If you have been following our storyline, you know that one of the main characters, Odilia nó Dahlia often refers to her political machinations in terms of a game of chess. Chess is an ancient game, originating in India in the 6th century and reaching the Middle East, China, and Europe by the 10th century. It was once considered a royal game, due to its popularity amongst the nobility – like our Night Court and palace players – but has experienced a significant increase in popularity within the general public in the 20th century.
Chess is a two-player board game utilizing a 64 square checkerboard. Each player has sixteen pieces, which move in specific ways. A piece “captures” an opposing piece by landing on the same square as the opposing piece, with one minor exception; the captured piece is then removed from the board. The object of the game is to capture your opponent’s king or put your opponent in a situation where their king cannot avoid being captured, called checkmate. A game also can end in a draw, or stalemate, when neither player is able to capture the opposing king. Players are designated White and Black, regardless of the actual color of the pieces.
If you are not familiar with the game, we encourage you to visit some of the resources we have collected to familiarize yourself with the game to better enjoy our story. Please note that The Longest Night Midwinter Masque has no association with sites outside of this domain and makes no guarantees as to content.
Before consuming any non-instructional media, we encourage you to research them, as there is always the chance they could contain triggering content. https://www.doesthedogdie.com/ is a crowdsourced website for finding such information on films and TV shows.
Instructional websites
- How to Play Chess: the Ultimate Beginner’s Guide (outside site): https://youtu.be/OCSbzArwB10
- How to Play Chess for Beginners (outside site): https://www.dicebreaker.com/games/chess/how-to/how-to-play-chess
Books
- The Eight by Katherine Neville
- The Queen’s Gambit by Walter Tevis (adapted into a Netflix miniseries, also recommended)
- Searching for Bobby Fischer by Fred Waitzkin (adapted into a film, also recommended)
Feature Films
- Fresh (1994 film)
- Game Over: Kasparov and the Machine (2003 film)