Chess History: The Black Knight and White Knight

In the days of King Arthur who pulled the sword from the stone to become King of England in the late 5th and early 6th century, the knights of Camelot had many white knights of the round table.

What is a black knight? A black knight is a literary stock character who masks their identity and that of their liege by not displaying heraldry. Black knights are usually villainous characters who hide behind their anonymity to do misdeeds. In other literary texts, a black knight symbolizes death, darkness and wrath. In King Arthurs time, the plague started. One to seven days after the bacteria enters the body, flu like symptoms develop. Swollen and painful lymph nodes (buboes) would develop where the bacteria entered and bursts thus the name bubonic plague. By the end of the 14th century, the bubonic plague had killed over 100 million people and was refered to as the BLACK DEATH. The 14th century was part of the DARK AGES. There is NO VACCINE that works on the Black Death. Thus, when the black knight was coming, it meant death.

On the other hand, a white knight was a clean knight or a knight in shining armor. A knight in shining armor is a man who behaves in a very brave way or is a perfect romantic partner for a woman. I am hoping for a knight in shining armor to end the COVID-19.