Wizard's Chess

Warning! At least some content in this article is derived from information featured in:Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery &Harry Potter: Puzzles & Spells &Harry Potter: Magic Awakened &Hogwarts Legacy. As such, spoilers will be present within the article.

Wizard's Chess

Wizard's Chess,^[1] also known aswizard chess,^[2] was themagical variant of the classic board game Chess, in which the pieces wereenchanted to move of their own accord when commanded by the player. When a piece was taken, it was removed by the attacking piece, often in a barbaric manner where the losing piece was smashed violently by the winning piece.^[2]

Talented and eminent players could earn the title of chess master^[1] orWizard Chess Champion.^[3]

Description[]

Chess set[]

The chessboard was a type of checkerboard that consisted of 64 squares (eight rows and eight columns) arranged in two alternating colours (light and dark). The colours were called 'black' and 'white' (or 'light' and 'dark'). The Chess pieces, or chessmen, consisted of one king, one queen, two rooks, two bishops, two knights, and eight pawns.^[4] The chessboard and chessmen were exactly likeMuggle chess pieces, except they weremagically animated,^[2] likely usingPiertotum Locomotor. If a chess set got badly damaged, they had to be sent to a special place for repairs.^[1]

Armies[]

Although many wizard's chess sets came with two armies, when facing another witch or wizard with their own army a player would typically take one of their own armies to play against their opponent's army. Bringing one's own army or borrowing someone else's was sometime a requirement of chess tournaments, such as theWalter Aragon Wizard Chess Competition.^[1]

Instructions[]

Players moved their pieces by speaking the name of the piece and the square it was to move to byalgebraic notation. For example, 'Knight to E5'. Aside from the self-moving pieces, the rules of Wizard's Chess were exactly the same asMuggle chess. The moving pieces seemed to be reasonably sentient, as seen whenHarry Potter began learning how to play the game, he usedSeamus Finnigan's pieces, which offered him conflicting advice because they knew that he was not a good or experienced player.^[2]

Sentience[]

The level of sentience of the pieces seemed to go beyond simply moving on orders, as they could fight and squabble if left unattended, and occasionally offered the players advice, implying speech or mimicry to convey their own opinions; the pieces in the Underground Chamber were stoic and simple-minded, possibly due the size of the pieces affecting the potency of the animation charm, or a choice by the caster. A witch or wizard's chess sets would start to learn and take on the skills of their owners, with less experienced chess players being able to use the more experienced wizard's chess pieces to improve their skill. Forming a strong bond with one's chess pieces was a vital component to mastering Wizard's chess.^[1]

History[]

Formal tournaments[]

Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry had a long history of producing talented Wizard's Chess players, such as the chess masterWalter Aragon, as well asBrian Gagwilde, both of whom later becameHeadmasters at the school. Despite the school's relation to Wizard's Chess, however, they had a longstanding rivalry withBeauxbatons Academy of Magic. In an unknown year, students from the two schools played in achess tournament, in which Hogwarts suffered a devastating loss, and Beauxbatons had remained undefeated ever since.^[1]

During the1988–1989 school year,Jacob's sibling and several of their friends participated in theWalter Aragon Wizard Chess Competition, named after formerHogwarts HeadmasterWalter Aragon, inFlourish and Blotts. Jacob's sibling managed to defeat the esteemed chess playerCeline Castillon ofBeauxbatons in the tournament.^[1]

In the1995–1996 school year, there were multiple Wizard's Chess champions at Hogwarts: at least fiveGryffindor champions in theGryffindor common room, theSlytherin champion in theGreat Hall, and theRavenclaw champion in theLibrary. An individual who defeated all of these champions was given theGrand Master Cup, which was awarded toHarry Potter.^[5]

Casual games[]

1890s[]

On2 September1890,Imelda Reyes could be seen in theSlytherin common room spectating, and offering unsolicited advice on, a Wizard's Chess game between aSlytherin boy and agirl whom he was playing.^[6]

1980s[]

During theChristmas holidays in the1984–1985 school year,Rowan Khanna got a new Wizard's Chess set from their parents, and invitedJacob's sibling to play the game in theGreat Hall when they were on break from Christmas decorating.^[7]

In the1985–1986 school year,ProfessorMinerva McGonagall played a game of Wizard's Chess when being interviewed byJacob's sibling for their presentation at that year'sTeacher Appreciation Celebration. The game underwent several phases, with McGonagall eventually winning the game. She gave one of her chess sets to Jacob's sibling as a memento.^[8]

Murphy McNully played Wizard's Chess with Jacob's sibling to test their strategy.^[9] They would then often play with each other betweenQuidditch practices. At some point after the start of the1987–1988 school year,Orion Amari also played with Murphy as one of several activities from which he hoped to regain mental balance after he was injured in a Quidditch friendly.^[10]

During the1988–1989 school year, Jacob's sibling andChiara Lobosca played Wizard's Chess to help themselves think the situation through afterIsmelda Murk attempted to capture Chiara and reveal herwerewolf identity.^[11]

1990s[]

Ronald Weasley owned a Wizard's Chess set which he inherited from his grandfather. Unlike many of his hand-me-down possessions, the second-hand chess set was advantageous as the pieces trusted him. WhenHarry Potter played withSeamus Finnigan's chess men, they did not trust his judgement and offered him advice.^[2]

During theChristmas Feast in the1991–1992 school year, Harry obtained his very own Wizard's Chess set in a number ofWizard Crackers, among other things. He later broke it in by losing, once again, to Ron (although Harry saw this more as the fault of Ron's brother,Percy Weasley, who stood over his shoulder and gave him advice).^[2] In addition,Hermione Granger lost at the game much to her annoyance, for which Harry and Ron believed was a good experience for her.^[12]

Gryffindor studentKenny Markham was a Wizard's Chess fan and collected chess pieces.^[13]

Chessboard Chamber[]

Main article:Chessboard Chamber

In1991,Minerva McGonagall chose to place an enormous Wizard's Chessboard in the third of theUnderground Chambers acting as security for thePhilosopher's Stone. WhenHarry Potter,Ronald Weasley, andHermione Granger encountered the Chessboard while trying to beatQuirinus Quirrell (or, as they falsely believed,Severus Snape) to the Stone, Harry played as one of the black Bishops, Hermione as a Rook, and Ron as a Knight.

Ron's talent in Wizard's Chess allowed them to pass one of the obstacles protecting the stone. His sacrifice as a game piece allowed Harry to place the enemy king in checkmate.^[14] Ron's chess playing was said to be "the best-played game of chess Hogwarts has seen in many years" and was awarded 50 points for his efforts.

The Calamity[]

Giant Wizard's Chess kings appeared asConfoundables during theCalamity which affected thewizarding world in the2010s, guarding thePhilosopher's Stone. Volunteer members of theStatute of Secrecy Task Force had to destroy the kings with the use of theBombardment Spell in order to return the Stone to its rightful place withNicolas Flamel in 1927.^[15]

One of the queens was displaced by the chaotic magic of the Calamity during the 2010s, causing members of the Statute of Secrecy Task Force to return it to 1991 where it belonged.^[15]

Known Wizard's Chess moves and strategies[]

• 1. e4 d5 2. exd5: Played by the white side of the giant chess board in theChessboard Chamber againstRonald Weasley. Also known as the Main Line of theScandinavian Defence.^[16]
• Dragon Variation of the Slytherin Defence: A complex strategy, but devastating when used correctly. Many chess theory books have written about this legendary strategy. According to the Dragon Variation, player will castle kingside (0-0) in order to capture the opponent's most powerful pieces.^[17]
• Counter to the Dragon Variation of the Slytherin Defence: Specifically designed to counter the Dragon Variation of the Slytherin Defence, it involved rushing the pawns to the other side of the opponent's board in order to counter the losses from the Dragon Variation taking the player's most powerful pieces.^[17]
• Grans' Gambit: A gambit named afterTulip Karasu's 'Grans' (presumably her grandmother).^[18]
• Grand Gambit: A chess opening.^[19]

Known players[]

Brian Gagwilde

Walter Aragon

Montague Knightley

Imelda Reyes^[20]

Unidentified Slytherin girl (VI)^[20]

Unidentified Slytherin boy (V)^[20]

Matilda Weasley^[21]

Aberforth Dumbledore^[1]

Albus Dumbledore^[22]

Minerva McGonagall^[8]

Rosa Karasu^[1]

Mary Karasu^[1]

Bill Weasley

Peregrine^[22]

Jacob's sibling^[7][8]

Rowan Khanna †^[7][23]

Penny Haywood^[24]

Tulip Karasu^[25]

Leonard Spencer-Moon^[26]

Murphy McNully^[9]

Orion Amari^[10]

Chiara Lobosca^[11]

Celine Castillon^[1]

Badeea Ali^[1]

Ron Weasley^[2][14]

Harry Potter^[2][14]

Hermione Granger^[12][14]

Seamus Finnigan^[2]

Percy Weasley^[2]

Celestina Warbeck^[27]

Lucius Malfoy^[28]

Gryffindor Wizard's Chess champion^[5]

Gryffindor Wizard's Chess champion (II)^[5]

Gryffindor Wizard's Chess champion (III)^[5]

Gryffindor Wizard's Chess champion (IV)^[5]

Gryffindor Wizard's Chess champion (V)^[5]

Slytherin Wizard's Chess champion^[5]

Ravenclaw Wizard's Chess champion^[5]

• Iris^[25]

Behind the scenes[]

• In thefilm adaptation ofHarry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, the game was depicted with the chess pieces destroying each other (presumably to be fixed with theMending Charm at the end of the game), but in the book the pieces simply knock each other out and drag captured pieces off the edge of the board.
• Ron's chess set depicted in the film is a replica of the 12th centuryLewis Chessmen.^{[citation needed]}

• 'Ron's battered wizard chess set' was one out of the thirty-two options generated by an old feature^[29] onPottermore, 'Wonderful wizarding world happiness generator', which was about things that could cast away the Blue Monday blues.^[30]
  • The description was 'There's something so comforting about old, well-worn, much-loved things. We wish we could play a game of wizard chess on Ron's particularly rustic set. Not that we'd win, mind'.^[31]
• A similar concept is featured in Mikhail Bulgakov's novelThe Master and Margarita, where Professor Woland (alias Satan) and his entourage play with a supernatural chess set whose pieces are animate and move by themselves.
• The "Dragon Variation of the Slytherin Defence" appears to be a pun on the real-worldSicilian Defence, Dragon Variation.
• The counter to theDragon Variation of the Slytherin Defence is either namedGagwilde's return,The [Player's last name] gambit, orThe Full Team Press, depending on what the player chooses to call it.

Appearances[]

The Harry Potter Wiki has 102 images related toWizard's Chess.

• Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone(First appearance)
• Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (film)
• Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (video game)
• Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
• Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (film)(Appears inportrait(s))
• Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (video game)(Appears on aFamous Wizard Card)
• Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban(Mentioned only)
• Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (film)(Appears inportrait(s))
• Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
• Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (film)(Appears inportrait(s))
• Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
• Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (film)(Appears inportrait(s))
• Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (video game)
• Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (film)(Appears inportrait(s))
• Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (video game)(NDS version only)
• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1
• Harry Potter: A Pop-Up Book
• LEGO Harry Potter
• LEGO Harry Potter: Building the Magical World
• LEGO Harry Potter: Characters of the Magical World
• LEGO Harry Potter: Years 1-4
• LEGO Harry Potter: Years 5-7
• The Wizarding World of Harry Potter
• Harry Potter Trading Card Game
• Pottermore
• HarryPotter.com
• Wonderbook: Book of Spells
• Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery
• Harry Potter: Wizards Unite
• Harry Potter: Puzzles & Spells
• Harry Potter: Magic Awakened
• Hogwarts Legacy

Notes and references[]

See also[]

• Chess Trophy
• Wizard's Checkers