The Immortal Lesson

The brown satchel made its way from the side pocket of Pa’s recliner to the uneven table between them, leather cracked and softened from years of use. A loop was stitched opposite the zipper side holding a rolled-up canvas scroll checkered in beige and green, revealing the map for today’s lesson. The smooth texture of the mat easily guided Pa’s hands to its frayed edges, perfectly aligning each edge with the table, as if the table was intentionally made to hold it. Pa’s imprint could be seen faintly in the corner that was always to his left, the Thompson family name, his legacy stretched in faded ink.

Jonah leaned back in his chair, arms folded like a pouting child. “You sure do like to pull that old thing out when you think I need to learn something.”

Pa displayed a loving and cunning grin, unzipping the satchel, emptying the clanking plastic into a pile, and gently placing each felt-bottomed piece in its proper position. Soon two armies stood before them, ready for battle, discolored by years of secondhand smoke. “Well, then humor my predictability once more. There’s a well-known match recorded in the mid-1800s known as ‘The Immortal Game.’ You ever hear of it?”

Jonah raised a single brow. “Sounds a bit dramatic.”

“That’s a fine word for it,” Pa said. “Nothin’ like a little drama to draw us into conversation.”

Pa’s weathered claw emerged, shakily clutching the pawn at e2. “The game opened with white’s pawn to e4 and a mirror from the opposing side.” With a deep sigh and roll of the eyes, Jonah reluctantly slouched over the table, snapping black’s e7 pawn to e5.

“The King’s Gambit,” Pa proclaimed as he answered with a slow pawn push f2 to f4. “White offered material right from the start.”

“Seems strange to leave the pawn unprotected,” Jonah said with a confused look.

“White was sacrificing safety for possibility.” Pa explained. “Go ahead and capture. Let’s see how this plays out.”

Jonah removed the pawn at f4 from the board and slid black’s pawn diagonally. In the process, Pa brought white’s f1 bishop to c4. Jonah stared at the bishop and allowed his mind to wander. He had been struggling with not getting a job he recently interviewed for and began to think about all of the work he had done throughout his college career the last few years–all the effort, all the sacrifice, denying time with friends, finding any opportunity to strengthen his position in this game called life. An impressive résumé wasn’t as valuable as he was led to believe, and now he was left wondering if it was all worth it, if he would be able to find a job, if he would be able to pay back the money borrowed. The weight of the situation lay heavy as Jonah saw a potential flaw in white’s plan. “Possibility? The king is unprotected and will be forced to move when black’s queen takes h4 for an early check.”

Pa’s grin widened. “That’s the move, son.”

Jonah satisfied the game state with the early check, and Pa simply slid white’s King one space to the right. “That move stops you from castling. Why give that up this early?” Jonah asked.

“Hiding behind walls can hinder progress,” said Pa. “Sometimes what seems unconventional at first pays off in the end.”

Jonah smirked, giving an exasperated chuckle. It had seemed odd to his friends to give up the late-night parties, the weekend trips out of state, his two year relationship with Kelly. Had he played things too safe? Had he not let himself live?

Amid his spiraling, Pa brought Jonah back by declaring black’s next move, one he was not ready for. “Move pawn b7 to b5.”

“Seriously? Now black is being reckless. Are we just giving pieces away at the pawn shop today?” Jonah’s comment made Pa snort, intake too much oxygen, and begin coughing up a storm while simultaneously wheezing with laughter. This series of events quickly pulled Jonah away from his thoughts, a smile emerging in the process.

As Pa’s breathing became less syncopated, he reached over and removed black's pawn, replacing it with white’s bishop. “Whew, I thought that one was going to take me.”

“The pawn or the joke?” Jonah said, smiling wide.

“Well, I haven’t forgotten the moves of the game,” Pa replied. “Let’s press forward.”

This was why Jonah has appreciated his time with Pa. It was a break from the normal day-to-day rhythms, free of expectation. A time and a place where he could just be with someone who had no choice other than to just be. Attention undivided, other than the wandering of the mind that pulled away from these simple moments.

As Pa danced each piece around the board, Jonah began to lock into its elegance. Black’s knight moved to f6 and white’s knight mirrored to f3. Black's queen slipped back to h6 to avoid being captured by white’s knight, and white simply pushed pawn d2 to d3. Black’s knight responded by occupying h5, and white’s knight landed directly in front of h4. Black’s queen cut to g5, and white’s knight jumped to f5. Each move methodical in its sphere, no pieces being taken, only protected. Black finally made a move at white’s bishop on b5, pushing pawn to c6, and instead of moving away from the attack, white responded by pushing pawn to g4.

“What a blunder,” Jonah said. “White is just allowing black to gain a point advantage by literally hanging that bishop.”

Pa quickly placed black’s knight at f6 and white’s rook at g1 before taking white’s bishop on b5 with black’s pawn. “It’s a game of give and take,” Pa said. “Giving away something valuable shouldn’t be seen as a blunder, especially when there is so much game left to play.”

“What if this is the move that costs white the game?” Jonah asked.

Pa inhaled deep through his nose with a longer than usual exhale, as if what he was about to say was as much a part of his story as the point he’s trying to make. “Then he learns. No effort is lost. Every board starts fresh.”

Jonah let that set in. He caught the light that had been a steady stream through the window becoming faded by a cluster of passing clouds. “I have learned, Pa. The board might start fresh, sure, but all of my time spent on the game is lost. All of my effort is left in the wake of hope.”

Pa sat back in his recliner and studied Jonah for a moment, grabbing a packaged juice from his collection. He always had the nurse bring him an extra with his meals and had acquired enough to fashion a nice pyramid on the table beside him. He removed the attached straw from its thin plastic holster, stabbed the foil guarding the liquid, and sucked the thing dryer than a well gone to ruin. “Nothing more reckless than hope, I suppose.”

Pa slowly brought himself forward, pushing white’s pawn to h4 in one smooth motion and, as he fell into his upright position, dropped the queen back to g6. “That pawn was sure hoping to get comfortable with the black queen, but she wasn’t having any of it. She was trapped in all directions. Taking a step back to provide some space was her only option, as there was no way forward.” Pa moved white’s pawn from h4 to h5 and then black’s queen from g6 to g5. “You see, another attack was made, but she was able to find a way through, advancing her position. The right move will reveal itself. Just need to wait for the opportunity to strike and fight for position.”

Jonah took the hint. “Yea, yea. Let’s keep it going.”

Pa adjusted his glasses and gained that all-too-familiar grin once more. With precision, he took white’s queen from her tower to trap f3, where she was instrumental in pinning black’s pawn at f4 with no escape. He then retreated black’s knight to g8, opening up space for the queen to occupy f6 after white’s bishop took black’s pawn at f4 from c1.

“Black’s queen would have been toast if the knight hadn’t moved the way it did the turn before,” Jonah said, impressed.

“That’s why you take your time with your moves,” Pa said. “You have to be patient for the pieces to fall into place and make space for you.”

A slight drizzle began to coat the outside of the window as Pa reached for white’s knight at b4 and placed it at c3, attacking black’s pawn at b5. Black responded by moving the f8 bishop to c5, threatening white’s rook at g1. Pa followed this up by moving white’s knight from c3 to d5, threatening the black queen at f6. The black queen flies diagonally across the board from f6 to b2, giving black a position that leaves both of white’s rooks in danger.

Jonah noticed the comfort of black’s position. “No matter what happens next, white is about to lose a rook. Black certainly has the upper hand.”

“Looks can be deceiving,” Pa said, moving white’s bishop from f4 to d6.

“That.. was pointless,” Jonah said, falling back in his seat after a long stretch of excitement. “Why would white keep both rooks in check?”

Without a word, Pa uses black’s bishop at c5 to take white’s rook at g1, and instead of moving the other rook out of the corner, Pa calmly pushes white’s pawn from e4 to e5.

“So this is the point where white just gives up and lets black steamroll to victory?” Jonah said, annoyed. “Sorry, Pa, but this was such a waste of time. It’s all just been a waste of time. These chess lessons. These past few years. I’m so tired of things not working out how they are supposed to. All I see is a game that ends miserably, a game that is already over. There is no way to come back when you are this far behind.” Jonah shot to his feet and slammed black’s queen from b2 into white’s rook at a1, knocking it clear off the board. “Check!” he barked at his grandfather, as thunder crashed outside, muffled by the safety of their shelter.

Wide-eyed, Pa sat back in his chair with his arms crossed and let Jonah have it. “And all I see is someone allowing the game to get the best of him, too scared to allow the game to play out to its conclusion.” Pa’s voice crescendoed. “Just because your position looks hopeless doesn’t mean it is. When Edith passed, I wanted nothing more than for this life to end so I could be with her again, but I came to realize that our positions just shifted. Cancer wasn’t a move I anticipated, but it’s where the pieces fell, and now I’m left wondering how much longer I have before the board is cleared.” You could tell that Pa was getting a bit overexerted as he started another coughing fit.

Jonah had been meeting with his grandpa more regularly after learning that his cancer was terminal. The fiery Marlboro mistress had abused his lungs for too long, and now the only drag he could take in deep was from the oxygen tube inside his nose. Pa knew that his day would come soon, but he often expressed that he was ready to be back on the front porch of the farm, admiring the vast field of wheat from his rocking chair with Grandma Edith curled up in her chair beside him. She had passed a few years back, and Pa had been at the New Haven nursing home ever since.

Pa looked right into Jonah’s eyes with tears running down his cheeks. “You have your whole life ahead of you. I know things seem impossible at this point in the game, but allow yourself the opportunity to see what happens next. I have no doubts that you will be pleasantly surprised.”

Jonah couldn’t help but allow a few tears to fall also as he settled back into his seat, picking up the fallen rook and placing it on the mat's edge. “Sorry, Pa. I didn’t mean—”

“It’s okay, son. No need to apologize. Life attacks us all in different ways, but the things we sacrifice in the beginning can help us understand how to reposition in the end to achieve the victory we were always hoping for.”

Pa removed his glasses and used the sleeve of his checkered button-up to clear the mist from his view and proceeded to share white’s endgame. White’s king moved from f1 to e2, relieving his checked status. Black's knight came out of left field moving from b8 to a6, and white responded with their own knight ride from f5 to g7, capturing black’s pawn and causing a check. With only one option, black retreated their king to the left, finding temporary safety in d8. White checked black’s king again by moving their queen to f6.

“White is sacrificing it all!” Jonah said, noticing that black’s next move was knight to f6, finishing off white’s queen.

“And now the finishing blow,” Pa announced.

“Wait, what?!?” Jonah was beside himself. Pa just secured the game by moving white’s bishop from d6 to e7. Black was bested by two well-placed knights and a crafty bishop.

“Check and mate!” Pa giggled with excitement, which of course started another coughing fit.

“That… was incredible!” Jonah couldn’t take his eyes away from the board.

“The Immortal Game,” Pa stated proudly. “A game to be talked about for generations. It’s a story that all of us can live into; we just have to be willing to take a different approach, barrel through all of the mess, and strategically place ourselves in a winning position.”

Jonah noticed that the sun was once again peeking through the cloudy fall sky, enough light reflecting through the window to cast a shadow of a removed white pawn on the wall. Pa noticed the shadow as well.

“You should take that with you,” Pa said. “A souvenir from our journey together. The smallest piece always carries the hope of becoming more.”

Jonah took the pawn and closed it in his fist. He stood and leaned over the chair to embrace his grandpa. “Love you, Pa.” Pa pulled him in closer. He didn’t need to say the words for Jonah to know how his grandfather felt about him.

Jonah collected his things and headed toward the door. “You know, I won’t be able to start the game fresh without that pawn. I guess you’ll need to come back again soon,” Pa said as he gathered the rest of the plastic pieces back into the worn leather satchel and rolled the tattered felt board to be placed through the sewed loop once more.

Jonah couldn’t help but chuckle, knowing that he had just been trapped by his Pa, but he didn’t mind. For the first time in weeks, Jonah felt like the game wasn’t over.

Not yet.