Chapter 34: He Could Figure It Out

Sophia told Kevin about Linda's visit to the school, and hearing that Linda was going to sue him, he was worried.

Sophia comforted him, "It's okay. She can't win. Don't worry."

She had already planned well for Kevin. She wouldn't let him be bullied by someone like Linda.

Thinking of Sunday's chess match, Sophia went home to practice a few more games.

After winning three games in a row, she finally met another strong opponent.

Its user name was "Pacific M." As soon as the game started, this player had a great strategy. The gameplay was slower and harder than any before. She needed much more time to think out her moves.

On the other side of the ocean, it was still morning.

Mitch started nervously at the game and did not relax for a moment.

Behind him stood three of his chess-player friends, all staring intently at the screen with the same nervous energy.

These three players were among the top twenty chess players in the world. They had just got together at Mitch's home to play chess. Mitch had received an international call, and immediately, he turned on the computer and began to play chess online.

They were all chess masters. After a few moves, they immediately understood the situation.

The game had been going on for two hours. Everyone was standing stock-still. The sound of Mitch clicking his mouse filled the room.

Mitch was sweating. He stared unblinkingly at the moving pieces on the screen and held his breath.

Facing a strong opponent, Sophia felt her nerves tingling.

The harder the task, the more active she felt, it had always been the way. Upon looking at the computer, it felt as if all the cells in her body had been activated.

Initially, she had played chess just to win those one hundred and fifty dollars. But now she was really getting into it.

"Castling…" When Sophia finished this move, the possibility of the next twenty moves sprang up in her mind, "Queen… take!"

The queen was one of the most useful pieces in chess. The opponent's queen was taken. The situation was looking good for Sophia.

The whole game could take a maximum time of three hours, so each one had an hour and a half to make their moves. Time was running out. If no one had won by, then it would be declared a draw.

Just then, the screen of the computer suddenly flashed and darkened. Sophia was in darkness.

The power had shut off.

The weather was hot, and a lot of people in the community used air conditioners, which often resulted in a voltage overload. So, power outages often happened.

Sophia sighed. This game of chess was only half played; it was so annoying, but there was nothing she could do. It would take at least a few hours for the electrician to fix the circuit. And by now, the system would have registered it as if she had forfeited the game. There was no going back to that game.

With regret, she went to bed and slept in the dark.

She had no idea that her unfinished game had shocked the world of chess.

Though Mitch had been declared the winner, he and his friends all knew that he was likely to lose if the game continued. His queen had been taken first, which was pretty bad for him.

KAP could beat the chess champion, Mitch Watson. Who was he or she?

Could it really be chess programming?

"I have checked out the blog associated with this account. It's newly registered. I can't find out their identity, though." Kip told Mitch over the phone," I don't have the authority to check the IP address. I only know that, according to the blog, it's a woman. She lives in Lands City. But you know, Land is so big. There are millions of people. It's completely untraceable."

Mitch frowned. "Don't investigate her anymore. If she doesn't want to show up, it's best we don't dig her out. It would only make her unhappy. I don't think she wants to play chess seriously. But I think she'll definitely show up at the contest. I'll play her again then.

Kip was surprised, "You…really want to participate in this contest?"

To participate in an online chess game with only three thousand dollars' prize? It was just a small contest. Even his friend, Toby, disdained to be a consultant for it! Mitch, the world's number one chess master, was going to compete!

If such a thing was known to the organizers, they would go crazy!

"Of course!" Mitch thought for a moment, "The enrollment won't be closed by now, right? Find a computer expert. Get him to register a bunch of accounts and log in to them at the same time. The system matches players automatically, right? If any account was matched with Knowing A Person, you can switch over that account to me. I want to play some more games with her. And I'll bear the cost."

"Just leave it to me. Wait for my word!" Kip said.

He hung up the phone. It was three o'clock in the morning. Mitch sent him the video of that unfinished chess game, then he clicked on it and watched it over and over again.

The more he watched, the more he felt that it was operated by computer programming. Normally, as a top master, he could get the next ten steps or so. But chess games were changeable, and there was no way to accurately predict it.

But this person seemed to have seen through all the changes and predicted all the possibilities. Such a farsighted ability to discern the moves was not within human capability.

But how could a computer have such a weird spontaneous way of playing, so lacking in normal routine? He couldn't figure it out.

With the idea of giving it a try, he sent a private message to Knowing A Person's blog.

"Hello. Are you a professional chess player? I am a chess player and I greatly admire your skills. I want to play chess with you if you want? Whenever you're free, of course. Thank you!"