cross-posted from: https://lemmy.blahaj.zone/post/29788399
revolutionary chess
If a pawn makes it to the 8th rank, does it promote? Is it a class traitor? Does it defect to the bourgeoisie?
this post was submitted on 03 Aug 2025
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Holy hell
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It should promote and remain in control of the pawn player. Otherwise, the king can just hide behind the pawns. I like to think of it as the pawns stealing resources from the ruling class, as long as, you know, it does hoard the resources after the ruling class is taken down. Ahem (Meet the new boss, same as the old boss)
It founds the Bolshevik Party and starts to recruit enemy pieces.
It becomes super pawn
All pawns are equal but some pawns are more eequal than others
The pigs start walking.
With the ability to easily form double pawn chains, P2 can push forward without having to have a weak point. P1 will have to sacrifice a few pieces to start tearing it down, and by the time the pawn chains are starting to fall from behind, P2 will have a few pawns close to promotion.
Honestly, with perfect play, I'm unsure how this would go.
https://lichess.org/editor/rnbqkbnr/8/8/8/8/8/PPPPPPPP/PPPPPPPP_w_HAkq_-_0_1?variant=antichess&color=white doesn't look like lichess let's you start like this, idk how to get it working. Looks like it's because en passant rules are undefined for a pawn on the back row.
Edit: we can move them a row up: https://lichess.org/editor/rnbqkbnr/8/8/8/8/PPPPPPPP/PPPPPPPP/8_w_-_-_0_1?variant=antichess&color=white looks like it's almost a guarantee for the pawns, almost every move forces a trade.
Edit 2: apparently my initial conclusion was wrong, but stockfish has no idea how to solve it. Let the bishops take one pawn, breaking the line, and have the rooks cleanup. Might still work a row back if you get the queen in position or something.
Played like chess is one thing, but if played in the spirit of the setup, the knights would be the only ones in action right away, the rooks moving up one to protect the royalty. Could a line of pawns trap two knights and get broken up and weakened?
Replace the white pawns with black ones and then yes. But as setup it is unlikely for black to win as white would have to be quite terrible to lose.
All pawns belong to p2. Half of them are white just so that you can play it with a standard chess set that only contains 8 pawns of each color.
It also drives home the point that class warfare requires solidarity, even overcoming racism.