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Knight's move thinking in relation to magic squares


Salvation Enabled by Systemic Comprehension (Part #11)


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The argument can be taken further through understanding of the movement of a Knight over a chess board (and its equivalent, Keima, in the game of go). In contrast with other pieces in chess, the movement is non-linear. It includes a bend, with the final move being at right angles to the previous three. This non-linearity is variously appreciated as emblementic of creative originality and deprecated as a thought disorder, as discussed separately (Knight's move thinking: appreciated or deprecated, 2012). The appreciation is evident from its use on the coat of arms and insignia of several of the U.S. Army Military Intelligence Battalions -- some of which were allegedly involved in the questionable processes in the Abu Ghraib prison. The 312th, for example, has as its motto: Semper Veritas (Always the Truth).

The argument is developed here by exploiting a widespread degree of familiarity with chess -- also known as the Great Game. Chess is a framing notably used in the much-translated study by Zbigniew Brzezinski (The Grand Chessboard: American primacy and its geostrategic imperatives, 1998). Related arguments could be developed in terms of other board games, notably checkers/draughts or go. The latter bears comparison in the light of the work of Scott Boorman (The Protracted Game: a wei ch'i approach to Mao's revolutionary strategy, 1971) -- which demonstrated that with respect to Vietnam, China was playing go strategically against the American expertise in playing chess.

Animation of possible Knight's moves on 3x3 magic square
(columns, rows and diagonals total to 15)
Counter-clockwise Clockwise
Animation of possible Knight's moves on 3x3 magic square Animation of possible Knight's moves on 3x3 magic square

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