THE HUMAN CHESS GAME
The story of theChessGame dates back to 1454 when Marostica belonged to the Venetian Republic, when two noblemen, Rinaldo d’Angarano e Vieri da Vallonara, fell in love with the beautiful Lionora, daughter of the Lord of Marostica’s castle. Following the habit at that time, they defied each other to a duel:the winner would have married Lionora.. The Lord forbade the duel in conformity with Venetian Law and he ordered that the two rivals had to play and win a chess game in order to marry Lionora. The game played through a living army, carrying the noble insignia of Withes and Blacks had to take place on the square in front of the Lower Castle on a festival day at the presence of the Lord, his noble daugther, the Lords of Angarano and Vallonara, the noble court and the whole population. The Lord decided that the challenge had to be honoured by an exibition of armed men, foot-soldiers and knights, with fireworks and dances and sounds that came together with the herold, the archers and halberdiers, the Lord and his noble court, Lionora, her faithful nurse, noblemen,the masters of arms, falconers, pageboys, maidens, standard holders, musicians, farmer, the Whites and Blacks with their kings and queens, rooks and knights, bishops and pawn, all moved by the two noblemen… The owner of the Castle enlightened this scene through whitelight and awesome fireworks, so that everybody could share the joy and the fun. At Marostica this event takes place every two years as the first time, in a framework of sumptuous costumes and martial parades of exquisite elegance. A note of unique courtesy pervades everything; it inspires the whole re-evocation of this ancient story which, from the darkness of remote times, still lives today as a miracle of fantasy. The orders are still given to characters through the dialect of the “Serenissima Republic of Venezia”: 550walk on actors participate to this event lasting about 2 hours. The Human Chess Game will be played on the square of Marostica every second Friday, Saturday and Sunday of September This tradiction has been a source of ispiration for Italia Vera builders who accurately replicated the awesome place and its well-known chessboard. The owners of Italia Vera desire that Marostica SL becomes a centre of social gathering for inworld chess passionates and why not, a sort of promotion for Marostica in real life among cosmopolitan second livers. In these days a tournament starts up : it will end on may 24th, the day of the final Game,whose prize won’t be the heart of a lovely dame but a virtual trophy, as the best Chess player in second life. As the cool lord of Marostica, who loved both non violence and fun, Italia Vera’s staff is working for a memorable day of celebration, and they hope that a lot of avatars will be there! http://slurl.com/secondlife/Friuli/162/191/301
Posted by Simona Dawes