Marostica Chess match, a must see!

If you happen to be in Italy in an even numbered year, and during the first weekend in September, you must check out the Live Human Chess Match. This match is performed 3 times during the weekend, two night shows and one afternoon show. The game is only played every 2 years and only during the month of September.

The premise of the game is this: The King's daughter had two suitors who both wanted her hand in marriage. The princes were prepared to fight to the death for her hand. However, the King came up with another idea, a chess match, in which the winner of the game received the first daughter's hand in marriage. The loser received the second daughter's hand in marriage. This was of course a ploy to keep peace in the kingdom and with opposing kingdoms. So the pawns and other characters in the game are played by actual people who dress in costume and move as instructed by the caller. The event itself began at 9pm, and after an hour and a half of telling the story and the processional fanfare, we finally made it to the match. Unfortunately, my girls who had been up since 6am, fell asleep before the first chess move was called.

Apparently in our game, the black queen check mates the white king. The game itself lasted maybe 15-20 minutes. Afterwards, we had more fanfare and more opportunities for the flag corps to show their talents. Then all the particiapnts in the show and game lined up in the square, which I might add looks like a large chess board, and the archers took their aim to light the castle on fire. As the fireworks display slowed down, it looked as if it was raining stars down the front of the castle. It was a glorious site.

The trip was a short one from post and we went with the outdoor recreation folks on post. We enjoyed everything about the event but hope in 2014, the kids can stay awake.