The following can also be found in the book Chicago Stories 1998. Click here to learn more, and to download a free electronic copy.


For an ex-girlfriend, who shall remain nameless

The object of chess is not actually to conquer your opponent.
The object of chess is to move your pieces around on the board
in ingenious and subtle ways
so that your opponent
is left in a condition
whereby any possible choice they have left
would result in suicide of the king.
They then have to concede.
The condition is called checkmate.

Copyright 1998, Jason Pettus. All rights reserved. This was published under a Creative Commons license; click here for details. Contact: ilikejason [at] gmail [dot] com.