Hal was caught between two impossible choices.
A speedy ruin or a slow and torturous one.
Naturally, he went for the choice where he could slow down his ruin. Give himself time to think of a way out.
To think of a solution.
Alas, after a total of Ninety-nine games, Hal had to accept the fact that there was no solution. At least there was no solution that involved playing this game with an inner demon that had had absolute control...
Since winning would ultimately be his loss and losing deliberately (which he tried) was quite simply a loss nonetheless, he tried for a neutral option; A draw.
Being a very skilled player as he was, Hal was quite confident in controlling all that would happen on the board to ensure that all ended in a draw but he was quickly treated to the knowledge that this bastard of an inner demon had been toying with him from the very start.