From “Playing the Rush” which is basically B^2 x Rounders canon AU

@ilreleonewikia13

Maybe he's gone just as crazy as Beth, but a few phone calls help him figure out that it's actually possible, especially since he's already got the visa.

There's a direct flight out of Kennedy to Moscow on Friday, and he needs to be on it if he's going to show up in time to actually help Beth against Borgov. She's already won two games, and the Times has gone from printing small blurbs about the tournament on the fourth page to proper articles with notation on the second page. She'd defeated Laev in twenty seven moves, then completely destroyed Duhamel the next day in twenty two, since he'd made an error on his eighth move.

It feels good, wiping the dust off his chessboard and playing through the games; slowing to admire a particularly pretty move she'd made with a pawn sacrifice turned attacker when Laev had refused the bait.

For Mother’s Day (and for @coruscating-ly) 

Coda (1392 words) by NRGburst Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: The Queen's Gambit (TV) Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Alma Wheatley/Manuel, Beth Harmon & Alma Wheatley Characters: Alma Wheatley, Beth Harmon Additional Tags: implied canonical character death, Alma-centric Summary:

It's better to have a short life that is full of what you like doing, than a long life spent in a miserable way. Alan Watts

Also with Alma absent but her memory threaded through the fic:

Trifles