"Both of you offer so much to—"
"Yeah," he sneered, "and we're both solid citizens! Hooey."
Tom stalked over to the chessboard and looked down. "Overconfidence is a dangerous thing," he said with a smile. He moved a bishop halfway across the board. "There," he said with a satisfied air, "that should be obscure enough to fool anybody, even Lasker."
"Who's Lasker?" asked the girl.
"One of the chess masters."'
"Oh."
"Now," he said, "I'm going to ask you a favor."
"Yes."
He grinned. "It might be quite personal."