The Story of Chess (Live)

ARBITER Each game of chess Means there's one less Variation yet to be played Each day got through Means one or two Less mistakes remain to be made Not much is known Of early days of chess Beyond a fairly vague report That fifteen hundred years ago Two princes fought, though brothers, For a Hindu throne Their mother cried For no one really likes Their offspring fighting to the death She begged them, "stop this slaughter" With her every breath, but sure enough One brother died Sad beyond belief She told her winning son, "You have caused such grief I can't forgive This evil thing you've done" He tried to explain How things had really been But he tried in vain No words of his could mollify the queen ARBITER And so he asked The wisest men he knew The way to lessen her distress They told him he'd be pretty certain To impress by using model soldiers On a checkered board To show it was his brother's fault They thus invented chess Chess displayed no inertia Soon spread to Persia, then west Next the Arabs refined it Thus redesigned, it progressed Still further yet And when Constantinople fell in 1453 One would have noticed every other refugee Included in his bags a set Once in the hands And in the minds of leading figures Of the Renaissance The spirit and the speed of chess Made swift advance Through all of Europe's vital lands Where we must record The game was further changed Right across the board The western touch upon the pieces ranged King and queen and rook And bishop, knight, and pawn All took on the look We know today The modern game was born ARBITER And in the end We see a game that started By mistake in Hindustan And boosted in the main By what is now Iran Become the simplest and Most complicated pleasure yet devised For just the kind of mind Who would appreciate This well-researched and fascinating yarn (spoken) The International Chess Federation, of which I have the honor of being president, announces the next World Championship will take place in Merano, Italy. The current world champion, Frederick Trumper of the United States of America, will defend his title against Anatoly Sergievsky of the Soviet Union. The first player to achieve six victories will be declared champion. The first game will begin on March twenty-seventh.