The Story
I’m drawn to chess, or rather, board games in general.
I don’t know the rules, but I love how those trump-card-like figures become three-dimensional pieces.
The word “checkmate” is beautiful too. It has no equivalent sound in Japanese.
To head out with nothing but your own body, sit down at a wooden board, fight, and come home again—how cool is that. Men fight in so many different ways. Boxing or wrestling comes to mind as energetic, powerful, muscular battles. But I find something more powerful than boxing in chess.
Sitting still at that board, while the mind rages like a fight.
I learned of Alexander Alekhine, a great chess champion, through Man Ray’s portrait of him. I could feel his fierce will to fight even through the photograph.
I want that kind of quiet strength within me. If I could feel that strength inside myself, I think there would be nothing left to fear.
I’d love to learn a board game I could enjoy for the rest of my life, so I keep saying I want to try chess—yet somehow, I never quite get around to it.
And if life ever puts you in checkmate, I think that’s simply the big chance to start climbing the mountain instead.
Visual Story Details
Subject: A pencil drawing of chess champion Alexander Alekhine’s portrait, inspired by Man Ray’s photograph, seated at a chessboard.
Mood: A quiet intensity, as fierce as physical combat, hidden beneath stillness.
Theme: Reframing life’s checkmate not as an end, but as a quiet strength to take the next step.
Artist: Kazue Shima (Visual Story Artist)
