king is unable to move because surrounded by friendly pieces. Further, the black knight simultaneously attacks White's king and queen in the final position, thus delivering a . Escher was an amateur player, participating in chess club play throughout his life. In correspondence with his son George, Escher expressed concern as to the reasonableness of the position shown in his Metamorphoses. However, he also noted that the position had never drawn any criticism, an indication of its status as a simple but well-formed problem. The Atrani-chess dyad shown in Metamorphosis II was used again in Metamorphosis III. The latter was a greatly expanded version of the former, which Escher executed near the end of his life. However, the town-and-chess position were identical in both pieces. For Metamorphosis III, Escher expanded the middle of Metamorphosis II to include several other elements, leaving its ends (which included the Atrani-chess dyad) unchanged. See also Chess in the arts Regular Division of the Plane Tessellation References Locher, J. L. (2000). The Magic of M. C. Escher. Harry N. Abrams, Inc. . External links Metamorphosis II at Digital Commonwealth Works by M. C. Escher 1939 works Woodcuts Birds in art Chess in art Fish in art Insects in art Reptiles in art