The Story of Chess: the Musical This strong musical with an iffy book has been in development for so long that the Cold War world it's set in has changed completely. by Kenneth Lyen  [Spoilers below]  PROLOGUE Chess, the musical, has been in "development" for so long that the Cold War, which was still on during the show’s early years, had already ended. The creators kept modifying the script, trying out different variations in diverse cities. Like chess-players brooding interminably, they could not decide upon which story to commit. Unlike most musicals that are workshopped and opened “out of town”, i.e. in small provincial cities, Chess was executed in reverse order. Its “tryout”, so to speak, was in London’s West End and New York’s Broadway. This was followed by tours in smaller cities in America, Europe and Australia. The problem was that nobody considered the London or New York productions to be the gold standard. Thus, nearly every reincarnation of Chess became an invitation for further tinkering, with each production desperately seeking musical nirvana.   TIM’S BACK STORY Tim Rice, one of musical theater’s demigods, first thought of writing a musical based on the game of chess in the 1970s. Together with Andrew Lloyd Webber, he had written the book and lyrics to three groundbreaking musicals: Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat (1968), Jesus Christ Superstar (1971), and Evita (1978). These three musicals were like extreme makeovers, changing the face of musical theater utterly. However, the relationship between Tim and Andrew could not last, and began to sour. The final straw came when Andrew replaced Tim’s lyrics for the song “Memory” with those of Trevor Nunn’s. By the time Cats opened in 1981, the Tim Rice-Andrew Lloyd Webber dynamic duo had become two solitary phantoms.    THE CONCEPTION Thus, unattached, Tim went foraging for music collaborators. He soon found Björn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson, the male components of the pop group, ABBA. He presented his idea of Chess as a musical to them. Tim would write the book and lyrics while the two Bs of ABBA would write the music.   In 1984, the concept album was released, and Chess the musical was born. Tim was very familiar with this strategy of releasing a recording first, and then scrounging around for a producer to stage it. This worked very well for Jesus Christ Superstar and Evita. Indeed, the Chess concept album was a great success, and it scored smash hits with Elaine Paige and Barbara Dickson’s duet, “I Know Him So Well”, and Murray Head’s “One Night In Bangkok”.   LONDON’S OPENING GAMBIT Nevertheless it took a further two years before Chess the musical could be staged. It opened in the West End in 1986 to generally favorable reviews, and ran for three years.   The original story begins in the Italian city of Merano. Anatoly, the Russian world chess champion, falls in love with his American opponent's second, Florence. Anatoly defeats the American, Freddie, and  defects to the West to be with Florence. The second act takes place in Bangkok, where Anatoly defends his title against the next challenger, a Russian. However, Molokov, Anatoly's second and probable  KGB agent, is keen to get Anatoly back to his motherland. Initially he thinks Anatoly's Russian wife might do the trick, so the KGB flies her to Bangkok. When this fails, they concoct a story about Florence’s father wanting to leave communist Hungary for freedom in the West. Appealing to his altruistic sensibility, they succeed in persuading Anatoly to return to Russia, in exchange for Florence’s father’s freedom. Unfortunately in the end, the deception is revealed; the father had died some time ago, and the person released is a CIA spy. Anatoly is a mere pawn in the ruthless Cold War.   THE BROADWAY FLOP Like musical theater, chess is an unpredictable game. There was no reason to suspect that London’s success could not be replicated in New York. Chess lasted for 3 years in London, but the New York production closed in less than 2 months.   The original story was thought to be too convoluted, and it seemed to put the Americans in a bad light. Richard Nelson was hired to revamp the entire story. Unfortunately he diluted the parts that might have caused discomfort among the American audience. He took away some of the lighter touches from the original story, and made it depressingly serious. And he added one character and one subplot too many.   The show opens in Bangkok, and moves to Budapest for the second act. Instead of having two tournaments, the American version is confined to just one tournament. A new character, Walter, who is Freddie’s business associate, is added.  Freddie’s second, Florence, now has a long lost father whom she is asked to help defect to the West. However, in exchange for this favor, the KGB asks her to persuade her new-found lover and defector, Anatoly, to return to Russia.