All the King's Horses is a short story written in 1953 by Kurt Vonnegut. It can be found in his collection of short stories Welcome to the Monkey House. The story takes place in the early years of the Cold War and centers around an army colonel Bryan Kelly, who has been shot down in the Asiatic mainland. With him are his two sons, his wife, the pilot and co-pilot, and ten enlisted men. The sixteen prisoners are held captive by the sadistic Chinese officer Pi Ying, who forces the good colonel to play a game of chess — using his family and men as the pieces. If he can defeat Pi Ying in the battle of wits, then the sixteen captives are free to go, except there is one catch: every American piece who is captured will be executed immediately. This leads to a moral dilemma within colonel Kelly as he is forced to make decisions with the lives of everyone hanging in balance — a true case of placing the good of the overall group over the needs of a few. This work is a classic example of Vonnegut's unique perspective into the psyche's reactions in unusual situations, and he leads the game to a memorable conclusion. This article is in need of attention. ... 1953 (MCMLIII) is a common year starting on Thursday. ... Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. ... For the generic term for a high-tension struggle between countries, see cold war (war). ... It has been suggested that polkovnik be merged into this article or section. ... A chess table is a table with a chessboard painted or engraved on it. ... This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ...