Down through the centuries there have been several paintings that have been entitled, 'Check mate'.There is a story associated with one of those paintings. The artist had depicted a game of chess and it only had a few pieces left standing. At the bottom was the caption “Check mate”, which in chess terminology simply means you can’t move, you’re as good as beaten, you’re as good as dead.
A chess master visited the art gallery and he was taken with the painting. After gazing at the picture and analyzing all the pieces and the squares he suddenly said, “That’s not check mate. The king has another move.”
He was right. To the artist it all looked like the end. The game was over but out of this predicament, in a totally surprising way, a new hope was discovered.
Source: First heard from Leighton Ford circa 1983.