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English Chronicles 2025 26printed 105 · PDF 111
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printed 105 · PDF 111
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I got up from my chair to see the board better, and only then did I realize
how well balanced all the pieces on the board were. It felt as if you pushed
one piece; every piece would fall in a domino fashion. I went near the
chessboard after they both stood up to meet the hosts, and then re-imagined
how the entire game played out. Then everything clicked, and it almost
made me scream. I realized how every move after his G3 move left half his
pieces in a weak position and half safe, so he could always turn back on his
choice to ruin his game on purpose, but still pose a gimmick.
For example, his second-to-last move to the knight (that caused his king to
be nearly pinned in the next move), if it had been played to the correct
block, would have resulted in a major sacrifice of the pieces for Solomon.
One of Solomon’s rooks would have been taken first, and then his other
rook would have been locked in osition one of Ralph’s pawns. Even
Solomon’s queen would have been left hanging in the next move, because
this move would get Solomon in check, so he would have to use his next
move to move the king to safety. That day, Ralph played the best and worst
game of his life. When I got outside, I saw a great crowd of reporters that
surrounded Ralph. He told them something in Oromo, the most widely
spoken first language in Ethiopia.
When he finally got free and sat in our escort vehicle, I demanded that he
tell me why he had made himself lose. “Didn’t you want to be the
champion of the world?” I yelled. “Listen. I did this for them, for all of
them,” he replied, “But specifically for that child in the red t-shirt. You see,
whenever I hovered my piece to a wrong block, I saw him sighing, and
when I moved my piece to the right square, he got happy.
AC Chronicles
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