"Two weeks ago a million dollars in gold bullion intended for the underground in one of the anti-Western satellites was intercepted by that government's military police." "Preparations are now being made to ship the gold behind the Iron Curtain." "This loss to the resistance movement will set back for years any chance for liberty in that country." "The man you are looking at is Nicholas Groat, whose reputation as a brilliant chess master has given him entree and enabled him to con and steal on an international scale." "Groat has organised a group which plans to steal the gold for itself, before it is shipped out of the country." "Your mission, Jim, should you decide to accept it, is to stop Groat, get the gold, and turn it over to the underground." "As always, should you or any of your IM Force be caught or killed, the secretary will disavow any knowledge of your actions." "This tape will self-destruct in ten seconds." "Good luck, Jim." "Two weeks ago, this was a bank." "The only bank in town." "With a very secure vault, I'll bet." "Well, you'd win that bet." "Fire was definitely the work of an arsonist." " Working for Groat, right?" " Yes." "So when the gold arrives in town, it will have to be stored in the next safest place, as Groat planned, the hotel vault, which is not quite so secure." "Doesn't Groat know that a time lock is being installed?" "He doesn't and it doesn't matter if he finds out." "He still needs us." "And, of course, the chess tournament is being held in the same hotel." "And as an established master, Groat will have a perfect cover." "And as a brilliant amateur, so do you, with a little help." " Is the computer set?" " And checked." "It's unbeatable at chess, and it even makes time fly." "How about the television rig?" "See for yourself, Jim." "Okay, Cinnamon." "Now, hold it as still as you can, Cinnamon." "Good." "And I'll be in touch with Barney through my hearing aid." "Well, then we're all set." "Except for the typhoid." "Who's got it?" "This will simulate the symptoms once we get it into their water system." " Everything is ready?" " Everything." " The camera?" " Here." "The semi-final matches are being played now." "My match will be played in 20 minutes." "You'd better get started." " Did you check with Mellini?" " Yes." "The gold shipment is on schedule." "It will arrive in about two hours." "I will meet you back here after my match." "Good luck." "I hope you win." "I will." "Check." "Queen takes rook." "Check." "King to Queen 2." "Queen takes rook." "Knight to Knight 6." "Check." "Check." "Pawn takes knight." "Queen to Rook 3." "Mate." "Mate." " Thank you." " Thank you for the game." "Congratulations, Mr. Anderson." "You will play against grand master Groat in the final match." " May I see your city directory, please?" " Yes, sir." " Here you are, sir." " Thank you." " Clerk?" " Yes, Mr. Groat." "I should like to take my chess set out now, please." "Yes." "The final matches are about to begin." "Yes." "Here you are, Mr. Groat, safe and sound." " Thank you very much." " Good luck." "Oh, Mr. Anderson, may I congratulate you?" "Excuse me one moment, please." "I didn't hear." "I would like to congratulate you on doing so well in your first tournament." "Thank you, thank you." "I'm afraid I've been very lucky." "In chess, there is no such thing as luck, Mr. Anderson." " Shall we begin?" " Thank you." "Pawn to King 4." "Queen takes knight's pawn." "Knight takes pawn." "Check." "Check." "King to King 2." "Queen to Queen 6." "Mate." "Mate." "No one makes moves like that." "Not Lasker, Nimzowitsch." "No one." "Certainly not in their first chess tournament." "Who are you?" "Who are you?" "I demand an answer." "Who are you?" "It appears I'm the man who's going to win this tournament." "Gentlemen, what seems to be the trouble?" "There is no trouble." "It appears that Mr. Groat does not accept defeat quite as gracefully as he does victory." "I should like to ask for a recess before we begin the next game." " Is that acceptable to you, sir?" " Yes." "Quite acceptable." "I'll be in my room whenever you're ready." "Mr. Anderson." "Would you sign my book, please?" "Oh, of course, I'd be delighted." "Thank you." "Thank you." "Thank you." "Mr. Groat...?" "Yes, Mr. Groat?" "What room is Mr. Anderson in, please?" " Suite 407." " Thank you very much." "How did it go?" "Well, my guess is that we'll be getting a visit from Mr. Groat any minute." "Is that room service?" "Yes, room service." "I'll take that tray..." "A computer." "I knew it had to be something like this." "Why, because you're so good you can't be beaten?" "Frankly, yes." "You are out of the tournament as of now, of course." "But still I..." "I would like to see how it brought you this far." "How does it work?" "Forget it, mister." "Wait a minute." "Just a minute." "Perhaps we will show how it works." "I have an idea." "An idea he might like." " Turn it on." " You're crazy." "Turn it on." "I know what I'm doing." "All right, go ahead." "Your move." "Won't you need your hearing aid?" "That's what tipped it." "I'm afraid it was." "Your move." "The first move I know." "Knight to Bishop 3." "Bishop to Bishop 4." "Let us see how alert your machine is." "Knight takes pawn." "Queen to Rook 5." "Pawn to Queen 3." "Queen takes pawn at Bishop 7." "Checkmate." "Checkmate." "You see?" "The machine is capable of more than fool's mate, as you've learned downstairs." "Will it beat me every time?" "Every time." "Shall we try again?" "What is it?" "Just checking to see if you're wearing a wristwatch." "The computer drives them crazy." "Pawn to King 4." "Mr. Groat's room, please." " Yes?" " This is the manager, Mr. Groat." "Mr. Groat is not here." "May I take any message for him?" "Will you please tell him that the police are installing a time lock on the vault?" "If he wishes to place his chess set in there, he must do so very soon." "Hello, are you there?" "Yes, yes." "I understand." "Now, please tell him also, if he does place his set in the vault he will not be able to remove it until morning." "Yes, I will tell Mr. Groat." "Thank you." "Mate." "It's remarkable." "And one must admire your ingenuity." "But I despise your machine." "It has taken me 20 years to become the player I am." "And now..." "like that" "I can be consistently and hopelessly beaten by that." "When the committee reconvenes for the next match," "I must, of course, expose you for the cheat you are." "Wait a minute." "Yes, you can expose me to the committee and I'll be out of the tournament and you'll win." " Yes." " Just a moment." "Mr. Groat, tell me, as good as you are, how often do you win top money in one of these tournaments?" " What are you driving at?" " Tell me, how often?" "I'd say once in four times, perhaps." "And that's not bad." "But how would you like to win top money at every tournament?" "You could, you know." "And you could get away with it, because you're an established master." "And you would turn me into a puppet." "Thank you, but no, thank you." "Operator, have you located Mr. Groat yet?" "Well, keep trying." "Did you get the combination?" "Yes." "But it will not do us any good." "What are you saying?" "I have been trying to locate you all over this hotel to tell you." "The manager phoned." "They have put a time lock on the vault." "A time lock?" "I don't intend to let that gold get away from me." "There has to be another way." "There has to be." "There is only one other way." "We will move in on them in the morning when they open the vault." "But there will be dozens of soldiers." "We won't have a chance." "Contact the other men." "Tell them of the change." "Have..." " What is it?" " My watch." "What time do you have?" "Twenty-five minutes past 2." "Look at this." "Eight forty-five." "It's running fast." "When I was with those other men, they mentioned something about a watch going crazy." "Suppose they meant it makes a watch run faster." "I do not understand." "Follow me." "Give me your watch." "May I come in, please?" "So you changed your mind?" "Let's say I've had second thoughts." "My associates, Mr. Dober and Mr. Brook." "It occurred to me that nowhere in the rules does it state a tournament player may not take advantage of any aid he can." "Oh, then you're interested?" "I would like to see the computer in action once more, please." "I don't see why not." "Turn it on." "Is it ready?" "Go ahead." "Your computer has a very strange effect on my watch." "It's running very fast." "I told you before." "The computer has a strange effect on timepieces." "Does it always make them run faster?" "Yes." "I'm terribly sorry about your watch, but I did warn you." "Do you want to play this game or don't you?" "No." "I am not interested in chess at this time." "What are you getting at?" "You three men have gone to a great deal of time and trouble in arranging the winning of chess tournaments." " For what?" "The prizes?" " Naturally." "How would you like to use that device to make $1 million?" "Keep talking." "In a very short while, one million dollars in gold bullion will be moved into this hotel's vault." "I have the combination to that vault." "And I was concerned that he'd turn us in to the committee for cheating." "Listen to me." "There is also a time lock on that vault." "Its clock will not release the mechanism for 12 hours after the gold has been put away." "But your machine somehow manages to accelerate a timepiece." "Together, we can open that vault." "I am offering you fair share in $1 million." "Are you interested?" "Obviously, he is out of his mind." "I think perhaps you had better get out of here." "I tell you it can be done." "Don't be such fools." "Go on." "Get out." "I intend to use the computer." "Mueller." "You have one minute to decide whether or not we do this with or without your cooperation." "And may I remind you, my watch is running very fast." "You start shooting, you'll never ever get to smell that gold." "We have no objection to pulling a million dollars out of that vault." "We simply do not want to be shot in the process." "And that's exactly where you're heading." "He's right." "You've got no plan." "All you've got is a combination." "And let me tell you, that's not enough." "All right, Mueller." "And what would you do?" "Ted, what about the time lock?" "Well, first, someone has to get a look at the mechanism to see if we can speed it up the same way we do a watch." "And suppose that could be done?" "Then I'd say we can figure something out." "Mrs. Dober." "Mr. Dober." "My wife would like to put her jewels in the vault." "Why, certainly, sir." "Step right around the desk and follow me, please." "Oh, I should tell you that a time lock has been placed on the vault." "You cannot get them back until morning." "That's perfectly all right." "Thank you." "A standard time lock." "No problem." "Well, can we handle it?" "I'll have to remove the core elements from the computers." "I'll need a power source." "There is a light fixture hanging directly in front of the vault." " Bulb type?" " Yeah." "That's all we need." "Do I correctly assume that we have an agreement?" "On one condition." "We plan it and we call the shots." "If you do as you're told, you may find that you have a nice chunk of gold." " I agree." " Good." "Now, the problem is not getting the gold, the problem is getting the gold away safely." "How about the guards?" "One detachment of 15 men stationed outside." "But there are more coming in with the gold." "There's a compound of chemicals based on triphynic acid, when mixed with water produces all the profound symptoms of typhoid." "You better get onto that before the stores close." "May I ask what that is for?" "We'll have to immobilise the whole hotel." "Dober, you and Marie see if you can scout up an official car of some sort." "Marie." "And Carl, see if you can locate the hotel's water main." "Right." "And what would you like me to do?" "Have you forgotten, my friend?" "You and I are finalists in a chess tournament." "If we don't show up, it will arouse suspicion." "You are right, of course." "We better get down there." "Now that we are business partners, as it were," "I was wondering whether you would mind letting me win." "Pride?" "Something like that." "Checkmate." "Second game is won by Mr. Groat." "We will now begin third and final game for championship." "I'm Captain Stevya, in charge of this convoy detail here." "The vault has been prepared, I understand." "Yes, sir." "Everything is in readiness." " Right this way, please." " Good." "Bring it in." " Is the time lock set?" " Yes, sir." "Then you will now activate the timer, please." "Close the vault door and lock it in my presence." "Thank you." "Sergeant." "Are you in charge of the guard detail here?" "Yes, sir." "Come along." "I want to inspect the building with you." "Do you have a man on duty down here, sergeant?" "No, capitan." "I do not have enough men." "But the corporal of the guard comes through here every hour on his rounds." " I'll put one of my men down here." " Fine, sir." "What was that?" "It was probably a rat." "Perhaps we should put a cat on duty down here." "All right, let's go." "Checkmate." "Winner, Mr. Nicholas Groat." "Congratulations." " Congratulations." " Congratulations, Nicholas." "Thank you, Mueller." "Thank you." "Congratulations, Mr. Groat." "You played brill..." "Put him down here." "Somebody get a doctor." "Let me through, please." " Please let me through, I am a doctor." " Excuse me." "What happened?" "What happened here?" "I don't know." "He just collapsed." "He's burning up with fever." "Call the city health department." "Tell them it looks like typhoid fever." "There's a phone over here." " Do you have an office handy?" " Yes, sir." "Then please give me a hand with him." "You too." "If you are worrying about touching him, don't." "Everyone in this hotel has already been exposed and will have to be inoculated." "Come, please." "Ladies and gentlemen, I am very much afraid you have all been exposed to typhoid fever." " What?" " No, no, no." "There is no reason to be afraid." "If you will simply all take seats and be calm, the city health people will be here very soon to inoculate you." "I would suggest you post guards at all of the entrances to make certain that no one enters or leaves this building until they have been checked by the health people, yeah?" "All right, doctor." "Sergeant, you heard him." "Go ahead." "Yes, sir." "What is it?" "It's 104 and two-tenths." "Where is the city health department?" "Get him in this chair." "You are the doctor?" " Yes, Dr. Marush." " Dober." " How do you do?" " Yeah." "He is over 104, doctor." "Yes, it's typhoid all right." "We may have an epidemic on our hands." " Did you bring the vaccine?" " Yes." "We'll have to inoculate everybody in this hotel." "I'll need your help, doctor." "You have it, of course." "And my wife, she's a nurse." "Oh, very good, very good." "Roll up his sleeve." "Captain, move this man back to his room." "Take him to his room." "Roll up your sleeve, captain." "Captain, I want you to inform your men that they are to get everybody in this hotel into the ballroom and the lobby." "So they can get their inoculations." "All right, doctor." "Your men will have to be inoculated too." "Of course." "But they cannot leave their posts, doctor." " Security reasons." " Then we'll go to them." "Also inform your men, there will be no food and water until further notice." "No food or water?" "It's probably the source of the typhoid." "Doctor, there are 400 people in this hotel." "I'll order provisions sent in." "Very well, doctor." " Is that the last of them, doctor?" " Yes, I believe it is, captain." "Thank you very much." "Well, well, it's about time." "I got here as fast as I could." "There's another load in the truck." "Fine." "Captain, you can feed your men first." "Thank you, doctor." "Sergeant, take care of it." "Soldier." "Soldier, wake up." "Wake up!" "Carl, move him." "How much faster will the clock run?" "About 20 times normal speed." "Will it be able to take that?" "These clocks were made to withstand earthquakes." "I see." "All right, Groat, it's all yours." "Some help, please." "Hold it!" "You're not going anywhere." "No!" "You can't do this!" "No." "You can't...!" "All right, let's go." "We've got a date with the underground." "You're right."