“Pawns are really queens in disguise.”

“You're not a pawn, Sofia. You're the queen.”

“Never despise a pawn. If it succeeds in crossing the board safely, it becomes a queen - the most powerful piece in the game.”

“Feronia played at politics the way she played chess--shrewdly, always thinking about her next move. In this game, Feronia was queen, and Byrony a pawn. Normally, there was no comparing their strengths. But if a pawn was clever and evaded the ire of stronger pieces, if it moved strategically, if it refused to yield, there were ways it might advance. Ways it might become a queen.”

“What is a weak pawn? A pawn that is exposed to attack and also difficult to defend is a weak pawn. There are several varieties: isolated, doubled, too advanced, retarded.”

“He is nothing more than one of my pawns. However, he is not a normal pawn. He is a pawn that can get across the whole board in one move.”