Dead Poets Society - Imagines and preferences

Checkmate - Gerard Pitts (Queen's Gambit Crossover AU) pt.1

I tried something different this time and went for a crossover with the universe of the Queen's Gambit! For some reason it gave me similar vibes to DPS, probably because their stories happen around the same time. Plus I haven't done a Pitts imagine yet so this was a good occasion!

If you liked the crossover concept here and would like to see more of it (with different universes as well), let me know in the comments.

All right, enjoy!

"Check," you grinned.

A groan escaped Neil's mouth as he rubbed his eyes. "Darn you, Y/N." He studied the board for several seconds, hesitating, before moving his king to the left.

"That's stupid," you rolled your eyes.

"What? You're not leaving me any choice!" he complained.

"Well, you could have moved your bishop in the way! You would've had more options!"

"Whatever. I'm tired, anyway." He stood up from his chair and went to grab his mug of coffee on the kitchen counter.

"Just admit it, you hate losing," you teased.

"I do, actually. Especially against you. I can't believe you're already better than me even though you've been playing chess for like, three months."

"It's called talent, hun," you laughed.

"You know - " Neil's brows furrowed - "I really think you should start doing competition. You'd wipe out half of the contestants easily."

"Oh, yeah? What about the other half?"

He didn't answer, and instead shoved his hand inside his pocket, searching for something, before pulling out a folded piece of paper. You moved closer to him to see what it was as he opened it.

It was a torn out magazine page - but not any magazine. A chess magazine. And on it were written a bunch of dates along with places and times.

"What's this?" you asked.

"Chess tournaments. Well, state tournaments," said Neil. "If you win, you go to the US Opens in Cincinnati."

You took a better look at it, studying everything on the page.

"And if I win the US Opens?" A bubble of excitement and curiosity began growing inside you.

"Well, then you're the official US champion of chess," said your best friend.

"Alright, I'm in." The perspective of participating in an official tournament mesmerized you, and you were pretty confident in your abilities.

The state tournament was to take place in a week, so Neil took it upon himself to help you prepare as much as possible. He came to your house all the time, and the two of you would spend hours playing or studying chess theory.

And then came the long awaited day. You showed up at the gymnasium at ten o'clock sharp, registered and entered the wide space reconverted into a chess room with Neil by your side.

As you watched all of the other players taking seats, a gulp of fear suddenly formed inside your throat.

"Everything all right, Y/N?" inquired Neil, and you gave him a fake smile.

"Everything's fine."

You glanced at the board and saw your name at the very bottom. Well, that was sure a motivating start. You were to play against a guy named Townes. Weird name, you thought.