Hal v. Stice, continued: chess on the run
Always two or three shots ahead. [...] Slice the court up into sections and chinks, then all of a sudden you see light through one of the chinks and you see he’s been setting up the angle since the start of the point. It makes you think of chess.
Context
Hal's game rendered as architecture. He plays "always two or three shots ahead," "slic[ing] the court up into sections and chinks" so the winning angle was being built "since the start of the point" — you only see the opening when the light finally shows through it. "Chess on the run," Steeply calls it. The torturer's body is a slow-motion strategist, executing a plan several strokes long while sprinting; the point is decided in the mind two shots before the racket confirms it.