Whether you are pro or anti
Or could not care less
We are here to tell you
We are here to sell you chess
Not a chance of you escaping
From our wiles
We’ve locked the doors
We’ve blocked the aisles
We’ve a franchise worth exploiting
And we will (yes we will!)
When it comes to merchandising
We could kill
When you get up
When you get up in the morning
‘Til your bedtime book
You will have to live your life
With bishop, knight, and rook
Clean your teeth with checkered toothpaste
Wear our vests
Our kings and queens
On bouncing breasts
You could even buy a set
And learn to play
We don’t mind
We’ll sell you something anyway
We’ve done all our market research
And our findings show
That this game of chess
Will be around a month or so
Maybe it’s a bit confusing
For a game
But Rubik’s cubes
Were much the same
In the end the whole world bought one
All were gone
By which time we merchandisers
Had moved on!
By which time
We had moved on!
– The merchandisers, singing a raucous interlude in the introductory song “Merano” of the 1984 double LP “Chess”.
The music was composed by Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus, with lyrics by Tim Rice and Björn Ulvaeus (the Swedish translation)
Happy International Chess Day.
International Chess Day is annually celebrated on 20 July, the day the International Chess Federation was founded in 1924.
Here’s Oscar, offering a hint as to what the best move for white would be. (Oscar sometimes quips ‘Don’t let my moustache distract you’.)
But which white pawn should be sacrificed?
Seems to me it’s the one on c7 that needs to go to c8 and be promoted to queen, checking the black king. Yes, the black rook can capture the new queen, but then falls itself to the white queen, a big win for white.