BmoreArt

The vocals by both principals and ensemble are first-rate. The standout is E. Lee Nicol, as the troubled chess master Anatoly Sergievsky; his “Anthem,” the first-act closer, conveys the character’s conflicted feelings about his country. Conflicted allegiances are, in fact, the theme of Chess.

At the opening, Anatoly is facing Freddie Trumper, played by a suitably sullen Jonathan Lightner, in a championship match in a region of Italy with a mixed population, “where borders are always shifting.” Freddie’s manager, and possible lover, is Florence Vassy (a glamorous Samantha McEwen Deininger). Florence is effectively stateless; she fled her native Hungary in 1956. Her emotional borders are shifting too. She and Anatoly fall in love, and Freddie, shaken, loses the match. Anatoly defects to the West with Florence, leaving his wife in the Soviet Union.

Two years later, Anatoly is again trying for the championship, facing a top Soviet player known as the “Soviet Machine.” The Soviets, taking no chances, promise to release Florence’s father if Anatoly throws the match. To further unnerve Anatoly, they produce his wife, Svetlana, played by Tiffany Dennis with the right mix of dignity and anguish. She wins over Florence, who agrees to give up Anatoly. Anatoly wins the match anyway and returns to his homeland with Svetlana.

Chess has been more popular in Europe than in this country, perhaps because there East-West relations seem like an endless chess game. Since the second World War, maybe longer, Europe has been the chessboard, the nations, the pieces. As tensions rise over Ukraine Chess seems timely again. Hopefully the game will continue without someone overturning the board.

Chess will be playing at the Vagabond Players, 806 South Broadway, through November 19. For more information and reservations, visit www.vagabondplayers.org.