Jenni B. Baker

Pawn

Storming women is peculiar to this kind of game. Here find simple cases in which woman maneuvers
bring about a win, and in which king moves are a deciding factor.

Start by tempting the woman forward. Throughout, maintain a favorable woman formation in view of an end-game which might be forced by exchanges. Systematically create points of attack.

[A woman, when isolated, is naturally weaker than when she is or can be protected by another. Once a woman has moved she cannot turn back. Her position is full of holes.]

Find that a single woman will suffice to achieve a victory. Conscious of her inferiority, conclude that it
must be advantageous to employ the greater power. See here how a king’s position can be counterbalanced by a woman’s weakness.

Attack in the hopes of capturing. Seize this important moment in the fight for positional advantage. Hold her in place by occupying or controlling. Open towards the centre.

[See how she weathers the storm and stress, and frequently preserves her character right up to the end-game. This sacrifice of a woman in conjunction with a second on the next move, produces a combination of rare beauty.]

Note that, nearly always, women survive the exchange. Use this knowledge to gauge the consequences of your end-game.

A woman’s absence has a far reaching influence. Do not easily give her up.

 

 


 

Language adapted from Edward Lasker’s Chess Strategy. All instances of the word “pawn(s)” have been replaced by “woman / women.” 

Jenni B. Baker is the founder and editor-in-chief of The Found Poetry Review. Her poetry appears or is forthcoming in journals such as DIAGRAM, Washington Square, Lunch Ticket, Whiskey Island, BOAAT and Quarterly West. Her Oulipo-generated chapbook, Comings/Goings, was released by Dancing Girl Press in 2015. In her current project, Erasing Infinite, she creates poetry from David Foster Wallace’s Infinite Jest, one page at a time. “Year of Glad,” a classical song cycle based on the Erasing Infinite project, debuted in Chicago in April 2016. More at jennibbaker.com.