{"id":15944,"date":"2025-10-27T20:21:09","date_gmt":"2025-10-28T02:21:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/knight-of-the-vampire\/"},"modified":"2026-03-30T21:53:22","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T03:53:22","slug":"knight-of-the-vampire","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/knight-of-the-vampire\/","title":{"rendered":"Knight of the vampire"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/p>

As agreed, Count Dracula pulled up a chair and sat across from Van Helsing at the marble table. The wooden chess set that rested between them was a gift from Russia\u2019s Ivan the Terrible to the Count in the 1500s. If Van Helsing could defeat the Count in a game, the Count would save his life and protect him from the Count\u2019s brides lurking in the shadows with bloodlust in their eyes.<\/p>\n

Van Helsing\u2019s heart couldn\u2019t help but beat faster. He knew entering Dracula\u2019s castle was a risk. If caught, however, he also knew Dracula enjoyed playing with his victims\u2019 lives in a game of chess. Unbeknownst to Dracula, Van Helsing had prepared for this contingency.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am impressed, Doctor,\u201d Dracula confessed after they reached this week\u2019s position. Few had ever given Dracula a game, let alone a challenge, over the centuries. Confident, Dracula had let Van Helsing play white.<\/p>\n

Dracula added with a chuckle, \u201cHere, Abraham, we are both going for the throat. But I suspect my attack has more bite.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re getting old and overconfident,\u201d Van Helsing replied, sitting tall in his chair.<\/p>\n

He put his hand on his knight and plopped it hard on g6, as if plunging a knife into black\u2019s position. Dracula\u2019s eyes widened, realizing he could not capture the knight because of the white bishop\u2019s pin on black\u2019s f7 pawn. Furthermore, the knight set up an unstoppable mating attack with rook to h8, with the knight on g6 supporting the rook.<\/p>\n

In desperation, Dracula had no choice but to counterattack, beginning with throwing his rook at the king and taking the b3 pawn with check. After Van Helsing took the rook with his a2 pawn, Dracula checked white with his knight from c4. Van Helsing\u2019s bishop on d5 captured the knight, which allowed Dracula\u2019s bishop to take white\u2019s rook on h8.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis won\u2019t hurt a bit, Count,\u201d Van Helsing opined sardonically, as white\u2019s remaining rook slid over and snatched the bishop on h8 (see next diagram).<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/p>

\u201cIndeed, Doctor, I can spite check you with a queen check. But your rook is a stake that can\u2019t be stopped. I am afraid, Doctor, death comes to us all. At least in one form or another. As for you, you can walk safely away from the castle. Or, for your excellent play, I offer you immortality.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bram Stoker records that the Doctor walked away and later became a doting grandparent. But a persistent rumor persists to this day: a man resembling old photos of Van Helsing has a board set up every night in Leicester Square in London. This man has a sign next to the board that promises immortality to anyone who defeats him.<\/p>\n

Reach Eric Morrow at ericmorrowlaw@gmail.com<\/a> or (505) 327-7121.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

move and win<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":15945,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[1091,29],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-15944","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-columns","tag-newsletter"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15944","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15944"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15944\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19931,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15944\/revisions\/19931"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15945"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15944"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15944"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15944"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=15944"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}