Josh Groban - Story of Chess lyrics

Arbiter: Each game of chess means there's one less Variation left to be played Each day got through means one or two Less mistakes remain to be made Ensemble: Not much is known Of early days of chess beyond a fairly vague report Male Solo: That fifteen hundred years ago two princes fought Though brothers, for a Hindu throne Female Solo: Their mother cried For no-one really likes their offspring fighting to the d**h She begged them stop the slaughter with her every breath But sure enough one brother died Female Ensemble: Sad beyond belief She told her winning son Female Solo: You have caused such grief I can't forgive this evil thing you've done Male Ensemble: He tried to explain How things had really been Male Solo: But he tried in vain No words of his could mollify the queen Female Solo: And so he asked the wisest men he knew The way to lessen her distress Arbiter: They told him he'd be pretty certain to impress By using model soldiers on A chequered board to show it was his brother's fault All: They thus invented chess Male ensemble: Chess displayed no inertia Soon spread to Persia, then west Female ensemble: Next the Arabs refined it, Thus redesigned, it progressed Male Solo: Still further yet And when Constantinople fell in 1453 One would have noticed every other refugee Included in his bags a set Female Solo: Once in the hands And in the minds of leading figures of the Renaissance Male Solo: The spirit and the speed of chess made swift advance Through all of Europe's vital lands Ensemble: Where we must record The game was further changed Right across the board The western touch upon the pieces ranged King and queen and rook And bishop, knight and pawn All took on the look We know today, the modern game was born Arbiter: And in the end We see a game that started by mistake in Hindustan And boosted in the main by what is now Iran Become the simplest and most complicated pleasure Yet devised for just the kind of mind who would appreciate This well researched and fascinating yarn.