Natalia \u00ee\u0219i \u00eentoarse privirea spre public, f\u0103c\u00e2nd un gest teatral, ca \u0219i cum ar fi cerut scuze pentru timpul pierdut. Apoi, ap\u0103s\u0103 cronometru \u0219i mut\u0103 primul pion.<\/p>\n
Maria nu clipea. Privi tabla cu aten\u021bie, atinse o pies\u0103 cu degetul mic, apoi o mut\u0103 ferm. C\u00e2teva persoane din public se uitar\u0103 curioase \u2014 mi\u0219carea era \u00eendr\u0103znea\u021b\u0103, prea curajoas\u0103 pentru o \u00eencep\u0103toare.<\/p>\n
Natalia z\u00e2mbi dispre\u021buitor.
\u2014 A\u0219a nu se joac\u0103, micu\u021bo, spuse printre din\u021bi.<\/p>\n
Dar, pe m\u0103sur\u0103 ce minutele treceau, z\u00e2mbetul i se stingea. Feti\u021ba muta rapid, f\u0103r\u0103 ezitare, anticip\u00e2nd fiecare pas al campioanei. Murmurul din sal\u0103 crescuse. Oamenii \u00eencepeau s\u0103 se \u00eencline spre scen\u0103, \u00eencerc\u00e2nd s\u0103 urm\u0103reasc\u0103 desf\u0103\u0219urarea partidei.<\/p>\n
Dup\u0103 o jum\u0103tate de or\u0103, Natalia \u00eencepuse s\u0103 transpire. \u00ce\u0219i trecea m\u00e2na prin p\u0103r \u0219i privea lung tabla, incapabil\u0103 s\u0103 \u00een\u021beleag\u0103 cum un copil \u00eei blocase toate deschiderile.<\/p>\n
\u2014 Cine \u021bi-a ar\u0103tat mutarea asta? a \u00eentrebat, vizibil nervoas\u0103.<\/p>\n
\u2014 Bunicul meu, domnule, r\u0103spunse Maria simplu. Spunea c\u0103 regina e puternic\u0103 doar dac\u0103 \u0219tie s\u0103 protejeze pionii.<\/p>\n
Cuvintele ei au smuls un ropot de aplauze. Natalia ro\u0219i, dar nu spuse nimic. \u00cencepu s\u0103 mute haotic, pierz\u00e2nd din concentrare.<\/p>\n
Maria profit\u0103 de fiecare gre\u0219eal\u0103. Fiecare mutare a ei era sigur\u0103, elegant\u0103, calculat\u0103. P\u0103rea c\u0103 vede cinci pa\u0219i \u00eenainte. Publicul era \u00een picioare. \u00cen aer se sim\u021bea ceva ce rar se \u00eent\u00e2mpl\u0103 \u00eentr-o sal\u0103 de \u0219ah \u2014 emo\u021bie pur\u0103.<\/p>\n
C\u00e2nd Natalia ridic\u0103 privirea \u0219i \u00ee\u0219i d\u0103du seama c\u0103 e pe punctul de a pierde, sala amu\u021bi.<\/p>\n
\u2014 Mat, spuse Maria \u00eencet.<\/p>\n
Un fior str\u0103b\u0103tu \u00eenc\u0103perea. Nimeni nu aplaud\u0103 la \u00eenceput. Era prea mult\u0103 uimire. O campioan\u0103 mondial\u0103, \u00eenvins\u0103 de o copil\u0103 de opt ani.<\/p>\n
Dup\u0103 c\u00e2teva secunde, cineva b\u0103tu din palme. Apoi altul. \u00centr-o clip\u0103, \u00eentreaga sal\u0103 r\u0103suna de aplauze.<\/p>\n
Natalia se ridic\u0103 \u00een picioare, ne\u00eencrez\u0103toare. \u00ce\u0219i \u00eentinse m\u00e2na spre Maria, dar vocea \u00eei tremura.
\u2014 Ai un talent ie\u0219it din comun, feti\u021bo.<\/p>\n
Maria z\u00e2mbi timid.
\u2014 Mul\u021bumesc, doamn\u0103. Dar nu e doar talent. E munc\u0103. \u00cen fiecare sear\u0103 jucam cu bunicul, p\u00e2n\u0103 adormeam cu capul pe mas\u0103.<\/p>\n
Fotografii au \u00eenceput s\u0103 fac\u0103 poze, iar ziua urm\u0103toare toate ziarele vorbeau despre \u201ecopila care a \u00eenvins campioana\u201d.<\/p>\n
C\u00e2teva luni mai t\u00e2rziu, Maria primi o burs\u0103 de la Federa\u021bia Rom\u00e2n\u0103 de \u0218ah. Bunicul Petre, cu ochii umezi, o \u00eembr\u0103\u021bi\u0219\u0103 spun\u00e2ndu-i:
\u2014 \u021ai-am spus mereu c\u0103 mintea e mai puternic\u0103 dec\u00e2t orice noroc.<\/p>\n
Iar Maria, cu o voce abia \u0219optit\u0103, i-a r\u0103spuns:
\u2014 Nu vreau s\u0103 fiu o campioan\u0103 ca Natalia. Vreau s\u0103 fiu o campioan\u0103 care \u00eei face pe oameni s\u0103 cread\u0103 c\u0103 orice copil, din orice sat, poate ajunge sus.<\/p>\n
\u0218i de atunci, \u00een fiecare competi\u021bie, c\u00e2nd se a\u0219eza \u00een fa\u021ba tablei de \u0219ah, nu vedea doar piese \u2014 vedea chipul bunicului ei \u0219i credea, din toat\u0103 inima, c\u0103 \u00een via\u021b\u0103 nu c\u00e2\u0219tig\u0103 cel mai puternic, ci cel care nu \u00eenceteaz\u0103 s\u0103 cread\u0103.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Natalia \u00ee\u0219i \u00eentoarse privirea spre public, f\u0103c\u00e2nd un gest teatral, ca \u0219i cum ar fi cerut scuze pentru timpul pierdut. Apoi, ap\u0103s\u0103 cronometru \u0219i mut\u0103 primul pion. Maria nu clipea. Privi tabla cu aten\u021bie, atinse o pies\u0103 cu degetul mic, apoi o mut\u0103 ferm. C\u00e2teva persoane din public se uitar\u0103 curioase \u2014 mi\u0219carea era \u00eendr\u0103znea\u021b\u0103, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":11334,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11333","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-povesti"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bumzi.ro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11333","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bumzi.ro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bumzi.ro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bumzi.ro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bumzi.ro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=11333"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/bumzi.ro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11333\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11335,"href":"https:\/\/bumzi.ro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11333\/revisions\/11335"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bumzi.ro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/11334"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bumzi.ro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=11333"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bumzi.ro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=11333"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bumzi.ro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=11333"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}