So you want to shoot a giallo. You have an idea: centuries ago, a mad hangman1 has been executed for his many crimes and now he is haunting an old castle. But how do you get a crew of young, handsome people in that castle to get slaughtered by him? Why, you have a editor and a handful of sexy girls driving around the country looking for a good spot to take some pictures for a horror photo-novel, of course!
They stumble upon the castle, break and enter, and disturb the owner of the castle, who was having a quiet afternoon at his chessboard. I hope they’ll get slaughtered soon.
It’s very unclear what position the good esquire was pondering. I’ve made a reconstruction, but it’s not very good:2
The copy I’ve found of the film jut doesn’t have the resolution to let me do better. Many pieces could have different identities, many pieces could be on a slightly different squares, many murders could have been avoided by not disturbing people during their game of chess.
The castle’s lord seem to realise that, too, because, in a fit of rage, he sweeps the pieces off the board.3 Understandable; he was just enjoying a nice afternoon playing chess and now he has to start killing again.
Realism: 1/5 The actual position may be worth several points more, depending on how far off my reconstruction is.
Probable winner: Black. He has so much more material, that white will soon see red.
1. [Hangman is boia in Italian, providing a rare example of an Italian word ending in an a that’s nevertheless masculine.] ↩
2. [Nothing like this diagram editor, in other words.] ↩
3. [A natural reaction when you have castled and someone starts infiltrating your position.] ↩