“Something a bit queer here,” he muttered. “The time’s askew. Let’s see. . . . The scoresheet shows that, up to the time of adjournment, White—that is, Pardee—had played one hour and forty-five minutes, and Black, or Rubinstein, one hour and fifty-eight minutes. So far, so good. Thirty moves. Quite in order. But the time at the end of the game, when Pardee resigned, totals two hours and thirty minutes for White, and three hours and thirty-two minutes for Black—which means that, during the second session of the game, White consumed only forty-five minutes whereas Black used up one hour and thirty-four minutes.”
Vance nodded.
“Exactly. There were two hours and nineteen minutes of play beginning at 11 p. m., which carried the game to 1.19 a. m. And Rubinstein’s moves during that time took forty-nine minutes longer than Pardee’s.—Can you make out what happened?”
Arnesson pursed his lips and squinted at the notations.
“It’s not clear. I’d need time.”
“Suppose,” Vance suggested, “we set up the game in the adjourned position and play it through. I’d like your opinion on the tactics.”
Arnesson rose jerkily and went to the little chess table in the corner.
“Good idea.” He emptied the men from the box. “Let’s see now. . . . Oho! A black bishop is missing. When do I get it back, by the way?” He gave Vance a plaintive leer. “Never mind. We don’t need it here. One black bishop was swapped.” And he proceeded to arrange the men to accord with the position of the game at the time of adjournment. Then he sat down and studied the set-up.
“It doesn’t strike me as a particularly unfavorable position for Pardee,” ventured Vance.
“Me either. Can’t see why he lost the game. Looks drawish to me.” After a moment Arnesson referred to the scoresheet. “We’ll run through the play and find out where the trouble lay.” He made half a dozen moves; then, after several minutes’ study, gave a grunt. “Ha! This is rather deep stuff of Rubinstein’s. Amazing combination he began working up here. Subtle, by Gad! As I know Rubinstein, it took him a long time to figure it out. Slow, plodding chap.”