Over the summer months Christine Roberts is delighting and entertaining us with her chess poems. This one aptly describes the confusion of the bishop!

I’ll tell you now, I’m so confused.
My problem’s of a special kind –
It’s not that I am underused –
I’m grappling with it in my mind.

When I am on the side of white
And stay upon that lightest square,
I’m happy that my name is right.
I never, normally, despair.

But when I’m made to stand on black,
I hope the problem you will see,
some players take me so aback
and call me ‘dark’ but white I be!

And looking at the other side
the problem’s there as well, I fear.
Black bishop on white square is tied
to being ‘light’ all game! Oh dear.

Copyright © Christine Roberts 2021