Nine - Selected Shorts

Eighth: Clash of the Titans

     Now, I am one of the world's worst chess players. I mean, I once got beaten by a guy in three moves--he moved, then I moved, then he moved to checkmate me.

     But the chess game I'm commemorating here on this February 22nd is a game I played some years ago against my youngest brother Jeff--now Major Jeffrey Payne, United States Air Force. I was in high school, so Jeff must've been in 4th or 5th grade, but we sat down and played that chess game till all we each had left was our respective kings. I can't even begin to remember how it happened, but I'm convinced it was the greatest chess game I've ever played in my life.

     Of course, it ended in a draw after half an hour of out kings chasing each other around the board, but still, on this, Jeff's birthday, I felt I had to do some sort of chess joke. So here it is.