The Ninth Gate Problem

by Robert T. Tuohey

“Every good man progressively becomes God. To become God, to be man,
and to educate oneself, are expressions that are synonymous.” - Friedrich Von Schlegel

Usually this column is devoted to an examination of under-appreciated or lesser-known players of the past; in this particular installment, however, I’d like to shed some light on a completely ignored chess position from a relatively recent film. To wit: the chess position briefly seen in “The Ninth Gate” (1999).

Directed by Roman Polanski, starring Johnny Depp, the plot of “The Ninth Gate” revolves around the restoration of a medieval occult text, “The Nine Doors to the Kingdom of Shadows”, which, in its original form, is said to outline a ritual capable of summoning Satan.

The heart of this ritual, however, is not stated directly, but rather alluded to in a kind of “Satanic riddle” which takes the form of nine engravings: these the occultist must correctly interpret in order to successfully perform the working.

It should be carefully noted, in view of what is to follow, that these engravings, although historically fictitious, are very far from mere mock-ups or props: the general style and the esoteric symbology shown are rather accurate (borrowing heavily from the Tarot cards, and the artists Dürer and Holbein).

Before examining the seventh engraving, which specifically concerns us, for the reader’s general reference, here is the entire set:

The Seventh Gate

Here is an enlarged version of the Seventh Gate engraving:

The inside-cover art of the soundtrack to the film, composed by Wojciech Kilar, contains reproductions of these engravings further garnished with brief info at the bottom of each. The seventh reads as follows:

“The disciple outshines the master.”

(A king and beggar play chess on a board with white squares. The moon can be seen through the window. Beneath this and next to a closed door, two dogs are fighting.)

The pieces and the position of the dogs indicate that the king is White and the beggar Black. Note that the beggar, obviously, has the move.

After close inspection, I deem the following position is represented:

In order to more easily compare the engraving to the diagram I have arrived at, I here provide a rotated-version of the diagram:

At a glance, Black appears lost. However, as soon as analysis begins, you quickly realize that after KxB, White has nothing more than continual queen checks, as permitting the white knight or king the extra move needed for closing the mating-net will allow the black pawn to queen, or the black queen to draw by perpetual check.

For example, two strong computer programs, given a time control of 10 moves in 60 minutes, produced the following.

White: Aristarch 4.50 Black: Phalanx XXII

1...Kxc8 2.Qc6+ Kd8 3.Qb6+ Kc8 4.Qc5+ Kd7 5.Qd4+ Kc8 6.Qh8+ Kb7 7.Qg7+ Kc8 8.Qf8+ Kc7 9.Qe7+ Which is still a draw.

If this position is original with the film, which I strongly tend to doubt, or if it is derived from some other source, I have been unable to ascertain.

Now, the position itself is interesting enough, but to think that a big budget film could manage it (what with Hollywood’s rather poor record for chess accuracy), is astounding.

Doubting Thomas

Have I, indeed, managed to unlock the Seventh Gate? Or is the diagrammed-position above nothing more than a cracked chimera forged on my over-wrought mind?

If I’ve somehow managed to see what’s not there, I’m all the more entranced with it! For, as Vladimir Nabokov has said, it’s the type of “coincidence” that logicians loath and poets love.

Deeper Analysis

Without delving into historical proofs, I will merely state the following:

In the Seventh Gate picture, the King, with the white pieces, is representative of God; the Beggar, with black, is Humanity. The idea, as evidenced in the analysis, is that with proper “knowledge” Man can achieve equality with God.

Indeed, the identity of Man and God (or the Divine) is an ancient doctrine of both the Eastern and Western worlds. In the Christian tradition, this belief finds its expression in the Apocryphal texts (e.g., The Gospel according to Thomas), although within the Catholic system would be ruled heretical.

Bobby is reported to have claimed that with the White pieces he could draw against God…

Well, now, here we have something even better.

Conclusion

Of course, details on the engravings could be definitively answered by the illustrator himself, Francisco Sole. As yet, however, I have been unable to contact him.

Ergo, this article is published in the hopes of obtaining further keys to The Nine Gates.

Notes

1. The Ninth Gate is based on the book Club Dumas, by the Spanish writer Arturo Perez-Reverte. His web-page is http://www.perez-reverte.com/default.asp. The Flanders Panel, also by this author, has a strong chess element.

2. Notes on the film’s soundtrack can be found at http://seigner.republika.pl/soundtrack.html

3. Further details on the engravings may be found at http://www.eclectichistorian.net/Engravings/

4. The fine reproductions of the engravings used in this article were lent via express permission from http://www.apocprod.com/Pages/prop_pages/ninthgate.htm. A fine resource on The Ninth Gate, well worth visiting.