Is Alice's Adventures in Wonderland a chess game and if so how?

Answer 1

Through the Looking Glass, the sequel to Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, is based on a giant game of Chess. All of the major characters represent different chess pieces, and the action of the book represents or reflects their moves.

Alice is assigned the role of pawn early on in the book, and as the story progresses, she makes her way up the board until she is made a queen and wins the game by causing a check-mate.

The moves of the game are printed in some editions of Through the Looking Glass as follows:

White Pawn (Alice) to play, and win in eleven moves.

1. Alice meets R.Q. - R.Q. to K.R's 4th

2. Alice through Q's 3d (by railway) to Q's 4th (Tweedledum and Tweedledee) - W.Q. to Q.B's 4th (after shawl)

3 Alice meets W.Q. (with shawl) - W.Q. to Q.B's 5th (becomes sheep)

4 Alice to Q's 5th (shop, river, shop) - W.Q. to K.B's 8th (leaves egg on shelf)

5 Alice to Q's 6th (Humpty Dumpty) - W.Q. to Q.B's 8th (flying from R. Kt.)

6 Alice to Q's 7th (forest) - R.Kt. to K's 2nd (ch.)

7 W.Kt. takes R.Kt. - W.Kt. to K.B's 5th

8 Alice to Q's 8th (coronation) - R.Q. to K's sq. (examination)

9 Alice becomes Queen - Queens castle

10 Alice castles (feast) - W.Q. to Q.R's 6th (soup)

11 Alice takes R.Q. & wins

An illustration of the starting positions is also given. To see this illustration, follow the related link below.

This is what Lewis Carroll said in his preface to the 1896 edition of Through the Looking Glass:

As the chess-problem, given on the previous page, has puzzled some of my readers, it may be well to explain that it is correctly worked out, so far as the moves are concerned. The alternation of Red and White is perhaps not so strictly observed as it might be, and the "castling" of the three Queens is merely a way of saying that they entered the palace; but the "check" of the White King at move 6, the capture of the Red Knight at move 7, and the final "checkmate" of the Red King, will be found, by any one who will take the trouble to set the pieces and play the moves as directed, to be strictly in accordance with the laws of the game.