My cousin Vinnie dropped by the Blackbird Tavern looking for volunteers to learn something new and challenging. All of the longtime Woodpilers knew better than to volunteer. But some of the newer residents of the Woodpile, namely Merry, Spitfire the dragonfly, and Archie the grasshopper jumped up with enthusiasm. Poor fellows, never even asked what they were volunteering for.
It turns out Vinnie had signed up for a team chess tournament. This was no traditional chess game. Some of the chess pieces on the board were being replaced by team members. Vinnie being surprised by anyone actually volunteering forget to inquire if Merry, Archie and Spitfire knew how to play the game. Of course they didn’t have a clue how to play. They had two days before the tournament to master the game.
In chess, each of the pieces king, queen, bishops, knights, rooks and pawns move differently. The first order of business was to learn how they moved. In this photo Vinnie is teaching Spitfire how the knight moves (two squares in a straight line and then one square to the left or right.
After two days of grueling training, Vinnie sent everyone home for a good night’s rest while he cleaned up in preparation for the tournament the next day.
The team made it to the finals. In the game to determine the winner, the Woodpile presses the advantage under Vinnie’s careful instructions.
During the games, Vinnie who stood in for the rook, sacrifices his piece to save them from losing the game and has to leave the board. The team retreats to their end of the board to regroup.
Unable to coach the team, Vinnie looks on nervously from the sideline hoping his team makes the right move. However, the white knight thinks Vinnie is trying to cheat.
Spitfire makes a brilliant move putting the white king in check.
The white kings tries to flee but is put into
checkmate by the Woodpilers!
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