Chess Swifties

A Tom Swifty is a phrase in which the quoted sentence is linked to a pun. Tom Swifties derive their name from Tom Swift, a courageous and inventive hero and inventor in adventure novels that first appeared in 1910.  The series main writer was Edward Statemeyer (1862-1930) who gave Tom a simple statement and added a qualifying adverb to make a pun.  Tom Swift never simply said “said.”  He had to say something modestly or bravely or eagerly, or…swiftly.

If Tom Swift was a chess player, here is what he might say.

“There is room for one more in the chess tournament,” Tom said admittingly.

“Push those passed pawns,” Tom advanced.

“I mailed the last move in our correspondence game,” Tom assented.

“I play the Colle,” Tom barked.

“I forgot how to play chess,” said Capa blankly.

“Let me play a chess game without looking at the board,” said Tom blindly.

“I’ll use my own chess set,” said Tom bored.

“I’ll play the Indian Defense,” said Tom bravely.

“I was a Class B player, but now a Class A player,” said Tom categorically.

“I’ll annotate the game,” Tom commented.

“The world chess federation is corrupt,” Tom confided.

“That last move killed me,” Tom croaked.

“I play the Bird Opening,” Tom crowed.

“IBM made a strong chess computer,” Tom said in deep thought.

“I play the Sicilian, Caro-Kann, and Alekhine’s,” said Tom defensively.

“I play 1.c4,” Tom said in English.

“But the game is drawn,” said Tom evenly.

“I am rated over 2000,” said Tom expertly.

“It’s touch move,” said Tom with feeling.

“The chess game is over,” Tom said finally.

“I lost in two moves,” Tom said foolishly to his mate.

“This game looks like a Marshall swindle,” Tom said frankly.

“I play 1.e4 e6,” Tom said in French.

“Nay, I lost my knight,” said Tom hoarsely.

“I have written over 100 books on chess,” Ray said keenly.

“I am rated over 2200,” said Tom masterfully.

“Those chess automatons were pretty good,” Tom said mechanically.

“I’ll push a pawn,” Tom moved.

“Caissa was with me,” Tom mused.

“I’ll play without a pawn,” Tom said oddly.

“I played chess at the hospital,” Tom said patiently.

“I won all my games,” Tom said perfectly.

“Let’s have another game of chess,” Tom said playfully.

“I’ll play the Bayonet Attack,” Tom said pointingly.

“Should I play 1.e4 or 1.d4?” Tom pondered.

“Paul Morphy was a great chess player who quit chess,” Tom said with pride and sorrow.

“How do I solve this mate in three?” said Tom puzzled.

“Let’s play Chess 960,” Tom said randomly.

“Your cell phone just went off!  You lose.” Tom rang out.

“I play blitz chess,” Tom said rapidly.

“I joined the chess club again,” Tom remembered.

“I beat Peter Leko, then I beat Peter again,” said Tom repeatedly.

“I play the Spanish Opening,” Lopez said ruefully.

“Let’s play bullet chess,” Tom shot back.

“I played 10 people blindfolded,” Tom said simultaneously.

“I play the Benoni,” Tom said sorrowfully.

“Let’s play blitz chess,” said Tom swiftly.

“My flag is down,” said Tim timelessly.

“J’adoube,” said Tom touchingly.

“I just beat Korchnoi,” said Tom victoriously.

“I study chess every day,” said Tom weakly.

“Am I going to checkmated you?” Tom wondered.