Chess Motifs: Difference between revisions

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{{quote|'''Roy:''' *''pulling chess pieces out of the box and thinking of the people he relates them to''* My pawn. My rook. My bishop. My knight. And worst of all...they've even taken my queen.}}

** Also, the [[Big Bad]] of the manga represents all the current people involved in his plans with chibi versions of them as pieces on a chess board on his desk. {{spoiler|This turns out not to be just a motif though, as the board is the true center of his nationwide transmutations circle (a trick he used before).}}

* Crashers in ''[[Weiss Kreuz]]'' are codenamed after chess pieces: Knight, Bishop, Rook, and Pawn. King is their boss, and Queen is [[The Handler]].

* In ''[[Umineko no Naku Koro ni]]'', Beatrice and Battler are involved in a very elaborate game of chess, with the pieces being the other Ushiromiyas, various witches, and the demons they summon. The [[Umineko no Naku Koro ni/WMG|WMG page]] has some speculation about which pieces are which.

* ''[[Black Butler]]'' uses quite a few chess motifs. Ciel is a [[Chessmaster]] who refers to himself as the King and Sebastian as his Knight. Not to mention that the series has chess-based imagery throughout it such as [http://www.kuroshitsujimanga.com/13/31/ this] page and [http://www.kuroshitsujimanga.com/13/36/ this] page from the manga. The anime has more of this later in the series, including some in the new opening animation with Sebastian kneeling on a large chess board before a black King piece that turns to dust to reveal Ciel.

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== Fan Fiction ==

* In Windows Of The Soul, Shizuru once describes herself as a rook, and recounting the incident in which {{spoiler|Yukino}}, a pawn, tried and failed to stand in her way to protect {{spoiler|Haruka}} despite her lack of combat abilities, as almost essentially suicidal but somewhat courageous.

* In ''Vanguard'', the Paladins are all modeled after chess pieces, in appearance, attributes and role. Notably, the Paladins' individual armor vary in color.

** Solustro is the ''Grey'' King, simultaneously symbolizing his [[Anti-Villain]] status and [[Gray and Grey Morality|balancing]] his methods/motives out. Typical for a chess king, Solustro rarely involves himself personally, but is renowned for his strategic and tactical skill.

** The Bishop has magic-based abilities, notably [[Mass Teleportation]], and he often appears out of nowhere many times over. His best attack pins his opponent, leaving them unable to counterattack. As an official vizier, the Bishop serves as the main adviser to Solustro, and his influence can be shown by the decisions and directions that Solustro takes.

** The enigmatic Arkham is a ''literal'' [[Black Knight]], feared by friend and foe alike, and he's the resident [[Enigmatic Minion]].

** The Rook is Dorotlu, a tower-resembling spike-tank thing reputed for having the best defensive offense.

* The ''[[Elemental Chess Trilogy]]'' takes the [[Chess Motif]] originally present in ''[[Fullmetal Alchemist]]'' and turns it [[Up to Eleven]]. The second story in the series, "Brilliancy," uses actual chess terms for the story title and all chapter titles; the third story, "The Game of Three Generals," does the same thing with terms from shogi (Japanese chess). The members of Mustang's unit still use the chess nicknames he gave them in the canon, and often make references to Riza's position as their queen, even dubbing themselves "all the queen's men" when they are officially made her personal security detail in the third story.

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* The film ''Jason and the Argonauts'' has several scenes where the gods play a chess-like game with pieces representing the heroes and villains of the movie. This is probably the ur-example of the Chess Motif in film.

* "[[Blazing Saddles|Mongo only pawn in game of life.]]"

* In [[The Movie]] of ''[[X-Men (film)|X-Men]]'', [[Smart People Play Chess|Magneto and Xavier play chess frequently.]]

** In the third movie, Magneto [[Sorting Algorithm of Evil|holds back]] Pyro, [[The Dragon]], and sends in the [[Mooks]], saying "in chess, the pawns go first."<ref>Apparently, Magneto has never heard of the Reti opening, which starts with a knight move and is fairly popular on professional levels.</ref> After the first wave gets mowed down, he adds "that's why the pawns go first." At the end, after being depowered, a civilian-dressed Magneto is seen playing chess in a park somewhere, and concentrating on the metal chess pieces. One moves, ever so slightly, and then the credits roll.

* Ingmar Bergman's ''[[The Seventh Seal]]''. Returning Crusader plays [[Chess with Death]]!

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* In the French Revolution segment of ''History of the World Part One''. King Louis XVI plays chess using people on a giant board and calling out moves with a megaphone. He calls for first the knight to jump the actual queen, proceeding to have sex with her on the board. Then Louis calls for the bishop to jump the queen, then the pawns. Finally Louis yells out "GANGBANG!" and joins in as everyones piles on top of the queen.

* ''[[From Russia with Love]]''; [[The Chessmaster|chess-champion]] Kronstein turns out to be a SPECTRE agent, and uses chess analogies in their latest plan to outwit and destroy [[James Bond]].

* ''Uncovered'' is a movie about a woman who restores paintings. The painting that is the focus of the movie has two people playing chess with clues about the history of a family.

* Oliver Parker's film version of ''[[Othello]]'' has fun with this. Iago ([[Kenneth Branagh]]) keeps putting a white queen next to a black king, getting angry, and then throwing the pieces away.

* The movie ''Fresh'' is basically this, with a little boy in a gangster-ruled city block getting chess lessons from his [[Samuel L. Jackson|father]]. And applying those lessons in his life. Such as [[Xanatos Gambit|manipulating your opponent]]. And remembering that only your king [[Thicker Than Water|truly matters]], and that other pieces can be sacrificed if it is needed to protect it. [[Bittersweet Ending]], here we come!

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* In ''[[Sherlock Holmes (film)|Sherlock Holmes]]: A Game of Shadows'', Professor Moriarty plays with his chess set and holds up the black queen while telling Holmes that {{spoiler|he has murdered Irene Adler}}. Later, Moriarty leaves behind a black king for Holmes to find at a scene he was lured to by a [[Red Herring]], to taunt him that he's been checkmated. Finally, the [[Grand Finale]] of the film consists largely of Holmes and Moriarty playing chess (both on a physical board and in their own heads) while discussing their plot and counterplot and referring to their respective sidekicks Watson and Moran, who are actually carrying out said plots, as their "bishops."

* In ''[[Inception]]'', Ariadne's totem is a bishop chesspiece, and "Robert Fischer" brings to mind famous chess player Bobby Fischer.

* In ''[[Dragonheart]]'', Queen Aislinn is playing chess by herself in a scene where Einon and his men are having a rowdy feast. In the novelization, she spent a lot more time playing it, and only Bowen had seen any value in the game, realizing that it taught strategy.

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* "Check Mate", an episode of ''[[The Prisoner]]''.

* The 4th season episode of ''[[Lexx]]'' which has a literal chess game between Kai and Prince.

* There was a ''[[The West Wing]]'' episode where Bartlet played simultaneous chess with a few of the main characters during a foreign policy crisis with China over Taiwan which he clearly was thinking of as a metaphorical chess match.

* ''[[Star Trek: The Original Series]]'' episode "The Corbomite Maneuver". The Enterprise is trapped by an alien spaceship and facing destruction.

{{quote|'''Kirk''': There must be something to do, something I've overlooked.

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'''Doctor''': "Who said anything about playing chess? I've been playing poker. And I have [[Incredibly Lame Pun|an Ace up my sleeve...]]" }}

* In one episode of ''[[Monk]]'', the killer was a genius grand master chess player. As he's being arrested, he tries to complement Monk on being the better player. Monk reprimands him for treating real human lives as a game, but consents to a victorious "Checkmate."

* In ''[[The Cape (TV series)|The Cape]]'' the manipulative villain Peter Fleming... well he doesn't have a chess motif such as an ''overwhelming obsession'' with it. He compares real world actions to specific chess strategies, wears contact lenses that make his pupils look like chess pieces, and uses a holographic interface hidden under a chessboard that when activated [[Viewer-Friendly Interface|arranges itself into a chessboard layout]]. And of course his supervillain name is ''Chess''.

* In ''[[The Cape (2010 TV series)|The Cape]]'' the manipulative villain Peter Fleming... well he doesn't have a chess motif such as an ''overwhelming obsession'' with it. He compares real world actions to specific chess strategies, wears contact lenses that make his pupils look like chess pieces, and uses a holographic interface hidden under a chessboard that when activated [[Viewer-Friendly Interface|arranges itself into a chessboard layout]]. And of course his supervillain name is ''Chess''.

* In ''[[Have Gun Will Travel]]'', Paladin's card and the design on his gun holster feature a white knight.

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{{quote|"Don't surround yourself with yourself. Move me on to any black square.}}

* "White Rabbit" by [[Jefferson Airplane]] contains a few direct references to the [[Chess Motifs]] used in ''[[Alice in Wonderland|Through the Looking Glass]].'' It's chess by way of ''[[Alice in Wonderland]]'' [[What Do You Mean It Wasn't Made on Drugs?|by way of LSD.]]

* "Only a Pawn in Their Game" by [[Bob Dylan]] applies a chess metaphor to the slaying of civil rights leader Medgar Evers.

* The german Rap-group "Blumentopf" has a song called "Am Schachbrett" ("On the chessboard") which is [[Exactly What It Says on the Tin]].

* The album "Red Queen To Gryphon Three" by the british Progressive Rock band Gryphon is a concept album about a game of chess.

* Kudai has an album [http://www.jamendo.com/en/album/46536 Shah Mat]. It's about the fun stuff that you can see coming "When the pawns cross the chessboard", as [[Titled After the Song|the title song]] says.

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* The conflict in ''[[Homestuck]]'' between Prospit and Derse is essentially a gigantic chess match that gets more complicated with each prototyping. [http://www.mspaintadventures.com/?s=6&p=003701 This spoileriffic video] shows it best. See also Vimes above. This [[Fridge Brilliance|explains why]] PM gets her [[Awesome Moment of Crowning]] as a reward for making it all the way to Derse and back on her mission. {{spoiler|She was a pawn that got promoted to a queen, a legitimate rule in chess if the pawn manages to reach the opposite side of the board.}}

* The different classes of [[Killer Robot|Inlay]] in [[SSDD]] are named after chess pieces, bishops serve as heavy assault troops and have a thing for evisceration, rooks appear to be like tanks, knights seem to be some kind of special forces (and are smarter than most units), and the few kings are equivalent to generals. Pawns haven't been shown yet but we know that they're extremely stupid, and the Anarchists mostly use clones for regular infantry.

* [[Zokusho Comics]]: Spoofed slightly when Akira is explaining his plan to take down a fortress full of goblins to his team using chess pieces.

{{quote|'''Raz''': "That's your piece?"

'''Akira''': "Yeah?"

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* Jennie uses chess pieces to illustrate a military strategy in the ''[[Lonelygirl15]]'' episode "Cold War Revisited".

* The Chessmaster from the [[Whateley Universe]] uses a lot of these, shockingly enough given his name. His normal [[Mook|Mooks]] are called the Chessmen (cyborgs), his backup are the Rooks (floating [[Doctor Who|Dalek]] type things), his battlefield planning table is the Chessboard, and all his plans are various gambits, openers etc.

* ''[[D8]]'' ''is'' this. The entire story is pretty much one big Chess Motif.

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* In Disney's ''[[Hercules (Disney film)|Hercules]]'', Hades uses chess pieces shaped like various potential actors in his bid for absolute power.

* In ''[[Teen Titans (animation)|Teen Titans]]'', The Brain and one of his [[Elite Mooks]] play a game of chess. The mook represents the Titans, The Brain represents... well, himself. The game is frighteningly accurate as to how everything goes down.

* Repeatedly parodied in ''[[Futurama]]''.

** One of Zapp Brannigan's character-establishing lines is "In the game of chess, you can never let your adversary see your pieces."

** "[[Mixed Metaphor|We hit that bullseye, and the rest of the dominoes fall like a house of cards.]] ''[[Mixed Metaphor|Checkmate.]]''"