Anatoly paused for a moment, trying to figure out the best way to answer. He didn't think Freddie would take too kindly to him discussing his personal life with someone else. He himself preferred not to talk about it but he couldn't shake the sense that this was different. Jonas wasn't asking out of a desire to indulge in gossip or report a story, he genuinely wanted to understand how Freddie worked.

"I do not know all the details," he said quietly, "But he did not have a very good home life growing up. Sometimes, an experience like that teaches you that showing anything, feeling anything is a weakness, it opens you up to attack.

So it is easier not to care, not to let anyone in. The only thing that is safe is chess. The rules do not change, the pieces do not change - everything follows an order and a pattern. When you win, it is your victory. No one can take that away from you."

If he realized that he could be talking about himself as well as Freddie, he didn't let anything show.