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The young man seems to have stopped playing, but 𝗦𝗮𝘁𝗮𝗻 𝗶𝘀 𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝘄𝗮𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴. This is The Chess Players by Friedrich Retzsch. The chess board rests on a sarcophagus. The stake is the young man's 𝘀𝗼𝘂𝗹. His guardian angel watches behind him, but she cannot play the game for him. Look at the hand supporting his head. He already looks 𝗱𝗲𝗳𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗱. 𝗦𝗮𝘁𝗮𝗻 𝗹𝗼𝗼𝗸𝘀 𝗰𝗲𝗿𝘁𝗮𝗶𝗻 𝗼𝗳 𝘃𝗶𝗰𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆. One clawed hand has already taken a piece. His pieces represent 𝗵𝘂𝗺𝗮𝗻 𝘄𝗲𝗮𝗸𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗲𝘀. Pride and falsehood stand beside greed and disbelief. A spider creeps toward the young man. The white pieces tell another story. 𝗧𝗿𝘂𝘁𝗵 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗵𝗼𝗽𝗲 𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗱. Religion still guards the king. Love and innocence have fallen, with humility and prayer. He has 𝘀𝘂𝗿𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝗻 𝗰𝗵𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗽𝗶𝗲𝗰𝗲𝘀. Yet one major defender remains. His 𝗴𝘂𝗮𝗿𝗱𝗶𝗮𝗻 𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗲𝗹 𝗵𝗮𝘀 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗮𝗯𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗼𝗻𝗲𝗱 𝗵𝗶𝗺. So why has he stopped? Satan has changed the position 𝗶𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗱𝗲 𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗱. Despair makes 𝘂𝗻𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗶𝘀𝗵𝗲𝗱 𝗴𝗮𝗺𝗲𝘀 𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗲𝗮𝗿 𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗹. In 1888, a chess journal published a story about Paul Morphy. It claimed he reconstructed the position, then claimed he could win from the young man's position. Later retellings reduced it to one unforgettable line. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗵𝗮𝘀 𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗺𝗼𝘃𝗲. The original account never used those words. Retzsch painted a 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗮𝗹 𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗴𝗼𝗿𝘆, not a tournament puzzle. He painted the 𝗺𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗯𝗲𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝘀𝘂𝗿𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿. 𝗦𝗮𝘁𝗮𝗻 𝗵𝗮𝘀 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝘄𝗼𝗻. He has made defeat 𝗳𝗲𝗲𝗹 𝗰𝗲𝗿𝘁𝗮𝗶𝗻. Is the young man already 𝗱𝗲𝗳𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗱? Or has Satan only convinced him to 𝗦𝘁𝗼𝗽 𝗽𝗹𝗮𝘆𝗶𝗻𝗴? Credits: @bymuseum ______ ​ ​𝗣𝗵𝗼𝗻𝗲𝘁𝗶𝗰𝘀 𝗟𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘀 | 𝗦𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱 𝗥𝗲𝗳𝗹𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 💛