Chess

A game With Much Terminology

by Jason Corley (corleyj@gas.uug.arizona.edu)
written 12 Oct 1992

This article is classified "Partly real, partly fictional"


Chess is a game involving 64 squares and 32 pieces which invariably
end up on the wrong squares.

The most powerful piece in chess is the queen, the only female piece
on the board.  There have been many explanations linking this feminist
slant to the high number of young men with thick glasses and skin
problems who play chess, none of which have been conclusive.

Other chess pieces include the King, a reference to Elvis Presley;
the Pawn, who represents the determinist worldview (as in, "We are all
just pawns of fate waiting to get to the back rank"); the Rook, a small
bird; the Knight, opposite of The Daye; and the Bishop, the origin of
which is unknown.  There are 2 conflicting theories as to the origin of
the Bishop:  1.  The long-dead original inventors of chess were extra-
ordinarily prescient, or 2.  Priests, preachers and televangelists have
always been warlike, violent and tricky.

Popular openings in chess include The King's Gambit, The Queen's Gambit,
The Latvian, The Ruy Lopez, The Schliemann, The Orangoutang, The Vulture,
The Four Knights, The Three Knights, The Scotch, The Basmania, The Center
Counter, The Dumb Move, The Pre-Game Psyche-Out, and the Coronary
Thrombosis.

Popular closings, or endgames, in chess include The Win, The Loss, The
Draw, The Stalemate, The Loss On Time, The Quantum Collapse, The Refusal
To Go On, The Sudden Death, and The Sudden Death.

See also:
  • Ozarks, The Lake Of The, Missouri, USA, Earth
  • Elvis Impersonation

  • Go to [Root page | Title list | Author list | Date list | Index]