Idiot's Mate
"Idiot's Mate" is a 1968 science fiction short story by Robert Taylor. It was first published in Amazing Stories.
Synopsis
A chess tournament is held on the Moon — but instead of pieces, the game uses people in spacesuits, who wield guns with explosive bullets.
Reception
"Idiot's Mate" was a finalist for the Nebula Award for Best Short Story of 1968.[https://nebulas.sfwa.org/nominated-work/idiots-mate/ Idiot's Mate], at Science Fiction Writers of America; retrieved November 9, 2024
Galactic Journey found it to be "a bit overwritten, but capably so," and noted that it "moves fast".[http://galacticjourney.org/august-6-1968-treading-water-september-1968-amazing/ (August 6, 1968) Treading Water (September 1968 Amazing)], by John Boston, in Galactic Journey; published August 6, 2023; retrieved November 9, 2024
Mike Ashley has assessed it as "almost certainly" the most popular story published in Amazing Stories under the editorial tenure of Harry Harrison.[https://pulpfest.com/2016/03/03/the-amazing-story-the-sixties-the-goose-flesh-factor/ The AMAZING Story: The Sixties — The Goose-Flesh Factor], by Mike Ashley; at PulpFest.com; published March 3, 2016; retrieved November 9, 2024