Fiction story about Natalia Pogonina by Pavel Evseev - "Tricolor" |
| Written by Natalia Pogonina | ||||
| Saturday, 29 August 2009 | ||||
 Natalia's portrait by Anibal Lopez It's always nice to receive presents that require creative skill: drawings, poems, songs. Recently an eminent chess composer Ivan Bryukhanov has informed me that he has dedicated a chess problem to me. But it will be kept a secret for now until the publication. On another event Pavel Evseev, a modest person who doesn't like to talk much about himself, but a quite gifted author, has sent me a fiction story about myself. It's fun, enjoyable and timely.  Tricolor (that's what Russians call their flag, since it has three stripes - white, blue and red - Pogonina.com) . They were totally worn out. 500 advertisement banners, stands and other locations. And only two of them. Anton and Vasya started off from Kirov Street. Alla Pugacheva, Mylene Farmer, Janet Jackson. All of them have to be covered until evening by a modest poster saying "Bagira (Pogonina's nick at one of the chess servers - Pogonina.com), come back victorious!" Young guys kept approaching them, offering 100 roubles (a popular Russian banknote worth about $3.20 - Pogonina.com), and asking for the poster with the smile, THAT smile with Big Ben on the background. Vasya almost felt like selling them for twice the price with his autograph. But that would have been shameful... - Have you heard the news from London? a man aged about 50 asked Anton how is she? - Third so far, anyway, we'll have our own Champion... B. At the closing ceremony Bagira could hardly keep from bursting into tears...Second place...But why? Only because of her kindness...Why did she agree to a draw in the 3rd round where her position was at least +1.0 (about a pawn up - chess engine evaluation - Pogonina.com)? Did she feel pity for the opponent who had caught a cold? Pafnutiev was right, exactly right, when he said that she should have played at PlayChess for at least 5 nights. Tried to sacrifice two pieces for a draw and feel, as Pavel said, "the animal face of modern Internet chess". Lacking the killer instinct is tough. "If you want to become the Champion - learn to kick the fallen. Even without enjoying it, you still have to kick" - as wise Sheridan told her...She didn't listen... The spectators stood applauding the Champion. The head of the organization committee proceeded to the other prizes. Best combinationthe prize goes to Bagira for her round 8 victory The hall burst with applauses. "Well, not bad. And against a rather strong opponent. If not only my pity..."- thought Bagira. The main organizer handed her the keys with a fine predatory animal and smiled contentedly into the microphone: "The Russian girl gets the red "Jaguar", of course". Bagira took the keys, thanked him and turned to walk back. - Just a moment, Queen Anna's prize Will for Victory by unanimous decision - goes to Bagira. Let me present this blue "Jaguar" to you and thank you for your wonderful play. The audience applauded politely. Bagira returned to the table. Maybe I shouldn't quit chess? So, half a point for the ill opponent...never mind. Hope she gets well." Other prizes have been handed out. Nice. Then an elegant old men proceeded to the stage. He looked like...it's hard to find a prototype in the modern world...a pirate-instructor from the 17th century. A senior pirate-instructor. His slight lameness perfectly fitted this image. - Whos is he? - Bagira whispered to a member of the organizer's team. - , this is Sir Saint-John-Smite from RBS. He appears before the public once or twice a year. Interesting, what will he pull off this time... The pirate-instructor raised his hand to stop the applauses, and quietly said: - We congratulate the Champion and all the participants and hope to see your excellent play in the future. And let me hand over this small present. Beauty prize from RBS goes to...Bagira from Russia. The man came up to her and kissed her hand so skilfully, that the 17th century suddenly felt so appealing...How many people do you have to kill to become a Chief Pirate? Even a modern one, a head of an investment bank...And learn to kiss a lady's hand that way... - This "white cat" will suit your dress , he said and gave Bagira the keys with wings. - Bagira's Austin Martin and the other cars are parked in front of the hotel. Let's continue our press conference and take a breath of fresh air there - announced the presenter. C. In the park people spontaneously broke into two groups. One of them went to take a look at the Champion's prize, the other - to take admire Bagira's rewards. The cars have been parked carefully and in the right order: the red one stood closer to the hotel, then the blue one, followed by the white car. Just like the Russian flag. Two press conferences started simultanously. - Who taught you to play chess? Who is your coach? Was the victory anticipated? - a compatriot started asking the Champion non-trivial questions. To follow were probably "How did you prepare? Do you use chess engines? Did your friends and relatives root for you?". The Indian girl was taking her time to answer the questions in detail. The interviewers, with their faces stretched from dullness, started moving up to the "Austin Martin".
- Bagira,what does your car sign SARATOV RULES 01 mean ? asked a journalist from Chess & cars - Well, everyone knows that. That's a standard toast in our ciry. When the alchohol-drinking chess players meet those who don't drink, this is one of the first toasts. Usually, it's even in the first dozen of toasts. At girl parties it may be in the second dozen... - Sorry, didn't get it. In your city even those who don't drink alchohol still drink? Our people either drink or not... - For us it's much easier. "Drinking" means that you consider yourself a person who drinks alchohol. "Lightly drinking" - someone who says he drinks socially. An abstainer is someone who says he doesn't consume alchohol. And in the end everyone drinks about the same amount....We take drinking hard to a new level...The metaphysics of drinking - that is ours, from Saratov...Hard to explain...Visit us for at least two months, and you'll understand...Understand which group you belong to...And probably even stay...By the way, I've got an unmarried girl friend... - Bagira, they say that you have written a book about Chess Kama Sutra. Who were your partners in this project? - asked a cheeky, but friendly-smiling tall Irishman. - Don't worry, only one partner...but what a person!...By the way, you'd have benefited from reading pages 114-117...I guess that's what your problem is... - Was it a pity for you not to become a Champion? - Let her be a f r a i d. . Life went on. The Champion kept answering the question "What are your plans for the future?"... Bagira was estimating the red car's boot and counting how many potato packages it could hold. She decided not to quit chess for now. The end.
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