In chess, there is a situation known by the wonderfully pungent German word zugzwang, in which a player cannot make a move without worsening his or her fate. There is no solution that will eradicate the problem, no way for the player to win. At that point, the player can keep resisting or accept the futility of the situation and resign. The word applies all too well to the last documented years of Peter Winston’s life. Did he enter zugzwang when he disappeared, at Franconia, or even earlier? No one can say, and it may not matter. Peter Winston began life with a dizzying array of intellectual possibilities that were winnowed over time—until there was but one option left. We still don’t know his final move.