When I was in college I came across a couple guys playing chess. It was obvious that one player was better than the other and was really enjoying lording it over the other guy. The better player had three pieces left, his king, a bishop, and a rook. The other player only had two pieces left, his king and a knight, it was his turn and he was trying to figure out what to do. I turned to the other player and asked if he minded if I Kibitzed and he told me to go ahead, so sure of himself that he didn’t think I could do anything to stop him from winning. I turned to the other player and told him to take the rook with his knight. He turned to me and said, “but if I do that he’ll take my knight with his bishop.” I told him that if he took the rook, than his opponent could never win the game. He thought about it for a few seconds and decided to follow my recomendation, taking the rook with his knight. The other guy jumped to his feet with a triumphant, “Yes,” and took the knight with his bishop before turning to thank me for giving him the game. "I didn’t give you the game, I just made sure that you can’t win. It’s impossible to checkmate if all you have is a king and bishop. The guy just smirked at me as if to say that I didn’t know what I was talking about. I watched the game for a couple more minutes and then excused myself, saying I’d be back in a few minutes after I took care of some business back in my apartment. When I came back a few minutes only the arrogant player was still sitting at the board, stareing at the last three pieces. He looked up at me and wailed, “I couldn’t win, it was a stalemate.” I’m guessing that’s one lesson he never forgot.
When I was in college I came across a couple guys playing chess. It was obvious that one player was better than the other and was really enjoying lording it over the other guy. The better player had three pieces left, his king, a bishop, and a rook. The other player only had two pieces left, his king and a knight, it was his turn and he was trying to figure out what to do. I turned to the other player and asked if he minded if I Kibitzed and he told me to go ahead, so sure of himself that he didn’t think I could do anything to stop him from winning. I turned to the other player and told him to take the rook with his knight. He turned to me and said, “but if I do that he’ll take my knight with his bishop.” I told him that if he took the rook, than his opponent could never win the game. He thought about it for a few seconds and decided to follow my recomendation, taking the rook with his knight. The other guy jumped to his feet with a triumphant, “Yes,” and took the knight with his bishop before turning to thank me for giving him the game. "I didn’t give you the game, I just made sure that you can’t win. It’s impossible to checkmate if all you have is a king and bishop. The guy just smirked at me as if to say that I didn’t know what I was talking about. I watched the game for a couple more minutes and then excused myself, saying I’d be back in a few minutes after I took care of some business back in my apartment. When I came back a few minutes only the arrogant player was still sitting at the board, stareing at the last three pieces. He looked up at me and wailed, “I couldn’t win, it was a stalemate.” I’m guessing that’s one lesson he never forgot.