final tournament layout. Day 1 will be scorinated this Friday, Jan. 6, around 23:59 EST.

Group Stage - Days 1-3

The Group Stage will take place over the course of three days. Each day, a player will play one match against both other group-members, for a total of six matches per player in the Group Stage. The player in each group with the highest number of victories after three days will advance to the Quarter Finals. Additionally, those two second-place players with the best records will advance to the Quarterfinals. In the event of a tie, a tie-breaking series of matches will be played, until one player wins the right to advance. Groups will be as follow:

Group A:
Robert Carson Oakleigh - Civil Citizenry
Rook Slide - Karditan
Tyrece Harrison - Vettrera

Group B:
Ot'j Owvingzur - Carmadin
Peregrine Konstantinovich -Pawn and King
Boralz Skrapinapavotla - Russi Empire

Group C:
Jim White - Adun
Mani Kostar - Patricant
Christopher Van Hammel - Bergnovinaia

Group D:
Lorenzo Del Mar III - Yesopalitha
Adam Smithson - Ipeland
Chavez Del Roah - Rainious Allementos

Group E:
Osmalad Rusegne - Karlada
Sergei Zatchetsky-Nablokov - Soviet Canuckistan
Sam byrrn - Homelands our

Group F:
Adam Bosh - Switzida
Vaclav Jezek - Novikov
Antoine El-Bashwari - Honourable Angels

Quarterfinals - Day 4

Quarterfinal matches will consist of five-game series, with the player with most victories advancing to the Semifinals. In the event of a tie, a tie-breaking series of matches will take place, with the first player achieving a victory advancing. Matchups will be as follows:

Quarterfinals:
1. Group A Champion v. Second Place #1
2. Group B Champion v. Second Place #2
3. Group C Champion v. Group F Champion
4. Group D Champion v. Group E Champion

Semifinals - Day 5

Semifinals will consist of five-game series, with the player with the most victories advancing to the Finals. In the even of a tie, a tie-breaking series of matches will take place, with the first player achieving a victory advancing. Matchups will be as follows:

Semifinals:
1. Quarterfinal 1 Winner v. Quarterfinal 4 Winner
2. Quarterfinal 2 Winner v. Quarterfinal 3 Winner

Finals - Day 6

Finals will consist of seven-game series, with the player with the most victories being declared the champion. In the even of a tie, a tie-breaking series of matches will take place, with the first player to achieve a victory being declared champion. Additionally, a Third Place Playoff will take place, consisting of a five-game series. Matchups will be as follows:

Finals/3PPO:
Final: Semifinal 1 Winner v. Semifinal 2 Winner
3PPO: Semifinal 2 Looser v. Semifinal 2 Looser

[Carmadin]

He read the notice. Group B. himself and 2 hard-to-pronounce names that he really couldnt be bothered to learn. He would just have to figure out how the heck he was gonna checkmate them. And the checkmate shouldn't be that hard. He was, after all, the best Chess player in Carmadin. And, should he defeat Robert Carson Oakleigh from Civil Citizenry, he would be the best in Rushmore. of course, odds were he wouldn't get a match with Robert. With 18 players in 6 groups of 3, things would be real competitive, with only the group winners and the 2 next-best second place teams in the quarterfinals. he knew he could make it there. He was Ot'j Owvingzur, Carmadin's Chessmaster. He carried the Chess hopes of a nation, he couldn't let them down. He tried to pronounce the names of the players in his group again, numbed his tongue on the strange, foriegn words, and shook his head. He couldnt pronounce em. But he would beat em.

[Yesopalitha]

When the groups were announced, Lorenzo Del Mar III smiled. He was in a group with two defensive-minded chessmasters. He respected anyone and everyone who made it a priority to learn and master the game of chess. He would not take any of his competition not seriously, and it would be interesting to see if their defense-minded ways could deal with his trickery and opportunistic attacks. This was, after all, going to be a tournament of the best chessmasters of the world; he would simply have to wait and see where he ranked among the best.

Challenges are what I live for.

[Ipeland]

Journal of a chess player

January 4th, 2012
Bank Holiday (Scotland & New Zealand)

Got told Group draw was today 6pm, yesterday. Whiled away the night playing chess on the internet, with the budding players. I easily beat all apart from one person, nicknamed SergeiZatNab634, which ended in a stale mate. I'm sure I recognize the name from somewhere. Probably from school or somewhere like that. Fell asleep about 5am, woke up at 3pm, got ready for draw. Pretty boring, long drawing session, at least I learnt something from it:

Group D:
1. Lorenzo Del Mar III
2. Adam Smithson
3. Chavez Del Roah

It'll be an interesting tournament, very interesting.

[Pawn and King]

The P-King Herald

Pawn and King set for Chess glory

Peregrine Konstantinovich today found out his first fixtures in the Novikovian nation. "Ah, yes." He said, at a press conference earlier today, "I seem to be in some form of grouping with two other rather exemplary gentlemen." When asked how he thought he would do, he replied "Naturally, I'm not entirely sure. I'm rather young for this sort of lark, and I find it a bit baffling at times really, but I'd like to win."

Peregrine's seemingly bumbling upper-middle class manner of speaking should not make one biased against him, however. As his opponents domestically who have played him are well aware, his mind and logic have a flawless quality to them that allow him to excel at the game. "He's an exceptionally aggressive player." Feydor Lewis said, when interviewed. "Any weakness, and he'll pounce on it. And if he's losing, he'll confuse you by moving swiftly, definitively. When he does that, you know he's got a stalemate or another trick up his sleeve. I truly wish him the best of luck, and I know my uncle would too."

Peregrine has an interesting name - Peregrine, from the Latin 'Peregrinus' meaning 'Stranger', from his aristocratic mother, combined with his Russian father's patrionomic 'Konstantinovich' (meaning 'Steadfast') should give you an idea of how he views himself. At a final question, asked by us before he ended the press conference, we asked him whether he had any regrets about coming to Novikov. "Merely," he said, "That I appear to have become dispossessed by my toothbrush."

Analysis p.94 - Just what does that enigmatic last sentence mean?

[Vettrera]

Tyrece hadn't been paying attention the past few days. As far as he was concerned, he didn't need to be. As the groups were announced; Tyrece glanced up at the sound of his name. It took a minute for all of the words to register in his mind. A few seconds later a smile appeared on his face and he spoke. "Group A, huh? Let the games begin I suppose" he said. After everything was said and done he settled into his room, accompanied by his girlfriend. "What's this?" She said, pointing to a manuscript left on their bed. "Oh, it's nothing Diedra" he replied. Diedra grabbed the manuscript and began reading the first page

Castling

the Pawns: They are the very Life of this Game. - Francois-Andre Danican Philidor

By: Tyrece Harrison

"You wrote a book?" She said. "Well, um...yeah." Tyrece said sheepishly. She flipped through the book landing on page 78 and began to read what came ahead....

My RP's will be based on pages from Tyrece's book; a fantasy about a a girl, who's kingdom is at war (similiar to a game of chess)
There will be several RP's where they will begin with a recap of how he did, then continue on to a random passage from the book.

[Karditan]

Rook glanced over the blacked-out windshield of his chariot and yelled to the pegasi puffing ahead. "Can you two please pick up the pace? The Air Commissioner assured me this flight would not take over two days, and we have already missed the announcements of the preliminary groups."

One of the pegasi turned his head slightly askew and let the wind carry his words back. "Sir, we are entering Novikov airspace now. We should set down in the highlands within the hour, you will be in your hotel before the night is done. Plenty of time to rest up before the matches begin."

"Thank you for the update." Rook took out his tablet- most ponies his age have difficulty with new technology, but his quick wit lets him keep up to date- and brought up the group listings. "Group A. Interesting. Harrison is barely out of childhood; his inexperience should cause him some problems. He'll probably be a stiff competitor in future years, though. Oakleigh... hmm. He's the same age as me, but that's about as much as I can gather. Hopefully I'll get a chance to scope him out before we meet across the board."

The other guard yelled back. "Sir, you should really stop muttering to yourself. It's rather... unbecoming." The guards shared a chuckle while Rook pulled up his blog.

[Remember, all my loyal followers: Royal Guards are terrible chauffeurs.]

[Honourable Angels]

"Wai'ak saalam elfourshikir meseleif a kabaan mashallah?" When will we arrive?
"kaufori, kaufori, firshk, firshk, mashallah" Soon, soon, have pity, have pity, for the love of God
"Ek al Bashwari makalsh deresaalef meshek" I, the Bashwari, never displays pity

Antoine reclined back into his cushioned rickshaw - this servant had only been pulling him for 14 hours, yet was already flagging! At the next rest area, he'd have to free this one, then select another peasant from the selection paddock. One with bigger, stronger legs this time. He'd been too preoccupied by the teeth of this current peasant. A horse would be the best option, but they'd all died in the winter of 62.

As the new servant swam Antoine and the rickshaw across the sea, soon they crossed the border into Novikov's territory. Pulling out his pistol, he shot the new peasant, and rafted up to the border.
"Slooga moii otanool" he said, in impeccable, accentless Russian my servant drowned, tipping the border guard handsomely when his papers were returned. He bought a horse and rode it to the capital.

[Karlada]

"Ahh, here's the preliminary groupings, at last." Osmalad looked through the list, searching for his name. "Interesting..."
He had been grouped with two other players. One was almost as old as himself, but with a completely different play style. No further information about him. 'I have no idea how this is going to play out, but that just adds to the excitement... there's still some surprises left for me after all these years.'
The other player was young. Very young, in fact, roughly a third of his age. 'No surprise I should run into someone like this. 'Eager minds of youth, full of action, yet... naivety could be exploited. But I cannot assume anything until I've played them. I must not make any premature judgement lest I underestimate them. I will play it cautiously as I always have. One mistake is the end of a game...'

[Russi Empire (Ancient)]

Boralz Skrapinapavotla had spent some time studying Novikov before the trip, but he knew he couldn't truly know what it's like until he had been there.
Luckily he knew Russian, as many Russi had been encouraged to learn. He had seen the preliminaries list, but it did not matter to him. They were just names. Just two more opponents. It did not matter who they were, only who he was: The chess champion of the Russi Empire... of the entire Western World in Ayalis.
He wandered the city's streets, felt the air. There was a distinct familiarity here. The landscape was very similar to his home country, there was a keen political interest in the people that the Russi had developed only recently, there was even similarities in the architecture.
He walked into a local bar and ordered a pint of konák Novikovskí. It was flavourful, 'but nothing beats a good mug of Vlodarvash back home'. Home... he would be returning to a new country after the tournament was over.
The room was filled with tobacco smoke. The people looked content with their lot, drinking happily and exchanging their views and stories on life. It was a familiar, almost comforting scene. He spotted some people playing at a chess board in a corner of the room. He approached them, a smug look on his face. "For any man that can beat me I'll buy him as many drinks as he can handle the rest of the night!"