The remaining champion and delegates quickly leave too and the reporters make their way out of the hotel - the screens closing behind them as they leave. When they have gone the focus returns to the warriors who continue their ‘battle’. Eventually they freeze once again and the centre screens open. This time it’s no longer the hotel foyer, but a Bangkok bar. A bargirl is seen doing a slow dance on a platform. When she freezes, some female Thai dancers join the warriors in a demonstration of traditional Thai dance. Some tourists appear and take photographs of them. They continue to dance slowly, while other people arrive on stage. The girl on the platform eventually starts to dance again and she is joined by more girls on the stage - one behind each of the down stage right and left screens. By this time the stage is becoming quite crowded and more people continue to come on. There are monks and market holders, tourists and prostitutes. With the use of the screens and lighting we get to see various glimpses of Bangkok life. Eventually all of Bangkok is there. The more people there are the less dancing there is, gradually it subsides completely and a naturalised movement takes over. These are now the real people of Bangkok going about their daily lives. ONE NIGHT IN BANGKOK

A major chess championship is about to begin in this exotic city, but life goes on as normal in Bangkok, the bars are full of girls, the temples full of monks, the streets full of everything imaginable. From behind the hotel doors/screens the Arbiter makes an appearance. He leaves the hotel (with two assistants) and attempts to discover what this city has to offer. As he moves down stage he passes by some market people, who try to sell him some fake watches/t-shirts etc. Before he knows it he’s in the more exotic part of town and he’s being approached by various street girls. He and his assistants witness in more detail some of the things that we have just seen glimpses of. Thai boxing, the market stalls, a bar etc. At the instrumental break, the up stage screens will open again, this time to reveal a temple. We see the monks tend the Buddha and pray at its feet. This is the first thing that actually interests the Arbiter. He is a man who appreciates tranquillity and spirituality rather than the more sleazy side of life - which seems to have the monopoly in this strange yet intriguing city. Before long he is knocked out of his daydream of serenity and he is once again back on the streets, taking one final look at all that Bangkok has to offer. As the song comes to an end, the Arbiter is seen centre stage surrounded by the people of Bangkok, he is prominently lit in white while everyone else is lit in red. On the very last beat his light snaps off and he disappears from view. The Bangkok people are now once again going about their business. The light begins to brighten and it’s obvious that the sun has begun to rise. The market people are setting up their stalls, the girls of the night are finishing their shifts and the men who accompanied them through the night are making their way back to their homes and hotels. Among them are more than a few US and USSR delegates! We see them straighten ties, hand over money and generally make their way out of this seedy part of town. The natives eventually fade away and we are transported to the championship arena where the delegates are beginning to arrive for an early morning press conference. US v USSR

Alexander Molokov and Walter de Coursey are no strangers to the international world of chess, nor are they strangers to each other. They’ve met before on numerous occasions and are happy to put on a show of East West camaraderie. They both know the game and are experts at playing it. Their delegates know it too and there is an abundance of hand shaking and backslapping as the two opposing sides perform their show of friendly sportsmanship for the press who are also now in attendance.

NEXT SCENE

PREVIOUS SCENE

BACK TO FOYER