Dragon Chess Mystery Cache
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Difficulty:
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Terrain:
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Size: 
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THERE IS NOTHING HIDDEN at the cache coordinates, they bring you to a fork in the trail where you'll need to make a choice: walk down the Dennison Trail into Dogtown or head toward Goose Cove reservoir (not to be confused with Goose Cove). There is a nice loop trail here, we recommend downloading the map from the Related Web Page link above.
This cache combines some things I enjoyed in my teens: Role-Playing Games (RPGs) and tournament chess. You'll have to appreciate some of the Denis Beauvais art in the photo gallery to solve the puzzle, you might even complete this puzzle at your desk. Mr. Beauvais did a lot of fantasy work in the 1980s and 1990s, for this puzzle I've highlighted his chess-themed cover art from Dragon Magazine. There was also a video game "Battle Chess" that animated the chess pieces as though they were in battle (visit link) Nowadays there are still Knightmare Chess cards to spice up your run-of-the-mill chess game (visit link)
This geocache brings you to the Carter Reservation (an ECGA property), a great place to study the glacial geology of New England. As part of the terminal moraine that comprises all of Cape Ann, this land is among the final resting places for rocky debris left behind by melting glaciers over 10,000 years ago. Today, many huge boulders, which were dragged south from as far away as Newfoundland, still look as if they have just dropped from the sky onto a foreign land. Ancient mounds of dirt and silt, known as drumlins, and winding ridges known as eskers can also be found throughout the area. Stonewalls and old house foundations remain as visible reminders of the region's history. The Carter Reservation and surrounding area has evolved into dense woodland of mature white pine and mixed hardwoods, home to woodpeckers and migratory songbirds. The vernal pools beckon the adventurous seeking salamanders and frogs in early spring.
Dogtown was the most prosperous and most populated part of Gloucester in the mid-1700s, despite its rocky terrain. Inland from enemy navies and rogue pirates along the coast, the region provided protection for early settlers. By the mid 1800’s, peace reigned and most families moved to the shore to make their living from the sea. Historians and urban mythology offer different explanations for the origin of the term Dogtown. Local lore speculates that as the original inhabitants moved back to the more populated neighborhoods along the Gloucester shore, some widows and fisherman remained, keeping dogs for protection and company. Eventually, these residents passed on and the their dogs became feral, giving the area its name. Historians offer that “dogtowns” were outlying areas to many settled cities, where transients tended to find temporary and rustic shelter.
If you head east on the Dennison Trail, it takes you into Dogtown to Trail Marker 20, from there you can head southeast to Whale's Jaw. Another of our Dogtown caches is Respect for dogtown GC2ZJX5. This geocache is where we have put all of the parking waypoints for Dogtown, especially useful if you're new to exploring Dogtown (it's a big place)!
THE PUZZLE...
NORTH COORDINATE: N 42° 39._____ Using algebraic chess notation, how is "Queenside Castling" represented? That repetitive letter/number represents the 3 remaining numbers of the coordinate.
WEST COORDINATE: W 070° 39.ADE
A = The left-most piece character in #83 - Checkmate is a black _______, it is partially obscured by the bar code. The number of letters in the piece's name is A.
B = There are a total of ___ evil-looking black seahorses for the knights' steeds depicted in these 4 covers.
C = There is an obscure rule in chess, "En ________," that allows a pawn an unconventional capture of another pawn. The number of letters in the second French word is C.
D = B + C
E = In #118 - The Draw, the white pawn has been pierced by ___ number of arrows.
You can geocheck your answer here: (visit link)
If you should find a travel bug in this cache or any other cache, please be sure to log it electronically twice, once when you grab it and again when you put it in another cache. This must be done so that its travels can be tracked. You must be a signed on member to do this. If you are not a signed on member of geocaching.com and do not intend to become a member, please do not take the travel bug. Membership is free. Join up and get in on the fun. Please use caution when hunting and replacing a cache. A muggled cache could lead to the loss of Travel Bugs or Geocoins.
First-To-Find prize is an American coin rarer than our usual leave, a 5¢ Liberty nickel from 1899. This is to commemorate the awesome story of the 1913 Liberty nickel sold at auction recently for $3.1M, more of the story is here: (visit link) . Since I started collecting coins as a kid, the 1913 Liberty nickel was a collector's legend. To the swag we have also added a "Where's George" dollar bill for swapping fun!
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Ybbxf yvxr n qentba znl unir tanjrq ba gur uvqvat fcbg...?