Make-Believe Moves, Part 2 (Comedy)

Hi!

Last week we saw some make-believe positions, which were created by chess "composers". Those were like adventure or drama movies. You know what a drama is? It's usually something very serious but amazing. You want to keep watching to see what will happen next. One character might be in danger, but finds a surprising way out. That's what we saw last week. This week, though, we are going to see comedy. Chess jokes.

What is a chess joke? Well, it's something silly. Watch and you will see. First we have this position, which you see below. It would seem that White had to play pretty bad to get almost all of his pieces taken . Well, believe me, Black played even worse! Because he is about to lose...to one tiny, little pawn. I'll let you guess what White does here:

After White's move, there is no stopping the smothered checkmate on f7! Black cannot guard that square, cannot move his pieces away (to let his king have some air) and he cannot even make one check to the White king. A single pawn beating a whole army!

Which piece is faster, the bishop or the king? Easy question, right? The bishop can go from one side of the board to the other in just one move. The king, on the other hand, can only move one square at a time. So how can the king chase down and catch a bishop? Only if the bishop is very clumsy and keeps running into his own pawns! I'll call this the "bumbling bishop":

It was like that bishop was playing bumper-cars with the pawns!

The next one would have seemed like a bad joke to Black. He is up a lot of pieces, and the game seems over. But suddenly White just seals up the entire board like a zipper!

The black pieces look strong, but behind the solid wall they can only growl at White like bears in a cage - they cannot bite. But White just needs to make sure not to capture anything! For example, if Black now plays 6...Rb5!?, White should not take the bait, but instead should simply move his king around. Then it is a draw.

So you see, in chess there is not just winning, losing, and drawing. There is also drama, adventure, and comedy - just like in movies.

- Bryan