It’s not the first time I’ve dealt with hard liquor on this blog. Far from it. But it’s the first time I’m dealing with such an unspecific ad. For today’s subject seems to be not about a particular brand, like the examples I linked before, but rather for all rum to ever come out of Puerto Rico.1 And even that doesn’t seem to be a very strong prerequisite to earn the publisher’s approval.
In order to gain my approval, however, a chessboard is a conditio sine qua non. Since there is one here, it’s probably worth investigating more closely.
The board is shown quite clearly, but, with the rum, they apparently also brought some very weird pieces back from Puerto Rico. Nevertheless, I’m pretty confident in the following reconstruction, although less so about the king’s side, which has been partly cut off:2
I’m not sure whether this was on purpose, but this position is a rather rum affair. Black has apparently been playing quite conservatively, keeping his pawns in place and not developing pieces too much. White, on the other hand, went off the deep end, throwing all he has at his opponent. It seems to be paying off, because he has a bishop and a knight extra.
Now, according to the text on the ad, one of these people brought a chess defence back from Puerto Rico. But I’m guessing he’s not going to get much out of it, because some of his opponents may deviate from his clever plan.3
Realism: 2/5 None of the pieces are far out of place, but holistically it’s nonsense. How did black even manage to get rid of his two pieces?
Probable winner: That depends greatly on whose move it is. If black can take with check on c3 and then on c4, too, his chances are good. If white can protect against everything with, say, Qb3, then he’s winning.
1. [I think that, on principle, the only spirits they should be allowed to brew there is a rich port.] ↩
2. [As has this sent] ↩
3. [Also, the word defense suggests an opening for black. So we’d better hope it’s his move here.] ↩