“The Female Chess-master”, a Screenplay by Shafiq Ahmad Setak Based on a story written by: Jalal Noorani
:Synopsis
NAZANEEN, 22, is a very beautiful girl studying at Kabul University. She is fond of Persian Language and literature. As a talented Afghan contemporary poet, her poems are published in some newspapers and magazines as well as on her personal Facebook page online. Before publishing her literary works, Nazaneen always consults with her only uncle, SHAFIQ,48, who is a College Professor and a member of the Afghan National Chess Team. Graduating from the University, Nazaneen gets married to her cousin, SARWAR, 28, who is a graduate of the University of Nebraska working with the USAID in Kabul. Before long, Nazaneen discovers that every weekend, her husband either comes late from the office or brings his friends to his house to play chess with them until midnight. Now Nazaneen has to cook, make tea, wash so many cups, plates and dishes and clean up after the guests. Her husband doesn‟t have time to sit with his wife, take her out or go with her to visit their parents and relatives. Nazaneen talks with her husband to solve the problem, but to no avail. One day, she thinks of breaking her husband‟s chess board and throwing away its pieces into the garbage. But she doesn‟t want to offend her husband. Nazaneen shares her problem with uncle Shafiq who advises her to conciliate with her enemy and learn how to play chess professionally. And mastering all or at least most of the tricks and theories related to the chess game, she should play with her husband‟s friend and try to beat all of them after which they wouldn‟t dear to come to her house because of losing face and reputation. Nazaneen accepts her uncle‟s suggestion. She starts to learn chess and practice extensively on her free time. In addition to playing with people from around the world via the online chess platforms such as „Playok.com‟ and the „Chess.com‟, she reads several chess books. Six months later, Nazaneen becomes a 2 professional chess master who sometimes beats her mentor, uncle Shafiq. One Friday night, when Sarwar invites his friends for dinner after which they play chess, Nazaneen wears her scarf. Taking the tray of tea in hand, she enters the guest room. She greets her husband‟s friends in the Afghan way by saying „Salam‟ without shaking hand with any of them. Nazaneen pours some fresh tea to the cups of their guests and stands behind her husband watching him play with his friend, HAMID. Moments later, Hamid wins the game by giving a surprise „CHECKMATE‟ to Sarwar. Then, with a tone, full of arrogance, he claims that he is an invincible chess master. Nazaneen responds that Hamid‟s playing style has many weaknesses. Nazaneen asks her husband to let her play with his friend. Sitting beside her husband on a couch, she chooses the white pieces and starts putting every single of them in their right squares. As soon as Nazaneen finishes her work, one of Sarwar‟s friends shouts in surprise. “O my God! She knows how to set up the board”. Nazaneen starts the game by moving the pawn in front of her King two squares. After a couple of minutes, she manages to take one of her opponent‟s rooks. Playing very carefully, Nazaneen defeats all friends of her husband. For a few seconds, eerie silence reigns over the room, but Nazaneen stands and claims assertively “since your chess tactics are so weak and you guys play so badly, I don‟t want to waste my time playing with you anymore”. Nazaneen gets out of her guestroom. Before long, the guests also bid farewell and because of losing face and prestige, they stop coming to Sarwar‟s house not only for playing chess, but also on other occasions. Now Nazaneen satiates the thirst of her husband for playing chess games. They have adequate time to visit relatives and to go for recreation. Uncle Shafiq encourages his niece to participate in the Afghan ladies Chess Tournament, and Nazaneen does so. She wins the championship title and gets the country‟s women chess team membership. Later, she manages to represent Afghanistan on the international chesstournaments along with other female members of the national team. The End