I absolutely need two players willing to play the respective chess grandmasters. I have already received an expression of interest from one player to play the American grandmaster. I still need the Russian. Knowledge of chess is *not* necessary for the role, although a passing familiarity with the rules may help in improvisational role-playing. We will discuss how best to run the match for everybody's maximum enjoyment as the game approaches.

Like Berlin, power in occupied Vienna was shared by the four powers, each with its own zone of influence. The city center, where the game takes place, was a joint zone of occupation. Thus, I would like to have a good mix of Russians, Westerners, and native Austrians. I would happily admit historical personages who may have had reason to be in Vienna in the years immediately after the war, as well as characters from the appropriate fictional genres. A young James Bond, recently transferred from the Royal Navy to MI6, a young George Smiley taking a holiday from his academic studies, or even a brilliant and ruthless young chess grandmaster named Kronstein, would all be perfectly appropriate, as would a British military police inspector named Calloway, a naive American author named Holly Martins, or even a charming but amoral black marketeer named Harry Lime.

Please direct all game-related correspondence to Ray Lavoie at [email protected].