Chess:

"Extreme focus means that much is lost in the periphery. In seeing the overall picture, detail is lost."
- Cirin, Women page 147.

There's a lot I didn't put in this page. All references are to Flight, unless otherwise stated. I tried to reference to Women, but found it impossible to do so economically. I'm also not too sure about Bishops.

Flight:

Cerebus ascends to the eighth sphere, and, after seeing through various traps, plays chess with Suenteus Po. The whole scene is like a cosmic chess game by which gods control mortals. But I don't think that is the case.

The Game:

Suenteus Po is white, the game runs from 146 - 226.

Cerebus is revealed as familiar with the basics of chess, yet his lack of experience makes him a poor player. Suenteus Po is a well-practised expert, and gets mate within four moves. On my first consideration, I tried to find correlation between the chess moves and the scenes of other characters.

As shown in Reads, it is not within Suenteus Po's nature to control others, and Cerebus has at this point in the work lost what power over others he once had. These people are not gods. Each piece Cerebus moves proves to represent a person from his past, not his present; Suenteus Po endeavours to teach him about life. There is no direct correlation between the chess game we see, and the current Cirinist plot-related situations shown in the book. Cerebus and the Cirinist part of the plot (leading up to an ascension) are temporarily able to function apart. The only connection between them is the Roach, who is aware of both realities. The Pigts also connect to Cerebus, but not to the Cirinists. Multiple boards.

Within the story, a story is given (140 - 144), and likened to chess (151).

In an odd King-Queen reversal (Hmm), Cirin is rendered impotent (157 + 158, 162, 176 - 180, see also Women 147, Reads 24).

We also see the Roach, King of Roachland, immobilised by Blossom, his Queen - she rapes his mind. Greg, from the egroup, pointed out two instances of chess pieces around the Roach:

1. The brothel's lights are in the shape of Queens (219).
2. There are chess pieces behind the bar after the Roach is rendered impotent by Blossom (Women, 206).

The pages I find most interesting are 224 + 225.

Women:

Some of the chess boards intersect in a dream, shared by the Roach, Astoria, Cirin, and (briefly) Suenteus Po. The game becomes visible in more "human" terms. Astoria forces Cirin towards the same sort of thoughts she's having, but Cirin later breaks the connection. As Cerebus sinks into drunkenness, so does the Roach, becoming less aware of the chessboard he's been standing on, the pieces faded and translucent behind him. As Cerebus wakes up, so does the Roach.

As with so many things, in the end Cerebus proves to be a poor student of little ability, a tactician rather than a strategist...