Two matching black and grey chess piece tattoos, a king and a queen, on the inside of two wrists.

King and queen chess pieces on two wrists

Forearm · Black and grey · Photo

Two solid black chess pieces sit side by side on the inner wrists, a king on the left and a queen on the right. The silhouettes are filled with black ink and show small grey highlight bands on the bases and collars, which suggest the turned shape of the pieces. The photograph is taken straight on, with the two wrists filling the frame against a dark background.

Forearm King Queen

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A story inspired by this tattoo · fiction

Dear Tom, the lock at Hatton has been the colour of wet slate all week, and Dad has taken to sleeping on the cabin roof so he can hear the water. I am writing this at the table with the chess set between my elbows, because I have not beaten him since March and I have decided a letter is the only honest way to tell you I am going to.

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The pieces are pear wood, turned on a lathe by a man in Stourport who swapped them with Grandad for a crate of rum. Each collar has a band of pale, unstained grain where the wood was left bare, so the kings and queens look as though someone has bound them with string. Dad's king has stood on E4 for three days. He will not move it. He says a king is only ever asked to stand still while everyone else does the work, and I told him that was the most Dad thing I had ever heard.

Last night I brought my queen out in one long diagonal, across the bishop, past the knight he had been so proud of, and set her down beside his king without a word. He studied the board for a long time with the kettle going cold. Then he tipped his king over with one finger, let it roll to the edge of the cloth, and said, that's you, love, you always were the one who ran the boat.

I did not know what to say, so I stood his king back on E4 and left it there. The lock keeper's dog is barking at the towpath again. Come home at Easter if the trains allow. Bring your own set, and we will see who is still standing.