Human chess pieces spar on Green

Knights brandishing swords, mingling with kings, queens and bishops -- a regular scene out of a medieval fairy tale on College Green. The live chess match, hosted by the Philomathean Society and Intuitons, was divided into three games. The first pitted Intuitons and the Philomathean Society against each other in a friendly competition. But according to Intuitons member Beth Montgomery, the second game was a "grudge match" between the casts of Intuitons' production of The Serpent and Penn Players' Chess -- both opening later this fall. The first two matches ended in a draw. The third match was more unstructured and allowed members of all groups to serve on either team. Peter Whinnery, technical advisor to student performing arts, served as king for the white team. The kings of each side controlled the game and were equipped with hand-held magnetic chess boards to help plan their strategy. The players were given play instructions and personality sketches of all the pieces. Mark Murad, the first game's black king, said the character explanations allowed the game to be played with more personality. As the game progressed, the players began to take their parts more seriously and College junior George Anastasiou mastered his role as a bishop in the third game. "I felt overjoyed, nay blessed to wear the vestments," he said yesterday. Insults and threats often rallied across the board. "If I could move from this spot, boy would all of you be in trouble," Matt Miller, a Philomathean member, said during the third game. Each time a piece died, the actors fell to the ground writhing and gasping. The players ranged in all levels of chess expertise. While the kings, who controlled the game, understood the rules and strategies of the game some of the other players did not. After King Chris Campbell, an Intuitons member announced his move, "King bishop pawn to king bishop pawn three," several of his subordinates were unclear to whom the command was being directed and where the piece should move. King Eugene Kang of Intutions said he occassionally played chess with his housemates while Queen Janice Jackson, a Penn Players member said she had never played the game before. Miller, a College sophomore, said the idea actually had nothing to do with Penn Player's upcoming production of Chess and that he has been planning it since last semester. "Human chess is a common thing," College junior Montgomery said. "Some colleges even have teams." Wharton junior Murad added that he had originally believed the event would be impossible to execute. "But it ended up working very well," he said. "It was a bit confusing, but it was a lot of fun." Puzzled spectators trickled in and out of College Green as the games proceeded. "Any [newcomer] watching this who couldn't play chess would probably think that this was another ridiculous activity by Penn students," College freshman Heather Jamieson said. Staff writer Stephanie Pena-Sy contributed to this story.

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