Someone was already standing near the wall before anything was there.
Old sheet still up. Round three. Edges curling.
“Where are the pairings?”
No one answered.
A few people stood too early. Chairs scraping back, then stopping halfway. Nowhere to go yet.
The wall stayed empty.
One kid walked up, looked at the old sheet again, like it might have changed.
It hadn’t.
Clocks were getting pressed for no reason. On. Off. Then left on.
Two boys near me were whispering names.
“If he won, he’s on three.”
“No, because of Buchholz.”
They kept going anyway.
Some of the stronger players didn’t move.
One of them had his hands folded, eyes shut. Not resting. Just not looking.
The organiser walked past once. Quick. Didn’t stop.
That did it.
The room shifted a bit after that.
More people near the wall. Not close enough to admit it.
You could hear boards being reset. Pieces lined up properly. One knocked slightly out and put back.
Someone laughed. Too loud. It stopped straight away.
Then someone said, “They’re coming.”
Everyone moved.
The sheet went up slightly crooked.
People leaned in before it settled.
You miss your name the first time if you go too fast.
I saw a number first.
Seven.
Looked again. Same.
Board seven.
Up one.
Opponent I recognised but hadn’t played.
Next to me someone muttered something under their breath. Didn’t catch it.
People started drifting back.
Slower this time.
Chairs not quite where they were before. A board turned the wrong way. Someone fixing it.
I sat down and didn’t touch anything for a bit.
Looked at the board.
Then the clock.
Still hadn’t started.
Across the room someone was still at the wall, reading the sheet again like it might change.
It doesn’t.
I pressed the clock a second later than I normally would.