In fact, no gods anywhere play chess. They prefer simple, vicious games, where you Do Not Achieve Transcendence but Go Straight to Oblivion; a key to the understanding of all religion is that a god’s idea of amusement is Snakes and Ladders with greased rungs.

More from Wyrd Sisters

• And it came to pass that in time the Great God Om spake unto Brutha, the Chosen One: “Psst!”
• Bishops move diagonally. That’s why they often turn up where the kings don’t expect them to be.
• Brother Preptil, the master of the music, had described Brutha’s voice as putting him in mind of a disappointed vulture arriving too late at the dead donkey.
• Dhblah sidled closer. This was not hard. Dhblah sidled everywhere. Crabs thought he walked sideways.
• Genius is always allowed some leeway, once the hammer has been pried from its hands and the blood has been cleaned up.
• Give anyone a lever long enough and they can change the world. It’s unreliable levers that are the problem.