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0 pointsRyJones13y ago0 comments

I'd guess en passant is more surprising to neophytes than castling

0 comments

At a guess check-mate is the most surprising to neophytes. It gets them every time no matter how often it happens.

lmm13y ago

Huh? If checkmate is confusing you can just play until you take the opponent's king, with minimal difference to the game.

Someone13y ago

That, and stalemate ("what do you mean, a tie? You can't move, so you lose!"), but that is a rarer occurrence, as it requires the neophyte to be on the winning side (he won't complain if he is the one without a legal move, and you announce it a tie)

mediocregopher13y ago

I had never even heard of that (although I'm by no means an avid chess player). I think I'll have a hard time convincing my friends that's a real rule.

jspthrowaway213y ago

The Wikipedia article is good at explaining the rationale. According to it, it was added around the time the two-space opening move for a pawn was added to balance the game.

Oddly, though Wikipedia deletes programming languages like Factor due to non-notability[1], editors get to go nuts on everything chess or Star Trek without recourse. If you want to know more about why things in chess are the way they are, Wikipedia is your pal.

[1]: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:Factor_(programming_langua...

zem13y ago

wow, that factor notability discussion was a depressing read.

dfan13y ago

Yeah, I was actually going to use en passant, but I figured more people would understand the comment if I used castling.

RyJonesOP13y ago

They're both outside the norm enough. I remember the first time en passant was used on me (4th or 5th grade?), I thought it was made up.

If you want to start an argument, stop someone from castling through check.

jspthrowaway213y ago

I've had people shout at me about making up rules after capturing en passant.

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse

0 comments

jacquesm13y ago

At a guess check-mate is the most surprising to neophytes. It gets them every time no matter how often it happens.

lmm13y ago

Huh? If checkmate is confusing you can just play until you take the opponent's king, with minimal difference to the game.

Someone13y ago

mediocregopher13y ago

I had never even heard of that (although I'm by no means an avid chess player). I think I'll have a hard time convincing my friends that's a real rule.

jspthrowaway213y ago

The Wikipedia article is good at explaining the rationale. According to it, it was added around the time the two-space opening move for a pawn was added to balance the game.

[1]: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:Factor_(programming_langua...

zem13y ago

wow, that factor notability discussion was a depressing read.

dfan13y ago

Yeah, I was actually going to use en passant, but I figured more people would understand the comment if I used castling.

RyJonesOP13y ago

They're both outside the norm enough. I remember the first time en passant was used on me (4th or 5th grade?), I thought it was made up.

If you want to start an argument, stop someone from castling through check.

jspthrowaway213y ago

I've had people shout at me about making up rules after capturing en passant.

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse