A young man sits at a chessboard, chin in hand, staring at the pieces as if the floor had just dropped away beneath him. Across the table his opponent leans back, calm and amused. It is the Devil, and the stake is the young man's soul. Behind the player stands an angel, silent and sorrowful. Moritz Retzsch's The Chess Players (c. 1831) is a small panel that has had an unusually long afterlife, first as a popular engraving and later as the painting everyone calls "Checkmate". Quick facts Artist: Friedrich August Moritz Retzsch (1779–1857) Date: c. 1831 Medium: Oil on panel, about 32 x 39 cm Collection: Private collection (sold at Christie's in 1999) Notable fact: Also known as "Checkmate" or Die Schachspieler ; it circulated widely as a print and became the subject of a famous chess legend Moritz Retzsch, The Chess Players, c. 1831. Oil on panel. Private collection. Image via the Sapiens Verbum print shop. The Painter of Faust Retzsch spent h...