# Il Vaticano Il Vaticano is a fake chess special move invented as a hoax by the /r/AnarchyChess subreddit in December 2022, where two same-colored bishops flanking two enemy pieces swap positions and capture the pieces between them. It became a running gag on the subreddit alongside its long-standing en passant jokes. ## Overview Il Vaticano is a made-up chess move popularized by the /r/AnarchyChess subreddit. The supposed rule lets two same-colored bishops sitting on the same rank or file with two enemy pieces between them swap places and capture both middle pieces in a single move[1]. It does not exist in official chess rules and was invented purely as an in-joke. The bit works because /r/AnarchyChess regularly leans on the real but obscure en passant pawn capture to bait newcomers, so bolting a fake bishop equivalent onto the same graphic feels plausible at a glance[2]. Screenshots of boards set up for Il Vaticano started circulating beyond the subreddit within days of the first post[3]. ## How It Spread Comments under the original post treated the move as if it were real. Redditor /u/HylianPikachu speculated about how Il Vaticano supposedly originated, and /u/Quarterdillon offered a rival origin theory two days later[4]. On December 22, 2022, /u/KnewAgedMancHind posted a screenshot of an unrelated user asking /r/chess whether Il Vaticano was a real move, and that meta-post cleared 14,000 upvotes[2]. The gag kept building through the following week. On December 23, /u/TheHayLord published a diagram claiming two rooks could 'block' Il Vaticano, playing along with the fiction[5]. That same day, /u/kamiland posted a compilation image bundling every recurring /r/AnarchyChess bit at once, including a Deal With It knight-rook, an en passant setup, and Il Vaticano[6]. A week later, /u/DaStalkingBiscuit posted a fake distress message reading, 'shit shit shit guys I accidentally performed Il Vaticano on my king and queen, how do I undo this???'[7] ## How to Use The joke typically works one of two ways. People either post a chessboard mid-Il Vaticano and treat it as a straight rules question, or they drop the move into wider chess drama posts as if it decided a real game. Urban Dictionary's example entry runs with this, using a fake line about 'Hans Niemann used Il Vaticano against Magnus Carlsen'[8]. ## Frequently Asked Questions ### What is Il Vaticano? Il Vaticano is a fictional chess move invented by /r/AnarchyChess where two same-colored bishops flanking two enemy pieces swap positions and capture the pieces between them[1]. ### Where did Il Vaticano come from? Redditor /u/MidnightFireworks posted the original graphic naming Il Vaticano to /r/AnarchyChess on December 20, 2022[1][3]. ### What does Il Vaticano mean? It refers to a hoax chess 'special move' for bishops modeled on the real en passant pawn move, presented as if it were a genuine rule[2]. ### How do you use Il Vaticano? Most posts either show a board diagram of the fake capture and ask about it deadpan, or invoke it inside broader chess drama posts as a punchline[8]. ### Is Il Vaticano still popular? It is still one of /r/AnarchyChess's recurring bits, sitting alongside en passant jokes as part of the subreddit's running fake-rules humor[6]. ## References 1. [https://www.reddit.com/user/MidnightFireworks/]() 2. [https://www.reddit.com/user/KnewAgedMancHind/]() 3. [https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/il-vaticano]() 4. [https://www.reddit.com/user/Quarterdillon/]() 5. [https://www.reddit.com/user/TheHayLord/]() 6. [https://www.reddit.com/user/kamiland/]() 7. [https://www.reddit.com/user/DaStalkingBiscuit/]() 8. [https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Il%20Vaticano]() --- Source: https://meme.com/memes/il-vaticano Published by meme.com — The Internet Meme Library