[chess] checkmate by pawn!

hitbyambulance · Post by **hitbyambulance** » Sun Oct 17, 2004 1:56 am

never done this before! i'm excited. was playing chess vs. my girlfriend, and this happened:

(note for non-chess fans: the black pawn by the king was the last piece to move in this game, and with it, i checkmated the white king)

wish i could've seen that animation in Battle Chess... i vaguely remember the pawn lifting the crown on his lance or something, i dunno..

Snow · Post by **Snow** » Sun Oct 17, 2004 3:25 am

Yow, talk about playing with a good sport! With that material disadvantage, she should have resigned long ago and denied you the pawn checkmate

ChrisGrenard · Post by **ChrisGrenard** » Sun Oct 17, 2004 3:36 am

So I take it winning in this way is very rare? Like how rare? 1 in 1000?

/me does not play chess very often.

hitbyambulance · Post by **hitbyambulance** » Sun Oct 17, 2004 3:58 am

i have no idea - i've never been able to do it before, tho.

tals · Post by **tals** » Sun Oct 17, 2004 4:46 am

What program areyou using to display that hit?

Tals

hitbyambulance · Post by **hitbyambulance** » Sun Oct 17, 2004 4:57 am

the Chess java applet at http://games.yahoo.com

Asharak · Post by **Asharak** » Sun Oct 17, 2004 9:35 am

I'm with Snow. You just don't play out endings like that unless you're either really inexperienced, or letting your boyfriend win...

Chris: having pawns involved in a checkmate is not in and of itself rare, but they are more often used to block off escapes while the heavier pieces deliver the actual mate. I have no idea how rare that setup actually is, but it's certainly worth a moment's chuckle to a chess fan (mostly because of the irony involved in having the wimpiest unit take down the most important).

- Ash