OpenGoStory

   

Tamsin: I have been writing my own go fiction, called A Cautionary Tale. On this page I would like to begin another go story, which all deshis can add to as they wish. Please don't delete other people's contributions, but do feel free to amend typos and other small mistakes. Please try to keep within the spirit of the story, too (if you do digress from the plot, try to keep it related in some way!).


Introduction

Old Ron Bellinger, 2 dan, hated playing go with chess clocks. In fact, he loathed it almost as much as he disliked playing with children or with women. Yet, here he was, on a cold, wet November night, playing speed go with Lucy Wang, great-niece of the legendary Caitlin Wang.

Damn! Not another fight! What was it with this child? Didn't she know when she was beaten? He had been trying for 15 whole years to win the Manchester Go Championships. Alright, so he had been tied into a four-way play-off for the title, but this was still his best chance yet. Now, if this little brat would only resign as she should in this position!

On the next table, Gary Rogers, 3 dan, was up against another very strong child, Tim Young, 2 kyu. Gary was heartily wishing that the rules of the tournament had not compelled him to give Tim a 4-stone handicap. If Tim Young was really just 2 kyu, then, quite frankly, Gary was a Dutchman!

The spectators crowded around both boards. The excitement was palpable. For a long time the Manchester go scene had been quite homely and small, but now there were two kids who really could play -- and then some. One of these was already a minor celebrity, being quite closely related to Caitlin Wang, honorary Kisei Meijin, the strongest player the world had ever seen.

Lucy cut yet again. Ron had never seen so many groups on a go board, all competing for life. He checked the position again, trying to weigh the value of each group. Finally, he felt that he had it measured. What was more, he began to see a path to killing, beyond all hope of resurrection, the biggest of Lucy's groups. The more he looked, the clearer it became. At last, Ron Bellinger, the Manchester Meijin!

"Sorry, Mr Bellinger," whispered Lucy, "You have lost on time."

"What?" snapped Ron, "Pardon?"

"You have lost on time."

"Oh damn! Bugger!" Ron cried.

"I'm sorry."

"Yeah, right, I damn well bet you are."

And with that, Ron snatched up his coat and stormed out of the club, muttering incoherently about "spoiled brat" and "it's alright if you're Caitlin Wang's niece" and so on. Lucy looked stunned, and then began crying. Her mother went to her, and took her to a corner of the room, and hugged her to calm her down. Meanwhile, her father, John, started after Ron, but was stopped by another of the spectators.

"Leave it, John," said Trevor, "He's just a sour old tosser."

"I can't have him talking to my girl like that," John replied.

"Well, I don't think we'll be seeing much of him for quite a while, now, anyway. Come on, let's go to the bar, and I'll get you another pint."

Meanwhile, Gary Rogers restarted Tim Young's clock, having paused it during the commotion surrounding Ron Bellinger's loss on time. The room became silent again, but no less tense.


This is a copy of the living page "OpenGoStory" at Sensei's Library.
(OC) 2005 the Authors, published under the OpenContent License V1.0.
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