I enjoyed the back and forth between the two characters in this play, and the way the author has constructed a cage match between two fiercely intelligent people, both under the influence of a well spring of rage and self doubt. "Gambit" evokes the duel between Holmes and Moriarty in "The Final Problem" in a modern setting, and engages with some of our broader civil discourse in a thoughtful and personal way.

Right from the descriptions at the beginning this piece had more than grabbed my attention and as the play/game progressed it drew me in further still. Ross has created two amazingly powerful female characters and placed them in a back and forth where Jill is determined to get to the answer and Clementine is determined to avoid her. The wonderfully enticing dialogue, the twists and turns of the plot coupled with the overall comparison to the complexity that is Chess and this piece has an addicitive quality where you need to see how its going to end!

Ross Tedford Kendall gives us a compelling drama that plays out in a locked university conference room over a game of chess. The masterful dialogue between an aunt and her niece, lubricated with scotch from the minibar, is smart and smartly-paced, whether examining the perils of judicial activism, chess, strategy, or sexual secrets. Bravo!