Chess With Sherlock Holmes

I’ve been trying to improve my chess by changing not so much what I know, but how I think. I often know perfectly well what I should do: examine the whole position, generate possibilities, calculate my opponent’s best response and my follow-up, and only then decide. The difficulty is persuading my brain to do those things in that order. An exciting idea has an unfortunate tendency to arrive before I’ve finished looking.

I began experimenting with giving these different kinds of thinking separate voices. It sounds a little ridiculous, which may be part of why it works. During a recent game I actually caught myself saying aloud, “Hey, Mr. Over-Optimistic, you didn’t let me finish observing the board yet!”

That made me wonder whether three people might do the job better than one. And if I was going to put three people inside my head, I could hardly think of a better consulting detective than Sherlock Holmes.

The heat wave that has been so oppressive across the country finally broke. The extreme temperatures belied the fact that it was early September. The black walnut leaves were already turning color and fell on the sidewalk where Detective Inspector Lestrade was walking as he made his way to 221B Baker Street.

“Good morning, Inspector!” Mrs. Hudson greeted Lestrade with respectful familiarity. Mrs. Hudson was as ebullient and charming as the first day they met. “You know the way!” she said as she motioned to him and ran out the door, chasing the cat that Lestrade had so clumsily allowed outside.

“Sorry about the cat, Mrs. Hudson. Oh, hello Holmes.”

Holmes and Watson were having toast and tea. “Really Holmes, I think you're mistaken!” Watson said just before taking a bite of Mrs. Hudson's delicious toast and jam. He chewed for a moment, then said, “Lestrade, what do you think? Holmes says that the optimal number of toast slices in a rack is 6. He cites some theory that I'm certain he is inventing on the spot that 8 slices will cause all the toast on the rack to become bitter. My theory is that he is just anti-social.”

Holmes laughed and smiled sincerely at Watson. “You never cease to amuse me, my dear Watson. And what can we do for you on this fine morning, Inspector? And please, don't let Watson scare you off. Have some of Mrs. Hudson's fine toast and tea.”

“Just tea, thank you, Mr. Holmes. I have a bit of a puzzle for you.”

“Let me describe the situation to you. There are two parties who appear to be in what can only be described as a state of war. One wears white armor. The White king was the aggressor, but has since lost his queen. He has two rooks, a bishop, a knight and 4 pawns. The White king is feeling pretty nervous. His knight, bishop and both rooks are all unprotected. One of his rooks isn't in the battle at all. His bishop and other rook are both threatened by the enemy king, who wears black armor. On the plus side for the White king, his knight could take the Black king's rook. The Black king is in a much better position personnel wise. He's still got his queen, two rooks, two bishops and 5 pawns. Having said that most of the Black king's pieces are back home and not in the battle. He's out there, in the White king's territory, with only his bishop for backup.”

Holmes and Watson listened patiently while Lestrade spoke. They had learned through experience that it was best to let Lestrade take all the time he needed to observe in order to be fully informed of the facts before creating candidate theories.

“So, Mr. Holmes, what do you think the White king should do?”

Holmes had been observing Watson. He noticed that even before Lestrade had finished speaking, Watson started shaking his head with the purity and glory of a great idea. “Why don't we hear what Dr. Watson has to say first, Inspector?” Holmes replied.

Watson wasted no time. “Look, there's an easy way to solve this without bottom line loss. If the White knight takes the Black king's rook, there's no way for the Black king to respond. It is a free rook! He should just take it!”

“There is some logic in that, Mr. Holmes. Shall I pass that along to the White king?” Lestrade asked as he started to stand and put on his hat to leave.

“Not quite yet, Inspector,” Holmes said, motioning him to sit.

“Watson, you see, but you do not observe. Yes, you are correct, my dear friend and colleague, but the White king's knight is now effectively out of the battle. But meanwhile, the Black king is able to reply. Look! You've allowed him to capture the White king's rook and run away. Alright, it's a fair trade, but is that really the best we can do for him? With that Black queen, White will surely lose unless some other idea can be found.”

Watson's feelings were a little hurt by Holmes' swift rejection of his analysis, but he continued to think. “Inspector,” Watson asked, “Tell me again about the situation of the black king. He's deep in the White king's territory.”

“That's right, Dr. Watson. In fact, you could say he's almost surrounded, but the White king's rook, bishop and pawn aren't working together, so they are in danger. The only protected one is the pawn!”

Watson looked again. The only protected one was the pawn, protected by the bishop. Watson brightened up again and smiled at Holmes. “What if...what if the White king moved his unused rook in the back so that it protected the White king's bishop? That would be helpful.”

Holmes said, “Helpful to the bishop, perhaps, but fatal to the king's other rook.”

Lestrade watched the interplay between Holmes and Watson like an observer of a tennis match. His head went back and forth between the two as he spoke.

“Ahh, that rook. We need to defend it. The pawn that is being defended by the bishop. What if the rook moved over so that the pawn could defend him?”

Holmes nodded approvingly. “And what about the poor bishop, Watson? Surely you'll not leave him to die?”

Watson beamed. “That's the beauty of this idea, Holmes! The rook which would now be protected by the pawn — it protects the bishop!”

Holmes laughed approvingly and applauded. “Bravo, Watson! You've saved them all.”

Lestrade said, “Gentlemen, can I make an observation?”

Holmes replied a bit pedantically, “I don't know, Lestrade, can you?” and smiled at him.

“Excuse me, may I make an observation? The rook that Mr. Watson so creatively used to save the bishop also puts the black king in check.”

“I believe you'll find that to be check and mate, Inspector,” Holmes said as he set up the chess board for a game with Watson.

“And I believe that's my cue to leave,” said Lestrade. “Thank you, gentlemen. It's been a pleasure as always.”

As Lestrade made his way down the stairs, Mrs. Hudson rushed over to pick up the cat before Lestrade let it out again. “Have a nice day, Inspector!”