The chess clock

Source: an original fiction extract.

“The match had reached its final game when Lina's opponent asked to replace the clock. One side was losing seconds, he said. The arbiter tested it, frowned and brought another from the cupboard. Lina had spent the delay looking at the board, trying not to look at her father's face beyond it. He had taught her chess at the kitchen table and had never learned to watch silently. Even when he said nothing, his eyebrows seemed to offer advice.

The new clock settled between them like a small official. Its red digits burned steadily, consuming time without the courtesy of a sound. Lina's pieces crowded the centre of the board, but the squares around her king looked suddenly bare. Across from her, her opponent rested one finger on the edge of the table. He did not tap it. That stillness irritated her more than tapping would have done.

She saw a move that might win a rook. It was the kind of move her father would notice at once. She looked up. He was staring at the board, lips pressed together. Lina reached for her knight, then stopped before touching it. The opponent's bishop had a clear line towards her king. She had been looking at the piece she could take instead of the space she would leave. Her hand returned to her lap.

The clock continued. From the next room came the sudden applause of another finished match. Lina counted the squares again. She moved a pawn one step. It was a dull move, a small closing of a door. Her father shifted in his chair. Her opponent studied the board for a long time, then moved his queen away from the centre. Lina breathed out without meaning to make a sound.

The game ended in a draw. Outside, her father began to explain what he had thought during the delay. Lina asked whether they could walk for a minute first. They crossed the car park without speaking. At the gate, he asked about the pawn move. This time it sounded like a question. Lina began to answer, describing not the rook she might have won but the square she had needed to protect.”

Refer only to the second paragraph. Analyse how the writer uses language to present the pressure Lina feels during the match. Support your ideas with quotations from that paragraph. You could consider words and phrases, language features and techniques, and sentence forms.