Chess Gambit

I have good news and bad news. (And, no, this is not the
lead in to a Dick Cheney hunting accident joke, although I'm
sorely tempted . . .) The good news is that I do like Chess
Gambit and the details are below. The bad news is that my
distributor has labeled it as discontinued and they only
have a few left. When they're gone, they're gone. If you
want one, you need to order ASAP. If you're too late, then
I'll let you know. I will not catalog this on my website
since I'm sure it will be unavailable very soon.


Until next time. -- Jheff

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DEVIN KNIGHT AND AL MANN'S
CHESS GAMBIT
JMOM Price: $135
Suggested Retail Price: $150
SORRY! THIS ITEM IS NOW SOLD OUT!

THE BLURB:
Effect

The Mentalist invites two chess players on stage. These are
not plants, but random people who understand something about
chess. He tells the audience that, before the show, he gave
a chess book to an audience member. He had them take the
book to the lobby, circle a chess piece on any page, and
then note the page they circled. They were then instructed
to seal the book in an envelope and keep it in their
possession. They were further instructed to TELL NOBODY,
including the performer, which piece they circled.

The performer then calls for the sealed package. The package
is then placed on a table in full view of the audience. The
table also contains a fully set-up chess set. The Mentalist
then asks that the first spectator go over and stand in
front of the chess set blocking it from view. He is given an
unprepared paper bag and asked to SECRETLY drop any chess
piece in the bag. He is cautioned NOT TO LET THE AUDIENCE,
or the other spectator on stage, see the piece he chose. He
remains standing in front of the chessboard, blocking its
view from the audience.

The performer then opens the package and has Spectator Two
remove the book. The performer does not touch the book once
it is removed from the package. There is a note in the
package (or stuck to the book) that tells the page number of
the circled piece. Spectator Two opens to that page number
and shows the audience the circled piece, say, BLACK ROOK.
The spectator is then asked to riffle through the book and
make sure there are no other marks in the book. No other
marks are seen anywhere in the book.

The Mentalist says, "The chess piece circled in the book,
before the show, is the BLACK ROOK. Wouldn't it be
incredible if the piece the person secretly put in the bag
is also a BLACK ROOK?"

Spectator One removes the chess piece from his bag; it is
shown to be a BLACK ROOK! A totally amazing coincidence that
appears impossible.

MY COMMENTS:
The problem with many chess demonstrations, actually with
just about any game demonstrations including poker, is that
the audience needs to have knowledge of the game and, if
not, that can hinder the effectiveness of the demonstration.
Explaining the rules usually only confuses the audience by
trying to understand the rules and then follow what the
performer is doing. This is why poker demonstrations, and
the Knight's Tour routine, can often be theatrical duds.

This routine, though, is solidly structured,
straightforward, and simple to follow. One of the
deceptions involved is that an audience not familiar with
chess can assume that there is a free choice of thirty-two
different pieces. Of course, there's only six different
ones (king, queen, knight, rook, bishop, pawn), but since
there are two different colors the choice is really twelve.

Also, you'll notice that, even though the presentation in
the blurb calls for using volunteers who know chess, that
doesn't really need to be. One person can circle a piece in
a book (and they only recognize the pictures) and one person
can pick a piece and place it in the bag. (Okay, to be
fair, that's not quite what happens. That's what appears to
happen to the audience. I must admit this so that this
review is honest, but that's all I'll say.) The performer
can explain as much or as little as they want about the
piece.

The point is that the playing of the game is not what's
emphasized. It's about two people randomly selecting two
chess pieces and finding out they are the same piece. The
game is not played and the pieces aren't moved around (like
in Knight's Tour). I should also point out that this is a
stage effect. It is not suitable for close-up or
performances with just a few people. It needs a large
audience to pull this off. It also requires some superb
performance and acting skills. If you're not an experienced
performer, you may have trouble with this.

As usual, with Devin Knight's products, the instructions are
printed on letter sized paper and not pretty looking, but
the information is solid. These instructions are six pages,
but double-sided, to make a total of twelve, stapled at the
top corner. All the props you need are included: the chess
set, the paper bags, the book (which is actual paperback
book on chess), and some extra stuff to make this work.
Granted, it's probably a bit overpriced as some of the items
I could have bought myself. Also, I haven't tried this out,
but I can already see that I can apply the routine's
structure to other similar tests, such as items found in a
visual dictionary.

If this interests you, act fast. By the time you read this,
it may no longer be available.