COMMENT Zugzwang, or, White
to play and lose By
Allen Quicke
In chess there is a position
called zugzwang. A player is in
zugzwang when it is his turn to play but he
has no good moves. Anything he does will worsen
his position. Zugzwang translates from
German as "compulsion to move", or "no-win
situation", or "between a rock and a hard place".
Chess, as we all know, is a metaphor for
geostrategy. It's a good one, as far as it goes.
Obviously the real world contains shades of
gray, unlike the
black and white of the chessboard. And chess
is played according to rules, under which every move
has calculable consequences and logical responses.
That's why chess is said to be the only game in
which the element of luck plays no part whatsoever
- and why computers can be
programmed to play and
beat grand masters. In the real world, if one side
can contrive to move a "knight" in a straight line
and so confound his opponent, he will.
Still, zugzwang aptly describes the
position in which the US finds itself in its "war
on terror".
The US (White, of course) has
no good moves left. It's too late now to regret
the ongoing strategy of shock and awe, carnage and
ruin, it shortsightedly employed in its onslaught
to capture pieces and occupy territory. It's too
late to try to repair the damage: White has run
out of pieces, resources and time, and Black gives
him no respite.
In such a dire position,
what are White's options?
1. Move
anyway This tactic is known as "surging".
Surging merely prolongs the
agony while keeping alive White's desperate hope
that his opponent will make a horrendous blunder
or fall
off his chair and break his neck. If neither of
these miracles comes to pass, or even if one does,
White pays a heavy cost in terms of men lost, and
he incurs the spectators' contempt for his
inability to accept defeat when it's staring him
in the face.
2. Play for
time There are many variations, including
the "Toilet Gambit" (also known as "diplomatic
engagement") and requesting a water refill
("staying the course").
This tactic has
the benefit of increasing the chances of Black
succumbing to a fatal heart attack before the game
is over. Unfortunately, it also increases White's
chances of a heart attack. The clock is ticking,
and it's White's time that is running out.
3. Overturn the board and scatter the
pieces Also known as "nuking". Variations
include throwing the clock at an opponent's head,
or punching out the player at the adjoining table
who has been thumbing his nose at you (the
"Spengler Variation").
This cathartic
tactic will give White a momentary rush of power
and triumph, but ultimately it's utterly
self-destructive. White will be set upon by
players and spectators alike and consigned to the
padded cell in the place where they keep chess
geniuses and others who have gone off the rails.
And of course, White's match fee and
sponsorship deals worth billions of barrels will
be forfeit. The title of Global Superchampion will
be up for grabs.
4. Resign Also
known as "withdrawal". The variation called
"timetable for withdrawal" (with or without
"benchmarks"), simply delays the inevitable, but
may at least spare a player from misguided charges
of "cutting and running".
This is White's
least bad option. It is an admission of defeat,
but it ends the squandering of men and resources.
It avoids the ignominy of the checkmate that
everybody can see coming. It suggests that White
has grasped the situation and the fact that all
other options are worse, that White can learn from
the situation and avoid the same blunders in
future.
And if White were to take it upon
himself to mop up the blood on the floor, repair
the shattered chessboard and nurse the
shell-shocked pawns, he would even win respect and
achieve what Grand Master Henry Kissinger hoped
for but did not achieve: "withdrawal with honor".
Game over. But there is one thing White
should still consider doing: retiring from the
game altogether. He has played poorly for the past
50 years. Consider how he has got himself into
zugzwang so soon after his debacle against
Grand Master Ho Chi Minh. White should go home and
attend to his own affairs. If he does, he will not
be bothered by Black again.
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programmed to play and
beat grand masters. In the real world, if one side
can contrive to move a "knight" in a straight line
and so confound his opponent, he will.
or fall
off his chair and break his neck. If neither of
these miracles comes to pass, or even if one does,
White pays a heavy cost in terms of men lost, and
he incurs the spectators' contempt for his
inability to accept defeat when it's staring him
in the face. 
