The chess analogy

[annwyd.livejournal.com]

This is a bit spoilerish, but mostly I'm cutting it so as not to expose everyone to my rambling. I'm probably overthinking this whole thing. XD

One of the things I've been thinking of lately is how the chess metaphor applies to the different characters caught up in the fight. How closely do they correspond to chess pieces, and how many of them fit the correspondences?

(Assume that the rebellion is the black pieces, because Black Knights and all that, and that Britannia is the white pieces.)

Black King: Lelouch (of course)
Black Queen: Kallen (because she's their big fighter in Knightmares, and also because, as the show wears on, there seems to be the implication that she's going to wind up working more closely with Lelouch)
Other than that, though, it seems like all he has is a bunch of pawns. Am I wrong? Does anyone see more pieces for him?

On the other side, though, Britannia has a whole lot more pieces.
White King: King of Britannia
White Queen: Suzaku in Lancelot (...lol, poor Suzaku)
White Rooks: Cornelia and Schneizel
White Bishops: Guilford and Schneizel's equivalent to him?
White Knights: Jeremiah and Viletta

The one I'm least certain about is the bishop association; mostly I've picked Guilford and a potential equivalent on Schneizel's side because I can't think of anyone else. The show might introduce someone new to fill the role, though.

The rook assocation makes somewhat more sense--they're both important, powerful pieces who, thanks to the move of castling, have strong associations with the king, especially the idea of protecting him. So it makes sense that Lelouch would have to go through them first to get to his father.

However, in individual battles as opposed to the overall war, it often seems that Cornelia is the king because she's moving the strings at the moment. I'm not sure how long this will last, or if Schneizel will wind up taking over the role later. Likewise, I'm not sure how long Suzaku, as the queen piece (having the most blatantly powerful Knightmare and all that), will stay on the board. Not that I think he'll get killed quickly, but depending on the direction the show takes, he might wind up swapping sides partway through. I imagine it'll be a while yet, though.

My favorite association is that of Jeremiah and Viletta with the knights. Like the knights, because of Jeremiah's demotion and shame (and in Viletta's case her decision to stick with him), they can't move about freely. However, because they've both already been exposed to the Geass and Viletta has enough information to possibly begin associating the Geass with Lelouch, they can make unusual moves that other pieces would not be able to make.

Thoughts and discussion by other people geeky enough to overthink like this are welcome.

Comments

[shiroki-tenshi.livejournal.com]

What about Euphemia? I don't think she's a pawn, but she might end up being one...maybe one of the white pawns.

On the other hand, there's also C.C. to consider [though, I don't know what she'd be, but something black].

This is quite interesting, actually. :) But see, remember, the King in chess isn't all that powerful. But Lelouch is somewhat the opposite, I think, so maybe C.C. is the Black King and Lelouch is the castle along with Kallen? That's just my thought, though.

[mossygirl.livejournal.com]

(I love how we had the same ideas ^_^ *your comment didn't come up until I had already posted*)

[shiroki-tenshi.livejournal.com]

Hahaha ^______________________^ Great minds think alike! Yay!

[annwyd.livejournal.com]

Hmm. I don't think Euphemia has really entered the playing field yet. We'll have to wait and see--last episode seemed to hint at her preparing to take a more active role. (At least, I certainly hope so.)

It's true that the king in chess isn't all that powerful--but except for the Geass, Lelouch isn't very powerful either. He can't pilot a mech and he doesn't seem to be able to beat people up too well without one either unless you hand him a gun and set him down right next to someone. The way he's powerful is...that he tells people what to do. :)

But I hadn't thought of C.C. That's a good point. Maybe she's, uh, the player? ;)

[shiroki-tenshi.livejournal.com]

Wasn't it the first episode or the second episode that he piloted a mech? Of course, he was going up against the Lancelot, not very fair.

But he's very strategic, so perhaps he's not even the Black King, maybe he could, in fact, be the player since he's directing the pieces? :3

[mossygirl.livejournal.com]

Fascinating subject ^_^ I haven't played chess in a very long time, but I would say that a few characters need to be added. The first one I thought of is Euphemia--she may be just a pawn now, but I feel like her importance may grow soon (she's certainly very important to Cornelia). Secondly, C.C. Actually, it might be better that C.C.'s not on there. I would put her on Lulu's side--and she has great freedom of movement, so it'd be high up--but she does seem to be somehow above what Lulu is doing. Maybe she has a bigger plan in mind--maybe she's directly subordinate (or part of?) to the one playing the game? I don't know ^^;;

(yay for geeky overthinking!)

[annwyd.livejournal.com]

Yeah, like I mentioned above--I don't think Euphemia has settled into a role on the board just yet. We'll have to see how she works when she starts taking more action.

And heh, I just noticed that you suggested something similar to what I did--that C.C. is more related to the one playing the game than any of the pieces being played. It seems to fit her.

[ryans-cupcake.livejournal.com]

yeah well this is like my first post in LJ I've had it for sometime I've just never wanted to post or anything...
Well my choices for black would be
King: Lelouch (sure he's strong and all but in battle (based of the 2nd ep) he didn't do much he sat there and gave orders which is well what a king would do(although really he is contradicting himself because he said troops won't move unless there king moves first when really he didn't do anything, although he could always assume that he's not a king in which case it would make him a knight, but then the person who moved first would be the king wow this rant is getting very big and not making much sense so I'll stop here before it gets too confusing)
Queen: C.C.
Knight: Kallen
Pawns: Ordrer of the Black knights (with the exception of the people mentioned above)

And white... well I'm not too sure about these but I'll have a shot...
King: Britinia King
Queen: Cornelia (thats the only one I could think of atm, because really if you compare her to a queen she is, she has the most movement, and is porbably one of the most powerful people on her team...)
Knights: Suzaku and... someone else... (yeah I couldn't think of anyone else...)
Bishops: not too sure... possibly Euphiemia
Rook: Jeremiah and Viletta

on a side note I haven't played chess in quite a few years so I may have gotten some of the pieces mixed up. (knights are the horses right? and the castles are the rooks?...)

Another side not: this was a very big first post.

[annwyd.livejournal.com]

I agree that Lelouch is the king because he doesn't really do all that much in battle itself. I'm not so keen on C.C. being the queen, because unlike Kallen, she hasn't actually gone out there and done much. But I do agree that the Order of Black Knights essentially makes up Lelouch's pawns.

I considered Cornelia as queen, but given that she seems to be part of a two-person 'set' for Lelouch to conquer, and that Suzaku is winding up as the more powerful fighter, I'd make Cornelia (and Schneizel) a rook and Suzaku the queen. I'd also definitely stick with Jeremiah and Viletta being knights.

But yes, knights = horses, rooks = castles.

[bromantic.livejournal.com]

As far as black pieces go, wouldn't the reporter and the Japanese dude from the ending be part of the black pieces. I have a feeling the reporter would be a rook while the Japanese guy would be a knight.

Not sure though. Wish I remembered their names. There are a lot more characters that are slowly coming in. Also, Lloyd might be a rook.

[annwyd.livejournal.com]

The thing is that while the reporter (Diethard, I think?) seems to have a similar disaffection with Britannian society, and the other Japanese rebels/terrorists have similar goals, neither of them is actively working with Lelouch/Zero yet. But they might eventually wind up being key black pieces.

I hadn't thought of Lloyd, but he might make a better bishop than Guilford.

[bromantic.livejournal.com]

Lloyd would be a good bishop. Considering we don't know his motives [and I keep getting vibes from him similar to the aura Nii Jienyi from Saiyuki] I suspect he will be more than what he appears to be at the moment.

But...

[(Anonymous)]

On a magazine scan I saw, wasn't Lelouch holding the king and C.C. was behind him holding his queen? I'm pretty sure it was his queen--after all, it's highly doubtful that the piece she was holding was a pawn or any other piece, since none of them except the queen seem to suit her, unless she was holding a pawn signifying that she could be in control of things.

I'm pretty sure on the official site's gallery it's on the month for October. Although it may not be canon, I'm sure it counts for something >.<

-Kanki (who doesn't have a Livejournal account yet...)

[vehemence.livejournal.com]

Hmm well I'm a major chess player.. have been since I was like eleven and my dad got my playing lol, and so heres my two cents:

-The king isn't really even a player. The opponent's king is the prize which you seek, and your own king is the treasure which you guard. So the black king I would argue is Lelouch's Geass, and the white king is the Brittanian Empire?

-The Queen is the most valuable and powerful piece. Black Queen = Lelouch, White Queen = ... I don't think we've yet to see the most powerful of the Brittanians, but I have a feeling Prince Shunaizeru or however you spell it will be important. Or the emperor himself, although I find that man so annoying that I really don't want to give him that much credit =_=;

-The Knight is a fairly valuable piece. About equal with the bishop and a bit less so than the rook. I think black knight = Kallen and white knight = Suzaku. And then there are two more for each side but eh I dunno. Its still early in the series.

-The Bishop. It's common in chess to save your bishops until the end, since they're sort of useless when the board is still very crowded. I think Lelouch is taking it for granted that C.C. is on his side, and in the end I just have this weird feeling that she's gonna pull the rug out from under him. In any case, she's a bishop, for which side I'm not sure.

-The rook is associated with trapping, when in pairs, and when on its own, charging. I can't really think of anyone to fit this description so far. Cornelia maybe?

So ehh I dunno, but I think with this metaphor its important to be familiar with the actual purposes of all the pieces. Just because Lelouch is a boy doesn't make him more like a king than a queen. Chess has nothing to do with gender ^_^

[selenityshiroi.livejournal.com]

I think that since, thus far, all Lelouch has done is use and manipulate them that everyone in the rebelion (including Kallen) are pawns.

When she gets this new knightmare and becomes, I dunno, interesting then maybe she can change to the Queen (the most powerful tool on the board).

I would say CC is the King, because she is the one with the source of the Geass. She seems to have little in the way of fighting ability but is able to run away! Lelouch, I would say, is the Player for the Black side.

The Emperor would be my White Player. Cornelia the Queen, Euphemia...I think will end up on neither side (she will be the middle ground-part of the Britannian Empire who supports the numbers but not the rebellion). I'm not sure if Schniezel will have a fighting role. If he does, then he may displace Cornellia as the Queen (she would become a knight). If not, then he may be the King.

Suzaku, I don't think, can really be placed on the Britannian Board. He will be Lelouch's counter, but he doesn't really fit into the board (and I don't think he will be truely working for Britannia for most of the series-I think Lloyd has his own agenda).

[sapphire-pyro.livejournal.com]

Hmm . . .my time on the net is almost up and my brain cells are deteriorting x_X but this is such an interesting discussion that I can't help not to react xD

BLACK
King: I think that it's already so obvious that Lelouch is the black king. The king is like the most important piece in both sides, so without him, the army wouldn't live either. No Lelouch, no black knights.
Queen: Well, you can say that I've been pretty bias in thinking of C.C. as the queen since I'm a Lulu x C.C. fanatic ^^; But honestly, though she seems that she hasn't done much fighting, it was her why Lulu was saved one time, she makes sure that he won't die, she watches him and only makes her move when it's needed. So in a way, it's pretty similar to the queen's role, right? =)
Knight: Well, I'd say they will be Kallen and the previous leader *forgot the name* since they are like the elite soldiers of the team and closest to the king.
Pawns: the rest of the black knights
~ can't think for the other pieces yet

WHITE
King: king of Britannia I believe. 'Coz like what Lulu believes, if he falls, Britannia will fall as well xD
Queen: as of now, I think it's Cornelia, since she's the one in charge right now . . .both in combat and command
Knights: Suzaku . . . and . . . I'm not sure yet ^^;
Bishops: the close followers of Cornelia? x_X Dunno dunno
Pawns: too many to mention x_X

I haven't played chess for a pretty long time ^^; and am not that good in it at all ^^; ehehehe

Well, these are just my opinions :) but I've also read the views of others, and I agree to some of them as well :)

[sapphire-pyro.livejournal.com]

Sorry for double comment . . . but

someone has commented that there's a magazine scan of Lelouch and C.C. holdign chess pieces . . . so I checked my Code Geass pics collection xD, and found this:

(http://photobucket.com/)

The one C.C. is holding does seem like a Queen . . .right? xD

OMG! I want this Royal Couple xD Wahehehe

[arcz.livejournal.com]

Do you have a bigger version of this? Do you mind sharing it with me?

[sapphire-pyro.livejournal.com]

Sorry, I don't have a version bigger than this :(

[senefen.livejournal.com]

Go back to the 2nd episode I think it was. Lelouch gives all the rebels code names, Kallen was Q-1, the others were R-1, P-1 etc etc. So Kallen is queen for sure. Various useless rebels are the others ha ha.

One of the newtype articles referes to Suzaku as the white knight and Lelouch as the black prince. *shrug* I see Suzaku more as a Knight than queen, I would say Cornelia was queen. As bad as it is with Suzaku being a main character I dont think he's king or queen. Cornelia will cause much more damage to the opposing side than Suzaku.

[verity-isle.livejournal.com]

I've actually thought of the same thing, though necessarily less precise because I suck at chess. XD;

Black King is Lelouch. Besides the coincidental imagery for it, the comparison fits too well with Lelouch's chess philosophy : If the king doesn't move, his subjects won't follow. While he's also the non-pilot weak person of the group, he goes wherever his troops go. (Makes me think Lelouch would have little use for castling as a principle.) And besides, the King is a fairy decent piece late-game, and when the game is late enough in CG's world...we know what happened to Clovis. Lelouch's ideas about what the king does in a game seems different enough from tradition. He's not the 'most powerful piece', but he represents the player. And once he's caught, it's all over.
Black Queen is probably Kallen. She seems to be the only one who's quite happy with their Seigi no Mikata role, as it were, and probably the one who agrees with him most as a person and not as a leader/grand strategist. Besides, there's the Guren Nishiki.
I have a feeling that reporter guy could be a Black Knight---not that I have seen 10, but using the media (as Lelouch seems fond of) seems rather unconventional to me.
The rest...er, when they appear, I guess. The Kyoto cast could be the bishops, maybe...

White is easier and more problematic. King...I'm having trouble deciding if it's supposed to be the Emperor or if they're going to double one on us and throw forth Schneizel as Lelouch's One True Enemy. 2nd prince does seem to have his fingers in a lot of buckets. In either case, for the moment... Queen, I'd put Cornelia. She's the most powerful player we have right now, with the biggest range of options. Besides, doesn't her personality just scream QUEEN? Suzaku could be...hmm, I haven't the slightest. His 'piece' is powerful, but Suzaku's movement options are really, really limited. His connection to Euphemia is probably important, but since I have no idea what part she's going to play...
Jeremiah and Viletta are great comparisons, though.

Two of them?

[(Anonymous)]

Maybe Lelouch has two queens on the board? If a pawn manages to reach the opposite side of the board, it turns into a queen, like in checkers.

Perhaps C.C. is the original queen because she gave Lelouch the Geass and she waits in reserve to make her move; she's a very powerful piece with powers we don't know yet and her main objective right now is to protect Lelouch, the King. (reference to Episode 10)

Kallen could be the pawn turned into a queen. After all, she started out as a pawn who charged into the battlefield and turned into a queen with CL-2. Since she's already in the midst of the enemy ranks, she's the one that does the attacking, compared with C.C. who waits nearby Lelouch and only jumps in to save him if anyone gets too close (i.e. Episode 7)

Really, I like the idea of two queens. Kallen is the queen on the battlefield, but C.C. will probably turn out to be the original queen storywise.

-Kanki (who still doesn't have an account...)