Chesstories

Living Chess

Marostica Italy - The Human Chess Game and the Quest for a Fair Maiden's Hand

"LA PARTITA A SCACCHI A PERSONAGGI VIVENTI"

An eternal triangle - with a happy ending! Travel back in time with us to Marostica, part of the Venetian Republic. The year is 1454. Two noblemen, Rinaldo d’Angarano and Vieri da Vallonara, are in love with Lionora, the beautiful daughter of Taddeo Parisio, Lord of the Manor and Rector of Marostica. As is the custom, the two men determine to fight a duel for the right to seek the fair Lionora’s hand. But their plans for a bloody resolution to the eternal triangle are foiled.

The Lord of the Manor, who has spies everywhere and knows everything that goes on within his fiefdom, gets wind of the planned duel, and forbids it on pain of death! He proposes, instead, that the matter be determined by a chess match, the winner of which will wed Lionora, the loser to wed, Oldrada, Lionora's younger sister. Both men are excellent players and they eagerly accept the Lord's proposal.

The great day set for the match arrives, September 12th! Lionora is beside herself, for she is secretly in love with one of the suitors. Will the right one win? What if she is confronted with seeing her sister married, instead, to the man she loves? The Lord of the Manor has outdone himself! In the evening there will be fireworks and dancing and feasting to celebrate the betrothals of his two daughters. The match will take place in the Castle courtyard, on a specially prepared board.

It is dusk; the flares and torches are lit, the courtyard is aglow with firelight. The pieces are people, costumed in black and white! They march into the courtyard, led by their kings and queens, and take their places on the board. Surrounded by nobles and commonfolk who have packed into the courtyard from all the neighboring countryside, the two suitors direct their human chess pieces to move on the board. Lionora cannot bear to watch, but she cannot bear not to! So, she peeks from a window overlooking the courtyard. She had told a faithful servant that if her secret lover won the match, she would put a candle in the window as a signal to the people so that they should share in her joy.

At last the game is over. Vieri da Vallonara is the winner. The Lord of the Manor presents Lionora to him. Together with Oldrada and Rinaldo d'Angarano, they promenade around the courtyard to the cheers and applause of the audience, then all, lord and commoner alike, spend the rest of the evening in festive merrymaking. And a candle burns in the window where Lionora had watched the game.

A play based upon this true medieval love story is enacted every year on September 12^th on the lawns of the Marostica village common under the shadow of the 14^th century castle. A description of the event in English can be found at  http://www.traveleurope.com/scacchi.htm.

Versions of the story and descriptions of the annual play in Italian can be found along with splendid photographs at:
http://www.telemar.it/mol10/storia.htm,
http://www.databit.it/greg/scacchi
http://www.telemar.it/mol01/storia15.htm.

Postscript: Goddesschess has been successful in procuring the actual moves to the Fateful Game from European sources. As promised, here are the moves for the chess game played at Marostica, provided courtesy of a most kind gentleman, Andreas Vogt, vogt@qnet.it: They are as follows:

Living Chess
" LA PARTITA A SCACCHI A PERSONAGGI VIVENTI "


A Postscript