Live Chess Game

(From pubyac listserv)

I did this a couple of summers ago with younger kids. Our buildings and grounds crew painted the chessboard on the lawn of the library and then I put up sign up sheets for kids to choose which team they wanted to be on (black or white). A couple of chess enthusiasts came to me really excited about the program, so I elected them “game masters.” There was one master for each team. I made a wand for each master and then he (they were both boys) was the only one who could move the pieces. It worked out well. We made hats out of paper plates for all the players that had their game piece symbols on them. It ended up being a really fun program.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When I was researching things for summer I came across this video clip from England (looked like it was made in the 50’s or 60’s) where this boys school had done a live chess game. The boys were each dressed as a piece from the game (lots of tights were involved =0) and they had a chessboard, just big posterboard squares I “think”, laid out on the lawn. Two players, they were adults, sat in those tall chairs (like they use at the pool for lifeguards) and overlooked the game while calling out moves. I’m not sure if the game was played for real or if it was done as a play of sorts with the moves pre-determined so that the boys would know their parts.

I’d love to give you the link to it but for the life of me I can’t remember what it was. You might just Google live chess game.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I think this sounds like a really cool idea, if you can make it work. It’s certainly worth an experimental try! Could you possibly put a time limit on each move— that way 16 teens have 5 minutes to decided where to move? Your knights could ride stick horses. Maybe you could have a PRE-PLANNING event where you have them design costumes, etc. I’m going to suggest this to my own LTAG group—I think this sounds like a lot of fun! Eventually maybe it could turn into Live Monopoly, Live Risk, Live Connect Four... the possibilities are endless (ha ha Good luck, and post your responses—I think I am going to try it this summer.

We hosted a live chess tournament during a medieval fair and had a ton of fun. Basically, we broke the young adults into two groups and each wore a specific color symbol to designate rank and side. Then, we had two local adults play the game. The adults stood on a ladder on either side of the chessboard and called out plays. Tons of fun and fairly simple.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Would a couple of principals or teachers be willing to be the chess player on each side? I think things might go quicker and much more exciting that way. The kids could still be the pieces and act out the actions of the pieces, but strategy would be left to the player so the kids could have fun. You could even have a fun penalty for the losing team so that more people would want to come and watch (losing team gets doused in pudding or something).

Anyway, just a thought. :)

P.S. If you’re looking for clothing for the kids to wear, you could try contacting your local SCA group - they could even come and do medieval programs for you.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I haven’t done it, but my suggestion would be to have the “players” identified by name and position on the board, and then have other people not part of the chess set who actually decide on the moves. 2 suggestions, Remember, only Harry called the moves, so the king could do so, (Or the Queen), or they could have a separate “player” who calls the moves, and the live pieces are just that. Some rules about how one kills a piece and how it dies would be good.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A lot of Ren Faiers have these. I wonder if you could contact a local one and ask how the moves are determined?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I think that you’re right on with the idea of 16 teens trying to play, as one might be disastrous, or at the very least, time consuming. I would designate two people to actually be the ‘players’, although individual ‘pieces’ could give advice if they’re asked to move. That would cut down on the arguing. Also, you could have the two pieces interact when one captures the other. Perhaps they could put something around their neck, or some symbol of capture (instead of bashing a chair into their head like in Harry Potter, or something equally as simulated-violent).

You’d have to do something with the pieces who had been captured early on, for they might get bored sitting on the sidelines. Perhaps there could be a secondary activity for them to do while they watched.

As with any group in a game, you’d have to find a way to keep the spirit of competition from ruining the game. Chess is hard, and there may be some kids more adept at it than others. I suppose you could do checkers instead, although I don’t know about teens doubling up on squares...

I think this could really be a hit. Good luck!

Would it be fair to hold a chess tournament ahead of time and let the two top players be the ones to be the live pieces?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I did this in the early ‘70s for our Summer Reading Program. During the summer we held chess classes. Then the kids played each other until we had the two best players. Then they were the players for the finale in the park. I don’t remember how we made the squares for the chessboard, probably large sheets of cardboard or we painted a board onto a large tarp. We made sandwich boards with the outline of the chess piece and the kids wore those. Who know-- there may even be someplace online where you could buy the tabards. (I looked but not for long or hard.) It was a lot of fun.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Your teens are OK—I think sometimes in Europe people play this way.

To keep it somewhat short, why not set up in the middle of some game (I think there are books that lay out complete games, but since I’m not a chess player, I’m not sure) and go from there. And instead of moving by committee, why not have individuals take responsibility for one or two moves each, and then pass the baton (so to speak) to another? Please post and let us know how it all turned out, if you do this.

I remember seeing a live chess game once at a renaissance fair. Maybe a group like the SCA (Society for Creative Anachronisms) would have tips &information about it. I remember that the “King” and “Queen” of the fair decided on the chess moves, rather than the pieces deciding. There’s also a live chess game in Alice Through the Looking Glass. Good luck - hope you get great suggestions!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Relax, this will be fun. We have done it and had a blast. Two things made it successful: playing an abridged version of chess and costumes (the costumes were simple). The abridged version (I found the rules on line) is simply chess with about half the pieces (one of each of the back row, king queen, knight, rook and bishop and the corresponding pawns. The board is regular size. The rules are the same, except you cannot castle. We ended up calling the king the monarch and the queen the consort because boys wanted to play the queen (it is the most powerful). Costumes were just quick hats. We made them out of foam, but it could just as easily be paper. The thing we would do differently is the board. It was the regular size, but we just put paper squares on the floor. They were too fragile; try something more substantial, at least card stock or cardboard. The kids had fun and we will do it again.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I just came across an idea for this on another listserv. This group uses black and white poster board to make the board. The way I understood it, they had the group divide up into the number of pieces needed and then they had the opponents direct the pieces where to move. It was done as a regular chess tournament. The pieces wore hats so that they could swap out with other players when they got bored.

I Googled human chess pieces and got a list of hits. I have seen chess played with human pieces at Ren fairs so that might also be a source of info. Also because it is associated with the middle ages, the Society for Creative Anachronism might have some suggestions. Each team has one player (preferably up high so they can see the “board”, from above) and those players direct the pieces.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

They do this biannually with lots of pageantry in Marostica, Italy. They start the event by lighting a ring of fire around the chessboard, which is their town square, with a flaming arrow. That ought to be a big hit!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~>

Our teen group (TACKY) did a Life-Size Chess Game at Fun Friday at the Middle School. We purchased boxes of white and black poster boards, took them to school, set them out as a chessboard, then used duct tape to keep them together. I think they enjoyed helping me set this up. Previously, he had made some very cool hats out of construction paper and staples. A local minister also has a weekly chess club, so we invited him to direct the games. He set it up as a tournament with two opponents at a time and the rest of us wore the hats and stood there as pieces. It could be rather boring for the chess pieces, but we were able to exchange hats and move in and out to do other activities (we also had a Whose Line game going in another room). The director just needs to keep things moving, and allow people to exchange hats. I think we had a number of prizes from which all participants could choose. Have fun!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Christy - I’ve seen some live chess games done at Renaissance Fairs, and there is always a player for each side who tells the chess pieces where to move. The Pieces of course are sometimes reluctant to do as they are told, and that arguing sometimes adds some humor. But my guess is that the ones I saw were all staged - planned out I advance.

If they don’t want to plan it out first, I would keep a very short time allotment for each play so that the game doesn’t go one forever. You can also make it a timed game - the person wins who has the most pieces captured after a certain time period instead of playing to checkmate.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I have seen this done at Renaissance Faires. The only one I have been in myself had everyone sign up if they wanted to try out. Those who only wanted to be pieces just had to be there at the time of the live game. Those who wanted to compete had to be there for an all day chess tournament with the two finals going head to head with the live players. The squares were marked off with chalk and colored in with chalk also. The two finalists were in towers with megaphones and heralds repeated their moves. The pieces wore tabards to distinguish which piece they were (red & white with large, 18”, outline of which piece they were). There were several marshals on the field to make sure the pieces moved correctly. Really fun since the knights were in armor, but no horses allowed on squares. I suppose you could get a chess club to run the tournament for the finalists, use colored poster board with drawings for the pieces, and some kind f sound system for calling the plays. The chess club could also be the ones to make sure the pieces moved correctly and be the judges. It does take quite a bit of space if the squares are 3’ square and you need room around the edges for spectators. It does sound like something I would call the local media for. Make a great photo op for the nightly local news! Good Luck!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I don’t think having the playing pieces also be the game players would work. I actually saw this done somewhere, possibly at King Richard’s Faire years ago. The way I recall it working was that there were two high chairs, sort of like lifeguard towers, on opposite sides of the board for the actual players. The pieces wore shirts or tabards to distinguish color and props to show what piece they were, crowns for King and Queen, swords for knights, etc. The players called out the moves in chess speak, i.e. pawn to kings 3 or however you do it, and the pieces moved. Unlike Harry Potter the pieces didn’t actually get to fight when they met only a symbolic tap I believe to show a piece was sent off the board.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I’m thinking of doing this for a chess program. It would be used as an introduction to chess for those who don’t know how to play, and just kind of a fun thing to do for those who already know how to play. I thought younger kids would be the pieces and older kids would be the players and guides (making sure they got to the right square). I think the squares should be labeled and the pieces wear a sign label also. I think one actual player per side at a time is the way to go. Hope this helps!