Chapter 215: The Game at Channing Estate! Chuck: Do You Concede? Master: Impossible! Absolutely Impossible!
The next day.
Jane opened her eyes from a deep sleep with a smile on her lips. It took her a while to fully wake up. She raised her hand to check her watch and saw that it was almost ten o'clock. She gasped in surprise, got up, quickly washed up, and went out to ask Justin, who greeted her, "Where's Chuck?"
"He went to Long Island," Justin smiled. "He said to come find him when you wake up."
"Damn it!" Jane grabbed the phone to call Chuck while running toward the garage, almost tripping over herself.
"I've already pulled the car around for you," Justin stepped forward to steady Jane.
Only then did Jane notice that the car Chuck usually let her drive was parked right outside. She stood up sheepishly, thanked Justin, and by then the call had connected. After Chuck gave her an address, Jane pocketed her phone, walked over at a more dignified pace, got into the car, and left the hillside villa.
Long Island, New York.
Jane drove to a luxurious estate, gave Chuck's name at the gate, passed through security, parked the car, and was escorted by a staff member to an outdoor venue being set up, where she found Chuck.
"What are you doing here?" Jane asked, puzzled. "After we settled Linda in yesterday, you still haven't told me what the other plan is!"
"Did you even have the energy to listen?" Chuck looked at her pointedly.
"You talk, I'll listen!" Jane blushed and quickly changed the subject. "What's going on here?"
"I don't like doing unnecessary work," Chuck said. "Do you know why Patrick Kloster is so wealthy?"
"He's the world chess champion—he must win tons of prize money," Jane said uncertainly.
"Prize money is limited, only a small portion," Chuck shook his head. "The main income comes from interviews, books, endorsements, and of course, private exhibitions after winning the world championship."
"Private exhibitions?" Jane looked around thoughtfully.
"Yes," Chuck nodded. "For the wealthy, any kind of performance can be arranged. Compared to those who like to hire celebrities to perform, some old-money families prefer events that demonstrate their sophistication—like the world chess champion versus four of New York's top chess players. In their eyes, a clash of brilliant minds better showcases their status and entertains their guests."
"That bastard is coming today?" Jane's eyes lit up. "Can you participate?"
"Compared to the strict rules of international championships, these entertainment matches have more flexible arrangements," Chuck said. "The four invited representatives of New York's top chess players can authorize someone else to play in their place. I'll be representing one of them."
"Ha!" Jane burst out laughing. "I can't wait to see that bastard's face when he sees you sitting across from him. That's going to be priceless!"
Seeing that Chuck didn't respond, Jane didn't mind. After finally stopping her laughter, she grew concerned again. "He's not going to refuse to play you, is he?"
"I'll be standing before him on my own merit, fully complying with the rules he set. Why would he refuse?" Chuck said calmly. "If he does refuse, there's no need for the competition anymore."
"If he still refuses, it means he knows he's not as good as you and doesn't dare to play," Jane laughed.
As the two talked, a tall blonde girl with long legs ran toward them, stopping breathlessly in front of them. She called out, "Chuck, you're here! I've been looking everywhere for you... Who is she?"
"And who are you, little girl?" Jane could tell at a glance that the girl looked mature but was actually still quite young, and couldn't help but smirk.
"I'm not a little girl!" The blonde huffed and puffed out her chest, then glanced at Jane's figure, curled her lip dismissively, and scoffed, "You don't even recognize me?"
"Should I?" Jane couldn't resist teasing her. "Little girl~"
"You're not American, are you?" the blonde said disdainfully. "You don't even recognize Caroline Channing?"
"Channing..." Jane suddenly understood. "You're the daughter of billionaire Martin Channing, and this estate belongs to your family?"
"His only daughter!" Caroline corrected. "This estate is just one of my family's many properties!"
"Impressive, so you're the Channing family princess," Jane gave Caroline a thumbs up, her eyes unconsciously glancing at Chuck. She'd thought that Amazing Amy was already the most prominent of Chuck's acquaintances, but she hadn't expected there to be an actual American princess.
That's right! As the only daughter of billionaire Martin Channing, Caroline Channing was a recognized heiress royalty. Even before she turned eighteen, her father had set up a trust fund for her.
A billion-dollar trust fund!
Even among the wealthy elite, this was absolutely top-tier treatment. This was a true billionaire princess who became a billionaire the moment she came of age, without even inheriting the family fortune!
"Who are you?" Caroline raised her chin and sized up Jane.
"I'm Chuck's assistant." After learning the girl's identity, Jane didn't want to tease her and cause trouble. She knew very well how destructive a princess like Caroline could be if she got offended.
"Oh, so you're an assistant. I knew it. You have that same vibe as my dad's female assistants." Caroline waved her hand dismissively with a sarcastic edge, then turned her attention to Chuck. "Chuck, I've been looking for you forever. Let's talk. I have tons of financial and accounting questions I want to ask you."
"Ask your dad," Chuck shook his head. "He's the expert at these things."
"But my dad says you're the best," Caroline clasped her hands together, pleading sweetly. "Please~!"
"I'm busy," Chuck said, unmoved, and walked away.
"No wonder Amy's so confident," Caroline muttered under her breath, watching Chuck's departing figure.
"You know Amazing Amy?" Jane, who was about to follow Chuck, stopped instinctively upon hearing this and looked over curiously. She'd always been intensely curious about the famous Amazing Amy.
"Is that surprising?" Caroline glanced at Jane. "If it weren't for Detective Chuck's brilliant rescue of Amazing Amy, she never would've had the chance to enter my social circle and become someone I know."
"So you know about her and Chuck's rumored relationship, right?" Jane gossiped. "And you two are friends now... Is that okay?"
"You clearly have no idea how our social circles work, do you?" Caroline looked at Jane like she was an idiot, then walked away with her head held high.
"..." Jane's face darkened.
Although she hadn't known before, she now vaguely understood and despised this kind of social dynamic!
"How did you meet her?" Jane, having finally composed herself and found Chuck, couldn't help but ask.
"I'm rich," Chuck said succinctly.
"...Okay, you're all rich, so it makes sense that you know each other," Jane suddenly understood how Sheldon felt and said sarcastically, "Even if you told me this match was something you specially arranged, I wouldn't find it strange at all, because you're rich!"
She couldn't continue, because she noticed Chuck glance at her, and she understood his look. She exclaimed incredulously, "Wait, is this actually true? This competition wasn't a coincidence, but something you set up?"
"Surprising?" Chuck countered.
"Not at all!" Jane said helplessly. "Sure! I just had a run-in with that jerk yesterday. He told you to work your way up to his level before he'd play you, and now suddenly this competition appears! What a coincidence! Money really can buy anything!"
"I didn't spend any money," Chuck said calmly. "I just gave Mr. Channing a heads-up. Originally, this invitational was scheduled for two weeks from now, after Patrick Kloster's World Championship match in Moscow. I just had Mr. Channing move it up a bit."
"Just had a billionaire reschedule his arrangements?" Jane's lips twitched as she repeated Chuck's casual statement.
A simple request could change a billionaire's long-planned schedule—this involved coordinating the schedules of many important and influential guests. It couldn't be done so easily!
"Dr. Wolf, here's your entry badge, number 1!" Three men and one woman approached. One of the men removed his entry badge from around his neck and reluctantly handed it to Chuck.
Chuck took it, walked to his chessboard, sat down, and nodded to the announcer who was looking at him expectantly.
"Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome World Chess Champion Grandmaster Patrick Kloster!" Amid applause, Patrick Kloster walked out wearing his entry badge. Without even glancing at the four players, he faced the upper-class audience, including Channing and his daughter, and gave a slight bow.
Then he turned around and saw Chuck.
"Well, well, well!" Patrick Kloster's expression shifted slightly before he approached with a smile. "As expected of Detective Chuck, you've found your opening. Not surprising at all."
"You said you'd only play me if I stood right in front of you, and now I'm here," Chuck looked at him. "Will you play or not?"
"As you wish!" Under everyone's watchful eyes, everything proceeded according to the rules, and Patrick Kloster had no choice but to agree.
However, unlike the many simultaneous exhibitions he'd participated in before, this time he took one black piece and one white piece, held them in his palm, put them behind his back, shuffled them for a moment, and then held his closed fists out to Chuck, indicating that Chuck should choose to determine who played which color.
In chess, white moves first, and among players of similar skill levels, or among elite players, the advantage of moving first virtually guarantees victory.
In exhibitions where one player faces multiple opponents, it's standard for the "one" to play white and move first. This was the case yesterday with Beth Harmon, and it's the arrangement on all four boards today, with white facing Patrick Kloster.
However, Patrick Kloster deviated from the usual pattern, opting instead to let chance determine color. Clearly, he took this match against Chuck very seriously and didn't want any questions about the legitimacy of his victory.
Chuck glanced at him, pointed to his left hand, and before Patrick Kloster could open it to reveal the color, declared, "White moves first!"
Patrick Kloster paused, then slowly opened his left palm, revealing a black piece. Chuck had chosen black, so Patrick naturally had white and the first move.
This should have been an undisputed advantage, but Chuck's declaration completely extinguished Patrick Kloster's initial satisfaction.
In chess, besides skill, psychology and composure are even more crucial!
Otherwise, if two perfect computers played against each other, both at peak performance without making a single mistake, there would be almost no point in playing; the one who moves first, White, would inevitably win.
But humans aren't computers; human performance is affected by many factors, and even with top-tier skill, mistakes can still occur.
Chuck clearly knew White's advantage, yet he chose Black and let Patrick move first—this was blatant contempt, as if saying, "So what if you move first? You'll still lose!"
If Patrick weren't a seasoned player who knew how to control his emotions, this move alone would have been enough to make him explode.
"Should they concede so we can focus on our game?" Chuck asked after Patrick Kloster placed the black and white pieces back in their starting positions.
"No need!" Patrick Kloster glanced at the other three contestants and refused outright.
"..." The two men and one woman, the top players in New York, all looked deeply offended. They admitted they might not match the world champion, but there was no need to treat them like they were worthless.
"As you wish!" Chuck pressed the button on the chess clock and gestured for him to play.
Playing chess is mentally exhausting; a game can last hours or even drag on for days, which isn't suitable for timed competition.
Therefore, chess clocks were introduced. A clock sits beside the chessboard, shared by both players. Each player has a button on their side of the clock. After making their move, they press their button, stopping their clock and automatically starting the opponent's.
After the opponent thinks through their move and plays, they repeat the process. At the end of the game, the clock records the time each player spent thinking.
The time limit is set by the organizers and can be long or short, but once set, exceeding this time results in an immediate loss.
Patrick Kloster gave Chuck a penetrating look, then picked up his white pawn and moved it forward. He then moved to boards 2, 3, and 4, his movements more casual and expansive than his serious demeanor toward Chuck.
"Dad, who's going to win?" Young Caroline gripped her handsome middle-aged father's arm, nervously watching Chuck's board number one.
"Chuck will win," billionaire Martin Channing patted his daughter's hand confidently.
"Can you even understand what's happening?" Caroline whispered in her father's ear.
"Of course I can't," Martin Channing glanced around, adding in a voice only the two of them could hear, "In this clash of brilliant minds, how could we possibly understand the subtle strategies hidden in every move? If we could, we could compete for the world championship ourselves. But we don't need to understand the game; we only need to understand the people."
"Yes, I think Chuck will win too!" Caroline nodded with a smile.
It didn't take long for everyone to figure it out.
Compared to Chuck, who remained calm throughout, World Champion Grandmaster Patrick Kloster's movements and expressions became increasingly less composed. Each move required longer and longer periods of thought, while Chuck's moves were almost instantaneous, seemingly requiring no thought at all.
The difference in skill was obvious.
"You've lost!" After Patrick Kloster made his labored move, Chuck immediately announced the result.
Patrick Kloster's face changed drastically; he stared intently at the board, his mind racing to analyze possible variations. Only when Chuck, unwilling to wait any longer, made his move did Patrick Kloster's face turn ashen, realizing he had truly lost.
"You're very skilled. Your style is very reminiscent of the old Soviet players, and your approach is similar too." After a long pause, Patrick Kloster forced a smile and said, "I look forward to a fair one-on-one match in the future!"
The onlookers immediately began to whisper among themselves.
Those who came to watch had at least some basic knowledge of chess. The former Soviet players, who dominated the world and left Americans in despair, were widely reported by the American media for their robotic, error-free playing style and their "controversial teamwork."
What is teamwork? Chess is a highly mentally demanding sport, and the former Soviet players, usually occupying the top positions, wouldn't go all out when playing against each other. They would conserve energy to deal with the Americans—this is what the American media called teamwork.
The fact that some so-called American chess prodigies even withdrew from competitions further fueled this controversy.
Patrick Kloster's comment immediately brought to mind Chuck's expressionless face, which did indeed resemble the robotic style of the Soviet players, and the 4v1 format could also be interpreted as teamwork.
"That's not a fair victory."
"I knew it! How could the world champion lose so easily? It was a sneak attack."
"Even a world champion can't win every game."
The crowd murmured amongst themselves.
Patrick Kloster, who had his back to them, heard these comments and his expression softened considerably, a confident and composed smile returning to his face.
"No need to wait." Chuck stood up, walked to board number 2, and gestured to Patrick Kloster. "Let's finish the remaining games."
"What do you mean?" Patrick Kloster was startled, a sudden sense of dread rising within him.
"You can leave now," Chuck looked at players 2, 3, and 4.
As Patrick Kloster's expression changed drastically, players 2, 3, and 4 pulled out earpieces and stood up, explaining apologetically to the crowd: "Before the match started, Dr. Wolf played us 1v4 and defeated us, convincing us that we couldn't even beat him, let alone the world champion grandmaster Mr. Kloster. So we agreed to his request, wore these earpieces, and listened to his instructions transmitted as text-to-speech from his phone throughout the game."
The crowd erupted in shocked murmurs.
"So what looked like four people teaming up against one is actually just one person against one person, just playing four games simultaneously?" Caroline exclaimed in amazement.
"Impossible!" Patrick Kloster's face turned ashen, and he lost his composure entirely, shouting, "That's absolutely impossible!"
(End of Chapter)
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