Chess Research

This page collects scholarly articles from Toutfait.com, the premier online journal for Marcel Duchamp studies. These articles explore Duchamp's profound engagement with chess not as a hobby or diversion, but as an integral part of his artistic practice.

The research represented here reveals chess as central to understanding Duchamp's conceptual approach to art. From his influence on Samuel Beckett (Hugill) to the medieval chess moralities embedded in the Large Glass (Bailey), these articles demonstrate that Duchamp's "abandonment" of art for chess was itself an artistic statement.

By Andrew Hugill, Bath Spa University, UK
July 1, 2013

Investigates the artistic and personal connection between Duchamp and Beckett, particularly through their shared passion for chess. Traces their acquaintance in 1930s Paris and argues that Duchamp's chess endgame treatise significantly influenced the dramatic structure and symbolism of Beckett's play Endgame.

By Ian Randall
December 1, 2007

Examines the largely overlooked connection between Duchamp's artistic practice and his serious involvement with chess. Challenges the conventional narrative that dismisses Duchamp's chess engagement as a peculiar diversion, instead arguing that chess functioned as a coherent intellectual and creative pursuit integral to understanding his broader artistic philosophy.

By Steven B. Gerrard
April 1, 2003

Explores how Ludwig Wittgenstein's approach to philosophical problems parallels Marcel Duchamp's artistic methodology, using chess and visual art as central metaphors. Through analysis of Duchamp's Trébuchet, argues that genuine philosophical understanding comes from changing our perspective on familiar phenomena.

By Bradley Bailey
December 1, 2000

Examines Marcel Duchamp's The Large Glass, proposing that the Nine Malic Molds were inspired by allegorical chess pieces from medieval morality sermons. Explores how the chess moralities of Jacobus de Cessolis, particularly allegorical depictions of pawns representing different professions, may have directly influenced Duchamp's conception of the molds.

By Francis M. Naumann
February 1, 2008

Examines Duchamp's 1943 design for a gallery exhibition announcement that conceals a chess endgame puzzle. Duchamp hand-drew a cupid aiming an arrow to hint at the solution, which points to an unsolvable position where "White to Play and Win" cannot actually achieve victory. Explores how this deliberately impossible chess problem mirrors Duchamp's philosophy.