{"id":896,"date":"2012-08-27T06:00:09","date_gmt":"2012-08-27T11:00:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.vintagecomputing.com\/?p=896"},"modified":"2012-08-27T12:58:28","modified_gmt":"2012-08-27T17:58:28","slug":"the-chessmaster-died-in-1997","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vintagecomputing.com\/index.php\/archives\/896\/the-chessmaster-died-in-1997","title":{"rendered":"The Chessmaster Died in 1997"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"TheThe Chessmaster (1916-1997)<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

This iconic wizened head loomed large over my childhood. It is the image of the Chessmaster, a fictional chess opponent who stars in a software series of the same name. <\/p>\n

That series began way back in 1986 with The Chessmaster 2000<\/em><\/a>, a comprehensive chess simulator that first appeared on 8-bit computer platforms like the Apple II, Atari 800<\/a>, and Commodore 64. Published by The Software Toolworks, it spawned a series of at least 16 titles that quickly became the best-selling chess software franchise of all time.<\/p>\n

\"Chessmaster<\/a>My older brother always loved chess games, so I saw that aged face — a perennial feature of Chessmaster box art — many times throughout the 1980s and 1990s. I always wondered: who was the Chessmaster, really? Who was the real man behind that wise old face? Was he really that old or was he just wearing a wig?<\/p>\n

Fast forward to 2006. Thinking I’d write about it on this blog, I emailed Ubisoft (the current publisher of The Chessmaster<\/em> series) and asked them if they knew who portrayed the Chessmaster. Of course, they had no idea — institutional memory is sorely lacking in most tech companies, and it’s even worse in the software industry. Today I know better than to even bother asking.<\/p>\n

Instead of tracking down everyone who worked on Chessmaster 2000<\/em> and interrogating them (although I considered it), I figured I’d bide my time and put the somewhat trivial issue on the back burner. The Internet has a way of consuming information and making it available to everyone online, so I thought the answer would pop up one day.<\/p>\n

It did.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

The Chessmaster Revealed<\/h3>\n

\"WillWill Hare, the face and hands of the Chessmaster<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

A few years later, I decided to resume my quest with a quick Google search about the Chessmaster. Sure enough, my patience rewarded me with an answer to my question. There, buried among the links, lay an IMDB biography<\/a> that revealed the Chessmaster’s true identity.<\/p>\n

The man who portrayed the Chessmaster in that iconic photograph was an actor named Will Hare<\/a>, who appeared in over 50 film and TV roles between 1948 and 1997.<\/p>\n

Judging from his IMDB entry, it seems that Hare mostly played minor, supporting roles — although sometimes they were in big movies. For example, he portrayed Old Man Peabody<\/a> in the 1985 blockbuster film Back to the Future<\/em>. And he did it not too long before he portrayed the elderly Chessmaster.<\/p>\n

\"WillIn fact, Hare really had the “old man” role cornered around that time: the photo above is a still<\/a> from Silent Night, Deadly Night<\/em><\/a> (1984), where he played “Grandpa.” He also portrayed characters named “Old Man” in Tales of the Unexpected<\/em><\/a> (1984) and The Aviator<\/em><\/a> (1985).<\/p>\n

Immediately after discovering the man behind the Chessmaster, I wondered if he was still alive. Could I call him up and ask him what it was like to be a chess symbol?<\/p>\n

No, I discovered. Will Hare suffered a heart attack in 1997 while rehearsing a role at The Actor’s Studio in New York. He died on stage at the age of 81.<\/p>\n

According to his bio, he would have been about 70 years old at the time of the Chessmaster <\/em> photo session. So he really was<\/em> old enough to be the Chessmaster. That might not be a wig.<\/p>\n

Unsolved Mysteries<\/h3>\n

The sudden and unfortunate death of Will Hare 15 years ago leaves many unimportant and non-pressing questions unanswered.<\/p>\n

Who took the Chessmaster photo? (Are there any outtakes where he’s playing checkers?) What were his contract terms? How much was he paid? Did he frame a copy of the box art and keep it on his wall? Did he know that his image would live forever in the distinguished hall of haunting computer game memories?<\/p>\n

If anyone out there knows the answers to these questions, contact Robert Stack<\/del> please leave a comment below. Heck, even if you’re just a fan of The Chessmaster<\/em> series, I’d love to hear from you. Together, we will complete the true story of the Chessmaster.<\/p>\n

Rest in peace, Will Hare…or should I call you The Chessmaster?<\/p>\n

—
\n


\nSee Also:<\/strong><\/em> Ask the Chessmaster<\/a> (2011)
\nSee Also:<\/strong><\/em> VC&G’s<\/em> Halloween Video Game Costume Ideas<\/a> (2008)
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The Chessmaster (1916-1997) This iconic wizened head loomed large over my childhood. It is the image of the Chessmaster, a fictional chess opponent who stars in a software series of the same name. That series began way back in 1986 with The Chessmaster 2000, a comprehensive chess simulator that first appeared on 8-bit computer platforms […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37,7,13,9,10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-896","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-computer-games","category-computer-info-and-history","category-video-game-info-and-history","category-retrogaming","category-computers"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vintagecomputing.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/896","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vintagecomputing.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vintagecomputing.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vintagecomputing.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vintagecomputing.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=896"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.vintagecomputing.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/896\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vintagecomputing.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=896"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vintagecomputing.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=896"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vintagecomputing.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=896"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}