Chapter Text
Advance a pawn clear across the board, and you can promote it to rook, knight, bishop, or queen. This increases the number of powerful pieces in your army. Upgrading to queen is typically the best strategy.
-From: Chess Titans Rules and Basics
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When Ronon Dex first saw chess, he thought it one of the most-in an Earther’s terms-boring games in existence. Neither man that was playing moved a lot: no blinking, no twitching, absolutely nothing except to move a piece of it forward. And the game itself looked so confusing. Too many rules, as Dr. McKay would put it about the Ancestors. Still, he found himself-to his surprise-learning the game with the help of John Sheppard.
“So, ready big guy?” Ronon nodded, as the game had been set up by Sheppard. Ronon had borrowed a book describing chess from one of the chess player’s at the cafeteria. He couldn’t exactly remember the man’s name-it was a little difficult to pronounce after all. “Okay…why do you want to do this again?”
Ronon shrugged, which was generally answer enough amongst their team. It proved no different tonight, John dismissed the question, as he sat at the chess table that he had scrounged from one of the other scientists.
“All right-the goal of the game is to get the King into Checkmate.” John began, his voice sounding careful as though he were trying to figure out how to tell him the rules without it sounding complicated. After about an hour of John explaining the game, Ronon began to understand it, as it reminded him of a similar game on Sateda called ‘Higher Ground’. The rule of that game was that one had to get the Wraith Queen and kill it, while avoiding all the guards on the board. While many of the strategies and rules of each game were different, the games were quite similar to one another, and Ronon smugly beat John during the third game.
“You play against Rodney, and he’ll likely foam at the mouth,” John remarked, staring at the board in fascination as Ronon played his fourth game against him. “Wow…”
Ronon had decided to keep his own thoughts about the similar games to himself as an advantage to himself. He knew that it wouldn’t be long, though, before the team would catch up to his secrets and demand to hear how he was able to beat the Earther’s fairly easily at chess.
Still, he could enjoy beating the Earther’s own game for once, instead of feeling totally lost and confused. He wound up playing ten games and won four out of the ten. John was a pretty good strategist, Ronon thought in approval.
“So, buddy, what do you think?” John asked, as Ronon prepared to head to his own quarters for the night around midnight.
He spoke with a sly grin as he made his way towards John’s door.
“I like it.”
He would definitely look forward to playing another game of Chess.
END.