Category Archives: Chess

Noise of the Weird

Posted on February 7, 2023 by Nathan

Two movies, several SPOILERS. Weird: The Al Yankovic Story – I was honestly a little nervous to watch this because I thought it might not be very good. I mean, I knew it was a parody biopic that mocked the … Continue reading →

Posted in Board Games, Chess, Games, Humor, Magic, Monsters, Music, Relationships, Television, VoVat Goes to the Movies, Weird Al Yankovic | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Zugzwang Got Me in a Way

Posted on October 17, 2018 by Nathan

Dragon Quest V is sort of a sequel to Dragon Quest IV, which sounds painfully obvious, but really isn’t. The numbers simply refer to release order, not the order in which the games take place; and many of them aren’t … Continue reading →

Posted in Board Games, Chess, Comics, Dragon Quest, Families, Games, Humor, Language, Magic, Maps, Monsters, Names, Video Games | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 8 Comments

How Fast Those Queens Can Run!

Posted on May 25, 2016 by Nathan

Birth of the Chess Queen: A History, by Marilyn Yalom – The author links the development of the queen in the game of chess to events and personages in history. In the earliest Indian and Arabian sets, the piece next … Continue reading →

Posted in Authors, Board Games, Book Reviews, Chess, Games, History, Lewis Carroll | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Fight It Out!

Posted on July 24, 2013 by Nathan

My post last week about wandering monsters in video role-playing games got me thinking about some of the strange aspects of battle mode in general. When you run into monsters, the screen tends to fade out and send you into … Continue reading →

Posted in Board Games, Chess, Chrono Trigger, Dragon Quest, Final Fantasy, Games, Video Games | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

The Carrollian Queens

Posted on August 23, 2012 by Nathan

One tendency I’ve noticed is for people to confuse the Queen of Hearts from Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland with the Red Queen from Through the Looking-Glass. This was the case in Tim Burton’s film; and while I haven’t played it, … Continue reading →

Posted in Authors, Board Games, Chess, Games, Lewis Carroll | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Nobody’s Business But the Turk’s

Posted on April 30, 2012 by Nathan

It’s been a while since I did a post on a game (of the non-video variety, anyway), but I recently thought of something fascinating I read as a kid, namely the story of a chess-playing automaton. Built in 1770 by … Continue reading →

Posted in Board Games, Chess, Conspiracy Theories, Games | Tagged , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

A Geographic Wonderland

Posted on July 6, 2011 by Nathan

I’ve always liked maps of imaginary lands. They satisfy both my love of maps in general and my fondness for verisimilitude in fantasy. So it’s kind of a shame that two of my favorite books that don’t have “Oz” in … Continue reading →

Posted in Board Games, Chess, Games, Lewis Carroll, Playing Cards | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Something to Get Off My Chess

Posted on May 16, 2011 by Nathan

It was almost certainly Through the Looking-Glass, which used a game of chess as its background, that got me interested in the game. I soon found, however, that actually playing the game could get a bit tedious. So I know … Continue reading →

Posted in Board Games, Chess, Games, History, India, Lewis Carroll, Middle East | Tagged , , , , | 7 Comments