Marcel Duchamp

by Bill Wall

Henri-Robert-Marcel Duchamp was a French

chessplayer and renowned artist. He was born
near Blainville-Crevon, Normandy, France on
July 28, 1887. He came from a family of
artists and chess players. He had 4 brothers
and 2 sisters. His father was Justin-Isidore
(Eugene) Duchamp. His mother was Marie-
Caroline-Lucie Duchamp.

In 1898, at the age of 11, he first played chess

with his older brothers Gaston (Jacques
Marcel Duchamp Villon) (1875-1963) and Raymond Duchamp Bill Wall
1887—1968 Villon (1876-1918). The whole family read
and played chess together.

In 1904, Jacques Villon etched La Partie

d'echecs, featuring 17-year-old Marcel Set up your
Duchamp playing chess with his sister, attacks that
Suzanne (1889-1963). when the
fire is out, it
In 1905, Marcel was studying art at the isn't out. —
Acadamie Julien in Paris. He failed the William
entrance exams to the Ecole des Beaux-Arts, Napier
and then worked as a cartoonist. (1881-
1952)
In 1910, he began painting chess players
playing chess. One canvas, called The Chess
Game, depicts his brothers playing chess in
their garden while his mother is seated at a
table and his sister is reclining on the lawn.

In 1911, he created a series of at least six

drawings and two Cubist paintings of his
brothers playing chess. One of his paintings is
known as Portrait de jouers d'échecs (Portrait
of Chess Players), which depicted multiple
perspectives of his two brothers playing
chess.
In April 1912, he painted Nude Descending a
Staircase, No. 2, in which motion was
expressed by successive superimposed
images. He entered the painting at the 28th
Salon des Independants exhibition in Paris,
but it was rejected. It was too radical at the
time.

In 1913, he entered his Nude Descending a

Staircase at the 69th Armory in New York
City. It was viewed by 100,000 visitors during
the month long exhibition.

In 1913, he worked as a librarian at the

Bibliotheque Sainte Genevieve. One of his art
pieces during this time was a bicycle wheel
mounted on a stool.

In 1914, he was rejected for military service

as unfit.

In June 1915, he went to New York and

worked as a librarian at the French Institute.
In 1915 he created The Bride Stripped Bare
by her Bachelors, Even, known also as The
Large Glass. He finished it in 1921.

In 1916, he began playing chess with New

York art patron Walter Arensberg (1878-
1954). Arensberg had been captain of the
Harvard chess team in his days.

In 1917, Duchamp, Henri-Pierre Roché

(1879-1959), and Beatrice Wood (1893-1998)
produced a publication in New York called
The Blind Man. It was a rival to another
avant-garde magazine in New York called
391, published by Francis Picabia. Picabia
challenged Roché to a chess game. The loser
would have to cease their publication. Picabia
beat Roche, and The Blind Man ceased
publishing. The game was played at the home
of Walter Arensberg. (source: Tomkins,
Duchamp: A Biography, 1996, p. 198 and
Winter Notes, #2671)

In 1917, he created his first readymade, a coat

rack nailed to the floor. He named this
Trebuchet, or trap, after a chess jargon for a
pawn placed so as to trap an opponent's
pieces.

In 1917, Duchamp sent a urinal, called

Fountain, to the first exhibition of the Society
of Independent Artists, in which Duchamp
was a founding member. However, the work
was excluded and Duchamp resigned from the
society.

Duchamp's official last painting was made in

1918. In December, 1918, he moved to
Buenos Aires to avoid being drafted in
military service in the United States. He spent
most of the time playing chess, joined a local
chess club, and took chess lessons from a
local master. He remained in Argentina for 9
months.

While in Buenos Aires, he started two games

simultaneously by cable with Walter
Arensberg in New York. He invented a code
for transmitting the moves so that costs would
be minimal. He also designed a set of rubber
stamps for recording chess positions.

In 1919, in a letter he wrote to the Stettheimer

sisters, "My attention is so completely
absorbed by chess. I play day and night, and
nothing interests me more than finding the
right move.... I like painting less and less."

In 1919, while in Buenos Aires, he often

played chess with local players. He carved his
own chess set from wood with help from a
local craftsman who made the knights.

In 1919, he designed a chess set with a

traveling foldaway table and a board that has
two stopwatches for timed games.

In 1919, he scandalized Paris and the

international chess world by drawing a
moustache and goatee to a reproduction of the
Mona Lisa. He called it L.H.O.O.Q. In
French, the letters sound like "elle a chand au
cul." meaning "she has a hot ass."

In December 1919, Duchamp showed Henri-

Pierre Roché, a French diplomat and writer,
his newly designed chess set. Fearing that it
would disappear, Roché asked if he could
arrange for the chess set to be cast. Roche
noted in his diary on December 20, 1919, that
the pieces were reproduces very beautifully.
(source: Naumann, "Color-Coded Chromatic
Chess," 2005, toutfait.com -
http://www.toutfait.com/color-coded-
chromatic-chess/)

In 1920, he moved to New York and lived at

246 West 73rd Street in Manhattan. He joined
the Marshall Chess Club which was then
located above the Pepper Pot Restaurant on
8th Street in Greenwich Village. He played
there every evening.

In 1920, Duchamp wrote a letter to his sister

and husband, suggesting that was going to
launch a new form of chess with colored
pieces.

In 1922, he participated in the Metropolitan

Chess League and was on the winning team
(Marshall Chess Club). He also played
Capablanca, who was giving a 21-board
simultaneous exhibition. Duchamp lost, but
that motivated him to study chess harder.

Starting in 1923, he devoted most of his time

to chess, abandoning his career as an artist.
He was a member of the Rouen Chess Club in
Normandy.
In February 1923, Duchamp moved to
Brussels to study chess with Edmond Lancel,
editor of L'Echiquier, at the Le Cygne chess
club, located at the Hotel Le Cygne.

In June 1923, Duchamp played in the Belgian

interclub games in Ghent.

In October 1923, Duchamp played in the

Belgium chess championship, held in
Brussels. He scored 7.5 out of 10 and took 3rd
place (won by George Koltanowski). He then
went back to Paris.

Marcel Duchamp — George Koltanowski,

Brussels (3), 1923 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5
4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.e4 Nxc3 6.bxc3 Bg7 7.f4 c5
8.Bb5+ Bd7 9.Bxd7+ Nxd7 10.e5 cxd4
11.cxd4 0-0 12.Nf3 e6 13.0-0 Nb6 14.Ba3
Re8 15.Qb3 Bf8 16.Rfc1 Bxa3 17.Qxa3 Qd7
18.Rc2 Rec8 19.Rac1 Rxc2 20.Rxc2 Nd5
21.Qc1 a5 22.g4 Nb4 23.Rc7 Qd5 24.Qe3?
[24.Kg2 Nxa2 (24...Qxa2+ 25.Kg3) 25.Qd2]
24...Qxa2 25.f5?? [25.Rxb7] 25...exf5
[25...Nd5!] 26.gxf5?? [26.Rxb7] 26...Qb1+
[26...Nd5!] 27.Rc1? [27.Kf2] 27...Qxf5
28.Ng5 Nd5 29.Qg3 Nf4 30.Qh4 Qxg5+
[30...Qxg5+ 31.Qxg5 Nh3+] 0—1

In 1924, Duchamp played in the World

Amateur Championship in Paris (scoring 6
out of 14).

In 1924, he won the chess championship of

Haute Normandie.

In June 1924, he played in the Brussels

championship (won by Edgar Colle), taking
4th place.

In July 1924, Duchamp represented France on

Board 3 in the unofficial Paris Chess
Olympiad, which coincided with the 8th
Summer Olympic Games in Paris. He won 3,
drew 2, and lost 3 in the Consolation Cup.

In September 1924, Duchamp played in the

3rd French Chess championship in
Strasbourg. Duchamp won 3, drew 2, and lost
7. The event was won by Robert Crépeaux.

In 1924, Duchamp appeared in a scene from

René Clair's short film, Entr'acte. He is seen
setting on the edge of a roof of the Théâtre
des Champs-Élysées in Paris playing chess
with Man Ray (1890-1976). The scene was
filmed by Clair on May 28, 1924.

In August 1925, he designed the poster for the

4th French Chess Championship held in Nice
from September 2 to September 11. He played
in the event, with 3 wins, 3 losses, and 2
draws and taking 6th place. He was awarded
the title of chess master by the French Chess
Federation (Federation Francaise des Echecs).
The event was won by Robert Crepeux, who
won it in 1924.

In December 1925, he tied for 5th in a Paris

masters tournament. He had 3 wins, 3 draws,
and 3 losses.

On June 8, 1927, Marcel Duchamp married

Lydie Sarazin-Lavassor. It may have been a
marriage of convenience. She was the
daughter of a wealthy automobile
manufacturer, and her marriage contract was
to have supplied him with a steady source of
income while he painted and played chess.
During his honeymoon, he went every day to
a chess club in Nice. When he returned, he
spent several more hours studying chess
positions. His marriage lasted only six months
because of his obsession to chess. He spent
most of his time playing chess around Nice,
France. One story (told by his friend Man
Ray) is that his bride was so frustrated at him
for playing chess that she glued all the chess
pieces to the board while he was asleep. They
were divorced on January 25, 1928.

In September, 1927, he participated in the 5th

French championship, held in Chamonix.
That event was won by Andre Cheron.
Duchamp took 7th with 2 wins, 1 draw, and 4
losses.

In 1927, he played in the Paris championship,

taking 4th place. He won 6, drew 4, and lost
3.

In February 1928, Marcel Duchamp shared

1st place in the Philidor Challenge Cup at
Hyeres with Vitaly Halberstadt (1903-1967)
of Russia and John James O'Hanlon (1874-
1960) of Ireland. He had 5 wins, 2 draws, and
1 loss. In the final round, O'Hanlon lost to
Duchamp after accidently touching a pawn
without saying, "J'Adoube." Duchamp
insisted that O'Hanlon move the pawn, which
caused the loss of the game for O'Hanlon.
(source: Belfast News Letter, Feb 9, 1928, p.
10)

In July-August 1928, Duchamp played on the

French team at the 2nd International Team
Chess Tournament (Chess Olympiad) in The
Hague. He played Board 3 and won 1 game
(defeating Vladimir Petrov of Latvia), drew
11, and lost 4. He lost one game, to Hans
Mueller, in 10 moves, the shortest game of the
Olympiad.

In September 1928, he played in the 7th

French championship, held in Marseilles. He
had 2 wins, 2 draws, and 4 losses. That event
was won by Amedee Gibaud.

In June 1929, Marcel Duchamp defeated

George Koltanowski in 15 moves in a Paris
tournament. It was Duchamp's only win. He
took last place with 1 win, 2 draws, and 8
losses.

George Koltanowski - Marcel Duchamp, Paris

(8), 1929 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 d6 4.e4 b6
5.f4 Bb7 6.Bd3 Nbd7 7.Nf3 e5 8.d5 g6 9.0-0
exf4 10.Bxf4 Bg7 11.e5 dxe5 12.Nxe5 0-0
13.Qd2 [13.Nf3] 13...Nxd5 14.Nxd7?
[14.Nxg6 hxg6 15.cxd5] 14...Nxf4 15.Nxf8??
[15.Be4] 15...Bd4+ [15...Bd4+ 16.Kh1
(16.Rf2 Nxd3) 16...Bxg2+] 0—1

In 1930, he played his greatest number of

tournament chess games.

In February 1930, he played in an

international tournament in Nice. He won 3,
drew 3, and lost 5.

In May 1930, he played in an international

tournament in Paris. He took last place with
no wins, 2 draws, and 5 losses.

In July 1930, he played on the French team at

the 3rd Chess Olympiad in Hamburg. He
played board 4 (Alexander Alekhine played
board 1, winning 9 out of 9). He won 1, drew
6, and lost 8.

In October 1930, Duchamp contributed 6

chess diagrams and text for André Breton's Le
Surréalisme magazine.

In March 1931, he played at an international

tournament in Nice. He took last place win no
wins, 3 draws, and 3 losses. (source: British
Chess Magazine, May 1931, p. 201)

In July 1931, he played the reserve board for

the French team at the 4th chess Olympiad in
Prague. He won 1, drew 3, and lost 5.

In 1931, he was a member of the board of the

French Chess Federation and was a delegate
to FIDE until 1937.

In the 1930s, he started playing

correspondence chess and won several
correspondence tournaments. He also became
a chess journalist. He wrote weekly
newspaper chess columns for the Paris daily
newspaper, Ce Soir.

In June 1932, along with Vitaly Halbertstadt

(1903-1967), Duchamp wrote L'opposition et
cases conjuguées sont réconciliées
(Opposition and Sister Squares are
Reconciled). It was published in a limited
edition of 1,000 copies by Edmond Lancel, in
Brussels. It is a study of some endgames,
including one that arose from Lasker vs
Reicheim in 1901. It was written in French,
English, and German. Later, Stefano Roselli
del Turco accused the co-authors of
plagiarizing their book from a similar book by
Rinaldo Bianchetti, written in Florence, Italy
in 1925. Duchamp denied the charge.

In August 1932, he won the Paris

Championship. He scored 3 wins and 2
draws.

In September 1932, Duchamp tied for 4th

place in the 11th French Chess
Championship, held in La Baule. (source:
http://heritageechecsfra.free.fr/1932.htm)

In June 1933, he played on the French team at

the 5th Chess Olympiad in Folkestone. He
played board 4. He won 1, drew 2, and lost 9
for a 16.7% winning percentage. The other
board members of the French team were
Alexander Alekhine (1892-1946), Victor
Khan (1889-1971), Louis Betbeder (1901-
1986), and Andre Voison.

Duchamp's total Chess Olympiad result over

the years was 4 wins, 22 draws, and 26
losses.

In 1934, he won the Internationaler

Fernschachbund (IFSB), the European
correspondence chess championship. He
scored 9 out of 10 (8 wins, 2 draws, and no
losses).

From 1934 to 1939, he played in the first

correspondence Olympiad, and went
undefeated.

Around 1935, he designed and had made a

pocket chess set with celluloid pieces. He
made about 20 pocket chess sets for his
friends.

On June 15, 1935, Duchamp was part of a

chess team with Pierre Biscay and Marcel
Berman that beat Alexander Alekhine in a 36-
team simultaneous exhibition played in Paris.

In 1935, Duchamp was the captain of the

French team of the 1st International Chess by
Correspondence Olympiad and remained
undefeated in the event.

From 1937 to 1941, Duchamp wrote a weekly

chess column for Ce Soir newspaper.

By 1940, Duchamp realized that his ambition

to be a great chess player was hopeless.

In 1941, Duchamp's good friend Henri-Pierre

Roche wrote that "Duchamp needed a good
game of chess like a baby needs a bottle."

In May 1942, Duchamp was in Casablanca

with 400 other refugees to await transport by
plane to Lisbon. He was in Casablanca for 18
days and passed the time playing chess.

On June 7, 1942, Duchamp boarded a

Portuguese ship in Lisbon and arrive in New
York City on June 25, 1942.

In July 1942, Duchamp settled permanently in

New York to avoid the hardships of World
War II in Europe. He discovered that his old
friend, George Koltanowski, worked nearby
as a diamond cutter on West 36th Street in
Manhattan.

In October 1942, Duchamp established a

studio on the 5th floor at 210 West 14th Street
in Manhattan. He kept this studio until he died
in 1968.

In 1942, Duchamp and George Koltanowski

formed the Greenwich Village Chess Club.
They played chess together here or at the
Marshall Chess Club, or in Manhattan's
Washington Square Park.

In the mid-1940s, Duchamp began an affair

with Maria Martins. Her husband was the
Brazilian ambassador in the United States.

In 1943, the Greenwich Village Chess Club

played one match against the London Terrace
Chess Club in New York.

In 1943, he designed a pocket chess set with a

leather wallet, celluloid pieces and pin
attachments, which he called 'Rectified
Readymade.' George Koltanowski promoted
Duchamp's pocket chess set. About 150
pocket chess sets were made. Some were
assembled in pocket chessboards, and some of
the pocket chess sets were signed. Magnetic
chessboards were not available in 1943, so
pins were used to hold the pieces in place.

On March 10, 1944, George Koltanowski and

Marcel Duchamp sat down in New York for a
game of chess. Koltanowski won and
Duchamp presented Kolty a smoking pipe.
Marcel Duchamp — George Koltanowski,
New York, 1944, 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5
4.e3 Bg7 5.Nf3 0-0 6.Be2 c5 7.0-0 cxd4
8.exd4 Nc6 9.Bf4 Bg4 10.c5 Ne4 11.Ne5
[11.h3] 11...Bxe2 12.Nxe2? [12.Nxc6 Bxd1
13.Nxd8 Nxc3 14.bxc3 Be2] 12...Nxe5
13.dxe5 [13.Bxe5 Bxe5 14.dxe5 Nxc5]
13...Nxc5 14.Nd4 Qd7 15.Re1 Rac8 16.Qd2
[16.Rc1] 16...Ne6 [16...Qa4] 17.Rac1 [17.g3]
17...Rxc1 18.Rxc1 Nxf4 19.Qxf4 Rc8
20.Rc3?? [20.Rxc8+ Qxc8 21.g4] 20...Rxc3
21.bxc3 Qc7 22.Nf3 Qxc3 23.h3 Qc4 24.Qg5
[24.Qd2 a6] 24...f6 25.exf6 Bxf6 26.Qe3 d4
27.Qf4 Qxa2 28.Ne5 Qb1+ 29.Kh2 Qf5 0—1

From December 12, 1944 to January 31,

1945, Marcel Duchamp organized an
"Imagery of Chess" exhibition at the Marshall
Chess Club and the Julien Levy Gallery (4th
floor at 42 East 57th Street). He invited artists
to redesign the standard chess sets or create
works that explored the symbolism of chess.
Duchamp designed the catalog and was the
arbiter in a blindfold match given by George
Koltanowski on 7 boards, played on January
6, 1945. The seven players were: Julien Levy,
Frederick Kiesler, Alfred Barr, Vittorio Rieti,
Xanti Schawinsky, Dorothea Tanning, and
Max Ernst. Marcel Duchamp was his teller
who called out the moves. Kolty won 6 and
drew one (to Kiesler). (source: The New
Yorker, Jan 6, 1945)

In 1946, Duchamp and Koltanowski were

partners in a company that made pocket chess
sets. They called their company "Chess for
All" and sold the pocket chess sets for $5.00
each.

In February 1947, Marcel Duchamp joined

the London Terrace Chess Club in New
York.

On March 15, 1947, Duchamp played Board 1

for the London Terrace Chess Club against
the Log Cabin Chess Club of New Jersey. The
match was part of the Metropolitan Chess
League. Duchamp drew his game. (source:
Chess Life, April 7, 1947, p. 3)

In August 1947, he played in a chess

tournament in New Jersey.

In September 1947, Duchamp won the Class

A Consolation Prize at the New York State
Chess Championship in Endicott, NY.
(source: Chess Life, Sep 20, 1947, p. 1)

In 1948, he took 1st place in the preliminaries

of the New York State Chess Association.
The event was won by Larry Evans.

In December 1948, Marcel Duchamp served

as the French umpire for a cable match
between Paris and New York. (source Chess
Life, Dec 20, 1948, p. 1)

In 1949, he went 6-0 in the preliminaries of

the New York State Chess Association in
Rochester and won the Class A prize. The
event was won by Max Pavey.

In 1950, he played in the New York State

championship in Binghamton, New York. He
won 5 and lost 4. The event was won by Eliot
Hearst.

In 1951, he participated in the New York

State championship in Syracuse, New York.
He won 4, lost 4, and drew 1. The event was
won by James Sherwin.

In 1951, Marcel Duchamp was rated 2023.

In 1952, Duchamp was rated 2037.

He once observed "I am still a victim of chess.

It has all the beauty of art - and much more. It
cannot be commercialized; Chess is much
purer than art in its social position." (source:
"Art: A Family Affair," Time Magazine, Mar
10, 1952)

In the April 28, 1952 issue of Life magazine,

there is a picture of Duchamp playing chess.
The photographer was Eliot Elisofon (1911-
1973).

In August 1952, Duchamp gave a speech at a

banquet during the New York State Chess
Association annual meeting in Cazenovia. He
said, "Beauty in chess is closer to beauty in
poetry; the chess pieces are the block alphabet
which shapes thoughts; and these thoughts,
although making a visual design on the chess-
board, express their beauty abstractly, like a
poem... From my close contacts with artists
and chess players, I have come to the personal
conclusion that while all artists are not chess
players, all chess players are artists." At the
banquet, Duchamp was presented with a
handsome pipe-lighter. (source: Chess Life,
Sep 20, 1952, p. 6)

He participated in the 1952 New York State

Chess Championship, won by John Collins.
Duchamp took 16th place.

In 1953, he played in the New York State

championship in Cazenova. Duchamp took
15th place.

In 1954, he married Alexina "Teeny" Sattler

Matisse (1906-1995), who did play chess. She
joined the Marshall Chess Club and was an
enthusiastic player. She was the former wife
of Pierre Matisse, son of Henri Matisse.

In 1955, he became a naturalized citizen of

the United States.

In August-September 1955, he played in the

77th New York State Chess Association
Chess Championship, held in Cazenovia, New
York. He tied for 14th with 4 wins, and 4
losses.

In 1956, a well-known indoor photograph was

taken of Duchamp playing chess with Man
Ray in Paris.

In 1957, Irish playwright Samuel Beckett

wrote a play called Endgame based on
Duchamp's endgame work.

In August 1957, he played in the New York

State championship in Binghamton. The event
was won by August Rankis. Duchamp won 4,
lost 4, and drew 1.

In 1958, he won the London Terrace Chess

Club Championship at the age of 71.

In 1959, he was a member of the board of

directors of the American Chess Foundation.
He also won the London Terrace Chess Club
championship at the age of 72.

In 1959, Duchamp was living at 28 West 10th

Street in Manhattan.

On October 10, 1960, he wrote a letter on

behalf of the American Chess Federation
(ACF), encouraging his friends and
acquaintances to contribute to an auction to
help finance the ACF.

In March, 1961, Duchamp, who lived in

Greenwich Village, played a chess game by
telegraph with a small team of Amsterdam
school boys during an exhibition at the
Museum of Modern Art in Amsterdam called
Bewogen Beweging (Moving Motion). A
move a day was sent. Duchamp eventually
won in 31 moves. He was 74. The Dutch
players included Hans Ree, Tim Krabbe,
Herman Grimme, and Hans Lauring.

In 1961, during an interview, he was asked

what chess was. He said, "Chess is a sport. A
violent sport. This detracts from it most
artistic connections."

In 1963, at a retrospective exhibition, he

played chess with a nude woman at the
Pasadena Museum of Art.

In 1964, a French movie was made called

Game of Chess with Marcel Duchamp. There
is a long interview with Duchamp about
chess. The movie won the grand prix for the
short subject category at the 7th Annual
Bergamo Film Festival.

In 1965, Duchamp was living at room 403, 80

East 11th Street, Manhattan.

In late 1965, he organized a chess exhibition

called Hommage à Caissa. He produced 30
'ReadyMade' chess sets and sold them at the
Cordier & Elkstrom Gallery in New York. In
this exhibition, he played chess with Salvador
Dali, and Andy Warhol had the band Velvet
Underground sent to provide the background
music. Duchamp raised over $32,000 to
support the American Chess Foundation
(ACF). Duchamp founded the Marcel
Duchamp Chess Endowment Fund to support
American chess.

In 1967, he played in a chess tournament in

Monte Carlo.

In March, 1968, he played a chess game with

avant-garde composer John Cage (1912-1992)
at the Ryerson Polytechnic in Toronto, in
which music was produced by a series of
photoelectric cells underneath each square of
the chessboard as the chess pieces moved
about the board. The electronic chess
game/concert/artwork was called Reunion.
Duchamp won the game.

He died on October 2, 1968 in Neuilly-sur-

Seine, France, a French commune just west of
Paris. He was 81 years old. (source: Chess
Life, Nov 1968, p. 424)

Some of his chess quotes are as follows:

"Chess has no social purpose. That, above all,

is important."

"Chess is purer, socially, than painting, for

you can't make money out of it." - New York
Times, 1956.

His four most famous chess paintings are:

The Chess Game (1910)

The Chess Players (1911)
Joueurs d'echecs (Portrait of Chess Players)
(1911)
King and Queen Surrounded by Swift Nudes
(1912)

Hans Mueller - M. Duchamp, 2nd Chess

Olympiad, The Hague 1928 1.c4 Nf6 2.Nc3
e5 3.Nf3 Nc6 4.d4 exd4 5.Nxd4 Bb4 6.Bg5
h6 7.Bh4 Ne4 8.Bxd8 Nxc3 9.Nxc6 Nxd1+
10.Nxb4 1-0

S. Gudmundsson - M. Duchamp, Olympiad,

Hamburg 1930 1.c4 Nf6 2.Nc3 e6 3.e4 d5
4.cxd5 exd5 5.e5 d4 6.exf6 dxc3 7.fxg7
cxd2+ 8.Bxd2 Bxg7 9.Qc2 Qe7+ 10.Be2 Be6
11.Nf3 Nc6 12.O-O O-O 13.Bd3 h6 14.a3
Rad8 15.Rac1 Ne5 16.Be4 Nxf3+ 17.Bxf3 c5
18.Rfe1 b6 19.Bc3 Bd4 20.Bg4 Qf6 21.Bxe6
fxe6 22.Re2 e5 23.Rce1 Qf5 24.Qxf5 Rxf5
25.Kf1 Rdf8 26.f3 h5 27.Rd1 h4 28.h3 Kg7
29.Re4 Rf4 30.Rxe5 Bxc3 31.bxc3 Ra4
32.Ra1 Kf6 33.Re3 b5 34.Ke2 Rg8 35.Kf2
Kf5 36.Re7 Rd8 37.Ke2 a5 38.Rh7 Kg6
39.Re7 Rd5 40.Re4 Rg5 41.Rxa4 bxa4
42.Rg1 c4 43.Kf2 Rb5 44.g3 Rb3 45.gxh4+
Kh5 46.f4 Kxh4 47.f5 Rb5 48.Rg4+ Kh5
49.Rxc4 Rxf5+ 50.Ke3 Kg6 51.Rxa4 Kf6
52.Re4 Rd5 53.Rd4 Rg5 54.Rg4 Rd5 55.Rf4+
Ke5 56.Re4+ Kf5 57.Rd4 Rc5 58.Kd3 Ke6
59.h4 Kf6 60.c4 Rh5 61.Re4 Kf7 62.Kd4 Rf5
63.a4 Rf1 64.c5 Kf6 65.Kd5 Rd1+ 66.Rd4
Rf1 67.Kd6 Rb1 68.c6 1-0

Frank Marshall - M. Duchamp, Olympiad,

Hamburg 1930 1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 b6 3.c4 e6
4.Bg5 Be7 5.Nc3 Bb7 6.Qc2 d5 7.e3 O-O
8.cxd5 Nxd5 9.Bxe7 Qxe7 10.Nxd5 Bxd5
11.Bd3 h6 12.a3 c5 13.dxc5 Rc8 14.b4 bxc5
15.Rc1 Nd7 16.Ba6 Rc7 17.e4 Bb7 18.Bxb7
Rxb7 19.bxc5 Qxc5 20.O-O Qxc2 21.Rxc2
Kf8 22.Rfc1 Ke7 23.Nd4 Ke8 24.f4 Rab8
25.e5 Nf8 26.Rc5 Rb1 27.Rxb1 Rxb1+
28.Kf2 Rb7 29.Rc8+ Ke7 30.Ra8 Ng6 31.g3
Kd7 32.a4 Ne7 33.Nb5 Nc8 34.g4 Rxb5
35.axb5 Kc7 36.g5 hxg5 37.b6+ Kb7 38.Rxc8
Kxc8 1/2-1/2

References:

Bailey, "The Bachelors: Pawns in Duchamp's

Great Game" -
http://www.toutfait.com/issues/issue_3/Articl
es/bailey/bailey.html
Calas, "Duchamp's Last Work," Arts
Magazine, Sep-Oct 1973, pp. 46-47 -
https://msu.edu/course/ha/850/nicolascalas.pd
f
Clair & Linde, Marcel Duchamp: abécédaire:
approaches critiques, 1977
Cohen, Sarah Beth (batgirl), "The Imagery of
Chess — Surrealism and Chess," 2007 -
http://www.edochess.ca/batgirl/Imagery_of_C
hess.html
Cohen, Sarah Beth (batgirl), "Marcel," -
https://www.chess.com/blog/batgirl/marcel
Cros, Marcel Duchamp, 2013
Di Felice, Chess Results
 Fiala, The Chess Biography of Marcel
Duchamp, 2002
Judovitz, Unpacking Duchamp: Art in
Transit, 1998
Lancaster, From Art to Performance: Marcel
Duchamp's Imagery of Chess Exhibition at
the Julien Levy Gallery, University of Oregon
Thesis, June 2015
Marcel Duchamp -
http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessplayer
?pid=36967
Rabinovich, Dr. Celia, "A Chess Romance:
Marcel Duchamp and George Koltanowski,"
2015-2017
Schwarz, The Complete Works of Marcel
Duchamp, 1969
Spivey, "Readymake: Duchamp Chess Set," -
https://www.3dprintmakers.com/collection/3d
-printed-games/item/readymake-duchamp-
chess-set
"The Private Worlds of Marcel Duchamp," —
UC Press E-Books Collection -
https://publishing.cdlib.org/ucpressebooks/vie
w?docId=ft9h4nb688&chunk.id=d0e27&toc.d
epth=1&toc.id=&brand=ucpress
Tomkins, Duchamp: A Biography, 1966
Tout-Fait: Marcel Duchamp Studies -
http://www.toutfait.com/
Wall, "The Art of Chess," White Knight
Review, March-April 2011, p. 6
Winter, Chess Notes

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