7 Chapter 7 – Mr. Garcia

[3rd POV]

Robert Garcia, also known as Rob, was having a great day. He was a math teacher at a local high school while also being the chess coach.

The chess team was having a lot of success. They had won the local tournament in Houston and were going off to the Texas state tournament. Due to this, the principal had just approved more funding for the club and Rob was on his way to tell his team the good news.

However, when Rob got there, he found four of his six players in a state of depression and the other two being destroyed by a toddler in front a dozen onlookers.

As he watched his two best players lose all their pieces before being checkmated, he stepped forward.

"Boys, what's going on here?"

The boys all rushed towards him and pleaded.

"Mr. Garcia, you have to help us! This kid's Bobby Fisher reincarnate!"

"He's insane. He threw his queen in the first ten moves, but still managed to checkmate me in 20!"

"He played me without his rooks, and I still lost, please help us! You have to help me get my allowance back!"

Mr. Garcia raised his hand to silence them as he moved to sit in the chair. As he looked at his opponent, he didn't know if he should laugh or be terrified.

Sitting down, he started resetting the board. Without looking at his opponent, he casually asked, "Care for a game?"

.

[Main POV]

"100 dollars."

Mr. Garcia looked confused, "What?"

Smiling, I helped him set up the board. "Mr. Garcia, if I win, I want 100 dollars. If you win, I'll give you all the money I won today."

Mr. Garcia remained silent until the board was fully set up. "Black or white?" he answered.

"I'll be white." The main reason I chose white was because I was already set up as white. Changing positions would be inconvenient. So, I played my first move: b4. The orangutan.

Mr. Garcia paused. Most players would start by moving one of their 4 middle pawns. So, he realized I was either a lucky troll, or some chess prodigy using the Sokolsky Opening.

As we play, I found myself down a bishop, but with the enemy king exposed. Clearly, Mr. Garcia was more skilled than his players. But I knew I'd still win. Mind reading was just too OP.

After Mr. Garcia moved his rook into the open file, I simply smiled.

"Mate in 12."

[3rd POV]

Mr. Garcia is confused. Usually when people say, "Mate in X," they meant that they knew a series of moves that would guarantee checkmate in X number of moves. Mr. Garcia looked at the board and thought that was ridiculous. He was up a piece. Sure, his king was somewhat exposed, but he still had his queen, both his rooks and knights and a bishop. So, either the kid was bluffing, or…

"How is it mate in 12?"

The kid smiled and started moving the pieces.

"Bishop takes knight check. Knight takes bishop. Knight to d6 check. King to g7. Queen takes knight check. King to h6. Knight to f7 check. King to g7. Knight to h8 check. King to h6. Knight back to f7 check. King back to g7. Knight takes pawn at e5 check. King to h6. Queen to f8 check. King to h5. Bishop to e2 check. Bishop to g4. Bishop takes bishop. King takes bishop. Pawn to h4 check. Queen to h6 check and mate.

Of course, your king could run in a different direction, but that would simply accelerate your demise. Thank you for playing with me."

He jumped off his seat and walked out of the park.

The crowd was silent and let him pass. Mr. Garcia's players were simply silent and in shock. Mr. Garcia furiously looked at the board, searching for a way to not lose the game. After thinking for a couple of minutes, he slammed his hands on the table and yelled.

"Son of bitch, he's right!"

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[Main POV]

After my game with Mr. Garcia, I waited for Ms. Davis and the girls to finish their shopping.

$65.

While not a fortune, it was enough to start with.

Reading Mr. Garcia's mind, I found that there was a Texas State Tournament in January. Luckily it was in Houston, so he wouldn't have to travel far. And the entry fee was $10, meaning money wasn't a problem.

"There you are!"

Turning around, I saw Ms. Davis exiting the store with the girls. She approached me and asked, "What did you get?"

"I didn't see anything I liked, so here's the money back Ms. Davis." I took the quarters out of my pocket and graciously handed them back to her.

She nodded and accepted the money. Just as we start to leave, we heard a voice, "Wait!"

It was Mr. Garcia. I hoped he wouldn't snitch on me for fleecing his players. Mr. Garcia ran up to us and took a moment to catch his breath. After composing himself, he stood up straight and turned towards Ms. Davis.

"Are you this boy's mother?"

Ms. Davis slowly grabbed my hand and pulled me behind her.

"Apollo, do you know this man?"

I looked between the two of them before deciding to just tell the truth, "Yes Ms. Davis. I met this man at the park. He's really bad at playing chess. He also owes me $100."

Ms. Davis looked confused. Mr. Garcia's face turned slightly red before explaining himself.

"Ma'am my name is Mr. Garcia and I'm a teacher at the local high school. I believe this child is a chess prodigy. I have 6 players rated over 1500 and he whipped them up and down the board. I'm also a pretty good chess player, and he beat me as well. In four weeks, there's going to be a chess tournament in Houston. Please, allow him to compete."

Ms. Davis paused before looking towards me. "Apollo, is this true?"

"No. He said he's a pretty good chess player. But he's terrible."

Ms. Davis sighed and muttered, "We need to work on your social skills."