Living Chess
A.D. 1454 - Late Middle Age
It's the late summer of september and the story take place in the beautiful medieval town of Marostica (odiern Veneto region), that was under the governorship of the "Serenissima Republic of Venice".
The noblemen still follow the feudal rules of chivalry.
Two young knights, Rinaldo d'Angarano and Vieri da Vallonara, both fall in love with the beautiful Lionora, daughter of the governor of Marostica Taddeo Parisio.
Lionora had a courtly life in the city castle with her father and her younger sister Oldrada, who was also very pretty and good-hearted.
The two knights decided to challenge each other in a duel for her.
The governor forbade it. The Republic of Venice had strictly forbidden any form of duel.
But the spirit of the Venetians is fiery, as we can guess from the sad story of the lovers Romeo and Juliet and their well-known families (Montagues and Capulets).
Juliet's home in Verona
The two knights wouldn't give up.
The governor liked those knights. The families were in good terms and the four youngs knew each other and were friends.
He made a decision!
He would grant the hand of his beloved daughter to the one who won a game of "the noble game of chess".
The game would be played with living pieces in the parade ground in front of the castle.
The news of the clash had spread like lightning. Many people came to watch the match.
Archers, crossbowmen, halberdiers, infantry and knights came there and then ladies, gentlemen, the herald, the captain of arms, the falconers, the pages and the damsels and finally the whites and the blacks with Kings and Queens, rooks and knights, bishops and pawns and obviously the two contenders who decided the moves.
The princess watched the battle from the balcony and anxiously hoped for the victory of Vieri, who was secretly in love with.
The battle was tough and fiery.
Vieri da Vallonara was the winner and married Lionora.
The defeated Rinaldo was rewarded as well for his courage and married the young Oldrada, Lionora's younger sister.
So no losers at all. Rinaldo and Oldrada were infact happy of their marriage too.
This eccentric chess game was played almost 600 years ago and has gone down in history.
In 1923 and again in 1954 after the Second World War (it was at the time the 500th anniversary) and since then every two years, the living chess game is replayed in the same place in remembrance of that event thanks to Mirko Vucetich and Francesco Pozza, two italian university students.
Memorables games and Grand Masters
Since it's impossible to reproduce the original moves of the two contenders, which have been lost, every time the most beautiful games of the Grand Masters of this noble game are replayed.
For example, the "Immortal" and the "Evergreen" by Adolf Anderssen have been already replayed.
Bernard Fleissig was an Austrian Chess Master. He took second in the 1882 Vienna tournament. The Fleissig Variation in the Scotch Game (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 exd4 4.Nxd4 Bc5 5.Be3 Qf6 6.c3 Nge7 7.Nc2) is named for him.
Carl Schlechter was an Austro-Hungarian Chess Master too.
He is best known for drawing in 1910 the World Chess Championship match with Emanuel Lasker.
Schlechter was leading by one point, after 7 draws and 1 win, going into the tenth and final game of the match. In the tenth game the tragedy. Feeling forced to win at all costs to reach the required score, Schlechter refused (or did not see) the way to obtain a drawn position. At move 39. played... Qh2+? instead of Qh4+!, so that slowly but surely Lasker was able to assert his material advantage and winning the game. Schlechter lost the tenth game. The match ended tied at 5–5 (+1 −1 =8), Lasker retained his title and Carl Schlechter missed his chance to become world champion.
These were the 10 matches (notes and comments by José Raùl Capablanca himself !!):
The very first game in Modern Age
And here is the very first game played in Marostica in modern age (it was 1923) and of course won by Schlechter against Bernard Fleissig. The commented match was found online:
Nowadays the Living Chess event is a great excuse to take a trip to Italy, visit Marostica and pass through Verona, the city of Romeo and Juliet.
See you soon
DocSimooo
