THE FLOODLIGHTS were dimmed, the atmosphere was electric, and the tick-tock, tick-tock of the supersized clock reverberated in the ears of the expectant crowd. As a solitary young man strained to lift his 12 stone rook and placed it in front of his opponent’s king, English fans sighed in relief; they were though to the quarterfinals of the European Championship.
Steroid allegations
The young man, Michael Flavin of Cheshire, is a mere 18 year-old who began playing MegaChess two years ago whilst in juvenile rehabilitation. What makes his victory truly breathtaking is that he was drafted into the game just 3 hours before play commenced. Disaster had struck the MegaChess team when top player Jacqui Pershaw was disqualified after testing positive for growth hormones used to enhance one’s ability to lift the four-foot playing pieces with greater speed and ease. Luckily facing six-times World Champion Pradreg Nikovelic, 43 years of age and local celebrity in his hometown of Sarajevo, the unofficial birthplace of the game. Nikovelic, fighting fit after being put out of action for 15 months when his left hand was crushed by a wobbly bishop, was hot favourite to win the tournament. In fact, just two days before the game, he was seen laughing wildly at a photograph of Pershaw and claiming he was confident that he would “destroy” Britain’s best.
Checkmate
When Nikovelic entered the National Indoor Area in Birmingham to discover his opponent was ranked 154th in Europe, he was overjoyed. An onlooker said “He smiled like a fat kid presented with a giant crème egg”. Nonetheless, Flavin kept his cool and was taunting his opponent moments before play, suggesting he should “go back to playing normal sized chess”.
Even during the ceremonial national anthems and the homage to Sarajevo, it was clear tensions were running high. After 16 nail biting, intense hours, Flavin struggled with his large rook, muttered “Checkmate” and was crowned the winner. The young British hopeful now enters the semi finals and will face Jorgen Erdkunde, a notoriously violent opponent. Meanwhile, Nikovelic is left licking his wounds.