Can An Unexpected Tie Happen In Chess?

“Top or bottom?” Ethan's timid voice echoed in the motel room, and Kane scoffed. “Suck me off first and I'll tell you,” Kane replied and seductively licked his lips. “What makes you think I’d suck you? How about you kneel for me?” Ethan spat with a grimace, trying to sound unbothered even though he knew he had a lot at stake. A low, husky chuckle slipped from Kane's lips, and the room fell into a strange silence, their breathing and the soft wind the only sounds between them. Suddenly, Kane wrapped his arms around Ethan's back, pulling him close as his hand slid down to grip him firmly. "Let’s do this." ****** Canada's top hockey star, Ethan Harrison, has it all, except control over his own heart. When his secret obsession with the United States’s star player, Kane Hau Alexander, is discovered, Kane doesn’t expose him; instead, he takes control and vows to claim him. Rivals on ice, lovers in secret, their forbidden connection must overcome, boundaries, trust, and desire. But with jealous families, manipulative fiancées, and public scrutiny closing in, can their secret survive the ultimate game?

BLURB Ava Carter has one dream: play elite hockey. But the Falcons Academy doesn’t recruit girls. So when her twin brother Noah walks away from his scholarship, Ava makes a reckless choice. She steals his identity, his jersey, his future. Now she’s living as Noah Carter, training, competing, and sleeping in the same dorm as Kai Bennett, her brother’s ruthless rival. Kai has spent years trying to defeat Noah. Now they’re roommates. And Kai is starting to notice something is wrong. The way Noah moves. The way he looks at him. The way his pulse changes when they collide on the ice. Then there’s Liam Brooks, captain of the Eagles. Noah’s best friend. The boy who knows her better than anyone. And the only one who might recognize the truth. Caught between her brother’s rival and her brother’s best friend, Ava is playing the most dangerous game of her life. Because the more she wins on the ice, the closer she gets to losing everything: her dream, her secret, her heart. And when her helmet falls in front of a packed arena and her hair spills free… The silence is louder than any crowd. Now the whole world is watching. And no one feels more betrayed than the two boys staring at her from opposite ends of the ice.

"The game of chess is not just any old board game but it is also the game of life. You can be represented as the king, all the others are the people around you. Check mate means game over in the game but check mate in real life means your life has come to an end..." BORING! Chess is the worst board game on earth, if you're gonna play chess, I'll consider you as one of those who exist and don't live. Chess is the game plan. I play in the tournament my father forces me to participate in using the plan I'll be using during my next heist. If I win, I use it, if I lose, I change it. Chess is a boring old board game which is the key to my fortune. I am the Black Falcon, this is my life on the board and against the law...

Julian Vale—the undefeated actuarial prodigy—finally lost. In an international match, he got taken down by an intern who had just come back from overseas. The story blew up that same day. Reporters swarmed the training room entrance. "Ms. Clermont, Mr. Vale once said if anyone beat him even once, he'd marry her. Now that he lost to an intern, what do you think?" "Ms. Clermont, we heard the intern is his ex from overseas. Did you know?" My head buzzed. I thought about the five years I spent with Julian. I gave everything every match—and never beat him. I used to think he was just respecting the game. Thought I just wasn't good enough. Not until today—when he threw the match to that intern. That's when it clicked. The girl he wanted to marry was never me. I faced the mics and forced a smile. "That match was rigged."

Odds! Wouldn't it be odd to not have something to fight against like suppose just some odds that we have to face? We can't just escape them for sure. I mean numbers can't be complete with just even series, right? Just the same way, having odds has been a normal part of anyone's life. Yeah, sometimes these can be weird too. Still, they can be overcome and many can be successful in doing that also. Alas! Some may not be able to do that. A couple had let the odd win as them staying together was the odd thing and it is not because they want to but because they are tired. For how much longer would two people try to fight the odds without the help from outside? And hence the failure resulting in separation. If the odds are that powerful then what if them getting back together is odd this time? Well, let's see if this time odds will win or not.

My father, Cameron Howard, and I are transported to an ancient world together. The system tells us that if we can each win over a target, we'll be able to return home. My mission is to win the heart of a ruthless princess, and Dad's mission is to conquer a hot-tempered queen. The princess breaks two of my ribs and ties me behind a horse that drags me for miles. The queen decides Dad isn't kneeling straight enough. So, she crushes his knees with iron tongs and forces burning charcoal into his mouth until he loses his voice. For three years, we live miserably. Just as the system announces "Mission failed", the princess standing before me suddenly smiles. She tears off the mask covering her face. The person underneath the mask is my wife, Abigail Finch. She walks over to the throne and pats the fierce queen on the shoulder. "Mom, haven't you had enough? Cameron and Oscar are almost dead from everything you've put them through." The queen removes her disguise and looks up. It's my mother, Elisha Sweeney. She claps her hands toward the officials filling the throne room. "Alright, everyone. You can get up now. That's a wrap." Dad and I exchange stunned looks. Mom gently squeezes my crippled hand and sighs. "Does it hurt, Oscar? You and your dad made Kenneth Ingram's life miserable every day. You even drove his son, Joel Ingram, into bankruptcy. You've suffered enough now. Consider the score settled." The officials throughout the court remove their wigs, revealing walkie-talkies and sweat-soaked T-shirts beneath their costumes. But none of them know that the transmigration is fake, but the system is real. In the final moments of our lives, Dad and I make a pact with the system. We offer up both of our souls as the sacrifice in exchange for a lifetime of wealth, peace, and happiness for them.