The image was inspired by the novel "A circus of hells" by Poul Anderson, one of the 'Flandry of Terra' series. The protagonists find themselves stranded on a planet where a bored computer has constructed machines in the shape of chess pieces, and spends its time playing out a gigantic game of chess on the surface of the planet. The image is more faithful to the idea of the book than to the details.

The figures were created in Poser, and imported as DXFs before being equipped with space helmets and oxygen tanks made from Bryce primitives. The chess pieces were constructed from Bryce primitives. Various light sources, some visible, some not, contribute to the final appearance of the scene.

The quotation accompanying the image has, as usual, nothing to do with it, but seemed to fit nicely with the image and as a kind of wry commentary on the original Anderson story.