A Game at Chess

A Game at Chess
Title page of an early printed edition. It depicts the Fat Bishop saying "Keep your distance", and the Black Knight tempting him with "A letter from his holiness". The characters' faces are caricatures of de Dominis and Gondomar.
Written by	Thomas Middleton
Date premiered	August 1624
Place premiered	Globe Theatre, London
Original language	English
Subject	Anglo-Spanish relations, Protestantism and Catholicism
Genre	Satire, allegory
Setting	A chessboard

A Game at Chess is a comic satirical play by Thomas Middleton, first staged in August 1624 by the King's Men at the Globe Theatre. The play is notable for its political content, dramatizing a conflict between Spain and England.

The plot takes the form of a chess match, and the play includes some genuine chess moves. Instead of personal names, the characters are known as the White Knight, the Black King, and so forth. Yet the play unmistakably alludes to Anglo-Spanish diplomacy under King James I of England, especially the failed marriage negotiation between Prince Charles and the Spanish Infanta Maria Anna of Spain. The play is satirical of King James, and it was shut down after only nine days.