Forget the knight. We’re throwing down the L-Shaped Tetris Block Gambit.

(DATELINE: SOHO) Was it just last year that Ivar Springsteen turned his back on the high-pressure world of chess with the shocking announcement that the game was “finished for good”? Chess devotees still recall the ripple that went through the sport as the young man called the Heir to the Throne threw down the pawns and picked up the Tetriminos. This reporter recently had the good fortune to be getting a skinny mocha goat’s milk whipped creme pineapple brownie coffee in the board game district when young Ivar appeared in the doorway, looking wild-eyed and carrying the Tetris Board Game Combo. Unable to resist the clear hard plastic pieces, this reporter sat down beside the young genius and was rewarded with a game. A game that could easily change everything we know about the world.

Ivar first met me on the larger field of battle, the free-standing Tetris Board Game. He played quickly, but allowed me time to think as a sort of handicap. After three moves, this reporter was appreciative for his kindness. His quick fingers dropped each Tetrimino down the grid, claiming territory and locking down the highest points for each completed line. This reporter can say the young man is as formidable with the vertical board as he was with the horizontal. Even before the tower was completely full (the traditional endpoint of the game) Ivar had fully seized a dominant position. This reporter had no choice but to concede.

But then, the young genius pulled out a smaller board; a board this reporter was later to discover was known to those in the Tetris Underground as a “travel pack” board. We moved to the park, gathering a small crowd as we played on a much smaller scale. This reporter marveled at the precision of the tiny pieces and the way each Tetrimino clicked against each other in a most satisfying effect. Again Ivar was victorious, but even still, this reporter felt he learned a great deal about the young prodigy’s mindset. It was clear that a great change is coming to the gaming world. It would not surprise this reporter if next year, at this time, there was no other game of note outside of the Tetris Link Combo Pack.

Sadly, this reporter was foolish enough to put a small wager on the second game, the terms of which were that the loser would be unable to use the first person singular for the next two years. However this reporter feels it a small price to pay for a chance to have studied the craft of a Tetris master in the prime of his genius. Even if this reporter’s wife is about to kill him for talking like this at home.

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