The Arbiter:Each game of chessMeans there's one lessVariation left to be played.Each day got throughMeans one or twoLess mistakes remain to be made.Soloists 1 & 2:Not much is knownOf early days of chessBeyond a fairly vague report--Soloist 3:That fifteen hundred years agoTwo princes fought, Tough brothers, For a Hindu throne.Soloist 4:The mother cried, For no one really likesTheir offspring fightingTo the death.She begged to stopThe slaughterWith her every breath.Soloist 5:But sure enoughOne brother died.Soloists 4 & 6:Sad beyond belief, She told her winning son, Soloist 6:"You have caused such griefI can't forgiveThis evil thing you've done."Soloist 3 & 7:He tried to explainHow things had really been.Soloist 7:But he tried in vain, No words of hisCould mollify the queen.Soloist 8:And so he askedThe wisest men he knewThe way to lessen her distress.The Arbiter:They told him he'd bePretty certain to impressBy using model soldiersOn a checkered boardTo show it was his brother's fault--All:They thus invented chessMale Soloists:Chess displayed no inertia, Soon spread to Persia, Then west.Female Soloists:Next the Arabs refined it, Thus redesigned, itProgressed.Soloist 9:Still further yet, And when ConstantinopleFell in 1453, One would have noticedEvery other refugeeIncluded in his bags a set.Soloist 10:Once in the hands, And in the mindsOf leading figuresOf the Renaissance--Soloist 2:The spirit and the speedOf chess made swift advanceThrough all of Europe's vital lands.Female Soloists: Male Soloists:Where we must record Each game of chess, The game was further changed-- Means there's one lessRight across the board Variation left to be played.The western touchUpon the pieces ranged.Soloists:King, and queen, and rook, And bishop, knight, and pawnAll took on the lookWe know today--The modern game was born.The Arbiter:And in the end, We see a gameThat started by mistakeIn Hindustan--And boosted in the mainBy what is now Iran--Become the simplest, And most complicatedPleasure yet devisedFor just the kind of mindWho would appriciate thisWell-researched, and fascinatingYarn.[Spoken]The World Chess Federation, of which I have the honorOf being president, announces that the next world championshipWill take place here in Merano, Italy.The current world champion Frederick Trumper of the UnitedStates of America will defend his title again Anatoly SergievskyOf the Soviet Union.The first player to achieve six victories will be declaredChampion. The first game will begin on March 27, 1979.Welcome, world, to Merano!
