Deal with it - Jack of spades - Chess Mystery Cache

This cache has been archived.

den sure kalkun: There's a lot of factors leading to this, but I won't air them here (or anywhere, so please don't ask). I've been weighing things up very carefully for a few months, and this decision is final. If you have any comments to make, don't make them to me.

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Hidden : 7/9/2014
Difficulty:
4 out of 5
Terrain:
2 out of 5

Size: Size: micro (micro)

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Geocache Description:

Chess is a strategy game for two players, played on a board using pieces. The board is eight by eight squares, and each player is given sixteen pieces to start with. These consist of eight pawns, two rooks (or "castles"), two knights, two bishops, a king and a queen.

A player can remove an opponent's piece by moving one of his pieces to the same square. Play proceeds in turn — white always goes first — and each player can move one piece per turn.
Different pieces have different moves. The pawn can move one square forwards, or two on its first turn. The rook can move in straight lines any number of squares but not along a diagonal. The bishop can move in straight lines any number of squares but only along the diagonals. The king and queen can move in any direction; the king can only move one square at a time. The knight's move is unusual: it must move one square in one direction and two squares in a direction perpendicular to the first direction, thus forming an "L" shape (see gallery for an illustration). The knight can move to its destination even if there are other piece blocking its path, and is the only piece that can do so.
Any piece can take any other, with one exception. The king cannot be taken. If a player's king is threatened ("checked") on their turn, they must either move away from the threat, block it, or take the threatening piece. If no such move is possible, that player has lost or been "checkmated".

Gameplay continues until one player has checkmated the other, or another finishing condition is satisfied. These include the players agreeing a draw, a "stalemate" situation (see below), or, in tournament conditions, one of the players running out of time.

A stalemate is a situation whereby the game has reached a condition where no victory is possible or likely for either player. An example of this would be where one player has no valid moves to make yet their king is not checked. Another is when neither player has sufficient pieces to be able to force checkmate. If the only piece remaining on the board are the two kings, this is stalemate. Another example would be with a king versus a king and a single bishop.
See the gallery of this page for examples of stalemate and checkmate situations.

The pawn is a very special piece. Apart from its unusual property of having a different move available on its first turn, it can only move in one direction: forwards. But a pawn cannot take another piece by stepping directly forwards. It can only take pieces that are on a square that is one in front and one to the side. A further complication exists in the "en passant" move, whereby a pawn that is placed two rows ahead of the starting row of the opponent's pawns can take an opponent's pawn on an adjoining file if the opponent moves the pawn two squares forwards. The best way to imagine this is that if a player had moved her pawn one square instead of two, and that would have placed it in a position where it could be taken by an opponent's pawn, the opponent can take that pawn anyway, moving their pawn diagonally forward to the position where the pawn would have been, had it actually moved one square. "En passant" is French for "in passing": the pawn is taken as it passes the other one. If that's still not clear, you can see the picture in the gallery illustrating it or read a better description on Wikipedia. (although it won't help you solve this cache).
If a pawn reaches the last row (six rows forwards from where it started), the player can exchange it for another piece of his choosing, but not a king or a pawn. This process is called "queening", because the player will usually elect to replace it with a queen.
The queen is easily the most powerful piece, and to lose your queen without the opponent losing theirs is often tantamount to defeat. But not always; chess is a nuanced games and feints, sacrifices and traps are ways that a wily player can defeat an opponent. Thus it is generally advisable to play with caution. If a good player makes an obvious mistake and leaves a piece undefended it might not be an error.
Chess is a very old game, with its origins in post-classical India. It has attracted much study within the realm of computing, and modern chess programs on fast computers have superseded the best human players.

You don't need to be able to play chess to solve this cache, but a passing familiarity is essential to get you on the right track. The cache is located at N 55 55.??? W 003 14.???. You can use the geochecker to check your solution.

Additional Hints (Decrypt)

[puzzle] qba'g bofrff nobhg nyy gur ahzoref va gur grkg; gurl nera'g vzcbegnag. [puzzle] unir lbh sbhaq fbzrguvat jebat? Tbbq, lbh'er ba gur evtug genpx. Ohg vg vfa'g npghnyyl jebat.

Decryption Key

A|B|C|D|E|F|G|H|I|J|K|L|M
-------------------------
N|O|P|Q|R|S|T|U|V|W|X|Y|Z

(letter above equals below, and vice versa)


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