The Human Scale Chess game was created by Sharilyn Neidhardt. 32 people, each representing a chess piece, arrange themselves on a "board" - designated 8 square blocks of a city. They mimic the moves of a real chess game by moving from block to block as the pieces move. The moves of the game are transmitted via cellphone, txt msg, and other wireless communications.
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Here are a couple more photos from the game, which show White Knight Mark Stockton being captured by Black Knight Karoline Katus. If you want to share yours, email them to me!
Special and almost limitless thanks to everyone who came out for the Human Scale Chess Game yesterday in the East Village. These photos come courtesy of Chris Frederick, who played the role of the Black Bishop. Upload more of your photos to our facebook page, and I’ll post a few more here, too!
Okay! this is the map for the Village Human Scale Chess Game on Sat Sept 19 at 2p. Meet at Conflux HQ, 34 Stuyvesant St.
Starting positions for the pieces:
White
king: e1
queen: d1
bishops: c1, f1
knights: b1, g1
rooks: a1, h1
pawns: a2 through h2
Black
king: e8
queen: d8
bishops: c8, f8
knights: b8, g8
rooks: a8, h8
pawns: a7 through h7
If you are interested in participating or observing,
meet at 2p SHARP - Saturday Sept 19 2009
Meet at NYU Barney Building, 34 Stuyvesant Street. directions are here
We’re ridiculously thrilled that Canadian Grandmaster Pascal Charbonneau will be playing the master game in our chess game on Saturday. That means that is will be his brilliant moves that are transmitted to people representing chess pieces out in the neighborhood. Welcome, Pascal!
Pascal will be playing Dmitri Shneider, who is an international master and was one of the most talented juniors in the US for years.
You don’t need to know how to play chess to participate in the 2009 Human Scale Chess Game. Probably the most diverting way to participate is by representing a piece in the game. How will this work? Let’s pretend you are the white b-pawn (that’s the pawn in front of the knight).
We’re going to divide the Village/NYU area into an 8 x 8 block game board. Each intersection will represent a square on the chess board, for example: let’s say that b2, which is the square that the white b-pawn starts on, is at 1st Ave and E 10th St. When that pawn gets moved, you will get a phone call (or text message) instructing you to move to b3. You’d then walk up to 1st Ave and E 11th St and wait for the next call.
But you don’t have to be the white b-pawn, you can choose to be any piece on the board! Queens and Bishops will be covering a lot of territory, they may move up to 7 blocks at a time, and many of those moves will be on a diagonal. We recommend that those players bring a skateboard or bike or rollerblades. Rooks may make some big moves, too, but it will likely be toward the end of the game. Knights won’t be moving too far but they should also be prepared for an active game with a lot of walking. Pawns and kings will have the most leisurely game, moving only at the most two squares/blocks in any one move.
Everyone should be prepared to be in the sun/elements for a couple of hours, so bring sunscreen, hats, etc. Costuming appropriate to your piece is not obligatory but is strongly encouraged!
Sign up to be a piece now! Usually the spots for Kings and Queens get claimed first. Claim your place on the board by emailing sharilyn {dot} neidhardt {at} gmail {dot} com.
These pieces are spoken for:
- Black King: Rob
- Black b-knight: Karoline
- Black c-bishop: Maxwell
- Black g-knight: Christopher
- White Queen: Corinne
- White b-knight: Kevin
- White c-bishop: Drew
- White g-knight: Seth
zugzwang - German for “compulsory step”. A position where a player is forced to make a concession by making ANY move (they would prefer to “pass” which is not legal in chess).
fianchetto - An opening pattern where the flanking bishop is hidden in a little pyramid of pawns, useful for attacking opponent’s diagonally opposing flank.
hypermodern - A chess theory which uses distant pieces to control the center of the board, rather than using the central pawns used in more traditional openings. Hypermodernists included Alekhine and Nimzowitch.
touch move - In tournament play, if a player touches a piece intentionally, and it is his turn, he must move or capture that piece (unless it is otherwise illegal to do so). A player may not touch the pieces at all when it is his opponent’s turn.
j’adoube - French for “I adjust”. A player who wishes to nudge a piece without making a legal move must first announce “J’Adoube”.
en prise - Any piece that is unprotected and open to enemy capture.
zwischenzug - German for “in-between step”. A time-spending intermediate move, usually a surprising move which throws the opponent off the sequence of the apparent strategy.
The Human Scale Chess Game is a part of Conflux Festival 2009, a weekend-long exploration of psychogeography.
The White Queen captures the Black Kingside Bishop in the 2003 Vancouver game.
Have you always wanted to play the White Queen in a massive chess game? Have you wondered what it’s like to actually ‘castle’ in real life? Sign up now! There are only 32 pieces on the board! The game will be on Saturday Sept 19 2009 at 2p.
