It was Paris in 1902, and the backstage of the Opéra-Comique was buzzing with drama, mostly because someone had set loose a kijetesantakalu wearing a tiny beret. Meanwhile, the overture of Pelléas et Mélisande floated through the air like a moody baguette. I burst in, fresh from my time machine. I was ready to meet Claude Debussy, the author of the opera.
There he was, pacing nervously, clutching his score, and muttering. I approached him cautiously, dodging a rogue soprano practicing her high notes. "Monsieur Debussy," I said, trying not to trip over a tuba, "you look like you need a distraction. How about a game of chess to clear your mind?"
He blinked at me with an expression on his face that looked like a minor-seventh chord. But then he shrugged. "Why not? If nothing else, it will keep me from strangling the tenor."
We set up the chessboard on an overturned timpani drum near the conductor’s podium. As we began, the opera played in the background, which was mostly nice except when someone dropped a tambourine.
"Your play is as unpredictable as your compositions," I remarked, frowning at my knights, who seemed to be sulking with a French melancholy.
He smirked like a man who’d just found a croissant in his pocket. "Chess, like music, is about creating beauty, not following rules. And sometimes, ignoring rules entirely." He then moved his queen to an impossible square and called it "artistic license."
The game raged on, with neither of us gaining the upper hand.
The kijetesantakalu reappeared to knock over his bishop, but we agreed it added to the atmosphere.
Eventually, we reached a stalemate - unresolved like Pelléas et Mélisande.
"A worthy match," I said, shaking his hand and side-stepping an errant opera-goer.
And with that, he tucked the chessboard under his arm, grabbed a baguette from nowhere, and wandered off into the Parisian night, humming a tune that sounded suspiciously like the kijetesantakalu’s theme song.
[Date "1902 AD"]
[White "Jan Sikusi"]
[Black "Claude Debussy"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. Re1 b5 7. Bb3 d6 8. c3 O-O 9. h3 Re8 10. d4 Bf8
11. Nbd2 h6 12. a4 Rb8 13. axb5 axb5 14. Nf1 exd4 15. cxd4 Rxe4 16. Rxe4 Nxe4 17. Qc2 Qe8 18. Ne3 Nb4 19. Qxc7 Be6 20. Bxe6 fxe6
21. Bd2 Nd3 22. Ra7 Ra8 23. Rxa8 Qxa8 24. Qd7 Nf4 25. Kh2 Nxf2 26. Nf1 N2d3 27. Qxb5 Qa1 28. Ng3 Qb1 29. Qd7 Qxb2 30. Ne2 Ne1
31. Nxf4 Nxf3+ 32. gxf3 Qxd2+ 33. Kg3 Qe1+ 34. Kg2 Qd2+ 35. Kg3 Qe1+ 36. Kg2 g5 37. Qxe6+ Qxe6 38. Nxe6 Be7 39. f4 Kf7 40. d5 gxf4
41. Kf3 Bg5 42. Nd4 Kg6 43. Nb5 Kf5 44. Nxd6+ Ke5 45. Nf7+ Kxd5 46. h4 Ke6 47. Nxg5+ hxg5 48. hxg5 Kf5 49. g6 Kxg6 50. Kxf4