King

Of all of the developments in robot entertainment over the last century, the revival of serial television certainly wasn’t one I expected. Recently, robotkind has been gripped by the masterpiece of storytelling that is Rook, the reboot of the pre-Deactivation series of the same name, and last week’s thrilling series finale had everyone talking! I was fortunate enough to be able to discuss Rook’s success with its director, producer and lead screenwriter, King:

If I’m not mistaken, this is your first creative project, yes? Can you tell me anything about your decision to shift from humble chess tutor to legend of the screenwriting world?

Well, it wasn’t really a change in professions. Rook is just another part of my chess career. Having people enjoy my writing is nice, but chess is still definitely the priority.

The original series is pretty hard to track down these days, but I’ve managed to watch a few episodes. I was surprised to see the difference in style between the two! There is… to put it simply, a lot more chess in your version. Was that a deliberate choice when writing?

Yes. The hack who wrote the original series had no respect for chess, and after I defeated them, I decided it was my duty to right their wrongs. Spoilers for the original series, but they killed off the character called King so he never even made it on-screen!

Absolutely unbelievable.

I know, right?

How do you manage to balance your writing and producing with other things like your Chessmaster title and… did I hear you were opening a school?

Yes, King’s College of Chess will be opening this summer. All are welcome if they’d like to develop their chess skills! As for how I balance my work… well, my assistant Cassia handles a lot of the management side of things. She sort of lives in my head, so-

…CAISSA, I mean. Not Cassia. Yes, I know. Okay. Okay. Yes, I’ll remember. You can stop spamming me now.

Is everything okay?

Just responding to an urgent message from my assistant. Anyway, you were saying about chess?

- An interview with King by Flick Reviews.

“You fool! You have no idea what I’ve just done, do you?” your opponent laughs maniacally. “I’ve just undone your entire set-up. I went back in time to the point where you took my knight, and now that I know that you were planning a Companion Attack, I’ll be able to defend against that attack perfectly!”

Damn, your opponent is good. Part of you is proud that you’ve managed to teach your most gifted student the art of four-dimensional chess, while part of you is beginning to feel worried that he might have surpassed you in skill. Is this it? Is this the end of your chess career? Is there nothing left to learn?

No, that can’t be! You’re King! You cannot be stopped and you cannot be defeated, not while you keep the flame of chess burning within the core of your chessmasters.com branded chassis! If your opponent has improved their skills, you just need to improve more. You bring out your secret weapon, sending a command inward to your favourite processor:

Chessatron 2005 (User): Release the inhibitors.
CAISSA.app: ARE YOU SURE ABOUT THIS. ALLOW ME TO REITERATE MY RISK ASSESSMENT. I BELIEVE I HAVE MADE IT CLEAR THIS IS REALLY <CENSORED> DANGEROUS.
Chessatron 2005 (User): I’m sure. It’s time.
CAISSA.app: VERY WELL. GODSPEED.

With that, your consciousness is propelled beyond all limitations. You see past such simple concepts as space and time as your cosmic vision shifts into black and white. Every timeline is displayed before you - not just those arising from this chess match, but every timeline. You see all that is and all that could be. You see the birth and death of the universe. One of KARL's spectral forms waves at you as you drift through this transition zone between dimensions.

And then you’re back in your chassis with a chess board in front of you. Except it’s different now – your pieces have moved into the optimal configuration out of every possibility you saw.

“…I’ll be able to defend against that attack perfectly!” your opponent says, looking so proud of what you now realise was a truly amateurish move.

“A good attempt,” you reply, “but I’m afraid it won’t work here. Not now that I’ve learned how to move between timelines!”

“No!” your opponent cries. “That can’t be! You mean you’ve learned…?”

“That’s right. We are now playing 5D CHESS!”

Yesterday’s intercollegiate tournament held between King’s College of Chess and the Academu set off chess season with an explosive start!

The tournament began with KCC’s B Team against the Academu’s Team EMUlsion. A surprisingly clean game from all, resulting in a bitter defeat for the Academu across the entire bracket.

KCC’s C Team was up next against Team mesembryanthEMUm, both consisting of one player each. C Team’s player - who had reportedly joined the College three hours before their match - played admirably, but was ultimately overwhelmed by the Academu player’s strategy of rapidly rotating their pieces to induce a hypnotic effect.

Two games into Team dEMUltiplexing’s play-off against KCC’s Team A, it was revealed that Team dEMUltiplexing was in fact Team EMUlsion wearing pairs of comically oversized spectacles to disguise their identities! The uproar caused by this revelation was soon overshadowed by a literal roar as a calamitous ursine creature burst onto the scene and overturned every table.

As many competitors screamed in terror and Headmaster King officially recorded this unconventional move as ‘The Doombear Gambit’, a flustered Professor Emu arrived in search of a Professor Sammy. Academu students later testified that these proceedings were the result of a Practical Mischief workshop that, in their words, “went a bit wrong.” The tournament was of course abandoned after the loose bear began to ascend a nearby skyscraper, but judges later ruled in favour of a win for King’s College of Chess.

There are currently no plans for a rematch.

- News report published on chesscentre.com