chess, Duchamp said: “If Bobby Fischer came to me for advice, I certainly would not discourage him – as if anyone could – but I would try to make it positively clear that he will never have any money from chess, live a monk-like existence and know more rejection than any artist ever has, struggling to be known and accepted.” Duchamp left a legacy to chess in the form of an enigmatic endgame problem he composed in 1943. The problem was included in the announcement for Julian Lev’s gallery exhibition “Through the Big End of the Opera Glass”, printed on translucent paper with the faint inscription: “White to play and win.” Grandmasters and endgame specialists have since grappled with the problem, with most concluding that there is no solution.
Artistic involvement and marriages
Although Duchamp was no longer considered to be an active artist, he