user150: There was a book of chess stories that I had read some time ago. In one, there were 3 sailors who had made a deal with Devil for a crystal because of which they were unbeatable at chess. They saw the move that they were to make in the crystal after each move of the opponent.
Any ideas as to the story title?

user167: The story is "The Three Sailors' Gambit" (1916) by Lord Dunsany, who was an interesting character. Besides being a prolific writer, he was a winner of the Irish chess championship, and he managed a draw during a simul by Capablanca. Dunsany was also a problem composer, some of them fairly typical chess problems and some of them more offbeat:
White to Mate in 4

This is very much a tricky problem.

150: <p>There was a book of chess stories that I had read some time ago. In one, there were 3 sailors who had made a deal with Devil for a crystal because of which they were unbeatable at chess. They saw the move that they were to make in the crystal after each move of the opponent.</p>

<p>Any ideas as to the story title?</p>
 167: <p>The story is <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20121014115039/http://chessville.com/misc/Fiction/ThreeSailorsGambit.htm" rel="nofollow noreferrer">&quot;The Three Sailors' Gambit&quot;</a> (1916) by <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Plunkett,_18th_Baron_of_Dunsany" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Lord Dunsany</a>, who was an interesting character. Besides being a prolific writer, he was a winner of the Irish chess championship, and he managed a <a href="http://www.chesshistory.com/winter/extra/dunsany.html" rel="nofollow noreferrer">draw during a simul by Capablanca</a>. Dunsany was also a <a href="http://alangullette.com/lit/dunsany/chess/problems.htm" rel="nofollow noreferrer">problem composer</a>, some of them fairly typical chess problems and some of them more offbeat:</p>
<h2>White to Mate in 4</h2>
<p><img src="https://i.stack.imgur.com/MkqXr.png" alt="Dunsany's Problem" /></p>
<p>This is very much a tricky problem.</p>
