The Chessmaster saga dates back to 1986 and has had a total of seventeen titles. With some of these games we have taken our first steps in chess, whether we became avid players or not.
However, beyond what the saga has contributed to the world of video games, from the beginning there was a doubt: Who was the man who assumed the role of the Chessmaster on that irreplaceable cover of the first game, which later became an icon of the franchise? More than a quarter of a century later, we know the answer.
Remembering Chessmaster
I was never good at chess, I must admit. I never had the patience, nor did I cultivate it much. But chess programs were never missing from my systems. I remember spending many hours in front of “Sargon V”, and of course, Chessmaster.
Those who had a Commodore 64, an Amiga, or a ZX Spectrum probably remember Chessmaster 2000. The game was also available on other platforms, but that version, the first of the series, had something special.
On its cover there was an older man with a long beard and thick hair, almost the avatar of what we can imagine as a wizard or sorcerer. He had a handful of chess pieces in front of his eyes, illuminated from above.
For years, that man remained steadfast in his role as Chessmaster, but in real life, who was he?
Who was the Chessmaster?
Benj Edwards, from the portal Vintage Computing and Gaming, tried to find this out in 2006. To do so, he contacted the people at Ubisoft, who currently publishes the franchise, and when he asked about the Chessmaster, the answer was more than disappointing: they had no idea.
This sets a sad precedent. How many covers of how many games were considered true works of art in their time and now all details about them have been consumed by the passage of time and the refusal of companies to keep that data?
The identity of the Chessmaster remained hidden for a couple more years, until the magic of IMDB, by one of those coincidences that the Internet usually offers, gave the answer: the actor was named Will Hare.
That's right, Will Hare, the Chessmaster, played the role of the old Peabody who shoots at Marty McFly when he arrives in 1955 in “Back to the Future”.
Some of the series in which he participated were “The Dukes of Hazzard”, “Dallas”, “The Bionic Woman”, “Starsky & Hutch”, and “Baretta”. He also shared the screen with actors of the caliber of Robert Redford, Christopher Reeve and Jane Fonda.
The Chessmaster had a career in the acting world of almost fifty years, until his death in August 1997. He died of a heart attack, on stage, at a session for the Actors Studio.
Unfortunately he is no longer with us, but his expression has been burned into our minds, eternalized through the years, versions, and platforms. Will Hare, the Chessmaster.
