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Xàbia Living Chess: what is it and when is it celebrated?

28 July 2023 - 08: 10

The Living Chess of Jávea is an innovative and differentiated initiative in which a game of the history of this ancient game is represented. Its originality lies in the fact that the pieces are people who give life to a written argument and following the best practices for each work.

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The beginning of this spectacular event dates back to 1996, when the Comissió de Festes Mare de Déu de Loreto decided to organize the first Living Chess in Xàbia. The idea arises on the occasion of the celebration of the I Centenary of the Patron Saint Festivities. With the aim of creating something new and different, the party committee contacted the then president of the local Chess Club, Rafael Andarias. He, excited about the project, gets down to work. After valuing different ideas, he decided to propose a living chess, an act that he had already witnessed in other cities.

Actually, the public that attends the Living Chess, goes more to a theatrical representation, than to the simple reproduction of a game. This unique proposal has been evolving since the first edition of 1996, so that the Living Chess of Jávea becomes a new scenic modality that could be called 'Theatrical Living Chess'.

Who and how devised Living Chess?

Rafael Andarias, doctor, writer and resident of Xàbia, gets underway with the organization of this great event. In order not to bore the public, and so that it was an act understood by everyone, not just by chess players, Andarias created a story in which the plot had to be linked to the development of a chess game. Also, to make it easier for viewers to understand the work, it establishes the figure of the narrator and, to accompany the story, an appropriate background music is chosen.

In addition, a hand program written in Spanish, Valencian and English is edited to deliver it to the spectators before the start of the performance, which includes a brief exposition on the origin of the initiative, the development of the game and a summary of the rules. basics of chess with explanatory diagrams. In this way, attendees who did not know how to play chess would better understand the performance.

All this montage, made up of a giant board, background music, the showiness of the costumes, makes the first edition a success. Its great impact on both citizens and the media caused this event to consolidate and continue to be celebrated, year after year, yes, keeping the same dates; the last Saturday of July.

History

The plot of each of the representations is given by a different story each year. For each edition a new script is created that is related to a chess game. In the early years, the story was based on medieval-era battles.

But over the years there was a twist to the script. Starting in 1999 and up to the present, works on a variety of themes have been performed, both originals and adaptations of classics of literature such as 'Don Quixote', 'Romeo and Juliet', 'Alice in Wonderland' and current stories like 'Asterix' y 'Harry Potter'.

The works have been written both by Rafael Andarias, and by collaborators of the Commission who have been involved in the organization of this event, such as: Pepa Guardiola, Joanna Mª Ripoll, José Vicente Miralles, Dionís Henarejos, Álvaro Monfort, María Buigues, Mª Rosario Henarejos, José Erades, Isabel Henarejos, Raquel Violero and Héctor Cruañes.

It should be noted that since 2016 the theme has been expanded, addressing highly topical social issues. In fact, it should be noted that this event, practically since its inception, more than 20 years ago, has taken inclusivity into account. The participants of each edition have been schoolchildren from all the schools of Xàbia, of different ages and nationalities. In addition, on several occasions, young people with physical or mental disabilities have been part of the cast of actors.

Anecdote

As an outstanding fact within the development of this event, the Living Chess organization points out that the author of the Harry Potter saga, JK Rowling, granted express authorization in 2006 to carry out the theatrical adaptation of her first work in the Harry Potter saga for Living Chess.

National Tourist Interest

The success meant that just a few years later, exactly six, in 2002, the Living Chess of Xàbia was declared a Festival of National Tourist Interest since 2002. An honorary designation granted by the Ministry of Tourism certifying that this festival offers real interest from the point of view of from a tourist point of view and also meets the criteria of continuity over time, roots and citizen participation, as well as the originality and diversity of the acts and promotional actions carried out for this purpose.

Locations

The location of this event has gone through different scenarios. Its beginnings were on the esplanade of the breakwater next to the fish market and, later, in the port car park. Also, an edition was held on the seafront, next to the Grava beach. Also, and for a couple of years, it was held inside the Municipal Sports Pavilion and, finally, and currently, since the last two editions, it is on Avenida de Lepanto — the main artery of the Duanes de la Mar neighborhood. — where this great show is held.

Protagonists

Living Chess is performed by a group of schoolchildren from Xàbia between the ages of 6 and 14 who stage a different story each year. It is an original idea through which, and in a didactic way, both classics of universal literature, as well as aspects and events of the history of Xàbia have been made known.

Every year, approximately, thirty people take part to organize it, belonging both to the festival commission and outside the entity, with the invaluable help of the fathers and mothers of the participating children.

Guests of honor

As we have mentioned, the representation of the game is carried out with the presence of a narrator who is usually a journalist, a local or regional writer, and two players who are the local school champion and a guest of honor who It is usually a public figure among which stand out, among the editions held:

  • Pedro Duque
  • Matias Prats
  • Juan Carlos Ferrero
  • Miguel Illescas
  • David Ferrer
  • Juan Luis Arsuaga
  • Isabel Fernández
  • Javier Reverte
  • consolation
  • Álvaro de Luna
  • Santiago Grisolia
  • Marta Espinós

We must remember that three of them are Prince of Asturias Award winners: Pedro Duque, Juan Luis Arsuaga and Santiago Grisolía.

And in relation to the change in the theme produced since 2016, the organization decided to contact NGOs since that year in order to spread and make visible its social purposes. The guests of honor were representatives of PayaSOSospital, Cáritas and the Spanish Association for the Prevention of School Bullying (AEPAE).

Representations outside of Xàbia

Undoubtedly, the great staging that Living Chess entails has led the organization to be called to make it known in other locations, even outside of Spain:

  • Thiviers - 2006: The Living Chess representation traveled to Thiviers, a small town in the Dordogne, in France, on the occasion of the twinning between Xàbia and said population.
  • Victory - 2007: the staging in Vitoria was with the Grand Master of Chess, Liviu-Dieter Nisipeanu and the cyclist Marino Lejarreta.
  • Linares - 2008: the actors went to Linares with the presence in the performance of the former World Chess Champion, the Indian Anand.
  • Living Chess Xàbia and Mexico

    • November 2005: the Comissió de Festes Mare de Déu de Loreto was invited to organize a performance in the Mexican city of Morelia (capital of the state of Michoacán), and where the pieces would be schoolchildren and the costumes, props and other areas would be the responsibility of their families and of his town hall. To this end, the director of Living Chess, Rafael Andarias, traveled to that city; but, finally, it could not be done (preparing a living chess is more complicated than it seems at first sight).
    • February 2006: Andarias traveled again to give a conference on the Poema Escacs d'Amor, the Valencian classic from the XNUMXth century.
    • This work was performed in a theatrical adaptation for living chess in the 2004 edition. The conference was part of the series of cultural events of the 'I International Chess Festival of Morelia', which was attended by, among other prominent personalities, the writer Julio Llamazares (great fan of this game) and the prestigious journalist specializing in chess Leontxo García. Leontxo García was the narrator in the 2007 edition and in the performances by Vitoria and Linares.
    • It should be noted that in Mexico there is a great fondness for chess and proof of this is that the largest session of simultaneous games in the world was held in the famous Zócalo square in Mexico City.

      Morelia and its history through chess

      Morelia is a beautiful –although little known– city of more than a million inhabitants, whose historic center is a World Heritage Site. The people of Morelia keep a good memory of Spain, because the priest Vasco de Quiroga, during the conquest, in the middle of the XNUMXth century, defended them from the attacks of other indigenous peoples, fought to abolish slavery and punished the Spaniards who had shown cruelty against the population. Since then, in Morelia there is no kind of resentment against Spain, but rather the opposite.

      During the Spanish Civil War, Morelia welcomed numerous Spanish republican children, many of them Valencians, who were able to rebuild their lives there, being called "the children of Morelia" ever since. Among the cultural initiatives in Michoacán is, along with the promotion of cinema and music, the dissemination of chess because it develops logical thinking in a more complete way than other activities, hence the programming of this great event.

      25 anniversary

      In 2021, the Xàbia Living Chess commemorated its 25th anniversary, despite not having celebrated the 24th edition due to the COVID health situation. The coronavirus pandemic truncated, for the second consecutive year, the traditional celebration, but the organization wanted to maintain, that year, the essence of the act with a special concert.

      The Symphony Orchestra of the Musical Artistic Center of Jávea, under the baton of Joan Bou, interpreted a selection of the musical themes that throughout its history have been protagonists in the representations.

      24th edition: Recovered in 2022

      The Living Chess organization did not want to miss the celebration of what was the 24th edition. The situation due to the pandemic prevented its staging, but after the return to normality, in 2022 and although with very tight time it was decided to recover one of the works already staged, that of Escacs d'Amor (carried out in 2004) .

      But the passion for the event, the staging and the changes at present, the script was turned 180º and in 2022 a totally renewed version is represented.

      The arrival of the 25th edition

      And finally, in 2023, it is possible to celebrate, as normal and with a "big" project, the 25th anniversary edition as this party deserves. It does so with a new work devised by Álvaro Monfort and staged by Raquel Violero entitled '(A)MAR', playing with the meaning of both words: Love and Sea. This representation reflects the real world of sea pollution and in an imaginary way the underwater world with human waste.

      Image gallery

      Videos

      Summary of the 2013 edition

      Summary of the 2014 edition

      Photos

Comments
  1. Vicente says:

    How curious. The jazz and sorolla that is in Xàbia Historica are suspended and for the Moors and chess that are in the port if there is money. This government does not care about the people, time after time...

  2. Miquel says:

    They could do it sometime in the Arenal on the same beach and thus contribute to the forgotten areas of Jávea.


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