The story takes place in the early years of the Cold War and centers on U.S. Army Colonel Bryan Kelly, whose plane has crash-landed on the Asiatic mainland. With him are his two sons, his wife, the pilot and co-pilot, and ten enlisted men. The sixteen prisoners are held captive by the Communist guerrilla chief Pi Ying, who forces Kelly to play a game of chess using his family and men as the white pieces, and himself as the king. Any American pieces that Pi Ying captures will be executed immediately; if Kelly wins, he and his surviving pieces will be freed. A Russian military officer, Major Barzov, and Pi Ying's female companion are present to watch the game.
Pi Ying takes a sadistic pleasure in pointless exchanges of pieces meant to wear down Kelly, who begins to doubt himself over every move he makes. Eventually, he realizes that his only chance to win involves sacrificing one of his knights, played by his sons. Pi Ying captures the piece; before he can order the boy's execution, though, his companion stabs him and herself to death. Barzov then takes over for Pi Ying, but is defeated by Kelly's trap. He spares the captured son's life and offers to transport the twelve surviving group members to safety, saying that since the United States and USSR are not officially at war, he would have let them go even if Kelly had lost. Not wanting Kelly to leave thinking he is a better chess player, Barzov suggests a rematch with no lives at stake. Kelly declines, but says he will play at a later time if Barzov insists on it.
Referencesedit
^Vonnegut, Kurt Jr. "All the King's Horses". Collier's. 10 Feb 1951.
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king, horses, short, story, this, article, about, short, story, other, uses, king, horses, disambiguation, this, article, needs, additional, citations, verification, please, help, improve, this, article, adding, citations, reliable, sources, unsourced, materia. This article is about the short story For other uses see All the King s Horses disambiguation This article needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources All the King s Horses short story news newspapers books scholar JSTOR January 2021 Learn how and when to remove this message All the King s Horses is a short story written in or before 1951 by Kurt Vonnegut 1 It can be found in his collection of short stories Welcome to the Monkey House It derives its title from a line in the Humpty Dumpty nursery rhyme All the King s Horses Short story by Kurt VonnegutCountryUSALanguageEnglishGenre s Psychological thriller short storyPublicationPublished inWelcome to the Monkey HousePublication typeAnthologyPublisherDelacorte PressMedia typePrint Paperback Publication date1968Plot summary editThe story takes place in the early years of the Cold War and centers on U S Army Colonel Bryan Kelly whose plane has crash landed on the Asiatic mainland With him are his two sons his wife the pilot and co pilot and ten enlisted men The sixteen prisoners are held captive by the Communist guerrilla chief Pi Ying who forces Kelly to play a game of chess using his family and men as the white pieces and himself as the king Any American pieces that Pi Ying captures will be executed immediately if Kelly wins he and his surviving pieces will be freed A Russian military officer Major Barzov and Pi Ying s female companion are present to watch the game Pi Ying takes a sadistic pleasure in pointless exchanges of pieces meant to wear down Kelly who begins to doubt himself over every move he makes Eventually he realizes that his only chance to win involves sacrificing one of his knights played by his sons Pi Ying captures the piece before he can order the boy s execution though his companion stabs him and herself to death Barzov then takes over for Pi Ying but is defeated by Kelly s trap He spares the captured son s life and offers to transport the twelve surviving group members to safety saying that since the United States and USSR are not officially at war he would have let them go even if Kelly had lost Not wanting Kelly to leave thinking he is a better chess player Barzov suggests a rematch with no lives at stake Kelly declines but says he will play at a later time if Barzov insists on it References edit Vonnegut Kurt Jr All the King s Horses Collier s 10 Feb 1951 nbsp This article about a short story or stories published in the 1950s is a stub You can help Wikipedia by expanding it vte Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title All the King 27s Horses short story amp oldid 1215744299, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
