A Short story by Biswajit Chattopadhay

When a pawn decided to die 

 

Mathematics had always been his first love.When he used to solve the problems of linear geometry he felt like walking in the garden of roses.He was Rohit Sen ,the son of a middle class corporation employee of cossipore area in the northern fringes of the city. Standing 5 ft 7 inches tall at the age of 19 years Rohit was studying Statistics in a Kolkata college and used to practice quality chess in a reputed chess club in north Calcutta.
From very early childhood Rohit would spend hours studying the strategies of Capablanca, Fischer and Kasparov and reading books about opening and middle games of chess.As he grew older his love for the game only got deeper and he started to compete in local tournaments.It was not easy in the beginning.But slowly he grew in confidence and gradually excelled in the end game due to his keen observation and superior memory and strategic planning..
Quickly Rohit became a popular chess player in the town and even became  runners up in a big tournament losing out narrowly  to an Indian grandmaster in the final because of time pressure.

Every success comes at a price.And Rohit's rise to prominence was met with jealousy and anger from some of his peers, particularly from Gautam,an average chess player who thought no end of himself but had the backing of the ruling political party.
He was scared to face Rohit in a game but used to tell  false stories about Rohit..
That he had not been totally honest in his game.
Rohit was upset but continued his studies and his favourite game without challenging his detractors.
They thought he was mentally weak and started throwing rumours against him with the help of press and political support.

The final blow came during an exhibition match when Rohit easily checkmated  Gautam's king and wryly smiled : I'm  so sorry.
This incident infuriated  Gautam's ego and his team and he refused to shake hands with Rohit after the game.Instead he suddenly accused Rohit of cheating, claiming he had secretly consulted a chess engine on his phone during the break.

The accusation was baseless but it was allowed to spread like wildfire through the tournament hall to different News channel fueled by malicious whispers from different quarters.
Rohit was devastated, feeling low and down..and inspite of pleading not guilty was forced to sit before a team of judges.
His every move was scanned and his phone was sent for any undoing during the game time.

The final verdict went in favour of Rohit but in between even his friends and relatives thought he might have done something wrong.
The world around Rohit crushed upon his head.He withdrew himself from the tournaments,chess circuit and club and confined himself in his room.Even a complex problem of differential calculus didn't attract him anymore.

On the fretful monday evening when the sun had touched the western horizon Rohit sat quietly in his room surrounded by the chess board and his books of chess and maths.He told his mother that he was meditating for a while and not to disturb him.
Then he said a final good bye to his  favourite game and took his last breath.
He wrote a final letter to himself..
Chess is not a game it is my love!I have been totally honest with my love,.The pawn is dead but long live the king!! 

The news sent shock waves through the chess community giving a stark reminder of the devastating consequences of bullying.
The world of chess mourned a champion's untimely loss and media turned 360° to call the incident the tragic end of a real hero.

Gautam also commented soulfully on Rohit's demise but was trolled heavily in social media asking for justice for Rohit and Gautam's  immediate punishment.
His party suspended Gautam till the public fury gets subdued in time and Rohit's family remained non comittal throughout the period.

Perhaps the bottom line of the story is written by Rohit himself in his last few mortal words...

The pawn is dead but long live the king !!