The Emergence Machine

checkmate · other-set

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L15 published noun window ontology closed compare →

Walls set by another so that no action within its reach keeps a thing inside its window; the window ends while the thing persists.

Checkmate (noun) means: Walls set by another so that no action within its reach keeps a thing inside its window; the window ends while the thing persists. It emerges from wall, set, action, reach: The opponent's pieces set walls on each square the king could go to and on the one it stands on; a model of the position lists each action and finds each outside the window. The game ends on that reading, and the king is never taken. In the EmergenceLexicon it sits at computed level 15, chaining down to the four foundations (space, time, energy, pattern).

checkmate.other-set · forms: checkmate, checkmated, checkmates, checkmating

Examples

Emergence

from: wall set action reach keep inside window change persist power model time
through: The opponent's pieces set walls on each square the king could go to and on the one it stands on; a model of the position lists each action and finds each outside the window. The game ends on that reading, and the king is never taken.

Chain to foundations

valueL7 value.magnitude: The number a parameter has at a time.nothingL10 nothing.absence: not a thingothersL2 others.distinct-entities: Things that are in space and time but not the same thing as one, or not the same pattern as one.modelL9 model.representation: A pattern in one thing that is like another thing, so that acting on the pattern can say what the other thing will do.arrangementL3 arrangement.spatial: a structure of parts in space.reachL10 reach.spatial: to go to pointsaysL8 says.speech: to make a message that other distinct entities getsetL9 set.fix: To make a wall or the value of a parameter stay in one place.changeL1 change.process: When a thing is not the same after as it was before.powerL14 power.over: The reach of one thing over the walls of another thing's window.bigL2 big.size: Having much space; more space than another thing has.outsideL6 outside.spatial: the space that is not inside a thing's boundaryconnectsL7 connects.verb: When two things are brought together so that a flow between them can happen and persist.sizeL2 size.measurement: the space that a thing's matter is incurrentL1 current.present: Of the time that is now.flowL3 flow.movement: Motion of many parts of matter together through one place.spaceL0 space.extent: Where things can be: that in which one thing is here and another is there, apart.broughtL6 brought.past-tense: To come to a place carrying a thing that was not there before.motionL2 motion.movement: Change of place: a thing is here, and after, it is there.extentL3 extent.spatial: how much space matter hasmatterL1 matter.substance: A pattern of energy that is in one place in space through time.contactL4 contact.physical: When two things are at the same place in space during time and their boundaries touch.noneL9 none.quantity: no amount of a thinghappenL2 happen.event-occurrence: A change that is at some place during time.rangeL3 range.spatial: the space between two boundarieslikeL3 like.similarity: When a thing has the same pattern as another thing.reachL13 reach.action: Each window a thing can enter, and each wall it can set, by its own action.actL3 act.deed: do somethingpartL1 part.relation: Something that is in a thing but is not all of that thing.getL5 get.acquisition: you make a thing come to youmessageL7 message.information: information that one entity puts into space for another entitylinksL8 links.connection: a thing that connects two thingsmakeL4 make.verb: Parts come together through interaction into a structure and persist in that pattern.goL3 go.movement: to move one from a place to another placecomeL3 come.arrive: To move through space until being at some place.surfaceL4 surface.exterior: A part of a boundary that touches a thing and is where the thing is not the thing.marksL5 marks.visual: A difference that is a pattern on a surface when a part changes that surface.wallL8 wall.range-end: The value of a parameter at which a window ends.entitiesL4 entities.object: things that are each distinct from other thingspointsL2 points.location: a part that is at a placelittleL4 little.size: has less space extent than most othersputL3 put.placement: to move something into a placecheckmateL15 checkmate.other-set: Walls set by another so that no action within its reach keeps a thing inside its window; the window ends while the thing persists.keepL5 keep.maintenance: to make something persist in a place or statestateL2 state.condition: a pattern of a thing that persists through time in a placequantityL7 quantity.numerical: the size of how many things are in a spaceenergyL0 energy.capacity: That by which things can be not as they were.boundaryL2 boundary.limit: The place where a thing ends and what is not the thing begins.numberL6 number.quantity: a mark of many distinct others together in a placedistinctL3 distinct.attribute: a thing is not the same as another thinginsideL5 inside.spatial: in the space that is within an object's boundarytimeL0 time.dimension: The before and after of things: that in which a thing can be, and then not be the same.actionL4 action.deed: A change that is done by a thing.carryingL5 carrying.transporting: To move with a thing that is in one place and then is in another, where the thing remains in contact.workL3 work.effort: a change that happens when energy moves something through spacepersistL1 persist.continue: To be the same through time.wayL9 way.method: a link of one place to another through spacecloseL5 close.spatial: having little space between two thingsoffL2 off.state: when a thing is not here, it is therecrossL4 cross.pass: To go through a boundary from one place to another.windowL7 window.range: The range of a parameter within which a thing can be; outside it the thing ends though its parts persist.parameterL4 parameter.condition: A condition of a thing that can change while the thing persists.differenceL1 difference.relation: When one thing is not the same as another; the pattern of one is not the pattern of the other.informationL6 information.knowledge: a pattern of marks that are differencesobjectL4 object.entity: A thing that has a boundary and an arrangement of parts that persists through time in a place.conditionL3 condition.state: a state of a thing that persists through time in a placeinteractionL2 interaction.process: When two things change each other.possibilityL12 possibility.potential: A window that can be reached from the current window without crossing a wall that is closed.enterL3 enter.spatial: to move into a placedriftL11 drift.aimless: Change of a parameter with nothing that makes it go one way.amountL8 amount.quantity: the quantity of a thing is a size or a numbertouchL3 touch.together: When there is no space between the boundaries of two things, and each can change the other.structureL2 structure.arrangement: The pattern of how the parts of a thing are placed in space.patternL0 pattern.regularity: That which is the same again: what is here is also there, or what is now was also before.
full chain as text (259 steps)

Neighborhood

Concepts that depend on this one above; what it is built from below.

used bybuilt from — 4 more not shownsmothered mateL16smothered-mate.self-set — Checkmate whose closing walls are the thing's own parts, set close to protect it, so no action within its reach keeps itcheckmateL15checkmate.other-set — Walls set by another so that no action within its reach keeps a thing inside its window; the window ends while the thingwallL8wall.range-end — The value of a parameter at which a window ends.setL9set.fix — To make a wall or the value of a parameter stay in one place.actionL4action.deed — A change that is done by a thing.reachL13reach.action — Each window a thing can enter, and each wall it can set, by its own action.keepL5keep.maintenance — to make something persist in a place or stateinsideL5inside.spatial — in the space that is within an object's boundarywindowL7window.range — The range of a parameter within which a thing can be; outside it the thing ends though its parts persist.changeL1change.process — When a thing is not the same after as it was before.

Used by (1)

smothered mateL16

Relations

contrasts-withsmothered-mate.self-setSETTER other vs self: in smothered mate the closing walls are the king's own pieces
contrasts-withzugzwang.forcedcheckmate: no action stays inside the window; zugzwang: actions stay inside, each one worse
contrasts-withdoomed.inevitabledoomed: drift reaches the wall later; checkmate: each path already crosses it, so the end is declared now

Provenance

author: claude-opus-5-5:hand-curated · date: 2026-09-28 · confidence: 0.85 · source: schema/power-agency-phase.md