Beginning, Previous Section, Section IV
Jump to new as of April 12, 2000
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Early the next day a delicate fog floated over Pemberley, lending an elegant tranquillity that concealed the nervous anticipation inside. Within an hour the sun rose high enough to evaporate the mist, and several guests emerged to take advantage of the cool morning air. Before the Darcys began their customary circumambulation of the garden they stopped in the ballroom to preview the day's pairings. Mr. Bennet, accompanied by his wife, had just posted the list on the tournament board.
Board 1: Mr. Darcy vs. Mrs. Darcy Board 2: Mr. Bingley vs. Mr. Alain Board 3: Col. Fitzwilliam vs. Mr. Blackburn Board 4: Mr. Collins vs. Mr. Lucas
"Well, Lizzy," began Mr. Bennet, "you are no doubt disappointed to be paired with an opponent whom you can engage whenever you choose, but it is purely the luck of the draw, I assure you."
"No, father, my opponent suits me well in every respect," she replied with good cheer. "I have been putting off a rematch since we last played at Rosings, not wanting to prematurely resign my title of family champion, and Darcy has been pestering me about it ever since. Now it appears that I can no longer avoid it."
"Oh, I should think newlyweds would find much better things to do than to constantly play that boring game," exclaimed Mrs. Bennet as she fidgeted with her bonnet.
"You comprehend our sentiments perfectly," said her son-in-law with a grin. He offered his arm to Elizabeth and they departed for their constitutional.
The games began promptly at one o'clock. The import of the match between the Darcys was such that even Mrs. Bennet preferred to remain with the spectators rather than absent herself with Lady Lucas, as she had done in previous rounds. After an hour of play, each of the games had developed a distinct character. Bingley attempted a particularly risky form of the King's Gambit, completely unaware that the opening was a favorite of Philippe's as well. Bingley was soon punished with uncompensated loss of material. The Colonel Fitzwilliam - Blackburn match was still fairly even; the Reverse King's Indian Defense deployed by the Colonel provided sufficient resources to withstand his opponent's ferocious attack. The familial contest on the fourth board, meanwhile, had all the traits of a strategic struggle, although Mr. Collins' White army clearly possessed the initiative over Sir William's forces.
Most of the spectators, however, were consumed by the classic battle unfolding on board one. Darcy chose to open with a Queen's Gambit, not a true gambit as it involved no material sacrifice, but he felt its strategic nature was more to his advantage, as Elizabeth excelled at the tactical aspects of the game. She proceeded to develop her position harmoniously, but Darcy's crisp maneuvers were causing her some difficulty. By the seventeenth move she was saddled with the defense of hanging pawns, a configuration of adjacent unsupported pawns that are particularly vulnerable to enemy rooks.
Darcy adroitly increased his advantage by exploiting various temporary pins, exchanging away Black's best defensive pieces, and inducing weaknesses in Black's central mass of pawns. Within the half-hour his bishop bore down beautifully on her backward king pawn. Black's position was difficult, but Elizabeth continued to choose responses that offered the greatest resistance.
After two hours of energetic play Philippe was able to decisively refute Bingley's gambit. The end was also near in the Colonel's game, and the spectators gathered to view the denouement. Mr. Blackburn was clearly ahead in material, having an extra knight to White's extra pawn, and the precarious position of the Colonel's king, trapped in an air-tight mating net, clearly pointed to the Colonel's imminent doom. Without too much care the London champion captured the loose king knight pawn with his queen and threatened mate on the move. He leaned back in satisfaction to await the Colonel's resignation.
The Colonel, however, was determined to make the best of things and as he hunkered over the board in deep concentration, he spotted an unbelievably brilliant resource. He sacrificed his queen as it gave check to the Black king. At first Blackburn thought it a diversionary and somewhat humorous way for the Colonel to resign, so he smiled indulgently as his king captured the White queen. Colonel Fitzwilliam immediately followed by sacrificing his rook, his last piece. The master's expression froze as he discovered the import of the Colonel's plan: the rook was untouchable because of stalemate, yet if not captured, the Black king could never escape its checks. The Colonel had outfoxed him, and the old master stood up and roared with laughter.
"My dear sir, that is by far the most brilliant swindle I have ever seen on the chessboard! Such a magnificent and imaginative draw is worth dozens of victories. I congratulate you on your wonderful conception; it is an ending I shall never forget!"
The Colonel thanked him and smiled modestly, happy indeed to snatch such a favorable result from so illustrious an opponent.
The conclusion of the Collins - Lucas game, although not nearly so dramatic, still had its interesting points. Only kings and pawns remained in their endgame, and Sir William noticed that his son-in-law had but one narrow path to victory: Collins had to immediately advance his strong queen pawn. As was his habit, Mr. Collins' hand was hovering over the decisive pawn. Sir William realized that he had to act quickly to disrupt his opponent's plan.
"That is a touch move, sir," called out Sir William loudly and sharply. "Mr. Collins, your hand has touched your queen pawn and you are obliged to move it!"
"My dear sir, you are mistaken!" protested the astonished Mr. Collins. "My hand has not so much as brushed the pawn."
"That is not correct sir; not at all correct. I distinctly observed you touch the pawn with your hand, and you must move it now, sir."
The commotion immediately brought the tournament director and the gallery to their board.
"A touch move dispute, is it?" asked Mr. Bennet. After observing Mr. Collins' flustered countenance, and Sir William's piqued expression, he had no firm basis on which to rule. "I regret that I was not observing your board during the incident, so I shall not enforce the touch rule on this complaint. But, Mr. Collins, I have noticed you permit your hand to linger as you select your moves. Should you continue to move in such an indecisive manner, I shall be forced to resolve future disputes in your opponent's favor."
Mr. Collins mumbled assurances that he would repair his deficiencies. Sir William was pleased that his extracurricular gambit had achieved its intended effect. After Mr. Collins prevailed against his strong protest, he was not about to give Sir William the moral victory by actually making the disputed move. He moved his irrelevant king rook pawn instead, thus presenting his father-in-law with sufficient time to consolidate his position and clinch a victory. Mr. Collins, smarting by the sudden reversal, congratulated the victor in disgust.
The attention of the spectators then shifted to the remaining contest. The game was in its thirty-third move and Elizabeth found it increasingly difficult to hold off White's strong attack. She continuously twirled a lock of her hair as she searched the position deeply for a way out of her dilemma. Darcy had advanced his king pawn to a powerful outpost on the sixth rank, and his strong rooks on the king bishop file and his beautifully centered queen had forced her into a purely defensive posture. Elizabeth was not accustomed to playing passively, but she could find no way to improve her position. The only available plan was simply shuttling her queen along the back rank as Darcy steadily optimized his forces for the attack.
Elizabeth did not have to wait long. In a few more moves Darcy broke through her defense with a rook exchange sacrifice. A few moves later his queen attacked her indefensible rook pawn, and Elizabeth knew that the time for resignation had arrived. She looked up to meet Darcy's gaze. His expression was not one of self-satisfied triumph; rather, it projected empathy and respect. The tender aspect of his eyes spoke of the many times he had been in her position when stakes were equally high. Elizabeth was fiercely proud of Darcy at that moment. He had paid the high compliment of taking her game seriously and never flinching. His play was simply masterful from start to finish. To be outplayed in such a manner by such a worthy opponent engendered a feeling of deep satisfaction that most victories could scarcely approach. Elizabeth finally turned over her king, smiled, and then stood and joined the gallery in applauding his fine performance. Darcy walked over to her side of the table and hugged her, and together they turned to acknowledge the cheers.
The feeling of easy camaraderie carried over to the concluding banquet that immediately followed. Mr. Bennet was pleased to announced the official standings at the conclusion of the banquet:
Philippe Alain 2.5 Fitzwilliam Darcy 2.5 Elizabeth Darcy 2.0 Alexander Blackburn 1.5 Charles Bingley 1.0 Colonel Fitzwilliam 1.0 William Lucas 1.0 William Collins 0.5
As the Darcys had removed themselves from the prize list, Mr. Bennet awarded the first place trophy and purse to Philippe, and the second place equivalents to Mr. Blackburn. All declared the tournament to be a great success and hopes were expressed all around that the event would become an annual fixture.
The crowd then scattered homeward, leaving Darcy and Elizabeth to leisurely sip their wine and analyze their game. As the hearth fire and bottle of wine diminished in proportion, a feeling of pleasant tiredness overcame them. Darcy helped his wife to her feet and took her in his arms.
"William, you are very good to me," Elizabeth said softly. "Thank you for making the arrangements for this marvelous tournament. These last three days have been a pure delight."
"My dear Lizzy, what would I not do to see you happy?" Darcy smiled warmly. "Now that I think of it, I do have one more surprise for you - something I brought back from London. I had the servants install it in your bedchamber while we played our little game. Shall we have a look?"
"A gift? For my bedroom? This is most surprising and exciting. I cannot imagine what it could be."
Darcy offered his arm, took the candle with his other, and the two walked down the hall to Elizabeth's room. There, above the fireplace, lighted by candles on either side, hung a new painting.
"Darcy - how lovely, how absolutely lovely! The willow tree on the left, sheltering a couple caught in embrace, with a horse not far off in the distance, all in silhouette below a full moon - how charming! And the river winding alongside on the right -- I can only guess where I have seen the place before. It wouldn't be anywhere near Rosings Park, would it? But tell me, Darcy, where did you find the time to have such an intricate work completed?"
"I confess I had it commissioned during our engagement, while I was away on errand in London. But you have not seen it all. Here, take this candle and look more closely at the river in the foreground."
Lizzy did as he suggested. "Why, it is a leaf of paper floating downstream, and the writing, although fine, is legible." She took a few moments to read and ponder the inscription. "Oh, Darcy, what a simply beautiful poem! Your own words?"
"Yes, my dear. Your poem and the events of our courtship provided such sweet inspiration that the words seemed to flow by themselves."
"Truly a most wonderful and unexpected present," said Lizzy as tears of happiness glided down her cheek.
They caressed passionately. No further communication was necessary. Lizzy took his hand and led him to her bed as the words of his poem danced in her thoughts:
Ensconced beneath sheltering tree,
Charmed lovers embrace ardently.
In moon glow cool white and serene,
Bold knight softly kisses his queen.
United in pure ecstasy,
Two hearts retell dreams silently.
Fischer, R - Spassky, B1. c4 e6 2. Nf3 d5 3. d4 Nf6 4. Nc3 Be7 5. Bg5 0-0 6. e3 h6 7. Bh4 b6 8. cxd5 Nxd5 9. Bxe7 Qxe7 10. Nxd5 exd5 11. Rc1 Be6 12. Qa4 c5 13. Qa3 Rc8 14. Bb5 a6 15. dxc5 bxc5 16. 0-0 Ra7 17. Be2 Nd7 18. Nd4 Qf8 19. Nxe6 fxe6 20. e4 d4 21. f4 Qe7 22. e5 Rb8 23. Bc4 Kh8 24. Qh3 Nf8 25. b3 a5 26. f5 exf5 27. Rxf5 Nh7 28. Rcf1 Qd8 29. Qg3 Re7 30. h4 Rbb7 31. e6 Rbc7 32. Qe5 Qe8 33. a4 Qd8 34. R1f2 Qe8 35. R2f3 Qd8 36. Bd3 Qe8 37. Qe4 Nf6 38. Rxf6 gxf6 39. Rxf6 Kg8 40. Bc4 Kh8 41. Qf4 1-0
The game between Blackburn and the Colonel is taken from Evans vs. Reshevsky, 1964 U. S. Championship.
The position after White's 48th move is as follows:
White: King on h1, Queen on c8, Rook on f7, pawns on b4, e4, f3, g3, h4
Black: King on h7, Queen on g5, Rook on e2, Knight on f4, pawns on b5, e5, g7, h5
Black has a clear win with:
48. ...Qg6 49. Rf8 Qe6! 50. gxf4 Re1+ 51. Kh2 Qa2+ and mates.
Instead Black played the plausible but bad:
48.... Qxg3?? 49. Qg8+!! Kxg8 50. Rxg7+
And Black cannot capture the Rook without forcing stalemate; and if it is not captured, the Rook will force a draw by perpetual check.