Checkmate

[TrishDaDish]

Originally Posted by Lainie

FTR, I am both redheaded and left-handed. Fear me!

Are you Teh Gay? 'Cause them you'd have the Ebil Trifecta!

(I'm only a third Ebil. The most I can do is knit woolen sweaters and make you wear them in summer. Fear the itchiness! FEAR IT!)

[crocoduck_hunter]

Originally Posted by GenYus234

But first you have to decide which one of you will be the evil overlord and which will be the trusted lieutenant.

Hmm...

[Cyrano]

Two things:

Firstly, from what I've heard of Bobby Fisher's character, he would have made a cutting, derogatory remark about the artist's complete lack of chess knowledge, then would have walked away.

Secondly, about beating the Devil, there's an old French folk tale about a guy who asks Satan for a favor (don't remember which), promising his immortal soul in return. When the Devil shows up to claim his due, the (clever) guy asks for a last chance to keep his soul, and defies the Devil to achieve an impossible task. Satan laughs, thinking nothing's impossible to him, and accepts the bet.

Then, the guy farts and tells Satan: "Try and catch this one!" The Devil screams in anger and disappears.

Funny, but not glurgy.

[DawnStorm]

Originally Posted by GenYus234

Also, can you challange the devil to other games?

I wouldn't challenge him to leapfrog.

[Lainie]

Originally Posted by TrishDaDish

Are you Teh Gay?

No. Unless Angelina Jolie or Wanda Sykes is asking, and then I'll think about it.

[RivkahChaya]

The glurge assumes in the first place that Fischer would care who won. A devout Christian would look at the picture and think "Oh! poor man! losing to the great Evil One! probably through trickery, and not honest playing!"

Fischer would look at it and think "Hmmm. I wonder what Satan's rank is? I'll bet he could beat that stinking Karpov. But I could take him. Ten moves." The idea that Fischer would even care about someone losing a game to Satan, or have an impulse to rescue him by spending six hours over a board looking for a way for him to win the game is stupid.

Originally Posted by Beachlife!

who else just yells 'bring me a chess baord' in a museum?

Bobby Fischer. That's who yells "Bring me a chess board!" in a museum. A better question is who brought it? or maybe where did they get it?

I couldn't tell what any of the pieces in that picture were supposed to be, but the guy playing the white pieces either plays a really lousy opening, or was forced to retreat.

If you are going to play a game against the devil, pick one you are good at.

If Fischer hadn't denigrated the artist for knowing nothing about the game, then he probably would have said something about the poor skills of the guy who was losing. I mean, if the devil beat me at chess, it wouldn't be because the devil is magic, it would be because I'm not especially good at chess.

Originally Posted by GenYus234

Redheads are evil. Didn't the redhead mean a witch in ancient (Greek, Roman?) plays?

In Elizabethan plays, the Jews wore red wigs. Fake big noses, too.

Originally Posted by chillas

Well, you see Satan is very busy and can't really be everyplace at once. So he has a bunch of Satan's helpers who dress just like him and go out to tempt all the good little boys and girls into damnation.

Like Santa Claus's helpers in the stores? A little kid in my primary school told me that once-- that's why every store could have a Santa.

[Auburn Red]

Originally Posted by GenYus234

But first you have to decide which one of you will be the evil overlord and which will be the trusted lieutenant.

Hey wait a minute, I'm red-headed and left handed. I should be- Hmm.
Instead she signs on as the shifty personal assistant that plots and schemes under her superiors' noses so she can eventually rule! HAAAAHAAAA- uh, I mean whatever you say sir and madam. (Behind her back), You fools hee. hee.

[crocoduck_hunter]

Sorry, but there's only room for one Starscream in this organization.

[Auburn Red]

Well Starscream if that's your real name. Are you enjoying your heh heh drink.

[Troberg]

Originally Posted by RivkahChaya

The glurge assumes in the first place that Fischer would care who won. A devout Christian would look at the picture and think "Oh! poor man! losing to the great Evil One! probably through trickery, and not honest playing!"

Fischer would look at it and think "Hmmm. I wonder what Satan's rank is? I'll bet he could beat that stinking Karpov. But I could take him. Ten moves." The idea that Fischer would even care about someone losing a game to Satan, or have an impulse to rescue him by spending six hours over a board looking for a way for him to win the game is stupid.

Why? Fischer, like any of the great chess players, was also very devoted to chess theory. Among other things, he invented the, imho, brilliant Fischer Random Chess, designed to allow real playing in the opening game, instead of just learning lists of various openings (but it, sadly, didn't catch on). He also invented the Fischer Clock, which has become pretty much standard in tournaments. Why shouldn't he see it as an interesting puzzle to be solved?

Sure, he had a spectacular private life which pissed off some people, but that doesn't shadow his achievements as a great chess player.

Originally Posted by RivkahChaya

If you are going to play a game against the devil, pick one you are good at.

Mental note: Avoid wet T-shirt contests with the devil. I might win against Death, though.

[Casey]

Looking at the board, it appears pieces are missing. I see 10 for White, 11 or 12 for Black. Makes it difficult to tell what figures correspond to modern pieces, especially given the number of variations even in modern boards.

Even trying to figure out just what White has as pieces is giving me a headache. I see two identical pieces at H1 and D2, possibly rooks. I can rule out bishops and pawns due to location, and the queen due to duplicity, but identifying the rest seems nigh impossible.

[GenYus234]

Originally Posted by RivkahChaya

In Elizabethan plays, the Jews wore red wigs. Fake big noses, too.

Weren't Jus in Elizabethan plays generally evil?

[Shnoops]

Originally Posted by RivkahChaya

The glurge assumes in the first place that Fischer would care who won. A devout Christian would look at the picture and think "Oh! poor man! losing to the great Evil One! probably through trickery, and not honest playing!"

Fischer would look at it and think "Hmmm. I wonder what Satan's rank is? I'll bet he could beat that stinking Karpov. But I could take him. Ten moves." The idea that Fischer would even care about someone losing a game to Satan, or have an impulse to rescue him by spending six hours over a board looking for a way for him to win the game is stupid.

Yeah, i agree that he might not care about who won as much as how the game has played out. He might spend time to see if the losing side has any chance though.

10 moves? I doubt any good - great chess player would expect to win in 10 moves.

Bobby Fischer. That's who yells "Bring me a chess board!" in a museum. A better question is who brought it? or maybe where did they get it?

I couldn't tell what any of the pieces in that picture were supposed to be, but the guy playing the white pieces either plays a really lousy opening, or was forced to retreat.

If you are going to play a game against the devil, pick one you are good at.

If Fischer hadn't denigrated the artist for knowing nothing about the game, then he probably would have said something about the poor skills of the guy who was losing. I mean, if the devil beat me at chess, it wouldn't be because the devil is magic, it would be because I'm not especially good at chess.

...

I agree with an earlier post. Fischer wouldn't need a board.

Hard to say what happened to white especially without being able to clearly identify most of the pieces other than the pawns.

Originally Posted by Casey

Looking at the board, it appears pieces are missing. I see 10 for White, 11 or 12 for Black. Makes it difficult to tell what figures correspond to modern pieces, especially given the number of variations even in modern boards.

Even trying to figure out just what White has as pieces is giving me a headache. I see two identical pieces at H1 and D2, possibly rooks. I can rule out bishops and pawns due to location, and the queen due to duplicity, but identifying the rest seems nigh impossible.

I can't see all the pieces, but there are more than you mentioned. (We're looking at the same pic, right? Devil in a green robe, with a red feather in his cap?)

Most of the pieces besides the pawns for each side aren't exactly identical. Even H1 and D2 has differences. Heh, i just noticed how much the black king looks like the Devil.

I'm guessing white mounted an attack, and blundered. I say this because both kings are not in their original positions. But there are other possibilities too. It could be that black is playing just well enough to beat white, the artist painted their starting positions wrong, or the photo of the painting reversed their seating.

[Tootsie Plunkette]

Scroll down to the October 13, 2009 entry on this chess blog; in the "Part II" link therein, there is a discussion of this painting and a legend attached to it involving chess great Paul Charles Morphy (June 22, 1837 – July 10, 1884).

[RivkahChaya]

Originally Posted by Troberg

Why? [would Fischer not want to take up the cause of the guy losing to the devil] Fischer, like any of the great chess players, was also very devoted to chess theory.

My point was less that Fischer wouldn't be interested in the game, as that he wouldn't be especially interested in turning around the losing position, in order to save the player's soul from damnation. If the position of the pieces didn't look like a real game to Fischer, then the painting would probably fail symbolically for him. A lot of us have complained about times media have gotten things about our professions wrong, and it's ruined our appreciation of a story. If the pieces were randomly placed on the board, if the game was weak-- beginner type moves on both sides-- or just didn't make sense, then the painting wouldn't "work" for Fischer, and he wouldn't be interested. If, on the other hand, the devil really was crushing a very bad opponent, it might be possible that Fischer would look and say "Wait! the guy really does have a move he doesn't see-- he's accidentally given himself an out," and that might interest him. He might even want a chess board for the purpose of explaining it to someone else.

But what I don't think he'd do is play into the symbolism of the painting, and say, "If there is a way to rescue this man's soul from damnation, I will find it! no matter how long it takes!"

I'm not sure Fischer would do that for real, to be honest, and I certainly don't think he'd do it for a figure in a painting.

[Shnoops]

Originally Posted by Tootsie Plunkette

Scroll down to the October 13, 2009 entry on this chess blog; in the "Part II" link therein, there is a discussion of this painting and a legend attached to it involving chess great Paul Charles Morphy (June 22, 1837 – July 10, 1884).

The 10/13/09 entry was interesting. The attempt to play out the game was inaccurate because black was missing a few pawns that would make a difference in the game. Also, they made a mistake with the minor pieces. I also surmised that the minor piece off the board was likely a bishop, but on their board, they had a knight in place of the piece that looked similar to the piece removed from the board.

[snopes]

Comment: This was heard recently in a sermon, and is mentioned on several
internet websites.

Supposedly around 1972 Bobby Fischer, the chess expert, saw a painting of
the devil playing chess with a young man. The young man was perspiring and
biting his nails, looking worried. The devil was grinning gleefully. The
title of the painting is Checkmate. After staring at the painting for a
long time, Bobby Fischer called for a chessboard and set it up as it was
in the painting. Then he cried out, "It's a lie! The King can still move!"

I'm wondering if this incident is just a story, or if it really happened.