A while ago I discovered this wonderful little sketch made by NCMares :
 

 
I love it to bits! In all its simpicity, it’s a fun and amazing piece of pony art, depicting two of my favorite characters perfectly. So the decision to honor it through re-drawing came to my mind
 
These two are the perfect choice for a game of chess… and Rainbow beating Twilight actually makes quite some sense to me. She likes playing board games to begin with, and she hates losing. She is known to have a subconscious way of noticing details. Plus, all that flight training and the Wonderbolt training must have given her some strategic abilities. Twilight might be a quick thinker as well, and likes to take the scientific approach, but on the other hoof she’s got a habit of throwing rationality out of the window when things go haywire. Not always, but she definitely had her moments.
 
Being an avid chess player myself, I decided to give the chessboard a little more detail, and I wanted to show a bit more of the actual game. It seems to have been quite a fight and both sides have suffered tremendous casualties. But in the end, Black (Dashie), apparently being in the weaker position, made a daring move and caught White (Twi) completely off-guard
 
For all you chess enthusiasts, here’s the final layout: