Castle's Chessboard

The Road Less Travelled

I was stuck with a difficult decision. I felt like I was choosing a career... Like the rest of my life would be decided by this.

"Clock's ticking" Serena reminded me.

It didn't help that my fiercest rival was there to offer her feedback on the decisions I was making. Ok... referring to Serena as a rival might be stretching it a bit. She was actually my best friend... just not in this particular moment.

I sighed. "I'm aware...luckily we are not playing bullet chess today."


"I kind of wish we were. If it is taking you this long to make your first move... we are in for a long game."

"Hmm..."

She continues to taunt. "You know it won't change the outcome right?"

"You're so confident that you know how this will play out." I stared at the possibilities in front of me. "So many paths to choose from."

"We both know what you are eventually going to pick."

I rubbed my chin as I considered my next move in my head calculating the odds. I've had a lot of luck with the classic opening. I moved my hand over my King's pawn.

She smirked. "Knew it!"

"It is the most popular opening in Chess."

"Always the same thing ... so boring."

"You're sure you're just not sore about the last few times I used it?"

"Oh big talk. You still have more losses then wins with it."

"Fair point."

"Try to be adventurous... take the road less traveled."

"I feel like there's a Robert Frost reference in there somewhere."

"I was thinking more of the Lauren Alaina song."

"Never heard of it."

"Not surprised there. It would probably inspire you to play more unpredictably."

"You know you'll have your chance to showcase your inventiveness when it is your turn to play as white." I pointed out.
"Besides you could counter differently ...you don't need to move your king's pawn in response well."

"Perhaps... it still limits our game a bit though. I was hoping for a completely different path."

"Hmmm..." Serena idea was a tempting prospect but offered a little bit of a challenge. I had refined my King's pawn game a lot. The first couple of moves were almost the same every time. The problem was that I used it so often that I couldn't really strategize with other openings. Maybe it was time to experiment with movement a little bit more.

She seemed to sense that she was leading "Come on," She coaxed. "Walk on the wild side."

I sighed but acquiesced. "Ok I won't play e2-e4" I agreed.

She smiled.

I moved my Queen's pawn instead and hit my clock.

She facepalmed. "Baby steps I guess!"


Author's notes: This story has a few terms that may need a little bit of understanding of basic chess to follow. I added a short "Chess Pokedex" for any readers that are interested below:

Chess Terms:
Bullet Chess- A game of chess where each player has there clocks set to 3 minutes or less. Players would need to play really quickly to complete the game.

Opening - The moves that a chess player decides to start a chess game with.

The King's pawn opening - One of the most commonly played opening moves in chess. The player moves the pawn in front of the king up two squares (from e2-e4). It allows them to control the center of the board.

The Queen's pawn opening - The second most popular chess opening. The player moves the pawn in front of the queen to start the game. It also gives the player center control of the board.

Word Count: 595 Words

Prompt: Write a story inspired by the Lauren Alaina song "The Road Less Travelled".