While he walks the streets he thinks about his childhood and wallows in his own self-pity for quite some time. The screens would move occasionally to show glimpses of the different streets he’s walking through.  During the instrumental break they would all move at once and Freddie would be seen wandering amongst them. At the end of the break he would be in a completely different part of town and it is here that he sees some kids wearing oversized ‘Trumper’ t-shirts and playing with ‘Trumper’ flags. They are mimicking what they saw Walter and his people do that afternoon – walking around waving their flags and chanting “Freddie Trumper.” They really don’t know who he is, but they are enjoying the game and don’t even recognise Freddie when he passes by. They do however have an effect on Freddie and he is reminded of just how far he has come – on his own! He didn’t need his mother and he doesn’t need Florence. Inspired once again by his own talent he decides that nothing is going to stop him from realising his dream to be the world champion – with or without Florence. During the play-out of the song the set and Freddie would both throw off the glare and dirt of Bangkok and the scene would transform to the tranquillity and peace of the championship arena. In the arena we would see the Arbiter checking the board and Anatoly and Freddie approaching the table in exactly the same way as in the ‘preview’ version of the opening ceremony from ‘Story Of Chess’. As the final few bars of music are played, they shake hands, take their seats and the Arbiter would start the clock as the first game begins. THE ARBITER'S SONG

With most of the arena in a fairly low level of light, (only the chess table is brightly illuminated) the first game begins. The Arbiter reflects to himself how he is in control of everything that happens within the arena. “As they settle down behind their pawns, power passes to me!” He begins to dream of all the things he’d like to do to those players who don’t follow the rules and begins to fantasise about acting them out. For this scene the Arbiters assistants would probably be dressed in either black and white or all white and be standing in front of or maybe even behind various screens. As the Arbiter gets carried away with his dream fantasy the assistants would begin to take on his thoughts and enact what he is thinking about – in a highly stylised choreographic way! The stage would be quite dark at this point and the aim would be to make the scene look a bit like a moving negative, a half-truth of reality. The chess table would be brightly lit at all times and it would be seen that the players were simply getting on with the game. The Arbiter’s ‘dream’ would have no effect on them whatsoever.

CHESS As the Arbiter and his assistants regain their composure, the arena returns to a quiet 'model of decorum', but off the board things are far from tranquil. During the games that follow, the relationships between the key characters develop and break down respectively. At the end of the Arbiter’s song the first match comes to an end and the music for ‘Chess’ begins - continuing as underscoring throughout all of the following sub-scenes. The chess table would remain in the centre of the stage at all times, with the various sub scenes taking place down stage left, right or centre. Screens may slide in front of the table for some scenes, as it may be desirable to ‘play’ some games in silhouette. This would allow for body doubles to be used for Anatoly or Freddie to assist with fast scene changes during this sequence. The music for Chess would begin as soon as the Arbiter’s song came to an end, and the two players would rise from the table and leave the arena straight away. The first sub-scene would appear almost immediately in the down stage left position. Sub Scene 1 (Freddie and Florence – Downstage left) Freddie has not so easily recovered from his percieved betrayal by Florence. He’s motivated to win, but no matter how hard he tries the thought of Florence with Anatoly keeps distracting him. He holds her responsible for this and blames her for his losing the first game. Florence yet again tries to convince him that she did not betray him and that nothing was ever going to happen between her and Anatoly. She points out that it is him who is making silly mistakes on the board, not her! It’s up to him to get these stupid ideas out of his head and start concentrating on the chess; she has done all she can!

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