Intransitively Winning Chess Players’ Positions

Abstract

Chess players’ positions in intransitive (rock-paper-scissors) relations are considered. Intransitivity of chess players’ positions means that: position A of White is preferable (it should be chosen if choice is possible) to position B of Black, if A and B are on a chessboard; position B of Black is preferable to position C of White, if B and C are on the chessboard; position C of White is preferable to position D of Black, if C and D are on the chessboard; but position D of Black is preferable to position A of White, if A and D are on the chessboard. Intransitivity of winningness of chess players’ positions is considered to be a consequence of complexity of the chess environment—in contrast with simpler games with transitive positions only. The space of relations between winningness of chess players’ positions is non-Euclidean. The Zermelo-von Neumann theorem is complemented by statements about possibility vs. impossibility of building pure winning strategies based on the assumption of transitivity of players’ positions. Questions about the possibility of intransitive players’ positions in other positional games are raised.