I saw the Greek philosopher Palamedes playing cunning Odysseus during the long siege of Troy.

I saw the Pharaoh  Ramses playing the Queen of Sheba in the Nile Valley of the Kings.

I saw the Tibetan Lamas playing Confucius in the great Himalayan temple of Lhasa.

I saw the great Alexander manipulating his mentor Aristotle in the elite Academy of Athens.

I saw the noble Socrates of Atlantis playing the Chinese Emperor in the magical city of Shangri-La.

I saw King Arthur playing Sir Lancelot of the Round Table in the magnificent court of Camelot.

I saw the great Inca Atahualpa playing for his very life against the Conquistador Pizarro in the lofty Andean capital of Cuzco.

I saw the Caliphs of Persia playing the Hindu Brahman in their jeweled pagoda on the banks of the great Indus.

I saw the Mongol Emperors of China playing the Arabian Sultans in the golden city of Baghdad.

I saw the Knights and Bishops of the Renaissance, studying the wonders of The Game.

I saw Queen Isabella of Castile inventing the Queen in the Moorish palace of Alhambra.

I saw Gary Kasparov and Bobby Fischer beating the mega-computer Deep Thought.

Then I touched the pieces with my fingers znd they moved across the onyx board.

My hand gave them the breath of life.

It is the touch of enchantment that gives life to inanimate pieces of wood.

It is the power of a mind dominating the struggling pieces that gives us the satisfaction life denies.