The Game of Knowledge

In my TOK classroom, there are a number of occasions when I use the metaphor of a game to convey an idea on the nature of knowledge, especially in maths and science. Usually, I reference chess as the ideal game, played by a set of rules. In a lesson on Maths as an AoK I tell a story where in a distant past TOK class I challenged a student who was a brilliant chess player to a game. In front of the class we set up the board and then I asked for the first move. This was agreed and I swept all of the pieces off the board and shouted ‘I win!’. The students acted with horror pointing out that this is not how you played the game. I pointed out that we had never agreed the rules of the game and therefore I was not bound by their understanding of the rules. Did I get the point across? Well, I did have the Head of the Chess Club track me down for a chat and explain the finer points of the art of playing chess.

What was the point to this playful activity?