Chess: Dynamics

Why is Chess fun? Well, each side’s forces stretch across all eight rows, so there’s no option to go around or run away. There are only four rows between the starting Pawn positions and the average maximum attack range is 4.1 spaces; the only way is forward into the other charging army, and much like boxing, this is a challenge of punching and dodging. There’s strategies like in-boxing, rushing in with Pawns and larger pieces and using the close range to corner the opponent, hampering their ability to wind up a punch, or out-boxing, where pieces with ranged movements (Queens, Bishops, Rooks) speed back and forth across the board. Knights add an extra ‘oddness’ factor, jumping in and out and moving with a rhythm their own, like an uppercut coming from an unexpected angle. Each piece is its own punch, and the combinations and collaborations provide diversity enough to vary strategy, but not with so many complex rules that it becomes prohibitive. There are further mechanics which allow for more intricate circumstances, such as Castling (a maneuver reversing the places of one Rook and King) and En Passant capturing (an addition to the Pawn’s capture in very particular circumstances), but essentially, each piece has only one function, making them easy to use, understand, and anticipate.

An important feature to note is the balance, not only between the two opposing sides who, with the exception of White’s advantage first move, are fairly even, but amid each team’s pieces. There’s a great scale of abilities, from the Queen (the most powerful, but a lone facet), to the warrior class of Rooks, Knights, and Bishops (each with unique movement), to the Pawns, the lowliest of the pieces without the ability to attack in the direction it’s moving, causing them to often run into obstacles and trap themselves, but in exchange, Pawn promotion makes these pieces a vital asset. Surviving the five-or-six-move journey to the opposite side is no small feat, and the reward reflects the danger. Allowing the player to choose which piece expands the possibilities of strategy, although the choice of a Queen begs the question of why a player would want to choose either a Rook or a Bishop when they could have both abilities, but then again, this serves as an important reminder that ‘Good Strategy is not explicit in Good Design.’ Strategy is esoteric; the individual must discover it for themselves in a way that makes sense to them, and it cannot be foisted upon the unready. Thus, instructions should always explicitly state what a player CAN do, but never what a player SHOULD do.

Perhaps something could be added to the game by removing the player choice from the Pawn promotion. Based on the square the Pawn promotes from, the rank of the piece from the beginning set-up is what the Pawn becomes. Though there is a King square but no King choice, so we could relegate that to player choice.