The Goddesschess MUSEUM
Alpheta's Literary Agora

 

 

Cassia Gives Odds to a Duffer Who Wishes to Engage
in a Round of Romantic Chess

by Cecily Anderson

 

Pay secure attendance
To the King
For it is a heavy
Burdon for one piece
To know so clearly
That it is he
Who bears the weight
Of responsibility
For the game-
He, whose role definitively
Marks him as the sole
Impetus of the success…
Or the pitiable reason
For the crucial defeat
Of his kingdom

Mind your king well,
For he is innately unable
To safeguard himself against predators
His footprints are,
Sorrowfully too often,
Left behind as the fearful remnants
Of a direct and physically close
Threat to his well being
His unfortunate viewpoint
And singular steps mockingly
Force him into becoming
En prise,
And more often than not-
The object of desolate ruin.

A threat to him results in “check”
His unforeseen doom, in a fools mate

Respect the prowess
of the Queen.
For she is a heavy piece
Who seeks the hanging of other players
And saturates her pretty appetites
For both protection and destruction
By feeding ravenously on
All imposingly eager antagonists

Keep her arranged, and alert
In a perching, and unseen stance
‘till she pounces in unlimited direction
Upon on her disparate prey
Annihilating them in front
Of their credulous countrymen
And languid king

Then, encourage her to retreat,
Call “j’adoube”
And give her respite with a vigilant eye.
For it is she who has the supremacy
To embrace her king in secure hands
Though forlornly, she too may meet
her impending defeat
Or her necessarily sacrificial doom

And to her death or to purgatory
She will go where she will remain
Until a lowly praiseworthy pawn
Reaches the final edges of the realm
Fulfilling his soul mission
That is of
The celebration of her
Renowned reincarnation
And her reentrance into the game

Be careful not allow your attentions
To stray from the Good Bishop
When in need of salvation
For because he interposes surreptitiously under the
Guise of a slanted perspective
Be leery of his swift movements
Which may extend to the corners of the board

It is he who moves without notice,
Without noise, or the expectation
Of the evil enemies he seeks to destroy
Though Heavenly projection
He lies in wait, watching
Through a lens of eternal judgment

When in strategic placement
He is highly capable of a
Spirited, unforeseen
And devilishly
Long diagonal
Attack of the soul
Of his
Opponent’s strategy

Be careful not to dismiss the countergambits of
The knight
For though he takes only
Two straight steps before turning
To his side, his family forks are often
Unforeseen by his enemies
His agility allows him
To take advantage of the outposts
Resulting in a smothered mate
Defeating the minds of those who
Are unable to appreciate the abstract
Possibility of his patterned movements

His most prominent, though pagan victim
Is often the rook that stands firmly
In a guise of a protective fortrice
Laid in his cramped, solid ground
And often unexpectedly
Within the Bishop’s unforeseen clutches

Steer clear of the rook,
For though he stands firm
He is stuck within his foundation
And often unable to bring
To fruition the moves he
Desires to make
Gilding only forward and backward
And side to side
His vulnerability if often a tempting decoy
To the deflection others
As he zugzqangs

Ah yes, let’s not forget the passive pawn’s ample kicks
While he may be taken en passant
Perhaps he serves well as a moving impediment
To the desires of all pieces
When a poised pawn is put to death
It is often without remorse
Be forewarned, however, for when in contract
With the King
The endgame may result
In a bloody triangulation of defeat
Be wary of those who play with rules
Of reincarnation, for that same queened pawn
May through underpromotion
Earn rebirth in the form of any other
Player.

Take heed, gentle Duffer,
When ending your round
Of romantic chess
For when you care to engage in
Reflective post-mortem
Pay secure attention to the king,
For it is a heavy burden
For one piece to know…