Checkmate

Wow ... that´s ... that´s great, although confusing. You have to think about it.
At the beginning, it seems to be a quite normal game of chess, but with the entering of the nurse there is the first turning point of the story.
Then the discussion about the wrong opinion of Renault. A wrong diagnosis like in "One flew Over The Cukoo's Nest"?
And the conversation to persuade Renault to take the medication ... it seems as if there is somebody who really cares about his health. But why this feeling of dispair? Would the chess opponent leave him?
Hoping with Renault that it would come to a good end ... that he could leave the institute ...
And then the disillusionment: he IS disturbed.

With choosing Renaults point of view there is always this subliminal thougt that he is sane and everything is nothing but a big missunderstanding. One's hoping with him, and so the end is really shocking somehow. There is this feeling of being threatening, that something unforeseen would happen, but you don't expect the insight to be completely wrong about Renaults (in)sanity.
But if you read it again you will see that there were hints on the hidden truth.

This subtle way of steering the readers mind to a certain opinion reminds me of something ... maybe the style of Daphne du Maurier ...

In one sentence: a great story!!

Bye lg neko