Call The Substitute!

    The white Queen’s Rook suddenly had a brainwave, or a sudden attack of individualism, by making a move without being told to move! Basically chess is played by two opponents who only have themselves to rely upon, unless you decide to make it interesting. By that I mean instead of two players, you have four players, two players on both sides who make a move in turn. I have played chess that way, either when the two players on the same side who confer between moves, or much more interestingly, making their moves independently of their co-player. But on the chessboard it’s much more a team game, each chess piece is dependent on the moves made by those on its side. I learned to play that way at school.

    There can be no room for individualism.
    “Check!” the white Queen’s Rook shouted.

    But it was an illegal move, no order was given for the Rook to make a move, and in any case the opposing chess player had already castled, and therefore the King was being protected by the King’s Rook. And then the call for the substitute came from the Control Room, a voice booms out across The Village through the public address system.
    “Call the substitute, call the substitute, the substitute, the substitute, call the substitute.”
   The Supervisor orders the Rook to be taken to the hospital, and is removed from the chessboard on a stretcher! Then the substitute Rook takes his place on the chessboard, standing on the square upon which the former Rook stood before he made a move of his own.
   This call for a substitute, does that mean a substitute had been standing by the side of the chessboard just in case he was needed? Why, why would they expect that a substitute chess piece would be required? Perhaps it was anticipation of what the white Queen’s Rook would do! It might be the Rook had been mentally adjusted so that he would make the illegal move he did. And then removing him from the chessboard on a stretcher it would raise Number 6’s curiosity, which it did. And the next day when Number 2 met with Number 6
    “Hallo, enjoy your chess yesterday?”
    “Don’t tell me you care?”
    “Well of course, we want you to be happy.”
    “Fine, give me a one-way ticket home.”
    “Won’t you ever give up?”
    “What do you think?”
    “You know you’re wrong, we have ways, if you drive us to them.”
    “I can imagine.”
    “It’s all done under the strictest medical supervision.”
    “I can guess that by the state of the man you took yesterday!”
    “What the Rook? Oh no, he’ll come to no harm, it’s just a rehabilitation course.”
    “You make it sound very attractive, what do you want me to do, envy him?”
    “Ha, ha, ha, like your sense of humour. But we can’t have you worrying get in.”
    “Why?”
    “I’m going to the hospital, I thought perhaps you’d like to see our friend the Rook.”
    “Yes.”
   And from that moment Number 2 had involved Number 6 with the Rook. But to what end? To accidental betrayal on the part of the Rook, I say accidental, because it wasn’t really his fault. Really Number 6 only had himself to blame!

Be seeing you