Death plays chess

Well I know I'd be doomed if I had to play chess for my life but I started wondering what the connection was between Death (the personification) and chess. Where has this theme cropped up? Who does he play? and Is there any prep I can do should I be in this awkward situation?

The title picture above is a fresco painted in the 1480s by Albertus Pictor, a medieval Swedish painter. It is in Täby Church in Sweden and apparently inspired Ingmar Bergman to make his 1957 film "The Seventh Seal",

Geoffrey Chaucer 1340s – 1400

The idea goes further back to Chaucer's story, "The Book of the Duchess", written in about 1370 where a knight has been defeated in a game of chess with Fortuna (a goddess often associated with death). Although the chess game is a metaphor and the checkmate taking the literal life of Blanche of Lancaster, the mother of Henry IV, the parallels with the idea of a chess game representing life and death are clear. 

  Blind Fortuna by Kuntz Konicz, 1754

The character of Fortuna is taken from much earlier descriptions (Greek and Roman). These vary considerably depending on the ruling theology but she is often described as being tricky, capricious and enjoyed playing games (including Chess) with humans.

From Ancient Greece to the 2017 VR game, Chess Ultra, in which, you can play a 3D game of chess against Death, the theme of playing chess against Death continues to crop up albeit quite infrequently.

However, should I find myself in the situation of playing for my life, I hope Death is the one portrayed by Terry Pratchett in "Sourcery" and "Small Gods" : "REMIND ME AGAIN, he said, HOW THE LITTLE HORSE-SHAPED ONES MOVE."