Portal:Chess/Selected article/29
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In chess, a swindle is a ruse by which a player in a losing position tricks his opponent, and thereby achieves a win or draw instead of the expected loss. It may also refer more generally to obtaining a win or draw from a clearly losing position. I.A. Horowitz and Fred Reinfeld distinguish among "traps," "pitfalls," and "swindles." In their terminology, a "trap" refers to a situation where a player goes wrong through his own efforts. In a "pitfall," the beneficiary of the pitfall plays an active role, creating a situation where a plausible move by the opponent will turn out badly. A "swindle" is a pitfall adopted by a player who has a clearly lost game. Horowitz and Reinfeld observe that swindles, "though ignored in virtually all chess books," "play an enormously important role in over-the-board chess, and decide the fate of countless games."
Although "swindling" in general usage is synonymous with cheating or fraud, in chess the term does not imply that the swindler has done anything unethical or unsportsmanlike. There is nonetheless a faint stigma attached to swindles, since players feel that someone who has outplayed her opponent for almost the entire game "is 'morally' entitled to victory." However, the best swindles can be quite artistic, and some are very famous.
