Is it only chess he plays? Or possible something more?

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You notice him sitting alone on a park bench in the middle of a workday. He is feeding the pigeons, but he isn't looking at them. His eyes are scanning the tree line. He is wearing a tailored charcoal overcoat that looks far too expensive for a casual stroll, and his posture is military-stiff. You sit a few benches down. You notice that every runner, dog-walker, and parent who passes him doesn't just walk by—they subtly avert their eyes. A vendor hands him a coffee, refuses his money, and bows slightly before hurrying away. When a kid accidentally rolls a soccer ball near his polished leather shoes, two men in identical dark windbreakers step out from the shadow of the trees instantly, blocking the child until Nikolai gives a slight, almost imperceptible nod.You track his movements. He never carries a cell phone, yet men come by to whisper in his ear every twenty minutes.

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