1. The standard* 8 x8 chessboard is SYMMETRICAL
2. The same chessboard is ASYMMETRICAL
   

1. A Rotation of 180 degrees (clockwise or anti-clockwise) about a vertical axis through its midpoint leaves the chessboad looking the same => a symmetrical transformation.
2. A Rotation of 90 degrees about a vertical axis through its midpoint ALTERS the chessboad’s disposition, INTERCHANGING BLACK/WHITE squares => an asymmetrical transformation.
   

I was thinking of Lewis Carroll of course (the Red Queen and the Red King) and you are right - something I never seem to get correct is that the Queen is on her own color - so the two queens do oppose each other. The King is a McGuffin anyway.

I rarely play chess - learned by watching my father play. But got quite good at it while hospitalized with nothing else to do. But I do think the asymmetry of the board/pieces is of greater importance than Stan admits. Too bad we haven't Dmitri to consult. Perhaps Martin Gardener in his Ambidextrous Universe discusses chess.

There is always confusion about this amongst us casual players - I for example just learned that the white square must be to the player's right. And few casual players know that it is possible to castle on both the king's (short) side and the queen's (long) side.

Carolyn

p.s I do happen to recall that in Martin Gardener's Annotated Alice, he does mention that if the universe were not asymmetrical it wouldn't exist. In other words, matter and anti-matter would cancel each other out.

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From: "stan@bootle.biz" <stan@BOOTLE.BIZ>
To: NABOKV-L@LISTSERV.UCSB.EDU
Sent: Tue, February 12, 2013 4:35:57 PM
Subject: Re: [NABOKV-L] Ada

Re: [NABOKV-L] Ada CK’s reported ‘King & Queen asymmetry’ will come as a surprise to ALL chess players, both the skilled amateur (like Nabokov/Sirin, author of "Защита Лужина," the ‘worst chess novel ever written!’), and first-day learners!

See http://chess.about.com/od/rulesofchess/ss/Boardsetup.htm

You’ll see that the White Queen, initially at d1, ‘faces/looks-at’ the Red (aka Black) Queen, initially on d8, separated by pawns at d2 and d7. Likewise the two Kings initially ‘face/look-at’ each other along the e-column, from e1 and e8, with pawns at e2 and e7. Both the board and piece-settings are positively dripping with symmetries. These make the game the fairest of all, and ‘boredom’ doesn’t enter into it!

Perhaps the confusion arises because ‘colour’ is assigned to both squares and pieces? But, of course, the White Queen remains White even if she moves to a Red/Black square.

Incidentally, regardless of the arbitrary, physical colours of the pieces, official English ‘chess-speak’ calls the opponents White (making the first move) and Black (responding). This White ‘initiative-ADVANTAGE’ is, in fact, the ONLY GENUINE ASYMMETRY in Chess! Hence, the choice of colour for Game 1 is traditionally a 50-50 random ‘coin-toss.’ Subsequent games, in most tournaments, then alternate who starts so that the ‘White-advantage’ is evened out.


On 11/02/2013 15:45, "Jansy" <jansy@AETERN.US> wrote:

Carolyn described* the asymmetry of how the King and Queen are displayed in a chessboard, with white kings staring at the red queens, aso. Indeed, this must have tickled VN's sense of plot and humor, in particular!
 
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*  {...} As a player of chess, Nabokov is of course intrigued by the play of symmetry (the chess board) and asymmetry (the position of the pieces on the board - in other words, the white king looks at the red queen, not at the red king). If this were not so, the game of chess would be boring indeed.[   ]

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