A chess game, like any game, indeed like any activity, must have a temporal dimension because the moves are necessarily sequential. They cannot be simultaneous and a static chess board does not comprise a chess game. But how might a temporal element be incorporated not only into the relationships between the moves but also into the moves themselves? Anderson suggests that the pieces might "mature" or "age" as the game proceeds.
How might the pieces move not only spatially but also temporally? How does this sound? -
each move is recorded;
after checkmating his opponent's king three times, a player gains the power to change, e.g., his third or fourth most recent move;
the entire game must be replayed from that point onward;
thus, part of the history of the game has been changed as in time travel with causality violation;
also, a particular endgame has been prevented and remains unknown;
or, instead of becoming a queen, a pawn might become a time traveler now able to take a piece two or three moves earlier, thus again changing the course of part of the game.
4 comments:
Kaor, Paul!
Yes, a chess game obviously has a temporal dimension, because the moves are played turn by turn sequentially. But a four dimensional chess variant in which the pieces "mature" or "age" seems very complex and way over my noggin!
And chess has the oddity of a promoted pawn being able to change its sex and become a Queen.
Sean
Paul:
In fantasy novel The Starfollowers of Coramonde by Brian Daley, there's mention of a chess set incorporating candles into the pieces (except for the kings, of course). Some of the wicks are shorter than others, but the candles are made to conceal that duration and all look the same. So neither player knows until it happens which pieces, when, suddenly have to be removed from the board because their candles went out. "I was just about to checkmate you with that rook!"
David,
What do you think of my attempts to introduce time travel into chess?
Paul.
Paul:
There's a line I've seen on another site, evidently intended to be humorous. I don't recall the precise wording, but it sums up my attitude: "Temporal paradoxes will have given me a headache."
Paradox is the aspect I like least about time-travel stories ... including Anderson's. Because I don't have enough of a mathematical mindset for any but the simplest explanations of causality violations, etc., to be more than math-gobbledygook to my mind. I was unable to wrap my brain around your rules for time-travel chess.
Post a Comment