Chess Notation
Chess Notation
[Cueball and White Hat facing each other.] Cueball: I've decided to score all my conversations using chess win-loss notation. White Hat: I don't know or care what that means. Cueball: Fine. White Hat: Fine.
[Caption below the frame:] ½–½
The following points are debated:
Chess players and critics use certain notations to write down chess games in a very short fashion (for example the Forsyth–Edwards Notation , which is both computer- and human-readable). In addition, chess annotation symbols like ! and !? help to comment certain moves in a similarly short fashion. That way it is possible to print or discuss a chess game (or a chess opening) in a limited space, for example in printed reference manuals.
A short synopsis about common chess annotation symbols:
!! – brilliant move: Very strong and counter-intuitive move. A sound sacrifice. ! – good move: A surprisingly good move. !? – interesting move: Risky, or worthy of attention and analysis. ?! – dubious move: Designates a move that may be bad, but it is hard to explain why. ? – mistake: Poor move that should not be played. ?? – blunder : Exceptionally bad move, usually designates a move that turns a winning position into a draw, or a draw into a losing position.
The score of the "white" player is always given first, followed by the score of the "black" player. Possible notations for the game outcome are:
1-0 – a win (for white) 0-1 – a loss (for white) ½-½ – a draw
Because every chess game begins by moving a white piece, the following can be observed: When Cueball ends a conversation with 1-0,
A chess game can be won (and lost for the other party) or drawn . It should be noted that draws most commonly occur by agreement , or very rarely by stalemate . A stalemate is a situation where the opponent's king is not in check, but none of the opponent's pieces can be moved in a legal way. In a human conversation, what amounts to a draw, and what amounts to a stalemate?
If agreed draws should be allowed (and under which circumstances) is a matter of some discussion among chess players, thus adding another point to Randall's comic. For example, some tournament rules (e.g. the so-called " Sofia Rules ") do not allow a draw to be offered directly - any player has first to announce the intention of drawing to the arbiter (referee), who then decides if the position should be played out further or not.
The official chess rules offer some ways the concept of a "draw" could be applied to a human conversation. According to the World Chess Federation (FIDE) rules, a draw can occur:
Similarities
Differences

Cueball begins a conversation with White Hat with the declaration that he will be scoring his conversations using chess notation (hence the title). White Hat is not interested, so the conversation dies out, with both Cueball and White Hat saying "Fine".
And just as promised, Cueball has scored this particular conversation, giving it a ½-½ , as he believes that this is a drawn conversation . The reasons for the draw may be due to agreement (both parties walk away afterwards), a stalemate (the conversation isn't going anywhere), draw by repetition (both players have played the same moves over and over again, and cannot improve their position - probably if "Fine" had been repeated more times), 50-move rule (the conversation has been going on fruitlessly for too long - unlikely here since it is only 4 dialogues long) or something else. There could be some similarities between chess games and conversations . In general, see more under the trivia section.
The title text contains the same assertion that Cueball is scoring all his conversations in chess notation, followed by a (??). In chess notation, (??) means the move in question was a very bad, or losing, move - a blunder. Cueball scores this part of the conversation as a blunder, which is understandable as it immediately turned the conversation against him. It can also be considered a losing move not just in the conversation but in general, being a confusing and pointless decision with no apparent gain. If Cueball is treating his conversation itself like a chess game (memorizing openings, using tactics, and evaluating various possible things to say), then he will avoid ever opening a conversation with this statement again. If he was scoring his idea to score his conversations as a blunder, then that itself may yet be another blunder.  Either way, quite a ?? indeed!!
The (??) may also be interpreted not as chess notation, but as regular interpunction, in which case it would denote a confused reaction by someone who doesn't know what chess notation is (like White Hat in the comic). This makes it a double entendre, covering both the case when either the conversation party or the reader doesn't understand what chess notation is (and thus reacts with confusion to Cueball's announcement), and the case when chess notation is understood, and actually used to comment on the soundness of Cueball's move as being a blunder.
[Cueball and White Hat facing each other.] Cueball: I've decided to score all my conversations using chess win-loss notation. White Hat: I don't know or care what that means. Cueball: Fine. White Hat: Fine.
[Caption below the frame:] ½–½
The following points are debated:
Chess players and critics use certain notations to write down chess games in a very short fashion (for example the Forsyth–Edwards Notation , which is both computer- and human-readable). In addition, chess annotation symbols like ! and !? help to comment certain moves in a similarly short fashion. That way it is possible to print or discuss a chess game (or a chess opening) in a limited space, for example in printed reference manuals.
A short synopsis about common chess annotation symbols:
!! – brilliant move: Very strong and counter-intuitive move. A sound sacrifice. ! – good move: A surprisingly good move. !? – interesting move: Risky, or worthy of attention and analysis. ?! – dubious move: Designates a move that may be bad, but it is hard to explain why. ? – mistake: Poor move that should not be played. ?? – blunder : Exceptionally bad move, usually designates a move that turns a winning position into a draw, or a draw into a losing position.
The score of the "white" player is always given first, followed by the score of the "black" player. Possible notations for the game outcome are:
1-0 – a win (for white) 0-1 – a loss (for white) ½-½ – a draw
Because every chess game begins by moving a white piece, the following can be observed: When Cueball ends a conversation with 1-0,
A chess game can be won (and lost for the other party) or drawn . It should be noted that draws most commonly occur by agreement , or very rarely by stalemate . A stalemate is a situation where the opponent's king is not in check, but none of the opponent's pieces can be moved in a legal way. In a human conversation, what amounts to a draw, and what amounts to a stalemate?
If agreed draws should be allowed (and under which circumstances) is a matter of some discussion among chess players, thus adding another point to Randall's comic. For example, some tournament rules (e.g. the so-called " Sofia Rules ") do not allow a draw to be offered directly - any player has first to announce the intention of drawing to the arbiter (referee), who then decides if the position should be played out further or not.
The official chess rules offer some ways the concept of a "draw" could be applied to a human conversation. According to the World Chess Federation (FIDE) rules, a draw can occur:
Similarities
Differences
