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Ever been zugzwanged?

07 February 2019 / Giles Tagg
Issue: 7827 / Categories: Features , Procedure & practice
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Chess masters & litigators have a lot in common as Giles Tagg reports

 

After the FIDE world chess championship which took place in London at the end of last year, I noticed how the strategems in chess and the terms of art involved feed directly into how one might think about litigation and, even, dispute resolution. The result? An A–Z of chess...as seen through the eyes of a litigator.

A is for attack: Traditionally white, which has the first move, is the attacking force making aggressive advances towards black. White is the claimant in litigation.

B is for blitz: Blitz chess is an extra-fast form of the game where both players have to make all their moves within a set time of ten minutes or less. This is chess as adjudication, where both sides have to act within a swift time-frame and unusual results can occur.

C is for checkmate: The end of the game where either white or black emerges with victory. This is what happens when a

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MOVERS & SHAKERS

Arc Pensions Law—Richard Meers

Arc Pensions Law—Richard Meers

Pensions litigation team announces senior associate hire

Burges Salmon—Neil Demuth

Burges Salmon—Neil Demuth

Firm appoints new chief financial officer

Anthony Collins—Sue Bearman

Anthony Collins—Sue Bearman

Social purpose firm announces director hire plus eight promotions

NEWS
AlphaBiolabs has made a £500 donation to Sean’s Place, a men’s mental health charity based in Sefton, as part of its ongoing Giving Back initiative
Human rights lawyers, social justice champion, co-founder of the law firm Bindmans, and NLJ columnist Sir Geoffrey Bindman KC has died at the age of 92 years
The government’s plan to introduce a Single Professional Services Supervisor could erode vital legal-sector expertise, warns Mark Evans, president of the Law Society of England and Wales, in NLJ this week
Writing in NLJ this week, Jonathan Fisher KC of Red Lion Chambers argues that the ‘failure to prevent’ model of corporate criminal responsibility—covering bribery, tax evasion, and fraud—should be embraced, not resisted
Professor Graham Zellick KC argues in NLJ this week that, despite Buckingham Palace’s statement stripping Andrew Mountbatten Windsor of his styles, titles and honours, he remains legally a duke
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