Il Vaticano
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About
Il Vaticano refers to a hoax orchestrated by the subreddit /r/AnarchyChess, where participants discuss and make memes about a special move named "Il Vaticano." The supposed special move involves two bishops flanking two chess pieces on either side and switching positions with each other as a means of capturing the middle pieces. The hoax began in late December 2022, with Redditor MidnightFireworks being the earliest creator to discuss the move on December 20th. The subreddit /r/AnarchyChess often creates hoax chess moves, sometimes bolstered by the inclusion of the "En Passant," a real although uncommon chess move involving pawns.
Origin
On December 20th, 2022, Redditor /u/MidnightFireworks posted a graphic to /r/AnarchyChess showing the normal and "special" moves of various chess pieces, with the pawn's special move being the "En Passant"[1] and the bishop's special move supposedly being the "Il Vaticano." The post[2] gathered over 7,000 upvotes in over a month (seen below).
Spread
The replies to the aforementioned post contained various theories on how the move originated, with Redditor /u/HylianPikachu posting a comment[3] speculating about the origin of the supposed move (seen below, left). On December 22nd, 2022, Redditor /u/KnewAgedMancHind posted a screenshot of an unknown user asking /r/chess if Il Vatcano is a real move. The post[4] gathered over 14,000 upvotes in over a month (seen below, right).
![[-] HylianPikachu 188 points 1 month ago Il Vaticano allows you to shuffle around your bishops without actually creating any overall change in the game. This rule is based on the Catholic Church policy where priests who were accused of sex scandals were simply relocated to a different area so the church could turn a blind eye to the abuses done by Catholic priests. permalink source embed save save-RES report give award reply hide child comments [-] Howardavery 59 points 1 month ago Holy see permalink source embed save save-RES parent report give award reply [-] shitstough 2 points 1 month ago Lol permalink source embed save save-RES parent report give award reply](https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/002/528/151/64b.png "Il Vaticano Meme")
On December 22nd, Redditor [5] /u/Quarterdillon posted another theory about the origins of the supposed move in the replies to the aforementioned post (seen below, left). On December 23rd Redditor /u/TheHayLord posted a image to /r/AnarchyChess,[6] showing how two rooks can be utilized to "block" the supposed Il Vaticano move. The post gathered over 2,000 upvotes in over a month (seen below, right).
![[-] Quarterdillon156 935 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) Yes and no. Il Vaticano is actually a very old move, in multiple versions of different kinds of Chess. However the move was eventually scrapped due to disagreements on whether or not the move applied to pieces, or just pawns. In today's Chess it's nearly non-existent, as most major chess websites prefer to pretend it doesn't exist. permalink source embed save save-RES report give award reply hide child comments [-] Turtlehunter239 points 1 month ago Was it called the Il Vaticano back then or something else? permalink source embed save save-RES parent report give award reply hide child comments [-] Quarterdillon156 147 points 1 month ago It was called Il Vaticano, yes, but some called it Il Vaticino, some called it Intervento Divino. Some bonus history is that there was a small schism in the Church when a Pope Clement VII played against King Henry VIII. Pope Clement used Il Vaticano, which King Henry declared illegal, and due to this there became a schism in the Church which led to the founding of the Church of England. (Most people believe the schism was due to Henry wanting to divorce his wife, but this is a simple misinterpretation of events.) permalink source embed save save-RES parent report give award reply hide child comments](https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/002/528/152/210.png "Il Vaticano Meme")
Also on December 23rd, Redditor /u/kamiland posted an image[7] containing various memes popular on the /r/AnarchyChess subreddit, including a knight-rook wearing Deal With It glasses, a set-up for the "en passant" pawn move, a castled king and the Il Vaticano. The post gathered over 8,000 upvotes in over a month (seen below, left). On December 30th, Redditor /u/DaStalkingBiscuit posted an image[8] of a chessboard alongside the caption, "shit shit shit guys I accidentally performed Il Vaticano on my king and queen, how do I undo this???" The post gathered over 5,000 upvotes in over a month (seen below, right).
Various Examples
Search Interest
External References
[1] Wikipedia – En Passant
[2] Reddit – /r/anarchychess
[3] Reddit – /r/AnarchyChess
[4] Reddit – /r/AnarchyChess
[5] Reddit – /r/AnarchyChess
[6] Reddit – /r/AnarchyChess
[7] Reddit – /r/AnarchyChess
[8] Reddit – /r/AnarchyChess
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![[-] Quarterdillon156 935 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) Yes and no. Il Vaticano is actually a very old move, in multiple versions of different kinds of Chess. However the move was eventually scrapped due to disagreements on whether or not the move applied to pieces, or just powns. In today's Chess it's nearly non-existent, as most major chess websites prefer to pretend it doesn't exist. permalink source embed save save-RES report give award reply hide child comments [-] Turtlehunter239 points 1 month ago Was it called the Il Vaticano back then or something else? permalink source embed save save-RES parent report give award reply hide child comments [-] Quarterdillon156 147 points 1 month ago It was called Il Vaticano, yes, but some called it Il Vaticino, some called it Intervento Divino. Some bonus history is that there was a small schism in the Church when a Pope Clement VII played against King Henry VIII. Pope Clement used Il Vaticano, which King Henry declared illegal, and due to this there became a schism in the Church which led to the founding of the Church of England. (Most people believe the schism was due to Henry wanting to divorce his wife, but this is a simple misinterpretation of events.) permalink source embed save save-RES parent report give award reply hide child comments](https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/list/002/576/833/bf7.png "Il Vaticano")
![[-] HylianPikachu 188 points 1 month ago Il Vaticano allows you to shuffle around your bishops without actually creating any overall change in the game. This rule is based on the Catholic Church policy where priests who were accused of sx scandals were simply relocated to a different area so the church could turn a blind eye to the abuses done by Catholic priests. permalink source embed save save-RES report give award reply hide child comments [-] Howardavery 59 points 1 month ago Holy see permalink source embed save save-RES parent report give award reply [-] shitstough 2 points 1 month ago Lol permalink source embed save save-RES parent report give award reply](https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/list/002/576/831/b0e.png "Il Vaticano")
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