Winner | Loser

It was a rainy stormy night – the world was tired of struggling and getting ready to face the storm ‘Aaron’ which had made nice colorful weather forecast programs. It might have taken a detour and now there is just winds and rainfall. The city soon was fast asleep – except these two souls.

Tomorrow is the D-Day for El Passo annual chess championship and though a night’s sleep is essential for a morning game, the clock had already struck thrice.

“You are a loser” he said scornfully, to his lone student who could make it to the finals. She said “It would be not that bad though, being next to the champion who is also the trainer is an achievement in itself”

She left for her home to take a nap before she needs to get ready in the morning to drive to Colorado Springs for the championship venue.

It was hard for him to fall asleep, thinking of tomorrow’s match. Nights, though is often related to dark thoughts, is also the prime time for novel ideas. “It would be nice to let her win, I had been the champion for three years in a row – I deserve no more recognition” was what he uttered before his eyelids became too heavy.

There were thousand odd spectators and should be said a huge number keeping in mind the interest of people outside soccer & baseball and a drizzling Sunday morning.

The game was in its last lap, and, he realized that she could win without him giving any efforts to make her win. This ego hurt and the winner’s instinct made the adrenaline rush and he stood straight looking again at the board. “It was not a tough game for me” – he though. The next few moves by both were so calculated like a planning to rob the bank on a Monday morning.

“Checkmate” – that’s what he heard as a feeble voice – less confident about his reactions than her win. There were ovation and flash lights all around – after all cameras with flash are dirty cheap these days. But all the flashes could not move her eyes from his face – fiercely looking for a reaction. His eyes softened and an innocent smile started to be born in his face.

And all that digital cameras captured was a laughing loser and a weeping winner.