The car stops at a traffic light. Granddad turns to me. ‘Look,’ he says. ‘I can tell you are upset, but this is a good thing.’

‘Is it?’ I say, still disappointed with myself.

‘Of course. It shows you care, but unfortunately it shows you also forgot one of my rules.’

‘To be honest, Granddad, I was so mad I think I forgot them all!’

‘Yes.’ Granddad chuckles. ‘I am thinking you did.’ He lifts his hand. I screw my eyes and wait for the rap of his knuckles, but all I feel is his hand ruffling my hair.

I smile. ‘I forgot number eight, didn’t I, Granddad. Never let your opponent see you are upset.’

‘Yes.’ Granddad nods as we pull away from the lights. ‘But we can remedy that. For now we should concentrate on number two, that you lose to get better. So tell me about the game, the moves you both made.’

‘I can’t remember much, all I know is that I was white, so I couldn’t use the Sicilian Defence, even if I could have remembered it.’

‘Just try,’ says Granddad. ‘Start with the first move. That is always the best place.’

I rest my head against the seat and try to remember the start of the game. I tell Granddad the moves Rich made and the moves I made too. Granddad makes an ‘umm’ sound and stares at the road, like he’s moving the chess pieces around in his head. I tell him the next ten moves and then pause. Granddad looks across at me.

‘And what happened next?’ he asks.

‘That’s when I got up and did it. That’s when I swiped the pieces off the board.’

‘No, before that. You’ve missed lots out. Go back to the beginning . . . You moved a pawn to e4. Did he move a pawn to c5 . . . Then a pawn to d6?’

‘Umm . . . I’m not sure . . . But yes, I think so.’

‘Just think,’ he says. ‘It’s important . . . did he take your pawn at d4, and then you took his pawn?’

‘Umm, y-e-s.’

‘Ah! Then he is playing the same game as your friend!’

‘Jake? He doesn’t—’

‘No, not him. Your friend Bobby Fischer. The game was called, Night off from Najdorf. He played it in Santa Monica in 1966.’

‘Granddad,’ I say, shaking my head. ‘You’re really confusing me. All I know is that I lost and the game hardly lasted ten minutes.’

‘Ten minutes!’ Granddad says as we turn into the square. ‘Ten minutes is good against the Najdorf Variation.’

‘No, it’s not good against anything, Granddad,’ I say, turning to him. ‘I heard Rich tell the others that I should stick to snakes and ladders!’