Chess has a civilizing quality about it. Which is not to say it isn't cutthroat. But men deep in chess are in another place, a geometry of possibility on a squared playing field, among chess pieces with different powers, some of them fantastic. The knight, for instance. What's up with that move, one over, two up; two over, one up. Or down or over or left or right. If the knight was a superhero he'd be the one who could shoot around corners. He'd be Green Lantern.

What are the powers of pawns. Who are they supposed to be? Us, I guess. People. Not kings or queens or bishops or knights or castles. People. Pawns. The inevitable in between. But isn't it the pawns that win the battle more times than you can imagine? And can't pawns become queens if they want to be? If they win the race to the other end of the square. The winning pawn can become a bishop, a rook, a knight, anything but a king.

Come to think of it, I've never seen a chess player chose to be a pawn at the end of the race.