If you are from Belgium or France and you’re not too young, you have probably heard of Blueberry1 and you can skip to the next paragraph. If you’re not, you can still skip to the next paragraph, because this paragraph doesn’t actually contain anything of importance. It’s just a few meaningless, overwrought sentences with words expressly elected for their outrageous sesquipedalian nature, taking up copious amounts of space so the few hapless bumpkins that actually did skip ahead think they’re getting something from that.
Blueberry, then, is a Franco-Belgian western comic series. It was quite popular for several decades and, in 2004, was turned into a movie that wasn’t even that bad. By the nineteenth issue, entitled The long march, the eponymous hero is held captive by the troops on illegitimate charges. But the soldiers don’t put much stock in the charges2 and they don’t want to hold him captive.
They treat him quite well. In fact, they even play chess with him! The players obscure part of the chessboard and I’m not sue the different views we get of the board are fully compatible, but everything above, say, the g1-a7 diagonal is fairly clear.3
There are a few problems with this position and a few more with the context. The first problem is that black is in dire trouble and probably should have resigned a few geological eras earlier. The second problem is a bit more subtle and much, much worse: Blueberry, who has black, announces check. Now my reconstruction may not be perfect, but black is definitely in check here, and there’s no piece that can be interposed with check.
If we ignore the check for a second, it’s possible that black’s b pawn finally completes its long march4 and becomes a queen In that case, things really do look bleak for white. But that requires ignoring and the law, and then Blueberry really does deserve imprisonment.
Realism: 3/5 I guess there’s nothing ridiculous here, except that black’s still playing. And perhaps the pieces I cannot see make that plausible.
Probable winner: Who knows? Checkmate would normally end the game, but not if it’s an illegal move.
1. [The comic series. Even people from outside that region will know the fruit.] ↩
2. [Therefore they don’t put him in stocks.] ↩
3. [The long march to the perfect diagram can be cut short with a good editor.] ↩
4. [A march of at least 32 days.] ↩