CHESS 
Benny Anderson and Bjorn Ulvaeus are no strangers to Musicals, with the Australian tour under there belt which  featured the mini musical The Girl with the Golden Hair, this  was a twenty minute segment  written especially for the Euro and  Australian Tour in 1977..  They decided to have a go at a  full blown Musical, so along came Chess, a collaboration  between  Tim rice , Benny and Bjorn. When Benny and Bjorn were asked at the end of 1976 as  to how they were going to reinvent themselves Bjorn replied ( I guess that you have to   involve other  media than pop records and then try to create something with a  wider scope )

He also went on to say that its important to sink your Teeth in to something new and get  motivated from that.

Source material Taken from  ABBA To MAMMA MIA.

CHESS The Plot

Tim Rice had spent some time in putting together an idea for a Musical based around the game  of Chess, he was also interested in commenting on the East West during the cold war years  By 1980 Tim had put together  a 5 page synopsis loosely based on a Russian Chess player  Viktor  Knortjnoj`s defection to the West.

So a collaboration occurred between them , Tim had heard through Richard Vos that Benny  and Bjorn were very interested in writing a Musical and immediately fell in love with the idea.

 So in 1982 Benny and Bjorn meet with Tim Rice and decided to go ahead with the project. At the end of 1983 the trio visited  Moscow to get the feel of the place so that it could be applied to Chess.


Chess - Writing and recording of the concept album.

January 1983-28th September 1984.

Chess - In concert tour.

October 27th-1st November   1984

Chess - MUSICAL PREMIER  London.

14th May 1986- 8th April 1989

Chess - BROADWAY PREMIER New York.
28th April 1988.

I went to see Chess the Musical in June 1986 with my best friend Jamie Le Sueur at its London Venue and I must say that its one of the best Musicals I have ever seen , as I have been to many others since.

The atmosphere was Electric , Elaine Page and Barbara Dickson were a sensation taking this Musical to new heights, the Stage as a large revolving Chess Board became a focal point of the Musical.

Go to the official CHESS Web site.