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Spiritual Lessons From The Chessboard By The Piece

Topic: Using The Chessboard And Chessmen To Show Who God Is And His Plans For Us

Lesson PDF link: Spiritual Lessons from the chess board.

Queen's Crown

At First, I want to tell everyone that I am a Bible teacher that is led by God to teach in unusual but accurate ways to give people a fresh perspective of the Word. Second, I am showing that God has a plan for us and that he has purpose for you and me. I assure everyone that I am a Christian writer and will show everything as accurately as possible.

In life there are parallels everywhere. God has given me insight on finding this very thing. Chess is one thing life parallels. Not only that, but God parallels in many ways with this game.

Chess is a game fraught with difficulties just like life and is full of saving graces like God. Difficulties would include complicated positions where one mistake costs big or how to outsmart an opponent. Sometimes a good move is hard to see. However, on the other side, are saving graces. These include a piece that's in the right place at the right time as friends many times are in life, or a defensive play that turns offensive - an interposing piece that actually attacks as well or a piece that defends in other ways but attacks the opponent at the exact same time, a strategic place for any piece getting developed - God has a purpose for everyone.

Some winning combinations entail many sacrifices (as life is for us and God requires a lot of times). Sacrifices include a temporary loss of certain looking positions for development and losing pieces for the greater good. In life, sometimes we must humble ourselves and lose great things but in the end we will have greater. Sometimes we as Christians must be martyrs or give something of ourselves that might be uncomfortable (time, money, property etc.) In this way God, life, and chess teach about selflessness vs. selfishness. God wants the former obeyed and the latter thrown away.

Other winning combinations entail a well-placed attack and/or defense. We must be ready to attack evil or be ready to defend against it. This is always God's call.

Some games end in a draw. Sometimes, we don't see God's purpose and we may be in what is called the 'desert place' where we are constantly searching for purpose - God will ultimately show us that purpose. Some games end in the draw because of bad moves by one or both players. Sometimes this 'desert place' is our own making. We can ruin our chance for a physical victory in this life because of our choices.

Sometimes, we lose chess games because of bad choices - just like real life. For example, look at how many people receive long and sometimes permanent penalties (jail time, loss of reputation, loneliness etc.)

The game of chess is also fraught with traps. If one isn't watching, the player will probably fall into it. There are sometimes enemies in life that try to trap us into their way and if we aren't watching, we will have considerable heartache when we realize our mistakes. You need to always remember that any opponent is out to defeat you.

Now, we will get to some basics about the game of chess.

Object:

The object of the game of chess is to trap the opponent's King in a direct line of fire from any piece(s) to the point where the King cannot get out safely this is called a Checkmate. (See Definitions) This is done mostly by using a team of two, three, or four chessmen etc. Sometimes this can be done with just one piece. This is possible when the opponent's King is hemmed in by his teammates. A King in itself cannot be the checking piece (although He may help defend escape squares so they can't be used by the checked King). In chess talk, the words 'checkmate', 'checkmating', and 'checkmated' are shortened to "mate", "mating", and "mated" respectively.

Special Notes To Understand This Article Better:

Note # 1) All descriptions of the pieces are based on the Staunton style of chessman unless otherwise noted.

Note # 2) All Copyrights are reserved by the owner of lesson material used. I am using this game for education purposes only.

Note # 3) The game mentioned above is called "The Chessmaster" Copyright 1991 The Software Toolworks Inc. All Rights Reserved. Licensed By Nintendo Of America Inc.--Software Toolworks was bought by UbiSoft Inc. So, technically, this game title is also under their copyright.

Chessmaster Copyright

Note # 4) I am going to use actual examples from games played (unless otherwise noted). My wife and I have played chess for awhile to make this project a success! Thanks Bonnie Very Much!!! I also want to say that the video game stills used in this manual in certain sections are not going to be from the same game but different and are for showing the examples of movement, privilege, etc.

Note # 5a) Some moves shown in this article by either side may or may not be particularly strategic or good. The moves shown are examples of movement, capture, etc. only.

5b) The video game used has a "Teaching Mode" where all of the possible moves are shown with the selected piece's silhouette in blue.

5c) Sometimes, a red silhouette appears because the selected piece can capture the piece highlighted. These silhouettes are red. Silhouettes of this type may be different because the piece possibly being captured is a different type, remember it will be the silhouette of a possible capture.

5d) Sometimes, we are showing a situation that we didn't have a video game still for. These were set up on a regular board and I took photos. In these photos I highlighted the areas needed to be looked at with arrows and other things. This kind of photo will also be used for introductory purposes (no highlights needed for these).

Note #6) Biblical Passages used are done by the piece, in other words, at the end of each piece's rules and examples will be a Biblical interpretation with selected scriptures.

Note # 7) This spiritual chess manual is a good teaching tool, however, I would rate this manual for advanced beginner to intermediate possibly (as far as the way the rulebook portion is written).

Note # 8) According To Our Atari2600 manual for Video Chess, chess was invented (probably how we know it) between 350 and 400 AD and is one of man's oldest games. This got me thinking, so I did some digging. Possibly this could be an early Christian underground game because of the persecution from Zoroastrian Shapur II and the Terving king named Athanaric. This spiritual chess manual that you're reading right now makes the case of spiritual overtones to a game that may have even originated way before the 4th century AD. (Source of the timeline of persecution: wikipedia.org/Persecution_Of_Christians). These two were pretty heavyweight persecutors back then. What better thing to use than a somewhat little known game (back then) to send a message to believers. And with that, we hope you enjoy this article. The Wikipedia article doesn't mention chess at all. I'm just showing the opinion that the game as we know it may not be a coincidence.

Note # 9) The game of chess is not in of itself about Good Vs. Evil, however you may see some parallels with this motif in the article you are reading.

Set-Up:

The game of chess starts out with the two rows nearest to the respective players filled with chessmen. The board always has a light colored square on the very right hand lower corners on the board on (by both players' perspective sides). Both players receive equally powered and numbered armies. The Pawns are always lined on the second row. There are 8 of these and they are smaller than all the rest of the pieces. On the nearest row, the other chessmen are. The Rooks or Castles are on either side. There are 2 Rooks. We then move inward. Knights are next to the Rooks (these look like horses). There are 2 Knights. Bishops are next to the Knights (these are sort of bullet shaped). There are 2 Bishops. The King is next to his wife (the Queen). On White's side, the King is on the right and the Queen on the left. On Black's side, the King is on the left and the Queen on the right. This is a good way to remember - the Queen always takes her own colored square at the start. The King is easily recognized. He has a cross on his head. The Queen has a relatively small head, but is laced with a pointy neck.

Beginning initial position

Example (Shown Above - The Beginning)

Where The Pieces Go (Beginning Position For All Chessmen):

Beginning Rook positions Beginning Bishop positions
Beginning Knight positions Beginning pawn positions
Beginning Queen positions Beginning King positions

Movement Of The Pieces:

Note: No piece can capture his/her own teammate (pieces of the same color), neither can any piece land on a square occupied by his teammate.

There are unique moves, captures, disadvantages, and advantages for every piece. As you will see, the King, Rook, Knight and the Pawn have unique privileges as well. Let's get started.

The Rook

The Rook:

The Rook can go straight up, down, left, or right wherever he is on the board. The Rook cannot move diagonally. The Rook is a powerful attacker and defender together with his buddy they are very formidable.

**Unique Privilege To The Rook**

Castling - See The King

Capture: The Rook captures when it lands on a square occupied by an opposing piece. It must capture in the same pattern as it moves.

Example Of Rook Movement:

Rook capture

A Beautiful Rook Shot And It Shows One Of The Strengths Of This Piece. Checkmate at F8 (KB8). Because Its Movement Is Pretty Much Unhindered. White Wins This Game With Its Rooks. These Rooks Easily Trap The Black King Because Of The Open Field They Enjoy, Black Has Nowhere To Hide.

Underdevelopment

Underdevelopment Is Dangerous And Can Sometimes Cost A Game. In This Picture, Black's Underdeveloped Rooks Are A Big Problem. They Control Almost All Useless Squares. The Only Thing Good About This Situation Is That White's Pawn Can't Move To The 8th Rank Very Easily For A Promotion (More About That Later In The Paper). The Black Rooks Would Have Been Better Served Elsewhere On The Board Far Sooner Perhaps. Underdevelopment Hampers Usefulness When You Need A Piece The Most.

Example Of Rook Capture:

Rook capture

This White Rook Can Capture The Black King's Last Defense. White's Bishop Guards That Strike Square (See Bishop Section For Reasoning (Movement Rules)).

Checked by a Rook.

Black Is Checked And Will Be Checkmated Next Move By White. More About Check And Checkmate At The End Of This Article.

Strategy Hint - Doubling/Tripling:

A lot of times in a game of chess, it is advantageous to double your Queen and Rook or two Rooks on a rank or file. ('Files' are the vertical rows and 'ranks' are the horizontal ones on the same lines of fire.) This provides a lot of power in that area. I've even played games where there is a tripling (the Queen and both Rooks on the same file or vertical line of squares).

Note: Sometimes, a Bishop and Queen are used on the same diagonal to provide power on one of those. This is just an extra tidbit of information.

Examples Of Doubling:

Queen and Rook doubled up.

White's Queen And King's Rook Are Doubled On 'D' File (aka Queen's File). This Prevents Black From Exchanging Queens And Puts A Lot Of Pressure On Black.

Rooks are doubled up.

I've Highlighted The Areas Where The Two Black Rooks Are. This Is A Powerful Position For Black. The Black Queen Is On The Same Diagonal As The Rook In The Back.

Tripling (two Rooks and Queen)

(Black Queen Is Pointed Out At The Back Rank Of Picture And The Two Rooks Are The Next Two Pointed Out.)

Now The Black Queen Makes It A Triple!!! White Definitely Has A Hard Time With Such Power. As You'd Expect, The Game Doesn't Last Much Longer.

Biblical Analysis For The Rook:

The Castle is definitely a place that is supposed to be safe and sound. This is where the King and royalty live. It is well guarded from attack and where decrees from the King are given. This is where victims of war would probably go if they needed treatment for injury (in my humble imagination). The gates of such a fortress are (according to a lot of sermons I've heard) filled with the best marksmen and archers in the land to quell an invasion. The Castle is the root source of The King's army and other defenses and of course all offense for the land. The scriptures for the Rook are about God being our fortress and help in times of trouble.

The Bible States In Psalms 31 (ASV):

Psa 31:1 For the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David. In thee, O Jehovah, do I take refuge; Let me never be put to shame: Deliver me in thy righteousness.

Psa 31:2 Bow down thine ear unto me; deliver me speedily: Be thou to me a strong rock, A house of defence to save me.

Psa 31:3 For thou art my rock and my fortress; Therefore for thy name's sake lead me and guide me.

Psa 31:4 Pluck me out of the net that they have laid privily for me; For thou art my stronghold.

Psa 31:5 Into thy hand I commend my spirit: Thou hast redeemed me, O Jehovah, thou God of truth.

Psa 31:6 I hate them that regard lying vanities; But I trust in Jehovah.

Psa 31:7 I will be glad and rejoice in thy lovingkindness; For thou hast seen my affliction: Thou hast known my soul in adversities;

Psa 31:8 And thou hast not shut me up into the hand of the enemy; Thou hast set my feet in a large place.

Psa 31:9 Have mercy upon me, O Jehovah, for I am in distress: Mine eye wasteth away with grief, yea, my soul and my body.

Psa 31:10 For my life is spent with sorrow, And my years with sighing: My strength faileth because of mine iniquity, And my bones are wasted away.

Psa 31:11 Because of all mine adversaries I am become a reproach, Yea, unto my neighbors exceedingly, And a fear to mine acquaintance: They that did see me without fled from me.

Psa 31:12 I am forgotten as a dead man out of mind: I am like a broken vessel.

Psa 31:13 For I have heard the defaming of many, Terror on every side: While they took counsel together against me They devised to take away my life.

Psa 31:14 But I trusted in thee, O Jehovah: I said, Thou art my God.

Psa 31:15 My times are in thy hand: Deliver me from the hand of mine enemies, and from them that persecute me.

Psa 31:16 Make thy face to shine upon thy servant: Save me in thy lovingkindness.

Psa 31:17 Let me not be put to shame, O Jehovah; for I have called upon thee: Let the wicked be put to shame, let them be silent in Sheol.

Psa 31:18 Let the lying lips be dumb, Which speak against the righteous insolently, With pride and contempt.

Psa 31:19 Oh how great is thy goodness, Which thou hast laid up for them that fear thee, Which thou hast wrought for them that take refuge in thee, Before the sons of men!

Psa 31:20 In the covert of thy presence wilt thou hide them from the plottings of man: Thou wilt keep them secretly in a pavilion from the strife of tongues.

Psa 31:21 Blessed be Jehovah; For he hath showed me his marvellous lovingkindness in a strong city.

Psa 31:22 As for me, I said in my haste, I am cut off from before thine eyes: Nevertheless thou heardest the voice of my supplications, When I cried unto thee.

Psa 31:23 Oh love Jehovah, all ye his saints: Jehovah preserveth the faithful, And plentifully rewardeth him that dealeth proudly.

Psa 31:24 Be strong, and let your heart take courage, All ye that hope in Jehovah.

God is very much our strength and refuge in times of strife or trouble. We all need shelter like this in our daily lives. We need not get overwhelmed by life or anything it brings when God is 1st in our lives.

The Bishop

The Bishop:

The Bishop can move only in diagonal lines. At the start of the game the Bishop is set on a certain color. He must stay on that color. This can be a disadvantage. Luckily he has a teammate on the opposite color. Together, they can travel the whole board if the board were theirs. They seem to be true friends if we parallel them to life.

Capture: The Bishop must capture diagonally on its color squares. One Bishop can only capture on light colored squares and the other on dark. It captures when it lands on a square occupied by an opposing piece. It must capture in the same pattern as it moves This can be a disadvantage because once a Bishop is eliminated the color it was on is safe for enemy pieces on that color from the other Bishop.

Examples Of Bishop Movement And Capture:

Moving range for Bishop

Black Bishop Movement (Dark Square)

Moving range for Bishop

White Bishop Movement (Light Square)

Moving range for Bishop

Black Bishop Movement (Light Square)

Moving range for Bishop

White Bishop Movement (Dark Square)

Bishop capture

Black's Light Square Bishop Can Capture The White King's Rook Pawn

Bishop capture

The Capture Is Made.

Biblical Analysis For The Bishop:

In my opinion, the most fitting sense of this word (outside of a church diocese) is a spiritual advisor or overseer (this is from http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/Bishop?s=t). So the Biblical scriptures selected will be about wise counsel and Godly rules for leadership. Advisors are really important when it comes to wise ruling (as long as advisors are humble and actually wise).

The Bible States In Proverbs, 10:8, 12:15, 13: 5-6, 14: 7-8, 15: 22, 18: 2, 18: 13, I Timothy 3, 1-13: (NIV)

Pr 10:8 The wise in heart accept commands, but a chattering fool comes to ruin.

Pr 12:15 The way of a fool seems right to him, but a wise man listens to advice.

Pr 13:15 Good understanding wins favor, but the way of the unfaithful is hard.

Pr 13:16 Every prudent man acts out of knowledge, but a fool exposes his folly.

Pr 14:7 Stay away from a foolish man, for you will not find knowledge on his lips.

Pr 14:8 The wisdom of the prudent is to give thought to their ways, but the folly of fools is deception.

Pr 15:22 Plans fail for lack of counsel, but with many advisers they succeed.

Pr 18:13 He who answers before listening - that is his folly and his shame.

I Timothy 3: 1-13

1 Here is a trustworthy saying: Whoever aspires to be an overseer desires a noble task.

2 Now the overseer is to be above reproach, faithful to his wife, temperate, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach,

3 not given to drunkenness, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money.

4 He must manage his own family well and see that his children obey him, and he must do so in a manner worthy of full respect.

5 (If anyone does not know how to manage his own family, how can he take care of God's church?)

6 He must not be a recent convert, or he may become conceited and fall under the same judgment as the devil.

7 He must also have a good reputation with outsiders, so that he will not fall into disgrace and into the devil's trap.

8 In the same way, deacons are to be worthy of respect, sincere, not indulging in much wine, and not pursuing dishonest gain.

9 They must keep hold of the deep truths of the faith with a clear conscience.

10 They must first be tested; and then if there is nothing against them, let them serve as deacons.

11 In the same way, the women are to be worthy of respect, not malicious talkers but temperate and trustworthy in everything.

12 A deacon must be faithful to his wife and must manage his children and his household well.

13 Those who have served well gain an excellent standing and great assurance in their faith in Christ Jesus.

Anyone that wants to be a leader or teacher like spiritual teaching, preaching, advising, counseling, writing, etc. needs to know how to discern God's plans for a group, church, or, the earthly kingdom needs of God's people etc. and literally be wise about the subject that he/she advises on. This takes a lot of prayer, patience, love, and honing. This also means that this kind of leader must be able to be disciplined and humble. Peter and Paul were leaders of their day and are mentioned in our recap at the end of this article.

The Knight

The Knight:

The Knight moves in an "L" pattern. This is done by moving him up or down 1 square then over (either direction) 2 squares. This can also be done the opposite way - up or down 2 squares and over either direction 1 square.

Capture: A capture happens where he lands unless he would land on a teammate (no riders please). Remember that no piece can land on a square occupied by a teammate.

Knights have a tendency to defend well. A lot of times they defend each other.

Example Of Knights' Defense Of Each Other (I call it 'Knight Gate')
Knights defend each other.

This is especially useful when some piece (Like The Black Queen) is bearing down and attacking one of them, not to mention that helping out The 'Knight Gate' there are other pieces guarding them as well (Queen with both Knights) and Bishop with the Knight at C4 (aka QB4)

**Unique Privileges To The Knight**

Privilege # 1--No Blocking Allowed: What is worst about The Knight is he cannot be blocked. It will sometimes check the enemy King and endangers another piece. This is called a fork (explained very shortly). The fork is not the actual privilege, but it makes this no blocking privilege much, much worse.

Privilege # 2--Jumping Hurdles: The Knight jumps pieces of either color during his moves. No piece during his moves and the opponent's moves will impede him from his strike squares (where the Knight is attacking). The Knight also lands on the opposite color that he started (just a rule of thumb).

Strategy Hint - The Knight Fork --The Knight can be very deadly with what is called a fork maneuver. This usually will win the endangered piece sometimes in exchange for himself. Sometimes the fork is so successful that he doesn't get captured himself.

Examples Of Knight Movement And Capture

Knight move and capture range

Look At The 8 Possibilities For The Knight.

Knight move and capture range

A Deadly Capture Is Made!!! The White Rook Can Be Captured Freely After This Check From The Black Knight (For White's King And Rook Are Both Forked By The Black Knight)!!!

However, My Wife Never Captured The Rook In This Example Game. Close The Deal Bonnie. Close The Deal. It may Have Been Difficult For White To Recover.

Examples Of Knight Movement Explained:

Knight move and capture range

The Typical 'L' Pattern

Knight move and capture range

Another Way Of The 'L' Pattern

Knight move and capture range

The Diagonal 'L'

Knight move and capture range

Another Form Of Diagonal 'L'

Note: On all of these the Knight jumps a piece sometimes. Also, think of the way the Knight moves kind of spider-like (8 legs)

Biblical Analysis On The Knight

The Knight is a type of defensive offense. He is the guard of his people and kingdom. He helps to lead in battle and defends from invasion. He helps to provide a kind of security and thus freedom for his people. He is much like parts of our armies today in our time. God is much like this. God leads us in battle against anything demonic and defends against all ungodliness. In the scriptures listed below, there is much on freedom from captivity and God leading to victory. I am sure that bravery and courage are definitely attributes of God. His people today need this today more than ever. God's people need to rely on Him to guard them in the rear and go in front as well to defend against evil from all sides.

The Bible States In Isaiah 52: 1-15 (NIV):

1) Awake, awake, Zion clothe yourself with strength! Put on your garments of splendor, Jerusalem, the holy city. The uncircumcised and defiled will not enter you again.

2)Shake off your dust; rise up, sit enthroned, Jerusalem. Free yourself from the chains on your neck, Daughter Zion, now a captive.

3) For this is what the LORD says: "You were sold for nothing, and without money you will be redeemed."

4) For this is what the Sovereign LORD says: "At first my people went down to Egypt to live; lately, Assyria has oppressed them.

5) And now what do I have here?" declares the LORD. "For my people have been taken away for nothing, and those who rule them mock," declares the LORD. "And all day long my name is constantly blasphemed.

6) Therefore my people will know my name; therefore in that day they will know that it is I who foretold it. Yes, it is I."

7) How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news, who proclaim peace, who bring good tidings, who proclaim salvation, who say to Zion, "Your God reigns!"

8) Listen! Your watchmen lift up their voices; together they shout for joy. When the LORD returns to Zion, they will see it with their own eyes.

9) Burst into songs of joy together, you ruins of Jerusalem, for the LORD has comforted his people, he has redeemed Jerusalem.

10) The LORD will lay bare his holy arm in the sight of all the nations, and all the ends of the earth will see the salvation of our God.

11)Depart, depart, go out from there! Touch no unclean thing! Come out from it and be pure, you who carry the articles of the LORD's house.

12) But you will not leave in haste or go in flight; for the LORD will go before you, the God of Israel will be your rear guard.

13) See, my servant will act wisely; he will be raised and lifted up and highly exalted.

14) Just as there were many who were appalled at him = his appearance was so disfigured beyond that of any human being and his form marred beyond human likeness -

15) so he will sprinkle many nations, and kings will shut their mouths because of him. For what they were not told, they will see, and what they have not heard, they will understand.

In this scripture passage, we see that Israel will be taken out of bondage from Babylon and set free. It also parallels to Jesus sacrificing Himself for our sins with this feat (part of this scripture is literally a prophecy about the sacrifice of Jesus dying for our sins). It also makes sure to note that Zion will be guarded at the rear by the God of Israel and the Lord on the front. This is to have God guarding at front and back just like The Lord Jesus Christ does (remember God in Three Persons = Father, Son, Holy Spirit). Jesus is definitely the best Knight we have. Jesus can't be blocked either just like the Knight in chess. I think the special 'L' pattern stands for 'L'ove.

The Pawn

The Pawn:

The Pawn may seem very lowly, but watch out! He is deadly if crossed the wrong way and very deadly if it is allowed to or strategically forces its way to the last square up its part of the board.

The Pawn can only move straight up the board. There are no retreats for this piece. Luckily he has 7 more just like him who help march across the board. Together they can cover the whole board (except their home back row) if it were theirs where alone they cannot do it.

Capture: The Pawn captures when it lands on a square occupied by an opposing piece. Capturing with the pawn is very different from the other pieces. This is explained in the Privileges section of this piece. The Pawn cannot land on a square occupied by an enemy or friendly piece with its straight up the board pattern. It can only move to an enemy's square with its capture or move to an empty square with its regular move.

**Unique Privileges To The Pawn**

Although trapped in a no retreat, straight up the board pattern these little pieces quite possibly will pack a very mean and deadly punch later in any game. A lot of times this mean and deadly punch simply means good defense of each other and more major pieces. Other games Pawns pin the enemy King to the wall in a mating net attack!! Here though, I will show the more strikingly unique ways a Pawn's true mettle is shown. The Pawn is lowly, but very privileged.

Privilege # 1 = A Choice To Make

At the beginning position every Pawn has a choice to make. He can move 1 square or 2 squares up. After this first move for every individual Pawn, it is only 1 square. This is of course only if there is not a friendly or enemy piece occupying the destination square.

Example:

Beginning Pawn move range
Beginning Pawn move range

After first move:

After Pawn first move

This Is After The First Move Of A Pawn. Remember that both sides are equal in their powers/privileges.

White marches up the the board and Black marches down it. Of course you know, it's all a matter of perspective.

Privilege # 2 - Unique Capture

The Pawn captures by moving forward diagonally one square. This is outside its normal movement.

Examples:

Pawn capture

White's Pawn Can Take Black's Queen!

Pawn capture

The Capture Is Made. Black's Queen Is Gone!

Privilege # --En Passant: This means "in passing". This unique capture allows the Pawn to capture without capture. Let's say my pawn is to the fifth square up the board (quite the feat in itself with opposing pieces around). You move your pawn up two squares to your fourth square (to a square adjacent to him) up. I can capture by moving diagonally up one square (This Passes Your Pawn - You Are On Your 4th Square Still, I Am Now On Your 3rd Or My 6th - Right Behind Him). This puts me actually one square passed your pawn. This seemingly misses you altogether, but this unique privilege eliminates your pawn from the game.

Example:

Pawn in-passing

Black Moves Pawn To 4th row after White Moves Pawn To Its 5th Row

Pawn in-passing

Shown What Is Described At Above

Pawn in-passing

White Can Choose To Go For Conventional Capture Of The Black Knight Or En Passant Capture The Black Pawn.

Pawn in-passing

White Chooses The Latter And Eliminates Blacks Pawn By En Passant

Privilege # 4 --Pawn Promotion:

This is a truly devastating privilege. If a Pawn gets to the very last square up the board, he gets to make a wish. By getting to the last square the Pawn can become a very powerful piece. The Pawn gets to become a Knight, a Bishop, a Rook, or even a Queen. This means you can end up with actually 9 Queens, 10 Knights, 10 Bishops, or 10 Rooks, on the board even though unlikely. You can even mix and match. You don't have to stay with one kind of piece to become. There are 8 separate possible promotions (one for each Pawn). So, in other words, it's not smart to lose your Pawns to inefficiency and capture.

On A Personal Level, I once played against my Uncle Carl and He ended up with 8 Queens - No Kidding!!!! There's only two possibilities for this to happen. This would be a Queen exchange or he may have lost a pawn in a good exchange for him (I don't remember which). I just remember the 8 Queens!!! Luckily, Checkmate happened soon after.

Examples:

Pawn promotion

Black's Move - White Can Promote Its Pawn Next Turn

Pawn promotion

Black Moves Its King To Avoid The Possible Check At C8 (QB8)

Pawn promotion

Make A Wish!!!

Pawn promotion

White Promotes Pawn To Queen, This Most Certainly Seals A Win For White. (Even Though The White Bishop Can Be Captured Freely).

Strategy Hint--The Pawn Fork:

The Pawn can strategically fork two enemy pieces. The pawn in of itself is less valuable than all other pieces, so this can hurt the enemy very badly.

Pawn fork

Example (Shown Above): White's Pawn can check the Black King with its normal move, capture the enemy Knight, or capture the enemy Pawn. The Knight is best because it eliminates a minor piece and is defended by its Queen.

Biblical Analysis For The Pawn:

Pawn derives its name from "Foot Soldier" in Medieval Latin according to http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/Pawn?s=t. They are basically infantry men. Of course, the word has a few other meanings including the one for chess. As far as I understand it, they will do a lot of close combat and they are required to be humble and be good servants and team players. They do what they need to do to help the cause they are there for.

The best description of a Pawn in chess may very well be David, son of Jesse. He had close combat with the mighty Philistine Goliath. David was a shepherd boy and had close combat with lions and bears and killed them with a hard staff or possibly a club. So, the story of David and Goliath is definitely a good way to show what a pawn needs to be like - brave, courageous, never really retreating, but always well protected and protecting and in chess, shouldn't be undervalued as the dictionary definition easily possibly does. Our Fantasy version in 'The Chessmaster' video game reflects the interesting characteristic of David as a boy (a club, mallet or staff).

Fantasy style Pawn

Notice what looks to me like a mallet in each Pawn's hand perhaps a club. Of course, this is one technicality I could be debated on.

The Bible States In I Samuel 17 (NIV)

1) Now the Philistines gathered their forces for war and assembled at Sokoh in Judah. They pitched camp at Ephes Dammim, between Sokoh and Azekah.

2 Saul and the Israelites assembled and camped in the Valley of Elah and drew up their battle line to meet the Philistines.

3 The Philistines occupied one hill and the Israelites another, with the valley between them.

4 A champion named Goliath, who was from Gath, came out of the Philistine camp. His height was six cubits and a span.

5 He had a bronze helmet on his head and wore a coat of scale armor of bronze weighing five thousand shekels;

6 on his legs he wore bronze greaves, and a bronze javelin was slung on his back.

7 His spear shaft was like a weaver’s rod, and its iron point weighed six hundred shekels. His shield bearer went ahead of him.

8 Goliath stood and shouted to the ranks of Israel, "Why do you come out and line up for battle? Am I not a Philistine, and are you not the servants of Saul? Choose a man and have him come down to me.

9 If he is able to fight and kill me, we will become your subjects; but if I overcome him and kill him, you will become our subjects and serve us."

10 Then the Philistine said, "This day I defy the armies of Israel! Give me a man and let us fight each other."

11 On hearing the Philistine's words, Saul and all the Israelites were dismayed and terrified.

12 Now David was the son of an Ephrathite named Jesse, who was from Bethlehem in Judah. Jesse had eight sons, and in Saul's time he was very old.

13 Jesse's three oldest sons had followed Saul to the war: The firstborn was Eliab; the second, Abinadab; and the third, Shammah.

14 David was the youngest. The three oldest followed Saul,

15 but David went back and forth from Saul to tend his father's sheep at Bethlehem.

16 For forty days the Philistine came forward every morning and evening and took his stand.

17 Now Jesse said to his son David, "Take this ephah of roasted grain and these ten loaves of bread for your brothers and hurry to their camp.

18 Take along these ten cheeses to the commander of their unit. See how your brothers are and bring back some assurance from them.

19 They are with Saul and all the men of Israel in the Valley of Elah, fighting against the Philistines."

20 Early in the morning David left the flock in the care of a shepherd, loaded up and set out, as Jesse had directed. He reached the camp as the army was going out to its battle positions, shouting the war cry.

21 Israel and the Philistines were drawing up their lines facing each other.

22 David left his things with the keeper of supplies, ran to the battle lines and asked his brothers how they were.

23 As he was talking with them, Goliath, the Philistine champion from Gath, stepped out from his lines and shouted his usual defiance, and David heard it.

24 Whenever the Israelites saw the man, they all fled from him in great fear.

25 Now the Israelites had been saying, "Do you see how this man keeps coming out? He comes out to defy Israel. The king will give great wealth to the man who kills him. He will also give him his daughter in marriage and will exempt his family from taxes in Israel."

26 David asked the men standing near him, "What will be done for the man who kills this Philistine and removes this disgrace from Israel? Who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy the armies of the living God?"

27 They repeated to him what they had been saying and told him, "This is what will be done for the man who kills him."

28 When Eliab, David's oldest brother, heard him speaking with the men, he burned with anger at him and asked, "Why have you come down here? And with whom did you leave those few sheep in the wilderness? I know how conceited you are and how wicked your heart is; you came down only to watch the battle."

29 "Now what have I done?" said David. "Can't I even speak?"

30 He then turned away to someone else and brought up the same matter, and the men answered him as before.

31 What David said was overheard and reported to Saul, and Saul sent for him.

32 David said to Saul, "Let no one lose heart on account of this Philistine; your servant will go and fight him."

33 Saul replied, "You are not able to go out against this Philistine and fight him; you are only a young man, and he has been a warrior from his youth."

34 But David said to Saul, "Your servant has been keeping his father's sheep. When a lion or a bear came and carried off a sheep from the flock,

35 I went after it, struck it and rescued the sheep from its mouth. When it turned on me, I seized it by its hair, struck it and killed it.

36 Your servant has killed both the lion and the bear; this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, because he has defied the armies of the living God.

37 The LORD who rescued me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will rescue me from the hand of this Philistine." Saul said to David, "Go, and the LORD be with you."

38 Then Saul dressed David in his own tunic. He put a coat of armor on him and a bronze helmet on his head.

39 David fastened on his sword over the tunic and tried walking around, because he was not used to them. "I cannot go in these," he said to Saul, "because I am not used to them." So he took them off.

40 Then he took his staff in his hand, chose five smooth stones from the stream, put them in the pouch of his shepherd's bag and, with his sling in his hand, approached the Philistine.

41 Meanwhile, the Philistine, with his shield bearer in front of him, kept coming closer to David.

42 He looked David over and saw that he was little more than a boy, glowing with health and handsome, and he despised him.

43 He said to David, "Am I a dog, that you come at me with sticks?" And the Philistine cursed David by his gods.

44 "Come here," he said, "and I'll give your flesh to the birds and the wild animals!"

45 David said to the Philistine, "You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the LORD Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied.

46 This day the LORD will deliver you into my hands, and I'll strike you down and cut off your head. This very day I will give the carcasses of the Philistine army to the birds and the wild animals, and the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel.

47 All those gathered here will know that it is not by sword or spear that the LORD saves; for the battle is the LORD’s, and he will give all of you into our hands."

48 As the Philistine moved closer to attack him, David ran quickly toward the battle line to meet him.

49 Reaching into his bag and taking out a stone, he slung it and struck the Philistine on the forehead. The stone sank into his forehead, and he fell facedown on the ground.

50 So David triumphed over the Philistine with a sling and a stone; without a sword in his hand he struck down the Philistine and killed him.

51 David ran and stood over him. He took hold of the Philistine’s sword and drew it from the sheath. After he killed him, he cut off his head with the sword. When the Philistines saw that their hero was dead, they turned and ran.

52 Then the men of Israel and Judah surged forward with a shout and pursued the Philistines to the entrance of Gath[f] and to the gates of Ekron. Their dead were strewn along the Shaaraim road to Gath and Ekron.

53 When the Israelites returned from chasing the Philistines, they plundered their camp.

54 David took the Philistine's head and brought it to Jerusalem; he put the Philistine's weapons in his own tent.

55 As Saul watched David going out to meet the Philistine, he said to Abner, commander of the army, "Abner, whose son is that young man?" Abner replied, "As surely as you live, Your Majesty, I don't know."

56 The king said, "Find out whose son this young man is."

57 As soon as David returned from killing the Philistine, Abner took him and brought him before Saul, with David still holding the Philistine's head.

58 "Whose son are you, young man?" Saul asked him. David said, "I am the son of your servant Jesse of Bethlehem."

David was a very strong and godly man. He was known for being after God's own heart and was given a big time promotion (King). I know in chess that pawns don't get promoted this way, but in chess pawns do get rewarded for their bravery with much power. As far as the promotion part goes, Esther is a good choice as well (Much Like This Kind Of Pawn She Became Queen - Mentioned In A Recap At The End Of This Article Instead Of David - Because Of The Nature Of The Pawn).

The Queen

The Queen:

She is a very powerful piece. In fact, she is the most powerful because she can move in all directions - up, down, right, left, and diagonally. She is not color-bound like the Bishops. She is actually a combination Rook/Bishop. She cannot move like the Knight. The "L" pattern, the no blocking privilege, and the jumping privilege are unique to him. She doesn't get promoted like the Pawn (no need anyway). Even though limited by these, she is extremely potent indeed. There are no other bonuses or privileges to the Queen - just raw power.

Capture: The Queen captures when it lands on a square occupied by an opposing piece. she must capture in the same pattern as she moves

Example Of Queen Movement:

Queen Movement

The Black Queen Can Move Pretty Well. She is limited here by the edge of the board, but despite that she can possibly help her King's cause if moved properly.

Example Of Queen Capture

:
Queen Capture and Movement

The White Queen Has Many Places That She Can Move. For Example, She Can Devastatingly Capture The Black Rook In The Corner (Because It Is Unguarded)

Queen Capture and Movement

The Capture Is Made.

The way that I understand some older traditional kingdoms. If a King falls in love and literally marries, his wife becomes a Queen. So partially my opinion here is also reflected in the storyline and analyses contained in this article.

The Queen for this article will symbolize The New Jerusalem and the true church of Christ. In the end, King Jesus marries his Bride (The City And The Church). Multiple Queens, in this article, reflect part of the Bride of Christ. The true church is born of the Holy Spirit with true power, so in reality, the Holy Spirit (The Third Person of the Trinity), being very Queen like in reality (goes in very powerful fashion anywhere) can easily be its symbol as well. But, for spiritual marriage sake, let's go here.

The Bible States In Revelation 21: 9-27 (NIV)

9 One of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues came and said to me, "Come, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb."

10 And he carried me away in the Spirit to a mountain great and high, and showed me the Holy City, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God.

11 It shone with the glory of God, and its brilliance was like that of a very precious jewel, like a jasper, clear as crystal.

12 It had a great, high wall with twelve gates, and with twelve angels at the gates. On the gates were written the names of the twelve tribes of Israel.

13 There were three gates on the east, three on the north, three on the south and three on the west.

14 The wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them were the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.

15 The angel who talked with me had a measuring rod of gold to measure the city, its gates and its walls.

16 The city was laid out like a square, as long as it was wide. He measured the city with the rod and found it to be 12,000 stadia in length, and as wide and high as it is long.

17 The angel measured the wall using human measurement, and it was 144 cubits thick.

18 The wall was made of jasper, and the city of pure gold, as pure as glass.

19 The foundations of the city walls were decorated with every kind of precious stone. The first foundation was jasper, the second sapphire, the third agate, the fourth emerald,

20 the fifth onyx, the sixth ruby, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth turquoise, the eleventh jacinth, and the twelfth amethyst.

21 The twelve gates were twelve pearls, each gate made of a single pearl. The great street of the city was of gold, as pure as transparent glass.

22 I did not see a temple in the city, because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple.

23 The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp.

24 The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their splendor into it.

25 On no day will its gates ever be shut, for there will be no night there.

26 The glory and honor of the nations will be brought into it.

27 Nothing impure will ever enter it, nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life.

Granted, most of this passage talks about the city called The New Jerusalem, however the way it talks about Christ's people along with it means that the true church is definitely part of the Bride and the city making up the rest of it. In this case, I would agree with Matthew Henry's Commentary as well. Look at this website: Matthew Henry Commentary. This is pretty much what I would understand as well (along the same lines). The City is beautiful (much like a bride and the people shine with Christ's glory as well. This is truly something wonderful - what will happen in the very end.

The King

The King:

The King's movements are very limited. He can move in any direction - up, down, right, left, and diagonally, but only a snail's pace one square at a time.

Capture: The King captures when it lands on a square occupied by an opposing piece. It must capture in the same pattern as it moves. If the threatened piece is defended by another enemy piece (within its strike squares), he cannot capture it. This would be illegal.

The King is actually one of the weakest pieces on the board. Without his wife (The Queen) at his side and aide, and the rest of his army, he is quite vulnerable to Check and Checkmate. If there's anything chess proves it's that there's no 'I' in team. With just the King alone on the board, not even the best champion in the world could win.

**Unique Privilege To The King**

Castling: His Majesty is a very privileged fellow. He gets to move two squares left or right toward an unused thus far Rook and his Rook jumps his own King and moves beside him on the opposite side of him. This privilege can only happen if certain things happen and don't happen. They are as follows:

1)Castling can only happen once per side per game.

2) The Rook and King cannot have moved once thus far in the game.

3) There mustn't be any friendly or enemy pieces in the way.

4) The King cannot be in direct line fire of an opposing piece, and the King cannot move through said line of fire.

5)There are two ways to Castle. You can Castle King's Side or Queen's Side. If one of the Rooks has moved but the other hasn’t and the King hasn't moved, he may still use his said Rook that didn't move yet.

6)Before we show you His Majesty's Normal movements and capture move, this time we will show how to Castle on the next several pages.

Example Of Castling (King's Side):

Castling

The White King Has His Own Rook Available (The Queen's Rook Is Unavailable Because His Queen Is Still At Home).

Castling

To Execute Castling, The White King Moves Two Squares Instead Of His Normal One Square. In This Case, To The Right.

Castling

This Rook Jumps It's King And Ends Up Beside On The Opposite Side Of Him.

Example Of Castling (Queen's Side):

Castling

White's King Cannot Castle King's Side In This Game. The White Knight Is Still At Home.

Castling

This Means The King Must Castle Queen's Side. To Execute Castling, The King Moves Two Squares Left Instead Of His Normal One Square.

Castling

This Rook Jumps It's King And Ends Up Beside On The Opposite Side Of Him.

Castling Queen's Side is usually offensive rather than defensive as King's Side Castling is defensive normally. Both ways, however, the rook gets developed faster. Castling when you play Black is a mirror image of White (King's Side To The Left, Queen's Side To The Right).

Note: The Rook Jump is its privilege. This is why the Castling section under the Rook section says "See The King"

Example Of Normal King Movement:

King range and movement

The King Can Move In 8 directions (Look At The Checkers)

Example Of King Capture:

King capture

The Black Knight Dared To Endanger The White Rook Unguarded. The White King Can Capture Him

King capture

The Black Knight Got Captured By White's King, But At A Cost. White Can No Longer Castle.

Biblical Analysis Of The King:

The King represents Jesus in His humble earthly ministry. He emptied himself of divinity and became like us which is very limiting. Compare Jesus as God with the comparison of a humble servant and human. He appears to have went one square or two (depending) each time he did something. Castling of the King could conceivably mean that Jesus had to take refuge in God The Father through much prayer and fasting when times got tough or was otherwise told to do so. Jesus decided to be one of us and to serve humanity how He did - even though he is literally King over everything.

The Bible States In John 13: 1-17 (NIV):

1 It was just before the Passover Festival. Jesus knew that the hour had come for him to leave this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end.

2 The evening meal was in progress, and the devil had already prompted Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot, to betray Jesus.

3 Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God;

4 so he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist.

5 After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him.

6 He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?”

7 Jesus replied, "You do not realize now what I am doing, but later you will understand."

8 "No," said Peter, "you shall never wash my feet." Jesus answered, "Unless I wash you, you have no part with me."

9 "Then, Lord," Simon Peter replied, "not just my feet but my hands and my head as well!"

10 Jesus answered, "Those who have had a bath need only to wash their feet; their whole body is clean. And you are clean, though not every one of you."

11 For he knew who was going to betray him, and that was why he said not every one was clean.

12 When he had finished washing their feet, he put on his clothes and returned to his place. "Do you understand what I have done for you?" he asked them.

13 "You call me 'Teacher' and 'Lord,' and rightly so, for that is what I am.

14 Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another's feet.

15 I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you.

16 Very truly I tell you, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him.

17 Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.

Washing the feet of someone back then in Jesus' physical day was one of the lowliest if not the lowliest jobs meant for just a servant. The servant that had to do that wasn't treated as very important. That being said - Jesus doing this in His physical day was astonishing at least (This is why I think Peter first refused). This is one of the humblest acts Christ ever did. It doesn't stack up to the crucifixion itself though.

The Bible States In Galatians 3: 10-14 (NIV)

10 For all who rely on the works of the law are under a curse, as it is written: "Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the Book of the Law."

11 Clearly no one who relies on the law is justified before God, because "the righteous will live by faith."

12 The law is not based on faith; on the contrary, it says, "The person who does these things will live by them."

13 Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: "Cursed is everyone who is hung on a pole."

14 He redeemed us in order that the blessing given to Abraham might come to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus, so that by faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit.

Jesus did what he did to redeem us, but at what cost?! Jesus became the scapegoat for our sins so we could be free.

The Bible States In Philippians 2: 1-11 (NIV):

1 Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion,

2 then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind.

3 Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves,

4 not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.

5 In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus:

6 Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage;

7 rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.

8 And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death - even death on a cross!

9 Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name,

10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth,

11 and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Jesus limited himself so we could be with Him. He was humble and obedient enough to make us be unlimited in the very end of things. The cross of the King in chess can remind us of Christ's humility through everything, but we know the King is King of course, even in chess, the King is the most important piece. As every chessman has to sacrifice themselves for the good of their King we must do the same for ours. We also know Jesus is King, so this means we need to do the same for Him and His cause - even if that means teaching, preaching, being a servant, helping humanity otherwise etc. even martyrdom.

Definitions:

Check--:There are actually different types of checks. Please remember that Kings themselves cannot give check.

Check (a)--Regular: A direct line of fire by an opposing piece. At least at this point an escape square is available. I thought it would be helpful to show checks from the various pieces.

Examples:

Check with a white pawn.

Check With The White Pawn. Note That This Pawn Is Defended By Another Pawn. The King Cannot Capture.

Check with a white rook.

Check With A White Rook. This Is Almost A Checkmate, But Not Quite. This Diagram Was Used Earlier In This Article. The King Is Checked At Close Range. The King Cannot Capture Because Of The White Bishop.

Check with a black knight.

This Vicious Check Of The White King With The Black Knight Was Used Earlier, But Just To Show Movement And The Fork (The Check Was Just A Little Extra For That Section). At Present We Are Highlighting The Check. There Is No Danger Here For Black Because Knights Can't Be Blocked. Along With That Problem, With This Particular Check, White Cannot Capture The Knight Either.

Check with a white bishop.

Check With The White Bishop. The King Has To Move Away Because There Is No Capture (The White Knight And White Rook).

Check with a white queen.

The Black King Is Checked By The White Queen. The Black King Must Move Away From The White Queen's Firing Line.

Check (b)-'Discovered Check': A check in which a friendly but interposing (blocking) piece is moved away exposing the enemy King to a check. Moving a piece exposing your own King to said line of fire or check is illegal. The example For This Is On The Next Page.

Examples:

Discovered check.

White's Move: It's Pawn Is In The Way Of The White Queen's Line To Black's King. This White Pawn Can Capture The Black Pawn At Its Diagonal Right. To Give A Discovered Double Check.

Discovered and double check.

This Diagram Also Shown Below Under "Double Check" Because It Is So Good, It Works For Both. White's Pawn Moves In It's Normal Capture And In The Process Gives Normal Check Itself And A Discover Check Happens With The White Queen.

Check (c): Double Check—: A move in which exposes the King to two direct lines of fire or checks in one turn.

Example:

Discovered and double check.

The White Pawn And White Queen Are Giving Check At The Same Time.

Getting Out Of Check--: The player who is checked has three options for getting out of this jam.

1)Capture The Checking Piece

Example:

Gives check but captured.

The Black Knight Is Checking White's King, However, He Landed Inside The Strike Squares Of Enemy Pieces. Not A Good Check Executed By Black.

Gives check but captured.

White's Queen Is Chosen To Dispose Of The Intruding Black Knight.

2)Interpose (Block) With A Friendly Piece

Example:

Blocking a check.

This Game Is Almost Over. White's Queen Is Checking The Black King. A Checkmate Comes Soon. Nonetheless, Black Can Block This Particular Check Or Move Its King.

Blocking a check.

Black's Queen Is Chosen To Interpose. This Is Temporary, As There Is Nothing Stopping The Checkmate Now.

3)Move The King Away

Example:

Moving the king out of check.

This Check Of The White King By The Black Knight Is Being Used Again Because The Diagram Is Great On Multiple Levels. At First, Was The Knight Fork Part Of Things, Then Was The Fact That This Is A Check, And Now We Highlight That White's King Must Move. Normally, These Kinds Of Checks Spell The End Of A Good Piece (Not To Mention That The Black Light Square Bishop Defends Two Of The White King's Escape Squares.

Moving the king out of check.

White's King Moves Toward The Black Knight (Just In Case This Knight Forgets To Take His Prize - The White Rook)

Note: If None Of These Is Possible, Then It Is A Checkmate. The Checked Player Loses.

I think there is a Biblical parallel to the check. There are numerous times in scripture where the Pharisees and other enemies attacked Jesus and tried to set Him up for a trap. Jesus either was able to move through them somehow, convert someone like Nicodemus, or something would happen after a sermon that blocked said rulers and others from capturing Him and they would go away.

Checkmate(ing, ed): AKA: Mate, Mating, Mated -:This is the bitter end when a check happens but there is no escape square available, there is no blocker to be found and capture of the checking piece is impossible. This will either be by the King's own doing (Bad moves etc.) or just a good mating attack. The game is lost or won.

There are different kinds of Checkmate. These range from very simple with one piece (usually the Checkmated King's own army does the rest - unlucky for him) to somewhat spectacular with four enemies or possibly five working together to complete the trap. For this article, we will only go up to three. Four and five were hard to come by. They are a lot rarer than the others. Bonnie And I haven't run into these yet.

Examples:

Simple checkmate

A Very Simple Checkmate. Just The White Queen Is Needed. Black's Own Pawns Doom Him By Blocking Valuable Escape Squares.

2 piece checkmate

This Is A Two-Piece Checkmate Because The White Bishop Protects Its Queen From Capture.

3 piece checkmate

This Is A 3-Piece Checkmate (The White Knight Isn't Necessary, Even Though One Of The Black King's Possible Movements Are On One Of The White Knight's Strike Squares. In Fact, If You Look At This closely You Will See That This Diagram Is An Either Or Checkmate. It Takes One Of The Two, The Rook Or Knight (Not Both) To Make This Happen. In Other Words, If One Of Them Were Gone It's Still A Checkmate. I Think This Is Interesting.

In a lot of Checkmates that I have run into, there is at least one friendly-fire problem for the trapped King. In a sense, that would be more mating pieces. However, we are focusing on enemies needed for the Checkmate.

A good Biblical symbol here is that Jesus allowed Himself to be checkmated in a sense, because he allowed Himself to get captured and could have called His angels down from Heaven before it would be 'too late' and would die. He didn't and He took the punishment meant for us. He is risen from the grave now to seal the believers' victory.

Resign--: This is when one player knows that he/she is beaten and about to get checkmated or knows that checkmate is imminent. This is as good as a checkmate and the resignation counts as a loss for the resigner.

Sometimes it is better to save time (especially in regular informal games where schedules and other time constraints must be followed outside of chess clocks) and possibly a defeat that is demoralizing and crushing. (This part of it might be true more in tourneys - at least in the tournaments I've been a part of, this doesn't mean elimination - just a lower score and rating.)

There is a Biblical symbol here which is Terms Of Peace Jesus is talking about the cost of being a disciple. We all have to decide to go against God or for Him. Spiritual resignation may be the end of us ruling ourselves where God should be ruling us, but God knows what is best for us and He is just and ready to forgive and bless. We need to be able to give ourselves up to Him, so we will be part of God's wonderful plans for the people around us and the world.

The Bible States In Luke 14: 28-35 (NIV)

28 "Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Won't you first sit down and estimate the cost to see if you have enough money to complete it?

29 For if you lay the foundation and are not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule you,

30 saying, 'This person began to build and wasn't able to finish.'

31 "Or suppose a king is about to go to war against another king. Won't he first sit down and consider whether he is able with ten thousand men to oppose the one coming against him with twenty thousand?

32 If he is not able, he will send a delegation while the other is still a long way off and will ask for terms of peace.

33 In the same way, those of you who do not give up everything you have cannot be my disciples.

34 "Salt is good, but if it loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again?

35 It is fit neither for the soil nor for the manure pile; it is thrown out. "Whoever has ears to hear, let them hear."

Doubling/Trippling-: Putting two or three pieces on the same rank (horizonal) or file (vertical) line of fire - this could also be diagonal when it involves a Bishop.

The spiritual symbol here is power. I like the Queen/Rook combination especially because to me it means the Church relying on God for its help and shelter.

Fork-: When Two pieces or more are attacked by the same piece.

We covered the Knight and Pawn. This can sometimes be done also with any other piece.

These are just the strategically good ones that Bonnie and I have ran into. The Biblical symbol here is loss. We all lose things sometimes to the unforeseen and can be the result of bad choices. This can be crippling, but be faithful to The Lord and look for redemption of the situation.

A good parallel might be II Samuel 24. King David makes a rare error in judgment and calls for a census of his army and he enrolls many. It looks like to me around the 1.3 million troop mark. He is evidently realizing this wasn't God's plan for his kingdom - He didn't take the advice of Joab. David's very godly consience bothered him and he apologized to the Lord and asked the guilt of it to be taken away. This is what happens though.

The Bible States In II Samuel 24: 11-25 (NIV)

11 Before David got up the next morning, the word of the LORD had come to Gad the prophet, David's seer:

12 "Go and tell David, 'This is what the LORD says: I am giving you three options. Choose one of them for me to carry out against you.'"

13 So Gad went to David and said to him, "Shall there come on you three years of famine in your land? Or three months of fleeing from your enemies while they pursue you? Or three days of plague in your land? Now then, think it over and decide how I should answer the one who sent me."

14 David said to Gad, "I am in deep distress. Let us fall into the hands of the LORD, for his mercy is great; but do not let me fall into human hands."

15 So the LORD sent a plague on Israel from that morning until the end of the time designated, and seventy thousand of the people from Dan to Beersheba died.

16 When the angel stretched out his hand to destroy Jerusalem, the LORD relented concerning the disaster and said to the angel who was afflicting the people, "Enough! Withdraw your hand." The angel of the LORD was then at the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.

17 When David saw the angel who was striking down the people, he said to the LORD, "I have sinned; I, the shepherd, have done wrong. These are but sheep. What have they done? Let your hand fall on me and my family."

18 On that day Gad went to David and said to him, "Go up and build an altar to the LORD on the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite."

19 So David went up, as the LORD had commanded through Gad.

20 When Araunah looked and saw the king and his officials coming toward him, he went out and bowed down before the king with his face to the ground.

21 Araunah said, "Why has my lord the king come to his servant?" "To buy your threshing floor," David answered, "so I can build an altar to the LORD, that the plague on the people may be stopped."

22 Araunah said to David, "Let my lord the king take whatever he wishes and offer it up. Here are oxen for the burnt offering, and here are threshing sledges and ox yokes for the wood.

23 Your Majesty, Araunah gives all this to the king." Araunah also said to him, "May the LORD your God accept you."

24 But the king replied to Araunah, "No, I insist on paying you for it. I will not sacrifice to the LORD my God burnt offerings that cost me nothing." So David bought the threshing floor and the oxen and paid fifty shekels of silver for them.

25 David built an altar to the LORD there and sacrificed burnt offerings and fellowship offerings. Then the LORD answered his prayer in behalf of the land, and the plague on Israel was stopped.

This would be a very tough decision. King David could defend against two of the three losses described and had to make a choice. The plague idea might have been shorter, however from what I understand this might have been the most costly of the three. At least with a famine you can import food, running from your enemies doesn't necessarily imply death.

Nonetheless they are all considered disasters. What would you choose? In chess, there are decisions to be made if you get forked by an opposing piece. Some may look more appetizing than others given the choice and even then may be the wrong loss to take. Sometimes, you just can't protect everything when a decision is made that doesn't look bad at the time but have disasterous effects later.

File-: Any one of the eight verical rows on the chessboard, it covers all eight squares of the lines A - H. In older chess notation they are named after the home back row's piece. From left to right (according to White's perspective) they include the following: The Queen's Rook (QR) File, The Queen's Knight (QN) File, The Queen's Bishop (QB) File, The Queen's (Q) File, The King's (K)File, The King's Bishop (KB) File, The King's Knight (KN) File, And The King's Rook (KR) File.

Example:

The files of the chessboard

Forgive The Kings On The Board. The Game Used Would Not Allow Them To Be Taken Off.

This Is An Example Of What Files Look Like. As You Can See, Every Set Of Squares Going Up And Down (Every Vertical Line) Are What Files Are.

Rank--: Any one of the eight horizonal rows on the chessboard. It covers all eight squares of the line and are numbered 1-8. In Newer Chess Notation it is by White's perspective. In older version of Chess Notation it is by the respective perspective (White's K8 squaqre is Black's K1 square etc. Use the initials of the file names listed in the definition of File.

Example:

The ranks of the chessboard

Forgive The Kings On The Board. The Game Used Would Not Allow Them To Be Taken Off.

This Is The Example Of What Ranks Look Like. Notice That All Straight Across (Horizonal) Lines Are A Rank.

Pin-: A Pin Is When A Piece Is Immobile Due To Being A Blocker For A More Major Piece Or Even The King. These Are Very Dangerous Traps To Fall Into. Capturing The Pinning Piece With The Pinned Piece Usually leads To A Worse Problem, As In This Case Capture Is Actually Impossible. A Lot Of These Pins Are This Way As Well.

(For This Article's Purpose, We Will Focus On Being Pinned To One's King.)

Example Of Being Pinned To One's King:

A pin

A Great Example, The White Queen Is Pinning The Enemy Knight To His King. The Knight Can't Move Because That Exposes His King To Check By The White Queen. There Is Also A White Rook Bearing Down On The Trapped Knight--Very Devastating.

The Biblical symbol here is sacrifice. Every piece must be sacrificed if needed to help the King and his cause of winning the match (if at all possible or the need arises) Of course God doesn't need saving, but we as His people are looking to help get others into Heaven with us. The Church as persecuted as it was and still is in many countries means that examples must be lived out so more people will see God for who He is. This may not always be martyrdom. Sometimes, it just means being there at the right time to show the true nature of God's love, humility, and of course, the Gospel of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. For the Biblical passage for this, look in the "Capture" section of these definitions.

Diagonal-: Lines of squares in the form of a straight slant. The Queen And Bishops use these completely and everything else that can will go one square in that direction - See General Rules for the various pieces in this article. For better understanding, look at the diagram below. (Forgive The Kings On This Diagram, The Game Used Wouldn't Allow Those To Be Removed).

Example Of Diagonals:

The diagonalss of the chessboard

Privilege--: A unique quality of any given chessman that has this kind of move available.

The Biblical symbol would mean a gift given by God that is needed for the world to see His love, power, miracles, and glory.

Capture--: This happens when any piece lands on a square occupied by any piece of a different color - White pieces capture Black, Black pieces capture White.

The Biblical symbol here would be suffering and possibly martyrdom for the Gospel of Christ.

The Bible States In Luke 21: 8-19 (NIV)

8 He replied: "Watch out that you are not deceived. For many will come in my name, claiming, 'I am he,' and, 'The time is near.' Do not follow them.

9 When you hear of wars and uprisings, do not be frightened. These things must happen first, but the end will not come right away."

10 Then he said to them: "Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom.

11 There will be great earthquakes, famines and pestilences in various places, and fearful events and great signs from heaven.

12 "But before all this, they will seize you and persecute you. They will hand you over to synagogues and put you in prison, and you will be brought before kings and governors, and all on account of my name.

13 And so you will bear testimony to me.

14 But make up your mind not to worry beforehand how you will defend yourselves.

15 For I will give you words and wisdom that none of your adversaries will be able to resist or contradict.

16 You will be betrayed even by parents, brothers and sisters, relatives and friends, and they will put some of you to death.

17 Everyone will hate you because of me.

18 But not a hair of your head will perish.

19 Stand firm, and you will win life.

We are warned by our Lord Jesus that in the process of our walk, we will not be liked by many. We may be persecuted, betrayed and maybe executed. Jesus says to stay firm in the truth and we will win in the end even though here in our physical bodies we may not. Capture and questions etc. by authorities are some good examples of things to come (past, present, and future). This is to say that we sacrifice ourselves for the good of our King whenever needed. We just need to make sure that our sacrifice is well founded in Christ Jesus and not some fake.

Draw (AKA Stalemate)-: This means that neither player wins. Stalemate happens a variety of ways, for example:

1) A draw happens when the same position happens 3 times in the same game,

2) 50 (combined white/black) moves in a row without a pawn moving,

3) When the King of either player can't move safely anywhere and there is no check (The King must be the only available piece or the only one that can move at all potentially legally),

4) Or, when there are only 2 Kings with no other pieces of either color on the board.

5) There is also the possibility of both opponents agreeing to one.

Examples Of Stalemate Or Draw:

Draw with just two kings

Just 2 Kings. No Question About This Being A Stalemate. (Note This Is Actually Not An Actual Game Played By Us. I Used The "Setup The Board" Feature In The Game). Remember Kings Cannot Give Check At All Themselves.

The choice

White Has To Think This Move Out. This Is A Position Where There Is An Easy Checkmate Or Stalemate. Can You Tell Where The Checkmate Is?

The wrong choice

Note: In This Particular Game, I Knew That There Was A Checkmate In 1 Move. I Intentionally Stalemated Just For This Diagram Purpose. I Told Bonnie Before I Did This That I Was Looking To Stalemate The Game.

White Captures The Black Pawn With Its Pawn Causing A Stalemate. Have You Figured Out The Right Choice Yet?

The Right Choice Is:

The right choice

This Is The Correct Choice. Moving The White Rook To A6 (aka QR6) Will Checkmate Black's King.

For the Biblical symbol, it is one word, it is discernment. We have to be able to figure out through faithfulness, prayer, meditation, and obedience to God as to what His plans are for us. For an overpowered player in chess, the problem could easily be bad choices and the draw is merciful to him/her. To the one with that much power, it can almost be embarassing. Sometimes, things are so evenly matched that a draw could be inevitable.

In the case of the Biblical symbol of discernment, we are looking at not making a bad choice that would cause a stalling of our faith walk with Jesus Christ. Faith is the victory and bad choices to the believer can just be a minor setback and a learning experience (like the desert place the Israelites found themselves in after disobeying God's command about Canaan Land). God still took care of His people, they didn't really want for anything. So, look at it this way, a stalemate may end up being an opportunity for God to hit a reset button of a sort (even though sometimes physical circumstances may not change). Sometimes it's not bad choices but just something is meant to happen. Sometimes, God just wants us to wait on him and learn. Sometimes it may just be a test (look at Jesus with the 40 days and nights of prayer and fasting in the wilderness - after which he was tempted by Satan (but Jesus never fell to it). No matter what causes the desert place that feels like a stalemate in one's life, reliance on God is absolutely paramount. Coming out of these kinds of things the way God wants will mean better things in the future - at least you will be much stronger than in the past spiritually speaking.

To end this article I will give you a little musical recap of this lesson from the chessboard with a touch of an introduction before beginning the lyrical pages.

Prologue

The game of chess is a very interesting and very old game. The game is said to be invented around 350 - 400 AD (and possibly earlier in that century because of the persecution noted earlier in this article) and the first recorded game was first played around 700 AD. Chess has become a family favorite of many ever since.

God inspires me through prayer, dreams, meditation, and other people. This music was preluded by a dream about me and my wife Bonnie playing chess in the middle of choir practice at our church while we were deciding what to sing. Suddenly, the director decided to sing something that no one has ever heard. I then woke to have this musical information about our ministry's chess project on my mind.

I have inserted a series of footnotes so the lyrics' symbolism will come alive better.

These lyrics are to the tune of "Hush Little Baby", which interestingly enough is an old Christian underground song at its root (and a lullaby after). "Castle In The Sky" to me means eternal shelter and being part of The New Jerusalem. It may take a little work for the lyrics to fit, and the symbols are slightly different than the main writing, however, I hope that our readers, students, and people in general like this a bunch - enjoy!!!

Verse 1

Hush little Christian don't you cry Daddy's bought you a castle in the sky. The Rook also a castle's worth a look. Strong, mighty, powerful fortress of love It leads us to The Lamb's book.1 It doubles with its partner - The castle in the sky.

1 Lamb's Book: Of Life

Verse 2

Hush little Christian don't you cry. Daddy's bought you a castle in the sky. The Knight's a mighty warrior like God. Gets what it wants through prayer, sword and laud.2 The Knight like God won't be blocked and he shouldn't be mocked. The Knight you see is quite a card.3 May he like Christ be your front and rear guard. And aid you to the castle in the sky.

2 Prayer, Sword, and laud: Jesus taught us to pray, Jesus will make war and peace justly in the end of time, and will be honored above every name.

3 Quite a card: The Kinight in chess is thought by many people to be a rather odd piece and one the hardest to understand the rules for.

Verse 3

Hush little Christian Don't you cry. Daddy's bought you a castle in the sky. Fast as a bullet moves as an arrow4 Part of the army's marrow.5 Bishops travel their world as Peter and Paul Shepherd of the flock is their call. Leading us to the castle in the sky.

4 Arrow: Straight and Narrow--Righteous

5 Marrow: As The Body makes red blood cells with its marrow, Peter and Paul make many disciples in their journey and are vital in Christian history - a foundation of Jesus' army of faithful believers as marrow is absolutely necessary to our own bodies' survival.

Verse 4

Hush little Christian don't you cry. Daddy's bought you a castle in the sky. The Pawn looks very small. It looks as if they could easily fall.6 Shielding and blocking is what they do best7 Teamed up together they stand the test. Underestimation will steer you down.8 They may easily wear a crown.9 Look at Esther and see10 Anointed position fits to a "T"11 They win their way to the castle in the sky.

6 Fall: Defeated or captured in a game

7 What they do best: These little pieces defend against check and checkmate and make things unappetizing to capture really valuable pieces a lot of times.

8 Down: Down the wrong path

9A Crown: If Underestimated the pawn could become a Queen. And be extremely powerful.

10 Look At Esther And See: Instead of King David mentioned here is Queen Esther, who against all odds became a Jewish Queen in the middle of exile in a foreign land. The Pawn only will be promoted to a Queen (as crowns go) The Promotion fits the Pawn Better, but David fits better on the Pawns purpose of close combat and defense.

11 Annointed Position Fits To A "T": The people who God chooses as leaders will be right for their positions, but of course they will need to keep the right path.

Verse 5

Hush little Christian don't you cry. Daddy's bought you a castle in the sky. The mighty Queen has grace and power. She is a beautiful flower. In all directions to shine12 The church of God is very fine. This is Christ's bride to be And is our final victory We'll be home in our castle in the sky.

12 All Directions To Shine: God will make sure that The New Jerusalem and the people in it will shine forever with His Glory for all to see and be highly favored

Verse 6

Hush little Christian don't you cry. Daddy's bought you a castle in the sky. Now we have our King Deity13 On earth He had humility.14 He seemed to move one square each time15 He made himself nothing16 so we do this rhyme He made himself to be devil's bait17 Submitted to an earthly checkmate18 And now we won't have to die Jesus bought us His castle in the sky.

13 King Deity: Jesus The Son Of God--The Second Person in The Trinity

14 Humility: Willing to do the lowest of servant work and then some

15 One Spuare Each Time: A pun on Chess rules--As fully human, he was given limitations the same as us. Compared to being God this is very slow indeed.

16 Nothing: Jesus emptied Himself of the attributes of God, but at the same time he was God.

17 Devil's Bait: He allowed Himself to be captured The Devil Took This Bait And Now We As Believers, We Are Victorious.

18 Checkmate: Jesus Allowed Himself To Die On The Cross For Our Sins Only To Be Resurrected On The Third Day.. This Sealed The Faithul's Victory.

Chorus x 3 (Optional)

Hallelujah, He is risen from the dead He has conquered the grave So be brave Jesus bought you His castle in the sky To Him we need to tie Tail (Optional) Jesus bought and gave us His castle in the sky.

With that, we hope that you the reader enjoyed this tour of the spiritual chessboard. We at this ministry hope you will get good spiritual food inside this article. Like we said around the beginning of this article, this game may not be just a normal game of strategy. It may be one of the many things from the Christian underground movement(s) at the time. Every single piece on the chessboard looks very much like a symbol of a Biblical hero(es) or even great things to come. You may find yourself not looking at the chessboard and chessmen the same way again.

Remember always that God Is Love

Knight heart white

Amen!

Knight heart black

And Amen!