Linking to a past Trope Repair Shop thread that dealt with this page: Description trim.
, started by Deboss on Sep 1st 2011 at 4:43:21 AM
I'd like to propose a new page image for this page, how do I do that?
I just need to hear out some opinions here. Do you think that The Heavy and the Chessmaster tropes will make a good combination.
What exactly is the difference between a Batman Gambit and the Chessmaster? Is the Chessmaster a series of interwoven Batman Gambits?
Hide / Show Replies
Batman Gambit is one gambit, characterized by carefully predicting what each player will do. The Chessmaster is a character trope, about the guy who has a whole bunch of plots and plans (usually at least mostly successful).
Pulled this from the main page. It's a mess of natter and Conversation On The Main Page. Not sure what to do with it, so I brought it here.
Checkmate, troper. You've read through the article just as I planned. You lose.
- I think not, sir. For you have also created the page so that they may read it according to my design. You just saved me the trouble of doing it myself.
- Gentlemen, I offer you both my heartfelt thanks for breathing life into my latest scheme. For the scheme was mine... all of it. I merely planted the seeds of this page in your minds and trusted to my intimate knowledge of your psychological makeup; I knew that between you, you would make my dream a reality. Of course, knowing you so intimately, I was sure that each of you would boast about your contribution to this page. While you did I took the precaution of enclosing you in a sealed room, thus enabling myself to mock you at my leisure. You will stay in said room for the remainder of your sordid lives. I should warn you that no food will be provided, and that "It's A Small World" will be played on repeat for the duration of your stay. As you were, gentlemen. As you were.
- ...Fuck. That bastard stole my idea.
- ^^ And I suppose that explains why I'm standing behind you with a pistol?
- Ha! You Fool!! You've walked right into my tra-
- Really?
- It always gives me such satisfaction to get my rival tropers to eliminate one another while I watch from a hundred miles away...
- And that would be Checkmate. I win. In fact, I won two days ago, it's simply the joy of watching you all run around like retarded headless chickens that made me allow you to just play around. So, Might I add that if It was a good game, I must thank you, but still...I win.
- It always gives me such satisfaction to get my rival tropers to eliminate one another while I watch from a hundred miles away...
- Gentlemen, I offer you both my heartfelt thanks for breathing life into my latest scheme. For the scheme was mine... all of it. I merely planted the seeds of this page in your minds and trusted to my intimate knowledge of your psychological makeup; I knew that between you, you would make my dream a reality. Of course, knowing you so intimately, I was sure that each of you would boast about your contribution to this page. While you did I took the precaution of enclosing you in a sealed room, thus enabling myself to mock you at my leisure. You will stay in said room for the remainder of your sordid lives. I should warn you that no food will be provided, and that "It's A Small World" will be played on repeat for the duration of your stay. As you were, gentlemen. As you were.
Is the picture used really up to the standard of the majority of pages on here? Purely personal opinion, which I realise is frowned upon at best, but there are some very good sketches of actual examples on the page. Sketches of Vetinari from deviantART spring to mind which would be alot better than the shoddy piece of work currently being used as the trope image, even a photo of kasparov would be better.
Hide / Show Replies
The current page picture has nothing to do with a chessmaster. It's just meaningless. He has only his king left, and you can't win with only your king left, no matter how good you are. There must be better pictures out there.
I know this is long dead, but just pointing out—although that picture made no sense as a trope image, it did make sense in context. The character's actual goal seems to be to eliminate all the other players and pieces until he's the only one left.
My Namesakes
Not to be rude but, WTF happened to the image. The previous image was fine the way it is (a picture of a smug guy with a chessboard in front of him), but this new image is just A Face And A Caption. Could we please bring the old image back?
"Think like a man of action, act like a man of thinking, and don't be a dumbass." Hide / Show Replies
Well, the old pic seems to be back again. Still, I must say that there are two things with that picture that are just plain wrong.
1. A chess board is 8x8 squares, NOT 13x6. 2. You cannot win if you have only the king left. If both sides have only one king left, it's a draw, no matter how "brilliant" mr. Little Finger is.
The current image should be removed.
My Namesakes
Is it possible for The Chessmaster to be Chaotic Evil even if they're commanding a group of minions?
I ask this because I'm making an action film idea and I want the antagonsit to be the cunning leader of a Islamic terrorist group (Western Terrorists are so cliched), but I want it implied that he is actually a Bomb Throwing Anarchist deep down who just wants to cause chaos and destruction, but is only going along with the whole Islamic fundamentalist thing because it is the most popular and well-funded type of terrorism. Based on how I described him, does he sound like a Chaotic Evil?
"Think like a man of action, act like a man of thinking, and don't be a dumbass."
"The Prophet of Truth from Halo. In Halo 2 he is the epitome of the Chessmaster, going as far as to eliminate the Sangheili without them even knowing it, kills off his two co-leaders with no mercy or regret (hahaha...), and having the Arbiter run a wild goose chase, culminating in the latter's "demise" at the hands of Tartarus."
This example is under the "Actually Using Chess Metaphors" section, but I don't recall any being made. Is my memory failing me again or should it be moved?
Hide / Show Replies
The article mentions that Chess is a game of perfect information and therefore an inappropriate metaphor.
Yet it has been clearly shown that the ability to plan for future moves is a crucial aspect of playing chess. In fact, computer chess programs rely on "tree look-ahead" for their operation.
In other words, deception is a matter of concealing intent, not current board status.
Hide / Show Replies
Seems to me that the reason this trope is called that is because a "chessmaster" guides events so that people do what he wants: they're like the pieces on the board but unaware that they're being moved around.
Linking to a past Trope Repair Shop thread that dealt with this page: Clarification of Chessmaster and Manipulative/Magnificent Bastard
, started by NativeJovian on Jan 14th 2011 at 3:30:26 PM
"For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for Nature cannot be fooled." - Richard Feynman