Chess originated in 6th Century India. Back then it was called Chaturanga, modelled precisely on the military forces of that era : infantry, cavalry, elephantry, and chariotry. Even today a lot of chess enthusiasts tend to exaggerate this resemblance between chess and war. The military symbolism of the pieces is still there, but that’s where most of the similarities end. Unlike modern warfare, chess has clearly defined rules and evenly matched forces. Also chess is what is termed a "perfect information" game. There is no fog of war. The players have access to everything there is to know about the enemy. This means it’s almost impossible to replicate aspects like deceit and betrayal on a chessboard. However, espionage is a different matter. It turns out that on rare occasions, some brave pieces venture so deep behind enemy lines that for a brief moment or two you just wonder ; how on earth did that (spy) piece even get there? The recently concluded Smyslov Memorial saw such a curiosity. [caption id="attachment_157780" align="alignnone" width="300"] Alexey Sarana (2643) - David Paravyan (2631) After 11 moves [/caption] Is that white rook on b8? As it turns out, it went there as a result of a perfectly logical series of moves. 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.Nc3 Ne4 5.Qc2 Nxc3 6.Qxc3 a5 7.a3 this is where things got interesting. 7...Bb4! (Aha!) 8.axb4 axb4 9.Rxa8 bxc3 10.Rxb8 cxb2 11.Bxb2 O-O and there we have it. Unfortunately for white, soon he had to abort the spy mission and recall agent rook to defend the homeland. 12.c5 Qd7 13.Ra8 Qb5 14.Bc3 Qb3 15.Kd2 Bd7 16.Ra1. Still it wasn’t quiet enough as he went down after 22 moves. In the following informal game from the 19th century, a spy operation masterminded by a mere  footsoldier ended up being far more successful. It led to a picturesque final position in which the brave pawn literally joined the enemy ranks. Chapelle - Paul Journoud (1860) 1.e4 c5 2.Bc4 e6 3.Ne2 d5 4.exd5 exd5 5.Bb5+ Nc6 6.O-O Bd6 7.Re1 Be6 8.Ng3 Nf6 9.Nf5 O-O 10.Nxd6 Qxd6 11.Bxc6 bxc6 12.Qf3 Rae8 13.Re3 d4 [caption id="attachment_157781" align="alignnone" width="300"] White played 14.Qg3[/caption] White saw that the natural 14.Re1 would run into 14...Bg4. Hence he played the hopeful 14.Qg3 offering an exchange of queens. What awaited him was a nasty surprise. 14...dxe3! 15.Qxd6 e2! [caption id="attachment_157782" align="alignnone" width="300"] The spy pawn![/caption]

White resigned as he must give up the queen. 

Another such curiosity happened in the 1972 Soviet Team Championship in a game between two famous masters. The game started with the English Opening and this eye-popping position was on the board after ten moves.

[caption id="attachment_157785" align="alignnone" width="300"] Maslov - Kupreichik (1972) - A printing mistake?[/caption] The position is so bizarre that it feels like a prank of some kind. Amazingly, once again there is a perfectly logical set of preceding moves. 1.c4 e5 2.Nc3 Nc6 3.g3 d6 4.Bg2 Be6 5.d3 Qd7 6.Rb1 g6 7.h4 Nf6 8.Nd5 Bg7 9.Bh6 (Aha!) Bxd5 10.Bxg7 Bxg2.  Black ended up well ahead after 11.Rh2 Ng4 12.Bxh8 (Rxg2 Rg8) Nxh2 and eventually won the game comfortably. Having seen examples of a rook, a pawn and a couple of bishops of the spy variety, now is the turn of the slipperiest customer of all, the knight. Your columnist was fortunate to have witnessed the following exciting finish in a game between two of our own. [caption id="attachment_157786" align="alignnone" width="300"] Niranga Kandearachchi - G C Anuruddha - Sri Lanka Chess Nationals 2013 - After 19… Bd4-f6[/caption] After 20.Nh6+ Kf8 21.Ng8! the knight found itself in the unlikeliest of places. Black, a former National Champion, thought he could seize the initiative after 21...Bh3 22.Rf2 Re8. Can you figure out how the game ended? [caption id="attachment_157787" align="alignnone" width="300"] White to play[/caption] 23.Rxf6! (23… gxf6 Bh6#) ended the game with the spy knight playing its role to perfection.