1078: Knights

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Knights

Title text: 1. Nf3 ... ↘↘↘ 2. Nc3 ... ↘↘↘ 0-1

Explanation

This comic is comparing the opening moves of the game of chess to the opening moves of the Battle of Agincourt, which was fought between the English and the French in the Hundred Years War. In the battle, just like in the comic, the English used their longbowmen effectively, neutralizing the French knights (and later infantry). In the comic, the two pieces that are moved out of the white side of the board are both the pieces known as the Knights. And in the actual battle, the French knights on horseback attacked first. As you can see, all the pawns on the right side of the chess board have bows.

The image text is the abbreviations for chess moves. Nf3 = Knight to square F3. Nc3 = Knight to square C3. N = Knight because the King piece has the K abbreviation covered. What comes after the typical chess move is what can only be determined in a hail of arrows. And the 0-1 at the end means that "Black Wins".

The word "gambit" means "an opening in chess, in which a minor piece (often a pawn) is sacrificed to gain an advantage". In this comic, the usual gambit of sacrificing a pawn is subverted to be a sacrifice of a high-value piece, as an analogy of what happened at Agincourt.

Transcript

[A chessboard. The black pawns have all gained longbows and have specifically taken down the enemy white knights]

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Discussion

At the beginning of a chess game, neither knight can move to e3. The proper move (and the move actually made, in the picture) is Nf3. The Nc3 move is correct.

128.187.97.21 23:44, 29 August 2012 (UTC)

Indeed, thanks for pointing that out; the move was corrected on xkcd.com, so I did the same here. - Cos (talk) 13:53, 30 August 2012 (UTC)