Note: This story contains some chess notation, which is something only chess fans are familiar with. I understand that many people see chess as just a board game like any other or don’t even know how to play it. Therefore, I’ve highlighted the section of the story that contains the chess-specific content. You do not need to read it to understand the story. However, if you are familiar with chess notation, you might learn a small trap in the Fried Liver. ;)
Additionally, I’ve included the meanings of some chess-related terms after the story (these are not in the section I just mentioned).
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A week after he went to Principal Twilight's office, Nala was STILL pestering Simba with Baby Shark, and it was driving him crazy. Honestly, she was lucky to be his girlfriend best friend; otherwise, she would've been punched in the face for it by now. But it was okay. He had an evil plan for her.
You see, Simba and Nala would often play chess together, especially blitz. Having played against each other so many times, they knew each other's favorite openings. Well, on the day before that fateful day, Simba had learned a trap in the Italian Game, Nala's favorite opening.
It was very early in the morning. Nala had slept at Simba's house, which was a luxurious apartment-style condo. It was also a Saturday, so naturally, his parents were still asleep and would be for quite some time. Sarabi and Bofasa Mufasa would wake up much later than usual on weekends, so the two 6th graders grabbed something to snack on while they waited for Simba's parents to wake up and make breakfast. That's when the young lion suggested they play a chess match, with 3 + 2 as the time control. They never played with such low time before.
"It's the time control that FIDE uses most for blitz", Simba said. Nala was a bit uncomfortable, but she wouldn't turn down a challenge from Simba.
Simba: By the way, winner does a dare. Deal?
Nala: (smiles mischievously) Deal!
Simba: And I will play as Black.
That was odd. They usually played rock-paper-scissors to decide who would get White. Since White starts, it has an advantage over Black, and Simba knew this. So why did he want to play Black?
Well, maybe he just wanted to show off, as always. Either way, they started the match.
******Chess stuff starts here******
Nala started with e4, followed by e5 from Simba. Nf3, Nc6, Bc4, Nf6 — the Italian Game with the Two Knights Defense. Nala then played Ng5, the Fried Liver Attack.
She didn’t know it yet, but this one move would lead to her downfall.
Simba played d5, blocking the bishop’s view of the f7 pawn. Nala spent a few seconds looking at the board. After calculating a line with Bxd5, she decided against it. So, she played exd5 instead. “That was pretty useless, to be honest”, she commented. After this, Simba played Nd4 to save his knight. Nala pushed d6, allowing the bishop to see the f7 pawn again. She expected him to play Be6, but much to her surprise, Simba... took the pawn with the queen?! She was very surprised by this. After a few seconds of looking at the board, she said, “You do realize that’s a blunder, right?”
“Just play,” Simba responded with annoyance.
Knowing that she had the game in her hands, Nxf7 was played, forking the rook and queen. Simba responded with Qc6, which was met by Nxh8. The rook was gone!
Nala: Someone is going to listen to Baby Shark for an hour now!
Simba then gave her a devilish smile and played... Qxg2! Now the queen was on the attack! Nala immediately realized this was no good. After spending a few more seconds, she concluded that ignoring the threat or attacking the queen would lead to disaster...
******End of chess stuff******
Simba (provokingly): 5 seconds left, Nala!
Dammit! Rf1 was played, followed by Qe4+. Then, under time pressure, Nala played the move that officially sealed her demise: Be2. You see, had she blocked with the queen instead, she'd still have a chance of turning the tables. But Be2 allowed Simba to play the amazing Nf3#, a smothered checkmate! She had just lost in 10 moves in the most humiliating way possible.
Simba: You do realize that’s a blunder, right?
Nala stayed silent, clearly angry.
Simba: You have to do a dare now.
Nala: (pauses) What is it?
Simba: Change into your bathing suit. We're going to the pool. I'll tell you when we get there.
Simba left a note for his parents in case they woke up. The two changed into their bathing suits and headed to the pool. Two of the three elevators in the building were under maintenance, so they had to use the service elevator. Living in a condo meant that the pool was shared by all of its residents. Nala would later thank the gods above that it was still early in the morning, meaning most residents were still asleep and the pool was empty. The lifeguard hadn't arrived yet either.
They arrived at the pool, and Simba told her to turn around, facing away from the water. After a few seconds, she could look again.
Simba: Since you like Baby Shark so much, I figured I'd make you go into his natural habitat... au naturel.
Nala: I don't speak german.
Simba: That's french.
Nala: Whatever. What do you want me to do?
Simba: (smiles mischievously) I threw a coin in the water. I want you to go in there, take your bikinis off, all of it, and bring it back to me. You can only put them back on after the coin is in my hand and you cannot carry them with you, you have to take them off and let them go.
Nala: (incredulous) You gotta be kidding me, right?!
Simba: (shrugs) Do I look like it?
Nala: I fucking hate you...
Simba: Love you too. Now go on.
The rest is history: She went into the water, and looked for the coin. No matter what she did, she couldn't find it. She even kneeled in some places to look around better, but it was no use. The young lioness spent about 20 minutes doing this, but it was no use.
Nala: You didn't throw a coin in here, did you?
Simba: I did!
Nala: At least tell me the direction! Soon there will be people here!
Simba: Don't forget that everyone can see the pool from their apartments!
Nala: Dammit, Simba! Just tell me!
Simba: Why? I thought you liked Baby Shark!
Nala: (whining) Simba!
Simba: You're in his natural habitat! (smiles)
You see, the things is... Nala was right: there was no coin to be found! But would Nala ever realize this? Well... yeah, probably. But it wouldn't be on the short term. And to be honest, Simba was enjoying seeing his sexy friend swim around in her birthday suit. After another hour of searching and searching, Simba called her:
Simba: Nala! Come back, people will start to arrive at the pool!
He could just leave her there for as long as he wanted, no one would complain about a kid naked in the pool. But, if his parents saw them from the apartment, there would be a lot of explaining that he didn't want to do.
Besides, as annoying as she could be, she was still his best friend.
Nala: just lemme find my bikinis!
Simba: no ma'am! You didn't bring the coin back!
Nala: seriously Simba?!
Simba: yes, seriously! (smiles)
And Nala got out of the water, in all of her sexy glory.
The challenge now would be going back to the apartment at the 15th floor...
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Decided to try something new by including a chess match in the story. Do you think it worked out?
Also, remember kids: don't annoy your friends with Baby Shark! xD
Oh, and if you think it's over, well, you're WRONG! There's more coming up!
Chess related terms:
•FIDE is the acronym for "International Chess Federation"
•3 + 2 means that each player has 3 minutes for the entire game, but gains 2 seconds after each move
•Blitz chess is normal chess, but with a very low time control (for more info on time controls, check this article)
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