American TV series: Starting with exploiting young Sheldon

As a child prodigy, Peggy had her own pride. She actually had a hunch that young Sheldon's ability in chess might be quite high.

However, it seems pretty good to be able to beat your opponent in what they excel at.

Yes, that's exactly what Peggy was planning.

Seeing that the two little geniuses had already planned out their competition events on their own, Mike said speechlessly, "Can I not participate?"

Mike had previously played chess with Sheldon Jr., and the experience wasn't exactly pleasant.

Anyone who keeps losing will feel bad. Yes, in a game, Mike might only win one or two out of ten.

This is assuming he's in excellent condition.

"No way~" x2

Sheldon Jr. and Peggy both rejected Mike's request.

Sheldon's reasoning was that Mike was one of the few opponents in international chess who could provide him with genuine enjoyment.

This competition was a win-win situation for him; he could enjoy the fun of playing chess while also proving that he was smarter than Mike.

On the other hand, Peggy's reason for objecting was even simpler. She simply wanted to realistically assess Mike's intelligence.

"I'll go get the chessboard!" Young Sheldon didn't give Mike another chance to object. After saying that, he hurriedly ran outside.

……

In the Cooper family's living room, the parents of the two pairs of child prodigies were also chatting.

Peggy's mother, Linda, very politely complimented the Coopers' home's decor. It was clear she had done her homework for this visit.

Ms. Linda's praise created a very relaxed atmosphere for the exchange between the two families.

Then, thinking she had met a kindred spirit, Mary also served the Barry couple some local delicacies.

Everything is moving in a positive direction.

"Excuse me, does anyone want a drink other than black tea or coffee?" George, who was about to get a drink, also smiled and made a witty remark.

“Me—” Barry raised his hand, “If it’s alright, could I have a bottle of Lone Star beer?”

Seeing Barry's cooperative behavior, Mary chuckled and joked, "George can meet your needs; after all, he's also a fan of Lone Star beer. That factory didn't go bankrupt, and he deserves at least half the credit..."

"Yes, I love it so much~" As the atmosphere became more and more harmonious, George smiled and smoothed things over for his wife before happily going to get his beer.

In his opinion, Mr. Barry, who liked Lone Star beer, could definitely become his friend. To be honest, George hadn't made any new friends in a long time since he started working at the sporting goods store.

Mary, who stayed in the living room to greet the Barries, continued chatting with them: "Barry, I heard from Linda that you're a dentist?"

“Yes, actually I have my own small clinic in the area…” Mr. Barry briefly explained his situation, then added with a touch of pride, “You know, Peggy started filing taxes for my clinic when she was very young.”

In the United States, filing taxes is a complex process. However, with proper planning, it's possible to cleverly save a significant amount of money during the tax filing process.

For example, the tax rate differs significantly between household purchases and purchases made by employees of public institutions. Furthermore, some purchases deemed luxury goods can be used to offset taxes…

In this situation, there is a great deal of room for maneuver in tax filing.

“Really?” Mary felt she had found a kindred spirit, and she happily revealed, “Shelly also started filing taxes for her family when she was very young.”

The Barries felt a sense of kinship upon hearing Mary's story. Mr. Barry continued, "When Peggy used to do my taxes, I only had to pay her for small things like stickers and notepads. But this year, she's started asking me for money."

Mr. Barry's words sounded like he was troubled, but his face showed a proud expression.

There's no way around it; having a little prodigy at home is something to be proud of.

Just then, George, who had returned with his beer, also heard Mr. Barry's statement. He laughed and chimed in, "Hey, don't let Shelley hear about this. We're still using the book clip as payment for him."

At the same time, George also had a smug smile on his face.

Then, the two couples, both with child prodigies, chuckled knowingly.

“Dad, I heard you mention me just now. Is something wrong?” Young Sheldon, who had just returned home to get his chessboard, happened to see the two couples laughing together.

"Ahem... we were just talking about something interesting." George coughed awkwardly, then changed the subject, "Didn't you go to Connie's house? Why are you back alone?"

"I'm coming back to get the chessboard..." Sheldon explained briefly about his upcoming match with Mike and Peggy.

“It seems Peggy is getting along well with you.” George didn’t grasp the point his youngest son was trying to make. He simply assumed that the other man had become friends with Peggy.

So, after giving his younger son some instructions on how to get along with his new friend, George asked the other boy to get the chessboard.

Chapter 154 Who is the smartest person?

Not long after, Sheldon returned with the chessboard. He was still bothered by the assessment that he was inferior to Mike.

Therefore, he took the initiative to invite Mike to a match in the first round, with the outcome determined by a best-of-three format.

Because he took this match very seriously, Sheldon played with extra focus in the first game.

On the other hand, Mike also wanted to see how big the gap was between himself and Sheldon, so he was extra cautious in his bets.

As for Peggy, she kept an eye on the game while occasionally glancing at Mike.

For a moment, the side hall became very quiet, except for the crisp sound of chess pieces hitting the ground.

The game remained deadlocked for about ten minutes under these circumstances.

Then, as Mike spent longer and longer periods in deep thought, his position on the chessboard gradually became unfavorable.

Another ten minutes passed, and seeing that the situation was beyond saving, Mike decisively put down his king piece and chose to concede defeat.

Seeing Mike concede defeat, Shear on the other side breathed a sigh of relief. He wasn't sure if it was just his imagination, but he had a feeling that Mike's chess skills had suddenly improved significantly.

Sheldon was certain that he had not held back at all in this match.

In the past, if he were in this form, he would have easily defeated Mike in about fifteen minutes.

Moreover, if Mike had used a delaying tactic in this match, he could have dragged out the game for at least another five minutes before he could have been completely checkmated.

Don't underestimate the difference of five minutes.

Generally speaking, a novice only needs about five minutes to play a game of chess, while an expert needs about ten minutes.

Only when both players are of very high skill and evenly matched will a match last more than thirty minutes.

So, objectively speaking, although there is still a gap between Mike and Sheldon, the gap is not as big as imagined.

Young Sheldon seemed to have realized this as well, and he said, "Mike, you're smarter than I thought."

"Thanks~" Mike smiled.

Mike was already used to Sheldon's straightforward way of speaking. Moreover, he could clearly feel that his mental calculation ability had become stronger in this round of the competition.

“You seem quite happy.” Young Sheldon couldn’t understand why Mike looked so pleased after losing the game.

“Yes, I’ve discovered I’m quite talented at chess…” Mike made up an excuse, then added, “I’ll go all out in the next game, so watch out.”

Having adapted to the high-speed brain, Mike was certain he would perform better in the second game.

"Keep it up!" Little Sheldon encouraged him, mimicking how Mike used to do it.

In fact, it feels pretty good.

As for the idea that Mike could beat him, Sheldon Jr. believes that such a possibility is nonexistent.

After all, when Sheldon was serious, he had never lost to Mike in chess.

In Sheldon's opinion, his opponent's excellent performance in the first game might have been due to an exceptional play.

The two then quickly began their second match.

Having already discerned Mike's true skill level, Peggy suddenly asked, "Sheldon, what do you usually like to do?"

“Learning, toy trains…” Little Sheldon said without any hesitation, “If I could, I would also like to learn a musical instrument.”

Clearly, he has not given up his pursuit of art.

Meanwhile, Peggy, who had struck up a conversation with Sheldon, smiled and continued, "That's a great idea. My mom is also considering having me learn piano."

……

As their conversation deepened, Sheldon, who was usually multitasking, found himself focusing a significant portion of his attention on chatting.

And this is exactly what Peggy hoped for; the little girl is helping Mike in this way.

Sure enough, as Sheldon became distracted, the situation on the chessboard became increasingly unfavorable to him without his notice.

And so, after a little over twenty minutes, when Mike made his final move, he announced, "Checkmate!"

"How is this possible!" Young Sheldon exclaimed in surprise, quickly checking the situation on the chessboard. When he discovered that his shogi pieces were indeed beyond saving, an expression of disbelief appeared on his face.

Realizing that Mike had won this round in a shorter time than he had won his previous round made Sheldon even more upset.

But Sheldon quickly realized why he had lost the game. He turned and glared angrily at Peggy, saying, "It was you."

"What's wrong with me?" Peggy feigned innocence, then said with feigned surprise, "Sheldon, you lost this round very quickly!"

Peggy's remarks were, in a subtle way, a reminder to Sheldon that he was not as good as Mike.

Of course, none of the three people present were fools, and they all knew why Sheldon had lost this game.

However, this is precisely what makes Sheldon even angrier.

He knew that whatever he said now would sound like he was making excuses. So, he said sullenly, "Don't be too happy yet, the competition isn't over yet."

Although Sheldon was facing Mike when he said this, his words were clearly directed at Peggy.

“I’m looking forward to your challenge,” Peggy said with a smile. “But you’ll have to beat Mike first.”

The little girl seemed to want to provoke the other party's anger, but this time Sheldon was clearly not going to fall for it again.

As the third game began.

To block out external factors, Sheldon Jr. specially found two small cotton balls to plug his ears.

On the other side, Mike, who had gotten used to the two rounds, also felt that he was in very good form.

Therefore, under these circumstances, their third match became even more exciting.

After a grueling thirty minutes, Mike finally began to show signs of weakness in the overall game. He held on for another five minutes before losing the match by a narrow margin.

Mike was a little disappointed by the narrow defeat, but it wasn't unacceptable.

As I said, there is a long way to go.

After a hard-fought victory, Sheldon got to know Mike in a new light.

He realized that even if the other person was not as good as him, the difference was not significant.

“Mike, we can have another match when we have time,” Sheldon said solemnly, removing the cotton ball from his ear.

"Okay~" Mike nodded and immediately moved aside.

It is clear that the temporary win or loss did not have a significant impact on his emotions.

After Peggy sat down, she saw young Sheldon preparing to stuff cotton balls into his ears again. She said defiantly, "Are you afraid to face me?"

Hearing the provocation, Sheldon paused for a moment, then put the cotton ball aside and replied firmly, "No, that's not it."

And so, the two super prodigies on the field had already ignited a strong sense of rivalry even before they started playing chess.

While setting up the chess pieces, Sheldon suddenly pulled out a "Wizard Chess" piece with a huge wizard's hat from the corner of the chess box.

"What are you doing?" Peggy asked in surprise.

It's worth noting that while there are many ways to play chess, there's never been a game where characters are added to the board.

Sheldon's behavior was clearly a foul.

Chapter 155 Who is the smartest person?

“This is a new way of playing that I’ve come up with,” Little Sheldon explained with a hint of pride. “This magical [Wizard Chess] piece has been given the ability to ‘teleport’…”

As Sheldon explained, he argued that since there were kings, knights, and soldiers on the chessboard, a powerful wizard should also have a place.

However, the appearance of Wizard Chess on a chessboard sounds very illogical.

This was probably a last-minute idea from Sheldon Jr. to annoy Peggy.

"I admire your innovative spirit, but can you tell me how your opponent can checkmate your king in Wizard Chess, given its ability to teleport?" Peggy asked sarcastically after hearing Sheldon's explanation.

According to Sheldon Jr., the Wizard Chess, with its teleportation ability, can swap positions with a shogi piece at any time. In this situation, it is impossible for an opponent to checkmate the player who possesses the Wizard Chess.

It is clear that the existence of [Wizard Chess] has disrupted the game's balance.