The Chess Motifs/Tactics apllications thread.

Ahem. I decided to make a thread about Chess Motifs in fiction. To be specific the scope of the thread would not just includes the pieces and checkerboard pattern itself, but also intends to go deeper into the tactics and stratagems used in the spot and how they would be applied to battles or events in (in-progress, this is the Writer's Block Forum after all) stories.

In other words it is supposed to be a place where writers can go to find out which chess analogies are appropriate for their work. Especially for more literal chessmaster characters.

I'm bumping the thread to add an exercise to get things started. Ahem

How would you write a scenario evoking En passant?

I looked at this shortly (15 mins) before your bump.

What are you trying to to do here? I am trying to get a handle on this, as it could be interesting, biut I'm having trouble. I think part of the problem I am having is Chess is usually the metaphor, but it looks like you want metaphors FOR chess.

The idea here is to brainstorm ways to use chess concepts and tactics (such as openings and gambits, as well as variants) as analogies and metaphors for events that happen in a non-chess context. So it should be the former, sorry if I wasn't clearer on that.

Edited by MorningStar1337 on May 4th 2022 at 3:57:15 AM

Well, en passant is a way to negate a defensive escape.

Castling on the other hand invokes a form of defence, such as a bodyguard interposing between threat and the principle.

En passant means "in passing" and was added to the rules to balance pawns being able to advance two spaces on their first move - the idea was to make the early game faster, not to allow pawns to slip through defended squares on a technicality just because they still hadn't been moved by the lategame. A really niche case where chess allows an attack of opportunity, in RPG terms.

As a metaphor, to me, it would suggest a response prepared for their opponent to do something they should have done much, much earlier - possibly because they didn't realise it was no longer possible. The most specific barely-even-an-analogy would probably be sieging a castle and catching scouts trying to sneak out of a secret entrance.

Edited by Noaqiyeum on May 4th 2022 at 6:03:26 PM

En Passant is one of those weird things that comes up so rarely that most casual players completely forget it exists, or never got taught about it.

Though the main thing it could be analogized to is grabbing or tripping someone as they try to run past you in escape. Though anyone commenting "ah yes this is like an En Passant Maneuver" would come off as extremely pretentious, which could be useful as establishing a character as someone who knows a lot about chess and also is obnoxious, which seems like a mid-level villainous commander type quality, which also helps give a chance for them to explain it to a confused underling, (and by extension the audience who probably, even with the pop-culture osmosis of chess, have not heard of EP.)

How about a knight on horseback lurching around so crazily and wild no one can hit him (but he somehow manages to hit lots of people)? That the sort of thing you're looking for?

Kinda, though it's arguably closer to a Nightrider's movements than it is to en passant.

Which brings me to a new topic. Part of the impetus behind this thread is fairy pieces Chess pieces that aren't part of the standardized game but instead seen in variants or chess problems. Tending to be compound pieces. As such I think they work well as representations of Outside Context Problems, especially if they are mistaken for more usual pieces (for the example, mistaking the Nightrider analogue for a normal Knight analogue and getting caught off guard when it moves beyond what you expect it to do)

I bring them up as a topic start unto itself but also because I want to ask how would they be used for a Chessmaster to denote variables and the chaos that is more common in RL conditions than on an actual chessboard? (Worth notign that TOW has pages on ones like the aforementioned Nightrider, Amazon, Wazir, Berolina pawn and Ferz so they can be used as examples for this thread.)

Might incorporate that "pretentious comaprison to en passant" thing into my fic idea that is also part of the reasons I made the thread

Edited by MorningStar1337 on May 5th 2022 at 2:14:43 AM

I thought about titling one of my story ideas "Pussimatti" (finnish term for smothered mate). "Matti" is both a given name and the term for mate in chess in the language. The title is a metaphor for the plot.

Who in the scenario should be the one named Matti?

my guess, whoever is in a position to foil the opposing side's plans. That is to say the guy that metaphorically puts the King in checkmate.

Alternatively the context might lean towards someone who attempts to foil said plans, but fails. So it could suit a "check" scenario more than a "checkmate" one.

Edited by MorningStar1337 on Jun 4th 2023 at 1:54:18 AM