That is not dead which can eternal lie, and with strange aeons even podcasts may make it onto our blog. These are strange aeons, 1 so here is a blog post about a podcast. The casual criminalist is a true crime podcast. The gimmick is that a British guy with a smooth and rather posh voice reads stories about spectacular crimes he doesn’t know about beforehand. How could such a thing ever be germane to a blog about chess in popular culture? Well, the podcast also goes out on YouTube and, although it mostly shows the narrator, there are brief, relevant clips interwoven throughout.
In this particular episode of the podcast, they’re talking about power dynamics. And what better way to illustrate power dynamics than by inserting a short video of a chess game? There are perhaps a couple, but the editor chose this one.
The clip, which is probably stock footage from some content aggregator site, shows very little of the players but a great deal of the board. 2 Finally someone has got their priorities straight! 3
There could be an additional pawn on h7 or something, but barring that the position is correct. Legal not so much, but correct at least.
The power struggles are symbolised by white taking a queen, which was not on the board, and knocking over the black king with it. I’m not sure whether that effectively showcases any power struggle, but it definitely shows that white has little sense for decorum.4 But what can you expect from a predator?
Realism: 0/5 There is no way that pawn could have gotten to a5 and even if it could, the two dark-squared white bishops would be a problem.
Probable winner: White. He will get a warning from the arbiter that he can’t go around knocking over pieces, put the queen away, and play Rc4.
1. [Perhaps even charm aeons.] ↩
2. [In fact, I’m not sure there is a second player. He’s never in view and, judging from the picture, it’s only a short distance to the wall.] ↩
3. [Apronus chess: the world’s most prolific diagram editor.] ↩
4. [To say nothing of his horrible sense of nouveaurum.] ↩