Stories

Thursdays at the Whetstone

• The Two-Dice TableThe idea: the most likely thing can still be unlikely.
• The House RuleThe idea: a house rule is worth keeping when you can say it in one sentence and it survives being played both ways.
• The HandicapThe idea: a fair game between unequal players is set by a handicap you measure, never by losing on purpose.

Today's classic

Four famous chess games, and what each one teaches. They are the grown-up pages of the Four Classics, a chess story series for ages 9 to 14 on Spark & Anvil.

• Classic 1 of 4Légal's MateThe idea: a pin only holds if moving the pinned piece is really bad.
• Classic 2 of 4The Opera GameThe idea: development — bring every piece into play before you attack.
• Classic 3 of 4The Immortal GameThe idea: material is not the same as pieces that can reach the fight.
• Classic 4 of 4The Evergreen GameThe idea: a forced chain of checks turns a good position into a won one.

More stories

First flats, letters home, a board that crossed three countries, and the grown-up side of a children's book.

• The Board in the SuitcaseThe Board in the SuitcaseThe idea: a family game survives the move by being taught again in each new place, not by being kept safe.
• Letters from TaraSeptember: One Thing in a SeminarThe idea: say one true thing a little sooner than feels safe, and say it kindly.
• Letters from TaraJune: The Comments BoxThe idea: a record made at the start only helps if you use it while the people and the room are still there.
• Letters from TaraJuly: The Question at the InterviewThe idea: the time to ask what a yes includes is before you say it; afterwards the same question is a complaint.
• Letters from TaraAugust: One YearThe idea: some things are better said than sent, and the cheapest time to say them is while you are in the same room.
• Letters from TaraOctober: The RotaThe idea: before you take a side, say the other side better than its owner can.
• Letters from TaraNovember: The First Five MinutesThe idea: the cheapest time to say the thing is the first five minutes, before the plan sets.
• Letters from TaraDecember: The Plain QuestionThe idea: a plain question asked early beats the story you write in your head while you wait for the other person to bring it up.
• Letters from TaraJanuary: The MarkThe idea: ask what a mark meant while there is still time to use the answer; nobody is watching your mark as closely as you are.
• Letters from TaraFebruary: Saying No EarlyThe idea: a no said on the day costs a little awkwardness; the same no said months later costs everyone the plan they built on your yes.
• Letters from TaraMarch: The Right NameThe idea: a small correction is cheapest in the first minute; the longer you leave it, the more it costs to say, but it is never too late to say once.
• Letters from TaraApril: Are You All Right?The idea: you do not have to be sure something is wrong to ask; a plain question asked early costs a minute, and the other person can always say they are fine.
• Letters from TaraMay: Before, Not AfterThe idea: asking for help before something happens is information; asking after it has gone wrong sounds like an excuse, and is much harder to prove.
• The Other Side of the PageThe Evening of the First RollThe idea: a child who has just worked something out will often show it at home, if a tired grown-up leaves a gap.
• The Other Side of the PageThe Evening of the Second CurtainThe idea: a child who has just learned that two people need one length will hand you that idea at the kitchen table, if you let them.
• The Other Side of the PageThe Evening of the Picture LettersThe idea: a child who has just seen that a picture can stand for the first sound of its name will teach that to a smaller child, if you stop teaching long enough.
• The Other Side of the PageThe Evening of the Three Hundred RollsThe idea: a child who has just seen a count survive many hands because it was tied into something that could not change will tell you to stop trusting the telephone.
• The Other Side of the PageThe Evening of the Plum TableThe idea: a child who has just seen strangers trust a mark instead of weighing again will tell you whose mark to borrow.
• Small StakesFifteen ButtonsThe idea: a game you have solved is finished; change one rule and it is a game again.
• Small StakesThe String StoryThe idea: some games have no winner; the point is handing it back so the other person can go on.
• Small StakesSpoonsThe idea: when a game can be won by watching hands, the slowest player loses every round; change the rule so the game looks across the table.
• Small StakesThe Takeaway MenuThe idea: a counting game decides dinner without asking anyone what they want; change the rule so every move says what you would not eat.
• Small StakesTwo PencilsThe idea: a game you can only lose ends a conversation; take away the rule the winning trick needs, and give every move something to say.
• Small StakesThe Last BiscuitThe idea: a game you can read your opponent in rewards watching them, not knowing them; change it so the only way to play is to say what you see in someone.
• The CallerThe First Evening: Seven in TenThe idea: likely is not the same as certain: seven in ten means three evenings in ten it does not happen.
• The CallerThe Second Evening: Thirty-ThreeThe idea: a ball that has not come out for a while is no more likely to come out next; the cage does not remember.
• The CallerThe Third Evening: TwiceThe idea: a thing that is rare for one person is not rare for somebody, when there are enough people and enough nights.
• The CallerThe Fourth Evening: The Prize TableThe idea: what a card gives back, on average, is the prize shared among all the cards; set the price and the prize together.
• The CallerThe Fifth Evening: One AwayThe idea: being one number away is ordinary, and the keeping belongs on the wall where everyone can read it.
• The CallerThe Sixth Evening: The Dice Next DoorThe idea: a game that feels fair can still keep a share; count every way the dice can land, and the banker keeps seventeen in every two hundred and sixteen.