James
When his parents figured out that he enjoyed watching things destroy one another just as much as he enjoyed destructing things himself, his father immediately taught him how to play chess
He had never understood why the queen defended the king until he met Lily Evans-they were forces to be reckoned with
When he found out that Lily Evans didn't know how to play chess, he almost offered to teach her. Until he realized that he had to have something that he could best her at
When he asked McGonagall to teach him how to enchant the chess pieces to move across the board, she had no idea what an integral part she was playing in the development of the Marauder's Map
Remus called them pawns, Sirius declared that they were knights, Dumbledore said they were rooks, but no matter what they were, he didn't like Lily playing in this game against Voldemort
Lily
It was a stupid thing to remember, but their first fight had been over chess—the game was so loud and she had been trying to do her homework
Even she was enthralled when he played a true game of chess: as much as she hated to admit it, he was brilliant
He could tease all he wanted; she wasn't stupid enough to play a game of chess against him. That is until she practiced some more…
The first time she beat him, he claimed it was luck. The second time she won, he said he was rusty. The third time she beat him, he kissed her on the lips and told her that he had to get something out of the humiliation. Only to find himself further humiliated when his eyebrows were singed off
The game had flipped on them so suddenly—one moment they were the ones defending the king and the next they had become the king, with the black forces honing in on them and the white forces defending them