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Leaving the pond's stone rim, I rolled toward the pavilion where a heavy concrete chess table sat under the midday canopy. A low wooden bench afforded a direct route via a fallen birch branch acting as a firm ramp. Reaching the tabletop, sixty-four alternating squares of polished dark slate and white marble stretched ahead. A stray black wooden pawn stood stranded on square D4. I locked my wheels along the straight seam between the C and D files. Accelerating cleanly, I nudged the pawn aside by half an inch, clearing an uninterrupted line across the eighth rank.