The audience laughed as the young man in the top hat smiled. The trick he had just completed had apparently been more than enough to please the crowd. As the man slowly walked away from the almost blindly bright spotlight, he kept his face focused on the crowd, continuing to smile.
He attempted to focus on specific members, one being a teenager who appeared to be recording the whole thing on his phone, another being a pretty blond girl with particularly lovely blue eyes. Tom realized that this wasn’t helping when he almost tripped on his own feet, and he went back to just smiling and focusing his effort on leaving the stage.
After a few moments, the magician was out of the audience’s sight.
Immediately, he stopped grinning and went to his nearby dressing room.
Once the magician had opened the door, he ducked under the doorway and walked inside the cramped room. Closing the door, he finally let out a sigh. After years of doing the same acts, it was finally starting to tire him out. At this point, he collapsed against the door and sat down for several minutes, thinking.
His thoughts were interrupted by a knocking at the door.
“Mr. Olzvick, do you mind if I speak with you for a sec? I promise it won’t take very long.” It was clearly the voice of a young man. He seemed to be rather impatient, for he said his words very quickly.
Mr. Olzvick, being a bit startled by this person, quickly retorted, “What do ya want, autographs? Interviews?”
“Not quite, Mr. Olzvick. I have a letter for you, and it is kind of important. I’m supposed to deliver it to you face to face, so can you open up the door, Mr. Olzvick?”
He had received letters before, but something about the way the man worded the sentence gave Mr. Olzvick an uncomfortable feeling. Why would a letter need to be delivered “face to face”? Shrugging it off as just odd phrasing, Mr. Olzvick sighed and opened the door.
In front of him was a young man in a clean suit and with a slicked back haircut. With that hair, he looked a bit like an even skinnier version of Elvis in the fifties.
“I’m busy, kid, so just hand me the letter so I can get back to work,” the magician grumbled.
“Mr. Olz-”
“Just call me Tom.”
“Well then, Tom, you were just sitting against the door, staring off in deep thought. I wouldn’t really classify that as ‘work’.”
“Just give me the damn letter,” Tom said, getting impatient.
”Alright, fine. I wish you good luck and goodbye, Mr. Tom Olzvick,” the man stated, and with that, he strolled off.
As the man walked off, Tom suddenly realized how peculiar that conversation was. How did the man know that he was leaning against the door? Why did he wish him “good luck”?
“Maybe this letter can explain something…” Tom muttered to himself, eyeing the letter.
The writing on the front of it was very neat, and there was no stamp or address. The writing stated, “Stop examining and open the letter.”
Finding it odd that the letter would know of his actions as he was doing them, Tom started to feel uneasy. He flipped to the back of the letter to find more neat writing, stating, “You are a bit slow. Care to be a bit faster?”
Tom was now incredibly skeptical as to what was going on. Being unable to put aside his curiosity, Tom ripped open the letter.
Inside was a very neatly folded piece of paper. Unfolding it quickly, Tom began to read the handwritten note.
“Hello, Mr. Tom Olzvick.
I can understand that you are confused, but please put that aside for now. There are more important matters at hand.
Since you have opened this letter, you have just began a bit of a… game. I certainly view it as a game. After all, games are fun, aren’t they?
The ultimate objective of the game is very simple: Winning, by any means possible. Losing the game will result in… well, you’ll see if you lose. Trust when I say that this is a grand chess game. This letter was the first move.
Time for you to make the next one.
E4.”
Tom stood in complete shock.
“Game? What the hell is this?” Tom said aloud, kind of hoping for some sort of hint at what was happening to him.
Looking down at the letter, Tom realized that there was some writing on the back. Tom was unsure if he wanted to flip it over, but he was also rather… exhilarated. Finally, he was doing something different and new, rather than performing the same tricks day after day, show after show. Tom liked the feeling, and he didn’t want to see it go to waste.
He flipped over the letter. On the back was two sentences:
“I knew you couldn’t resist. Make your chess move and let’s begin.”
At this point, Tom was starting to get over the shock of the paper knowing what he was saying before he even started saying it. Tom flipped to the front and took out a pen. “E4” had to be chess notation.
Tom carefully wrote, “D5”.
Nothing happened.
Tom sat down and waited impatiently. Something would happen in time. Within a minute, there was a knock at the door. Tom went to the door with excitement and opened the door. However, the setting was completely different.
On the other side of the door was a completely white tiled room. In the center were polished black chairs and a table. On the table was a chessboard, with the pieces already set up. Sitting in one of the chairs was a person that he couldn’t quite make out.
Tom couldn’t even believe what he was seeing. The cramped backstage had been replaced with this odd, bright room. Tom shut the door and opened it again, thinking that his eyes might have just been fooling him. Opening the door again, the room was still there in the exact same condition.
Tom walked in slowly, closing the door behind him, getting closer to the man and the table. As he got closer, he noticed the man had a very thin beard, a very smooth face, and green, piercing eyes.
“Funny, he looks a bit like…” Tom started to say before he realized something. The man was him.
Tom’s eyes widened as he stared in shock.
The man had all the same physical features as Tom, as well as the exact same outfit.
“So… shall we play?” The duplicate said, grinning as he stood up and pulled out a chair for Tom.
“Go ahead and call me whatever you like. Is Daburu okay? I’ve always liked that one.”
Tom still was still dumbfounded by this replica of himself. Tom looked behind him and noticed that there was no longer a door. Sitting down, he decided that he had to know what was going on.
“W-What are you?” Tom asked.
“What do you think? I’m you.”
“But h-how is that possible?”
“Have you ever considered that you always had a double that knew all your thoughts? One that knew every single thing you were going to do, and every single thing that you have done? We can keep talking, but first I’ll make my move. Pawn to F3.”
The pawn moved forward by itself. Tom began to speak again.
“Alright then. But if you know every move that I am going to make, then how can I win?”
“That is for you to figure out. Go ahead and try.”
Tom said nothing.
“Hello, Tom? Daburu speaking, you have been taking a bit too long to make your move. Go on.”
Tom sighed and began to play once more.
“Knight to C6.”
Tom watched as his knight moved to the correct spot.
“Excellent! Knight to C3.”
Tom started processing his possible options as Daburu sat there.
“You’re going to say F1, Tom.”
“As a matter of fact, I’m going to say-“
“Pawn to F5.”
Tom realized just how difficult this challenge would be.
“P-Pawn to F5,” Tom stuttered quietly.
“Pawn to G4.”
Tom thought about distracting him with conversation.
“So, how were you forme-“
“I’m not listening.”
“But you know my thought-“
“I’m ignoring any thoughts that have nothing to do with the chess game. Go on, please.”
“What if I don’t?”
“Well, you can’t exactly leave, as you noticed that there really isn’t a door anymore.”
Sighing, Tom opened his mouth and said, “Pawn to E4.”
“I say Pawn to E4 as well.”
“B-“ Tom’s next move was interrupted by a scream of frustration from Daburu.
“This is just so… boring!”
“What? I’m playing the game.”
“Well, this game sucks. It always took so long and there was nothing to occupy the player as they did it. So, let’s spice it up, shall we?” Daburu said. He snapped his fingers and the chess board fell through the floor. The room collapsed around him as the ceiling flew away above Tom.
Tom still thought this was very strange, but he was starting to get used to the oddness.
The rest of the room continued to be deconstructed as the chairs simply disintegrated. Tom stood up as Daburu stood up as well, laughing hysterically.
“God, you’re going to love this. Now, make your move.”
“How am I supposed to do this without the board?”
“Memory, obviously. My memory is only as good as yours is, so this should be fun.”
The room had finally disappeared to reveal where they actually were. They were on the top of a moving train, chugging along a mountainside. Daburu laughed even harder as he saw Tom’s expression. “Come on, then! Make your move!”
“Uh… Pawn to G4?”
“Lovely. Knight to D5.”
The train was accelerating as they spoke. Tom knew that if he stayed on this train much longer, he would surely die.
Tom started to run to the sides of the train when he collapsed, head sticking off the right side of the train. Below was an incredibly huge drop that he knew he would not be able to survive.
“How many times do we have to keep doing this, Tom? Make. Your. Move.”
“Pawn to A… 5.”
Daburu pulled Tom back up to his feet, smiling.
“Pawn to D3.”
Tom was finally starting to get fed up.
“Just leave me alone. I’m just a magician that wants to live his life, not deal with this bullshit.”
“Oh, but I thought you were tired of being a magician? Doing the same tricks, over and over? Doing all those rabbit things as the audience laughs at how pathetic your act is?”
Tom got incredibly angry, very quickly.
“People love my acts.”
“Love for how hilariously terrible they are. Have you ever noticed all that laughter the audience has? Have you ever done a quick internet search of your name? Look it up, and you see video such as, ‘Magic Fails’, ‘Worst Magic Trick Ever’, and, my personal favorite, ‘Tom Olzvick: The Magical Fuck-Up.’”
“SHUT THE HELL UP!” Tom was absolutely teeming with rage and anger. One more comment, and that would push him over the line.
“’Hey, guess what, Tom? I think you’ve made another fuck-up. This one might be quite magical as well.”
That one set Tom off.
Tom charged straight ahead for Daburu, yelling and swearing the whole time. Daburu waved his attack off, laughing.
“You’ve been so caught up in this that you haven’t even realized that this train is about to drive off a cliff. See you later, fuck-up!”
As Daburu jumped off the train, Tom felt as the train went off of the ground and started diving into the abyss below. Tom fell over and started falling down into the area, dropping faster and faster with every second.
Tom watched as his body impacted the ground. He heard his bones shattering, before finally hearing nothing.
—
Tom woke up in his bed to a knock on his bedroom door.
Yawning, Tom ignored the nightmare he had just had and asked, “Who is it?”
“Lisa, dear.”
Tom smiled as he opened the door and let his wife through the door. She looked lovely with her luscious blonde hair. She had already prepared breakfast for him.
“So, how was the show last night?”
“I-It went well. The audience seemed to enjoy it quite a bit.”
Suddenly, Tom realized something.
He didn’t have a wife.
Lisa grinned.
“They probably loved all of the mistakes you made. I expect the next part of that epic video saga, ‘Tom Olzvick: The Magical Fuck-Up’, to continue quite soon.”
Tom watched in horror as Lisa’s face started to fall apart, her blue eyes falling out, and her skin tearing off to reveal her organs, completely changing and mutating into different shapes and sizes. Blood leaked out from everywhere, and Tom couldn’t bare to watch it.
Finally, Tom looked back and saw the skin reforming into the old familiar face it was. His face.
“So, she was one of your audience members. I noticed how you thought she was pretty, so I figured she would have been the best choice.”
Daburu grinned immediately after stating that. Tom, still horrified at what he had just witnessed, stared in disgust and awe.
“Oh, don’t keep doing that. We have a game to finish, after all. This time, I’ll even give you the board back.”
Tom’s bedroom quickly fell apart to change back into the white tiled room with the black table and chairs. However, this time, something was different. There was a noose hanging off to the side of the table.
“W-What is with that?”
“Oh, it is very simple. You considered this a dream previously, but it is rather obvious that this is just the breakdown of your mental psyche.”
“W-What?”
“Come on, the stress and the boredom of your magic routines was getting to you, and you know it. I knew you were this great big waste of a magician because you already knew that yourself. You just kept avoiding it and suppressed the memory, trying as hard as you could to forget.”
“So? Pawn to H5.”
“Oh, so you’re playing again, are you? Alright, let’s do this then. Bishop to G5.” Daburu sat back down in the chair as the bishop moved across the board. Tom uneasily sat back down as well.
“Answer my question. What are you trying to say? Pawn to E6.”
“Well, you reached the breaking point. Your mind, deteriorating faster and faster, is hallucinating left and right. So, when you fell off that train and passed out, feeling incredible pain, you probably just wandered off and fell down a flight of stairs. Bishop to D8.”
“N-No, I was there. The train-“
“Tom, look at me. I am you. Exactly you. I know everything you know. How could I possibly exist?”
Tom said nothing and held his head down.
“Your reality is breaking down because you are accepting your inevitable fate. Your own suicide. What do you say to that, Mr. Olzvick?”
Tom slowly lifted up his head, took a look at Daburu, and decided what he needed to do.
“King to D8.”
Daburu sat in silence as the king moved.
“Knight to F4.”
The noose appeared to be getting closer.
“Bishop to H3.”
“Pawn to H3.”
“Queen to G4.”
The noose was now almost touching the table.
“Pawn to E5.”
“Queen to G5. You’re in check, Tom.”
Tom suddenly stood up on the chair and looked beside him. The noose was right there in front of his face.
“I will win this. I have to. King to D7.”
“I’m sorry, but you were fated to lose from the start. You did it to yourself, Tom.”
“Pawn to D4.”
“Knight to D4.”
“In four moves, I will win. Queen to E5.”
Tom lifted his hands up to the noose.
“Knight to F3.”
“Queen to E6. Check.” Daburu looked straight at him, not with a grin, but with a grimace.
Tom sighed heavily. He knew that this was his last move. Nothing he did would get him to win. Putting the hole around his neck, Tom closed his eyes.
“King to D8.”
“Rook to D4. Checkmate.”
Tom stepped off of his chair.
As he breathed his final breath, he heard Daburu say one final sentence.
“This was the grand chess game of your life, and that game… is over.”
57 Comments on 'The Magician’s Game'
It is certainly nice to read a story that is driven by dialogue. Unfortunately, for me, the idea of using chess to determine one’s fate is overused. Chess is an artistic motif that can be used very effectively (The Seventh Seal), but here, it did not seem to mesh well with the magician gimmick. Maybe a different game could fit. Personally, I think Candy Land would offer a suitable test of logic. Or, since he is a failed magician, have him play checkers. Have the game show how far he has fallen.
Holy zalgo that just blew my mind I may not be a fan of chess but that made a hole lot of since. That was amazing but the chess idea was a little bit over down it would be cool if you done one with battleship and how everyone they love slowly dies one by one as his opponent starts winning or something like that but hey that’s my idea. Keep up the good work. Bye.
i agree with the other two comments, the chess game being over used. However, overall the entire story was different and intriguing, very fun to read. Keep up the good work! 🙂
Well, this story was a bit tense for me.
This story is amazing! Life of a suicide drawn magician bored of what he does!! Love It!
I like how you used chess as a metaphor for life I was a bit confused at the start I was expecting that Tom would win by someway with distraction or confusion. And that he will gain freewill and will be able to live past this, but no your ending was much more better keep up the good work.
This is what would happen to Harry potter if he got depressed and became a failed musician lol but seriously I did really like this story
This… finished quite abruptly. There wasn’t enough buildup. The idea was okay, but it could have been more, I guess, elaborated. Also the fact about the mental breakdown should have been left to the reader to figure out. This could be longer and better, even if the chess as the medium is overused.
Overall, good try and I also liked the little detail about the magician getting off the stage (tipping over and trying to concentrate on the audience).
Woops. Sorry livvy… I downed your comment :L
(Didn’t mean to, I can’t read symbols LOL!) thought it meant reply.
P.S I was going to say;
LMAO
Its A very good story. Props to you 🙂
I guess im the only one that was interested more in a game,i just wished if the chess game was actually a good one that makes sence
I think this story is very well written. The letter is really neat.
This was good i loved it more then anything
Well that was certainly interesting…As top comment said though chess is a bit overused, good story though 😀
The story is bit predictable but I really like the way it holds the reader’s attention, that even though I already knew what was coming, I still go about reading it. Good work but please improve from being cliche.
Honestly I liked this I thought it was original but I’m new to the creepypasta game
I enjoyed the visuals. Good story, though I feel a plot twist of some kind at the end, would add some spice. 🙂
Nope
I don’t like it
It was good, but the dialogue kind of got tetius.
I liked the story but I think it should’ve played a bit more into that he’s a magician especially because the Title seems too mean nothing to the story
Whoa, this was a trippy story. Its a really good idea to use a chess game against one mind. This is really good, and it was really nice to read and know that someone writes like this. Its very interesting and it gives the whole story a twist. Keep going~! <3
This story didn’t give me the rush of anticipation and intrigue I wanted.
this pasta is a good read but i think that Tom needs to be
fleshed out more keep up the good work 🙂
This story seems to me to be one of those stories that nails a couple of things right and a couple of things really wrong. To began on a positive note I like the intriguing start where tom gets a simple letter. The scene is all sort of unsettling like why would somebody want to give a random magician a letter or how does the person know their every move. You could explain this and that’s what is so nice about that first part. You could say the letter was a fangift and you could say he saw the light under his door reflect his shadow. I also like the way it tell about life in grim detail about the transition between life and death. From the beginning the magician was going to die no matter what move he made. Words won’t change that either. Now for the negatives. The major negative is the book is to cliche. From the chess game to the magician going mad there wasn’t any surprise in this creepypasta.Another negative is right when tom opened up the letter you immediately realized that the story was going to be unrealistic which that part could of at least been extended to give the whole is it real is ot not real thing with that in itself is cliche but at least could afford fair foreshadowing, decent build-up, and a chance for some characterization. Also something aren’t explained in the story at all. Like why does it have to be a chess game. You could use any game to convey this point so why did you choose chess and why was the magician double named daburu ( I don’t know if this is a word meaning something in a different language I would look it up but I’m on my phone and this already is taking long to type and my internet is slow so I don’t even want to bother. Just don’t gripe if it does mean something from a different language.). Ultimately though this is a good creppypasta. It has some meaning and context and in spite of all its faults it fells like decication was put into it. Besides all this is just food for thought. I will definitely be sure to read some of your other creppypasta’s.
I feel that the magician gave up too easily. Why didn’t he fight back? Usually the main character tries to fight back against evil. Sometimes they succeed, and sometimes they don’t, but the important thing is that they at least try.
It was mildly suspenseful, but I must really comment on the dialogue. It really drives the story.
This is a good quality pasta, if you ask me. It really intrigued me, since you added details in your story(example: when he was looking at certain people in the audience, so they appeared again later in the story). Maybe the chess thing was overused, but I liked the way you were going with it. All that talk and then you finish it off with the ending I was kinda expecting, which is a plus to me, I liked it. I have to say that I didn’t like certain things in the middle of the story(expressing wrong details, such as when the ‘wife’ was melting and everything was falling apart from her, and then you mentioned organs… I personally think it was a pointless thing to put in the story, because you could add more details around her or the picture you were using in that certain part of the story. ). Other than that, it was a good story. Maybe not the top notch, but one of the better stories, for sure.
Wow that was really good!
Goood story! But how would I go about creating a story of my own?
it sure have an awesome story a magician getting tricked by his own magic
That was the best Mind Twister I’ve read in a long time. Keep em comin.
Not good. Poorly written and incoherent plot. Take some writing classes.
SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Loved this one!
Ok I like the story but I don’t know it didn’t really appeal to me but great job. Keep It Up !
i liked the story but the concept is a bit overused it is cool though good work
Nice story .
Has a disadvantage if someone doest know much about chess he or she will feel booring while reading the moves .
Hell to the yeah to the awsome !
This tale of mental break down and self harm gave me a certain pleasure mixed with the pain of familiarity. All in all it gave me chills. Good job
I loved the story and the dialogue, but like others the game didn’t fit in. Chess with a Magician. Oh and why did he nit question stuff, get off the train when he saw the cliff, and why did he kill himself. He had control over it!
eh. it was good but not amazing. it could have added more of a… how do i say this.. a intriguingly scarier storyline to what others might say… “creepy”. but that’s just coming from me.
It was a decent idea, but chess is really overused. It doesn’t really fit with Tom being a magician to me. I do wonder something though; did the delivery man need to meet him face to face to be able to copy Tom’s face? Because it seems like Daburu wasn’t actually a double of him to me.
this was great i loved it
This was a great read! Keep up the good work! 🙂
i have to give credit. It’s enough to get me interested
Hats off for the sassiest magical letter ever.
I was hooked. I was certainly full of interest until the very last moment, however… I found the use of chess as a decider of death is commonly overused. It worked in books of Darren Shans however I think another game would be a lot more useful to the readers imagination. Especially to our younger readers.
-ORhodes
The story overall isn’t bad, but in my opinion it would’ve been a lot more interesting if the game had something to with actual magic/magic tricks, instead of simple chess
Great job very great love the story keep up the story and you be awsome 🙂
great pasta but the chess game is way to overused
This story is very good but its not very creepy
Though your story is a nice read. Grammar is a place you may want to look at. The Idea of chess was a likable one although predictable. Lastly i loved how you used the dialogues so well.
A good writing style-straightforward without excessive description. However, it lacked more plot. It lacked one of the basic elements of horror stories- the very horror of it. I liked the story, and the writing style. But buddy, add the dread. The horror. The madness. The reader should feel it. Tom remained really calm for someone who has just been well, chess-fucked. But ohterwise, a good read!
I found that near the end of the story I got almost all of the details of how it would end with him hanging by the noose around his neck. Liked how it was different and was based around how far gone he was and using the game of chess? I thought it was brilliant!
I just did the chess thing in real life and I can confirm that the final move was not a checkmate. Tom could have moved bishop to D7 and been safe. Points of effort though.
I just came to say that chimichanga is a delight
Hello; author of the story here.
I wrote this story a couple years ago; and, if you’ll believe it, in the 8th grade. I was incredibly young when I wrote this and submitted it, and certainly not a professional author or adult like many of the other people who have submitted stories here.
I was not familiar with just how overused chess was as a trope (as I was younger then); now I’m a bit more familiar with tropes, and while I would say I tried to put my own spin on it, I can understand why people would see my use here as not original enough.
Not to say my inexperience at the time of writing the storyis an excuse; honestly, I’m quite proud of this story. The only thing I do regret is that the chess game kinda gets botched entirely (as somewhere along the line, I skipped a move close to the end; you’ll see it’s supposed to be Tom’s move at one point, but then Daburu goes instead). On the Creepypasta Wiki, I have fixed this error and made the game actually playable, but unfortunately I cannot fix the version that is on this site (as far as I know).
Regardless, I hope you enjoy the story overall. Faults and all, as a creator I love it for what it is and the fact that it helped me pinpoint some of my weaknesses and improve at a young age.