Come the morning session, Votbinnik played on for a dozen moves then resigned.
A little later Doc managed to draw his game with Grabo by perpetual check. He caught sight of Sandra coming down from the stands and waved to her, then made the motions of drinking.
Now he looks almost like a boy, Sandra thought as she joined him.
"Say, Doc," she asked when they had secured a table, "why is a rook worth more than a bishop?"
He darted a suspicious glance at her. "That is not your kind of question," he said sternly. "Exactly what have you been up to?"
Sandra confessed that she had asked Dave to teach her how to play chess.
"I knew those children would corrupt you," Doc said somberly. "Look, my dear, if you learn to play chess you won't be able to write your clever little articles about it. Besides, as I warned you the first day, chess is a madness. Women are ordinarily immune, but that doesn't justify you taking chances with your sanity."
"But I've kind of gotten interested, watching the tournament," Sandra objected. "At least I'd like to know how the pieces move."
"Stop!" Doc commanded. "You're already in danger. Direct your mind somewhere else. Ask me a sensible, down-to-earth journalist's question—something completely irrational!"
"Okay, why didn't Simon Great have the Machine set to play the openings fast in the first three games?"