The global crude oil market is starting to resemble a gigantic game of chess, with a bold opening gambit by OPEC and its allies giving them an advantage, but the game is still far from checkmate. The weekend deal by 12 countries outside OPEC to join the producer group’s agreement to curb crude output certainly looks bullish for prices, as it takes the total amount of oil leaving the market in the first half of 2017 to almost 1.8 million barrels per day (bpd). Brent crude, the global benchmark, reacted strongly in early trade in Asia on Monday, gaining as much as 6.6 percent from the close on Dec. 9 to as much as $57.89 a barrel. Brent has gained nearly 40 percent since its early August low of just above $41 a barrel, and has been rising as OPEC first talked about, and then delivered, curbs to production. […]