And the White Knight is talking backwards...

Chesslovers...Want to hear about a surreal dream (nightmare?) that takes place on a giant chessboard??  How deep is the rabbit hole?  Get ready for a wild and craaaazy ride!

Lewis Carroll wrote Through the Looking Glass in 1871.  It was a darker version of his now world-famous Alice in Wonderland, which was written six years earlier.

The story begins with Alice staring at a mirror on the wall, wondering what it would be like on the other side of the reflection.  She gets closer to it and is suddenly pulled right through the glass! 

She walks through a garden with talking flowers, and then meets the Red Queen. The Queen explains that Alice has just arrived in a strange land, a land that is laid out in squares - each separated by streams and brooks, like a gigantic chessboard.  

She then starts Alice on the second rank as a pawn.  And promises that if she can make it all the way to the eighth rank, she will make Alice a Queen!!

...to be continued