Sixtyfour squares, the reason you know you exist

The weather might change from brisk snow to unbearable heat but it couldn't keep Anatoly from taking his place at his usual spot and setting up the chess board. Whether he found someone to play a game with or whether he played on his own made no difference at all. It was his well-established routine and there was simply no reason to change it, even if now he often had to share the place with his nemesis.

He was going back to the very best of the grandmasters today - Capablanca. His own particular style of play owed a lot to the man, and he could think of no better way to pay him homage then to review his matches and reaffirm the strategies that had brought him victory.

A shadow fell over the board and he looked up, stifling a groan when he saw who it was before him. He had promised Prior to behave, even if he had yet to follow through it. "You. Can I help you?"