Check & Mate

by Ali Hazelwood

“I am reliably informed that you’re a Gen Z sex symbol.”

Mrs. Agarwal is at her desk, pretending to grade papers but probably reading Bill Nye erotic fanfiction.

Second book Bill Nye erotic fanfiction has been mentioned

I am expecting to see Zendaya. Harry Styles. Billie Eilish. The entirety of BTS, crammed on the couch of whatever late-night show the YouTube autoplay algorithm decided to feed me after the pH experiment tutorial ended.

And I don’t think of him again for a little over two years. That is, until the day we play for the first time. And I wipe the floor with him.

Funny, that Easton never cared for chess like I did but stuck with it much longer. What an odd love triangle the three of us make.

“Since I’m the team leader, I went ahead and declared your skill levels,” Easton tells us. “I put—” “Why are you the leader?” Zach asks. “I don’t remember having an election.” “Then I’m the team dictator,” she hisses.

“Marshall Chess Club Player One. Nolan Sawyer.”

And I know it, because I have to clear my throat before I say, “I…Checkmate.”

Something funny occurs to me: top players are always given cutesy nicknames by the press. The Artist. The Picasso of Chess. The Gambit Mozart. Nolan’s nickname? The Kingkiller. The Kingkiller leans forward, ever so slightly, and his intense, awestruck expression feels much more threatening than a folding chair to my head. “Who—” he starts, and I cannot bear it. “Thank you for the game,” I blurt out,

Okay, maybe in the past week I’ve had three separate Nolan Sawyer dreams. So what?

She knows what she left behind, but I have no clue what she’s doing, what I’m competing with, whether she’s already forgotten about me.

The little dots of Easton’s reply bounce on the bottom of the screen, then disappear and never come back. Not in five minutes, or ten. I picture a new friend walking up to Easton, her forgetting about me. She’s already posted a handful of selfies with her roommates on Instagram.

“How old are you?” “Eighteen.” He mutters something about babysitting toddlers and not being Mary Fucking Poppins.

“Well, you’re not the nicest guy I’ve ever met.” “I am a motherfucking delight, Greenleaf. And for the record, you and I are equally hot.”

My stomach drops. Nolan Sawyer is staring down at me, a faint scowl between his eyes.

“Well, well, well.” I have him cornered, and he almost sounds pleased. “I see why he’s been going on about you now,” he murmurs.

“Ignore him. He’s a pitiful little slug, forever bitter because he once popped a boner on national television.”

I’d rather work in finance and play the occasional tournament for fun. It also doesn’t help when your closest friend is the best player the sport has seen in a couple hundred years. You keep losing your Spider-Man action figures to him. Makes you rethink your priorities.”

“She’ll have you in less than five moves,” a deep, assured voice says from behind me. I recognize it but don’t turn around, not even when I hear footsteps fading away. Sawyer’s in the midst of some delusion.

Sudden death, I mouth at him. “You tricked me,” he spits out. “Why? Are you annoyed by it?” “Yes!” I smile. “Then yes. I tricked you.”

“First tournament, and you get to the final,” Oz mumbles, angrily splitting a twig in a million pieces. “Damn child prodigies.”

Plus, we all know the kind of genes that run in that family, so—”

“What? It’s true. About Sawyer’s grandfather and about Sawyer being a hotheaded asshole.” “He was a child. He was only ever violent with Koch, which he can hardly be blamed for, and hasn’t done any of that in years,”

Sawyer is already there. Waiting. Sitting on Black, tracking all my movements. His eyes on me are unsettling. There’s something too sharp, too ravenous, almost acquisitive about them. Like the match is an afterthought, and I am what he came here for.

I extend my hand. He takes it immediately, almost eagerly. Holds it for a touch too long. His palms are warm, unexpectedly calloused.

“Just shut the fuck up, Koch,” Sawyers drawls, more annoyed than angry, like Koch is a mosquito he’s swatting away. “If you eliminate Mallory,” he says, like he has a right to my name, like he can say a word and make me blush, “I won’t play.”

“Fifty thousand dollars?” “Well, it’s just an open tournament,” Defne explains. “I know it’s small, but—” “It’s a bucketload of money!” I nearly choke on my saliva. I hadn’t expected the prizes to be this high. What is this, OnlyFans?

Nolan. Sawyer. Is. On. My. Porch.

Sabrina snorts. “You didn’t let me watch You because I’m fourteen, and now I find out that you have your own stalker?”

Me. Fourteen. Currently watching You.

He leans his forearm against the rail, drumming his fingers unhurriedly. “You know, I played against your father once.”

Sabrina shoots me a triumphant smile. Sistercide. Sistercide is the only option. I’ll make Darcy help me hide the body. Or Mom. Or Goliath. “So, boys and girls?”

“And he seems to have great taste.” “Because he ate a stomach-pumping amount of your meat loaf?” “Mostly that. Only secondarily because he doesn’t seem to be able to look away from my most oblivious daughter.”

“Does your family think we’re dating?” He doesn’t look upset. More in the ballpark of proud. “Who knows.” Probably. “Is it a problem?” I want him to say yes, and then throw in his face that it’s his fault for showing up unannounced. He thwarts my move. “Who doesn’t love a good fake dating scheme.”

“Malte Koch had other ideas.” “Koch is a nonentity.” “He’s the second-best player in the world.” “He has the second-highest rating in the world,” he corrects me.

“I want to play chess with you,” he repeats. His voice is lower. Closer. Deeper. “Please, Mallory.”

“Well, that’s understandable.” I nod, looking for my pajamas. “He must be very busy. He’s the number one chess player in the world, after all.”

“You should stop swearing in front of twelve-year-olds. Mrs. Vitelli says that my brain’s still all squishy. I’ll probably end up in juvie if you swear just once more.” “Fuck.” “Here goes another promising young woman.”

snap a selfie and send it to her, scowling when her only response is a lazy heart emoji. I realize that we haven’t talked in over a week,

“McKenzie’s mom’s driving her to school,” Darcy explains. “For someone whose biggest fear is not having a ride to the ER, Sabrina the Teenage Bitch is pretty crafty at finding one on short notice.”

and you are, objectively, a liar. But I don’t think you’re egotistical.” I feel a lump swell in my throat. Until Darcy frowns. “Though I’m not one hundred percent sure I have the correct definition of egotistical.”

I feel Nolan before I see him.

Tanu and Emil pretend to stand in line, audibly asking, “Sir, I’m your biggest fan. I love the way you always castle on your fourth move.

“So, what’s the deal here?” He turns to me, puzzled. “Are the three of you in some polyamorous relationship?” “Did you just ask if I’m sleeping with both our teammates?” He lifts one eyebrow. “I’m going to FIDE’s HR.”

with Koch already in Moscow.” “That’s why the North American continent felt so much more pleasant than usual,” Nolan mutters.

“Is your manager still pissed about you coming to the Olympics?” Emil asks. “Can’t say, since I stopped taking her calls.” He shrugs.

But Nolan’s play is stunning. In five thousand years archaeologists will cry at its grace. Though if we don’t stop carbon emissions, the world will just be a pile of ashes, so maybe we should put it in a time capsule.

I know everything about her—name, age, even her address. Or at least, a few years ago’s. It’s possible that she moved. That she doesn’t work at the bank anymore, that she doesn’t exercise at Pure Barre, that—

My heart skips a beat. “You should be way more upset about this. Since you’re on your deathbed, I’ll let that slide, but we’ll have to set the record straight.”

“Let me get this straight. You chose playing chess with an old man over getting laid?”

“This apartment he left you…It’s big for one person,” I murmur. “Want to move in?” His tone matches mine, intimate. “Sure. I’ll sell my pancreas. It should cover the first three months of rent.” “You don’t have to pay rent. Just pick a room.”