Deadlock’s Solomon hides 8-to-32 chess reload boards

Valve’s Deadlock added Solomon in its City Never Sleeps update, and Deadlock News said in an Oct. 10 social-media post his reload board has 8-to-32 piece layouts in that update.

Dexerto’s Oct. 11 trade-press article said Solomon is one of six heroes in the update, a broader character rollout than the single hero examined in the article.

The hidden detail gives Valve’s new hero an extra layer for players to spot. Solomon’s board can show as many as 32 pieces per reload in the update, matching a complete chess set rather than a conventional shooter ammo display.

Dexerto said the board in Solomon’s hands works as his ammo counter: each piece represents a bullet, and reloading resets the position according to his current magazine size.

Deadlock News said in the social-media post: “After reloading, the pieces on the new character's board rearrange into a new layout based on his remaining ammo count. Every position is taken from an actual historical game.”

The fan account matched layouts to positions across more than 170 years of chess history, from the 1851 “Immortal Game” between Adolf Anderssen and Lionel Kieseritzky to Game 6 of Magnus Carlsen’s 2014 World Championship match against Viswanathan Anand.

Dexerto said Solomon’s ammo count changes when players buy certain items or collect buffs from smashable golden book cabinets around the map. His kit also summons giant rook, knight, bishop and queen pieces that move like their chess counterparts.

The article said one 10-piece layout in the update matches a 2024 game by Levy Rozman, known as GothamChess, while the 32-piece layout shows the double Bongcloud opening played by Carlsen and Hikaru Nakamura in 2021.

The identifications were not reported as confirmed by Valve. Dexerto said some layouts are not full historical games, including Scholar’s Mate, a four-move checkmate, and Légal’s Mate, a queen-sacrifice trap.

Source: trade-press article, Dexerto, Oct. 11, 2026; social-media posts, Deadlock News, Oct. 10, 2026