The Risk Game

The Risk Game

All eyes where on the kitchen table as the big Risk Game began on Shabbat afternoon.  Dara, as always, tried to control Asia. Yet, Micha, her lovely brother, kept her from Asia, attacking her brutally from the very first turn, seeking revenge for sibling attrocities one might have thought had long ago been forgotten.  By Sunday, Dara's forces were weakened.  By that time, Abba controlled the most territories: three whole continents: Europe, S. America and N. America.  Micha, for his part, controlled Australia, Africa and had the fewest missions left.  

By Monday night, it seemed certain that Abba would win.  Micha even threw in the towel saying we should put away the game.  But Dara had other ideas.  She got ten reinforcements and with only twelve troops she beat Abba's multitudes, moving from territory to territory, eviscerating Abba.  It was a massacre.

Yet on Tuesday, the tide again turned for Abba.  He was about to win, for his last mission was simply to control any two islands.  At the start, Abba had Great Britain and Greenland Iceland.  In the second call, Abba had Japan and Great Britain and Iceland.  Each time, however, he was stripped of his Islands at the last minute.  This time, Dara captured one Island, and lent her cards to Micha, and this managed to save the game from the juicy clutches of Abba.  Micha got 18 reinforcements, thereby fulfilling one of his two remaining missions.  And the last one was the simple mission of gaining 5 reinforcements.  Suddenly it looked like Micha would win the game.

But Abba and Dara were not to be denied.  Abba swept through Micha's continents, so that on his next turn he received only three reinforcements.  Now Abba controlled three islands, and was poised to win.  Dara & Micha had one more chance to stop Abba from winning the game.  Dara hoped to give Micha reinforcement cards that would help him liberate islands from Abba.  But it was not to be.  The children only had two out of the three cards they needed, and therefore their only chance to win was in the card they would receive at the end of Dara's turn.  

But the fates were against them.  Dara received a card that could not be used to make a set.

At that moment, Micha said that he would not continue to play for another 99 years.  By then, Abba will surely be dead, and his countries and continents will have been inherited by the children.  For now, and for the next 99 years, the game remains on the kitchen table.