Possible Clues:

• Up-and-down opener in no-win situation, some fiddle
• To tie game one may have been deployed in defence
• This may help protect castle in game following stalemate
• To tie game, one may have been deployed in defence
• Take point from game that's raised by defenders
• Keep protection with cutting through dreary escarpment
• A sort of adjustable spanner
• Stalemate, perhaps, with game's castle defence
• Neither win nor lose game -- it's a let-down
• Defensive measure to tie game