Chess Theory

[Angel Moules]

No: HPFGUIDX 85955

iris_ft wrote:

> Iris:  
> Your post is wonderful, and easy to understand. Great
> work!

Thanks, I'm still refining the thing.

> > Angel:
> > The Game
> >
> > The first thing that strikes me is the chilling metaphor between
> > the chess game and life.
>
> Iris:
> Right. And there's also a parallel between the chess game in PS/SS
> and the fourth book of the series.

I'm looking at the chess game in one reflecting both the whole series 
and possibly the last four books in particular. My thinking is that all 
the players are now on the board, which suggests that the game in 
earnest begins with the chapter 'the beginning'  in GoF.

> > Angel:
> > When Harry walks into the chess room, the pieces
> > have all healed themselves, and returned to their original
> > positions just as if nothing has happened. If Evil is White and 
> > Good is Dark, it shows that the war will continue as if the battle 
> > has never happened, as the pieces are faceless - there are no details, 
> > just that one side has to win, and then they're all back to how they 
> > were.
>
> Iris:
> Exactly. Harry defeated Voldemort when he was a baby but it didn't
> change anything in the way the WW's organisation. The result of that
> inertia is the new raise of Voldemort, that will probably be
> defeated twice but will come back again and again (he or another
> Dark Lord, the name doesn't really matter, the Beast is still the
> Beast)if nothing changes this time.
> Now look at what happens in Book 4. At the end of GoF, the WW acts
> just as if nothing had happened during the last task of the
> Tournament. 

It isn't enough to win the game, you need to blow up the chess set. 
Human Nature is human Nature. What sent shivers down my spine was the 
way that, after Harry smashed the office it went back to being just as 
it was before, much like the chess set.


> > Angel:
> > In part, it's also a metaphor for death - Harry experiences losing
> > Ron, and having to go on without him not knowing if he's still alive.
> > In much the same way Sirius' death evokes a similar response. Harry 
> > has to go on with the game, whether he likes it or not.
>
> Iris:
> "That"s chess, says Ron in Book 1,"You've got to make some
> sacrifices!"
> And we can say that the chess game in PS/SS is a metaphor of what
> happens in GoF. Harry looses temporarily Ron as a friend. The scenes
> in the graveyard are scenes of human sacrifice. Cedric is murdered,
> Wortail has to give his flesh and Harry has to give his blood.

I get the feeling that this is going to be see on a grander scale. It's 
interesting that Harry does without Hermione in book 2, and Ron in book 
4.  In a calculating way they're 'just' pieces.

> > Angel:
> > Chess can be seen as a metaphor for life - for every action there
> > is an equal and opposite reaction, although there will evidently be
> > individual perturbations.
>
> Iris:
> In GoF, it works exactly like that. One example: for Harry and
> Cedric acting loyally, there is Moody/Crouch Jr acting as a traitor.
> As for the "individual perturbations", we can take the example of
> Harry'psychological suffering. By the way, does Voldemort suffer
> because of Harry's blood running through his veins? I hope so...

I was thinking along the lines that in chess there are a limited number 
of viable moves to successfully respond and contain a particular attack.

> > Angel:
> > The DEs being white is a curious thing, as white initially suggests
> > purity, sterility even. But consider - the likes of Lucius seem to
> > exist quite openly, in the light. (skip)
>
> Iris:
> You give yourself the explanation: white suggests purity and
> sterility. Now who are the Death Eaters? They are purebloods,
> obsessed with their pure lineage. Just the kind of behaviour that
> leads to sterility (not only biological, but also cultural,
> psychological, etc). And you add in your post that the White pieces
> always play first. It's what happens in GoF: the Death Eaters play
> first, and so does Evil. At the end of the book, we realize that the
> whole action has been manipulated by Voldemort. He always
> anticipated his action, he always played first.

Thanks. It's like what McG says about DD. That he has the powers, but 
he's too noble to use them.

> Iris:
> (Big big skip), because I don't have the time to comment what you
> write about the pieces. I 'd just want to know something. You call
> Hermione "the Rook", but JKr calls her "the Castle" in PS/SS
> (Bloomsbury paperback). Which word do chess players use more oftenly?
> Thanks for your post and for the help it provides,

Both, interchangeably. Rook is an interesting name for Hermione, because 
of her intelligence, and the fact that she concsidered Ravenclaw.  It's 
often an omen of death in literature, while a castle is solid, albeit 
draughty.

"Angel"