History Main / ChessWithDeath

* During the game-focused stories in ''Literature/HaruhiSuzumiya'', notably the baseball game and "Day of Sagittarius", if the [[TrueCompanions SOS Brigade]] lost either of these games, [[RealityWarper Haruhi]] would become infuriated and end the world.

** Music/{{Tenacious D}}'s song "Tribute" describes the band's encounter with "a shiny demon" who demands that they play "the best song in the world" or he will eat their souls. They do so and blow the stunned devil out of the water, but afterward inform the audience that they can't actually remember how that song went, so "this is just a tribute".
*** The event that "Tribute" chronicles is seemingly the climactic battle against Satan in ''Film/TenaciousDInThePickOfDestiny'', meaning that said greatest song in the world would be the D's half of the song "Beelzeboss". However, it seems the D was embellishing a bit considering how their survival was mostly luck and had nothing to do with their song, which Satan said was lame. Then again, they both get stoned after the battle, and it is implied that they write "Tribute" then, so that probably ''is'' how their inebriated minds remembered the battle.

* WebOriginal/JennyEverywhere played such a game against the Grim Reaper in one of the vignettes in ''Mitigating Circumstances'', and appeared to win fair and square (although she had to miss a college assignment's deadline to make it to the game).

* Famously occurs in Ingmar Bergman's ''Film/TheSeventhSeal'', pictured above. This is the better-known origin of the "chess with the reaper" form of this trope.[[note]]But not ''the'' origin: The Knight mentions that he has seen Death play chess on paintings. This is true, the motif of Death playing chess exists [[http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/0b/Taby_kyrka_Death_playing_chess.jpg/450px-Taby_kyrka_Death_playing_chess.jpg as a motif in a Swedish church]] (although whether or not the game is chess or checkers or some other game is hard to make out)[[/note]] Interestingly here Death isn't above cheating slightly. At one point he impersonates a priest the knight confesses his sins to and mentions that he has a strategy that he is sure will beat Death. So Death (still pretending to be a priest) asks what it is. So the knight tells him. Death thanks him for the knowledge and leaves. The knight also tips over the chessboard (mainly to distract Death so that Death won't see his friends slipping away) and claims not to remember where the pieces were. Death, however, has not forgotten.

* ''Film/TheSeventhSeal'' example is parodied in ''[[Film/BillAndTed Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey]]'', with the heroes besting the Reaper (who looks almost ''exactly'' like he did in ''The Seventh Seal'') instead in games like Battleship, Clue, and Twister. The Reaper is a SoreLoser here, [[BestOutOfInfinity insisting on a rematch]] each time he loses. Eventually the Reaper gives up [[DefeatEqualsFriendship and joins them]]. The multiple wins become a plot point in the novelization and comic adaptation, where the boys get killed several times during the final showdown with their {{Evil Twin}}s and make Death bring them back each time by citing all the games. Likewise, in the novelization, the villain tries to invoke this after he is killed, coincidentally suggesting the same games Bill and Ted played with Death. The Grim Reaper refuses since he just found out he is ''really bad'' at those games.

** The episode "[[Recap/TheTwilightZoneS3E70AGameOfPool A Game of Pool]]" features this when a man (Jesse Cardiff) who dedicated his life to pool would "give anything" for a chance to play Fats Brown, the pool player that everyone says was the best, and better than Jesse is. Fats Brown then gets a call from his heavenly pool table to report to Jesse's pool hall, where Fats then appears and accepts Jesse's challenge -- if the stakes are for Jesse's life. Jesse accepts, and they play pool. Both are very good, but Fats gets on Jesse's nerves when he notes that ''all'' Jesse did was pool -- he didn't get married or see the world or anything. Jesse thinks that Fats is just trying to psych him out. Before making the final shot, Fats says that winning this game may have undesired consequences -- but Jesse blows him off. (Fats adds that he was required to say that.) Jesse makes the shot, and Fats acknowledges that Jesse is, in fact, the best pool player ever. Jesse laughs hysterically for a while -- but the scene then cuts to Jesse asleep at the heavenly pool table, getting an announcement to report to a pool hall in Sandusky, Ohio. In the meantime, Fats Brown has gone fishing.

** In "Dealer's Choice", Pete, Jake and Tony correctly deduce that Nick, who has taken Norman's place at their regular poker game, is the Devil and that he is here for one of them. Nick suggests that they make a game of it: whoever picks the highest card "wins" and gets to go with him. Tony picks an eight, Jake picks a seven and the unfortunate Pete picks a jack. Tony suggests that Pete and Nick play a game of one-on-one, all or nothing. Nick agrees and tries to put up $18 ([[NumberOfTheBeast three sixes]]) but instead puts up $19 at Pete's insistence. As it is dealer's choice, Pete chooses a game of lowball, where the lower hand wins and players don't want matching cards. Being the Devil, Nick has been getting three sixes in every hand. Pete gets four fives and Nick gets three sixes, meaning that Pete loses. However, Marty, who is too innocent for the Devil to trick, reveals that Nick's Tarot death card is in fact a fourth six. After been caught out, Nick leaves empty-handed, though not before filling Pete's empty kitchen with food and beer.
** In "I of Newton", Sam is a mathematician trying to solve a complex problem. In frustration, he says he'd trade his soul for the answer. And sure enough, a demon appears. The devil (wearing a red T-shirt with an ever-changing series of slogans, the most memorable being "Hell is a City Much Like Newark") says the only way Sam can save himself is to come up with a request the demon can't perform - i.e., a riddle he can't solve, a game he can't win, an object he can't retrieve, and so on. The demon describes in fantastic detail how he can instantaneously appear anywhere, any time; how he can zip into and out of parallel universes, imaginary dimensions, impossible situations. At last the demon says, "What is your request?" And Sam's reply? "Get lost."

* The entire premise of ''WesternAnimation/TheGrimAdventuresOfBillyAndMandy'' stems from this. In the show's pilot episode, Billy & Mandy play a game of limbo with the Grim Reaper for the soul of the former's dead hamster. Grim loses thanks to Mandy's cheating, forcing him to be their "friend" forever. Cue the rest of the series with [[HilarityEnsues hilarious results]].

** ''VideoGame/TheSims4'' massively expanded the range of mechanics by which Sims can plead for someone's life - by which we mean there's an entire guide for it on the fan wiki. Examples include [[DidYouJustRomanceCthulhu seducing the reaper]] (10% success chance), demanding he change his mind (40%), wailing about the death (33%), toying with him via voodoo magic (the chance varies but increases with repeated attempts), and [[DidYouJustFlipOffCthulhu yelling at him]] ([[SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome always fails]]). Which options are available at any given time depends on the mood and skills of the living Sim.

** Except the player doesn't play any chess, this being InteractiveFiction, and your character isn't very good at it. You have to read an encyclopedia to beat the person at chess, in fact.