Sign up for The Media Today, CJRâs daily newsletter.
To practice politics, one must know something about strategy. Like a poker player, a politician needs to know when to hold âem and when to fold âem. And while politicians occasionally use poker terms when discussing strategy, more of themâand more journalists–put on their game faces with terms from chess.
You would think that people would use that terminology the way chess players use it. Most of the time, however, theyâre using the terms colloquially, even though they are using them in a strategic context. While that usage isnât wrong, itâs not as precise as it could (or should) be.
Letâs start with âpawn.â In chess, itâs the piece of the lowest value, and also the most numerous, and its movements are more limited than that of other pieces. A player may decide to sacrifice a âpawnâ without much worry, since doing so often provides an advantage to another piece. Politicians use the term âpawnâ mostly in a pejorative sense, meaning that an opponent has misused something or someone to gain advantage. (When the House passed its health-insurance bill, a Republican congressman said that the House speaker âused doctors as political pawns to add over $200 billion to our federal deficit.â) Colloquially, the lowly âpawnâ becomes someone elseâs sacrifice, not the sacrifice of the person who controls the destiny of the âpawn.â
In chess, a âgambitâ is an opening move, one that almost always sacrifices a piece, usually a âpawn.â But its more common use, one sanctioned by most dictionaries, refers to any risky or surprising strategic move: âSenate Majority Leader Harry Reidâs gambit to include a government-run insurance option in health care legislation has given a fresh tailwind to the idea despite opposition from conservatives,â one news report said.
Then thereâs the âend game.â Itâs not so much the last phase of the game as the strategy invoked as the number of pieces on the board dwindle. (Most chess players spell it âendgame.â) Much of the time, though, itâs used to mean the winding down of something, or merely the end, not the strategy to win. âIf 60 Democratic and independent votes arenât there to break a Republican filibuster on health care, that could be the incendiary end game,â one news report said. (For some reason, though, when many politicians speak of seeking an âend gameâ for Iraq or Afghanistan, they are referring to a winning strategy, not just withdrawal.) Interestingly enough, a âpawnâ becomes more important in the âend gameâ than in the âgambit.â
Itâs okay to âpawnâ colloquial use of chess terms off on readers, who wonât feel ârookedâ even if they do play chess. But if you use it more precisely, consider yourself a âscholarâs mate.â*
*A âscholarâs mateâ is a fast four-move checkmate, used mostly against beginning players.
Has America ever needed a media defender more than now? Help us by joining CJR today.