Anton Pavlovich Raisky, a middle-aged, once popular writer, spits from the balcony at his neighbors out of idleness. One morning, after spitting once again, he accidentally ends up spitting on the bald head of the famous critic Dobuzhansky. Frightened and unhappy, Anton Pavlovich finds solace in chess: having placed the pieces on the board, he names a black pawn after the spat on Dobuzhansky and happily “eats” the dangerous critic .The next day, Dobuzhansky breaks his neck. In the evening, Anton Pavlovich again turns to the chess game... Everything goes according to the will of the player, until he suddenly realizes that he himself has become a piece on this board.