Zombie Chess

I rolled out the board, set up the pieces, adjusted the clocks to forty minutes and sat down.

The zombie tried to eat me.

I reminded the zombie we were playing touch-move and if either of us touched a piece we had to move it.

The zombie tried to eat me.

I moved my king’s pawn to king 4. Or simply “e4” as people say nowadays using algebraic notation. I grew up using descriptive notation, p-k4, but I remind myself every day to be modern and young.

The zombie tried to eat me.

I pressed the button on my side of the clock which started the zombie’s clock counting down.

The zombie tried to eat me.

I recorded my move in my notebook. I do one pair of moves per line, so I wrote “e4” and waited for the zombie’s move.

The zombie tried to eat me.

I watched the zombie’s queen side. I was hoping the zombie would play “c6,” that is pawn to queen’s bishop three, or what people used to call “p-qb3.” When I play Black I almost always play the Caro-Kann defense myself so I’m pretty comfortable playing against it as White.

The zombie tried to eat me.

Forty minutes later the flag fell on the zombie’s clock.

The zombie tried to eat me.

I stopped the clocks and stood up. “Good game,” I said.

The zombie tried to eat me.

I gathered up the pieces and put them in their leather sack.

The zombie tried to eat me.

I put the clock in its leather bag.

The zombie tried to eat me.

I rolled up the green and buff chess board and put a rubber band around it.

The zombie tried to eat me.

“See you next time,” I said.

The zombie tried to eat me.

I left.

The zombie tried to eat me.