This page is provided as a service to scriptwriters who wish to avoid some of the common errors in portraying chess in drama.
There are various reasons for having a character play chess (or having a chess set on the table). It may be a storyline in itself, or it may be to show that the character is smart. Or devious.
It does however detract from the effect if someone who is meant to be a genius at the game has the board round the wrong way. It would be like an Australian Rules footballer who plays with a round ball on a rectangular ground; it shows that either the player doesn't play at any decent level or more likely the writer/director doesn't have a clue.
Taking note of the following points will not make you a grandmaster, but it will avoid making it obvious that you aren't.
- White has a light-coloured square in his or her near right-hand corner.
- White's Queen starts on a white square, Black's on a black square.
- Unless they are old, chess players no longer talk in Descriptive notation ("Pawn to King Four"), they use Algebraic (e4).
- Players are not required to announce that a move is check, and in tournaments they don't.
- Checking the opponent's King is not of itself a major achievement.
- Except at beginner levels, games do not normally end in checkmate. A player resigns when defeat is inevitable.
- When a checkmate does occur, it rarely comes as a complete surprise to the loser. If it does it demonstrates the loser's ineptitude or inattention, not the overwhelming superiority of the winner.
- And it is technically possible but very rare to play checkmate in response to a check.
- Stalemate is also very rare. The word does not refer to any drawn game. Most drawn games are drawn by agreement.
- Every opening is not a gambit. A gambit is an opening where one side sacrifices material.
- The sequence 1.e4 2.Bc4 3.Qf3 (or h5) 4.Qxf7 mate is called "Scholar's Mate". There is a "Fool's Mate" but this isn't it.
- Castle is a verb, the piece shaped like one is called a Rook.
- Not every good player is a grandmaster, and on the other hand neither is there only one grandmaster. Also it is spelled as a single word.
- Tournament games are played with a chess clock (a double clock in which only one side runs, timing the player who is to move), and a pen and paper to record the moves.
- Players do not speak to opponents or spectators during a tournament game.
- Major titles are not decided by a single game.
- Chess players are not all ugly, short-sighted, socially inept, introverted, mentally unbalanced and unpopular. Nor are they all exceptionally intelligent.
Other things to watch for.
- Illegal positions, for instance both Kings in checkmate, or obviously illegal moves.
- Highly improbable positions, for instance one side has two Bishops on the same colour diagonal, or the pieces are randomly scattered around the board.
- Inappropriate terminology, for instance referring to a position as a Nimzo-Indian when it is a King's Gambit.
- Child prodigies - yes they exist, but they don't go from beating Dad to beating grandmasters in a week.
Return to Ian's page.