Endgame

[CHOIR]
Did you make it clear
That he has to be here?
Does he understand
He will lose his title?

[ARBITER]
How straightforward the game
When all its rules are respected!

[CHOIR]
Did you make it clear
There are no exceptions?

[ARBITER]
And these rules are the same
For a champion or for a novice
No show, no dice, no appeal
No exceptions, no way

[CHOIR]
Do you think he knows
What it's gonna cost him?

[MERCHANDISER]
Does the player exist
In any human endeavor---

[CHOIR]
Do you think he knows
What it's gonna cost us?

[MERCHANDISER]
Who's been known to resist
Sirens of fame and possessions?
Threaten to cut off supplies
And he'll come out to play

[CHOIR]
He's a broken man
Good as back in Moscow

[NIKOLAI]
It's the weak who extol
Tawdry untruths about freedom

[CHOIR]
What a way to learn
Home is where the heart is

[NIKOLAI]
Prostituting the soul
Chasing a spurious starlight
Trinkets in airports
Sufficient to lead them astray

[CHOIR]
Selfish little creep
Everybody suffers

[BEN]
I'm no expert in chess
But hazard this prognostication:

[CHOIR]
Selfish little creep
Everybody suffers

[BEN]
That the late "Mister S"
Has better chances of winning
The Kentucky Derby
Than keeping his title today

[CHOIR]
Selfish little creep
Everybody suffers

We don't see the jerk
Even coming second

[CHOIR]
We are all aware
Of reputation
But one empty chair
Is condemnation
Of a man who blew it
Scuttled with dishonor

No one gives a damn
For his dilemma
Just another scam
They're sick of them, a
Lot of jobs at stake with
Russia's prima donna

We can hardly begin to
Imagine why he'd risk what he's put into
His calling through the years
The blood, the sweat, the tears
The late, late, nights, the early starts
Of course the effect is
Exactly what observers would expect, viz
The world is set to cheer
The only one who's here
The bad guy's gone and won their hearts

Is he still in bed
Or in the shower?
Even if he's dead
They won't allow a
Man to show up after
The appointed hour

[ANATOLY]
They all think they see a man
Who doesn't know
Which move to make
Which way to go
Whose private life
Caused his decline
Wrecked his grand design

Some are vicious, some are fools
And others blind
To see in me
One of their kind

[FREDDIE]
So he's gonna fight
This situation
Where's my appetite
For concentration?
Why is he so focused
When my thoughts are straying?

Looking at this man
It's her I'm seeing
Once my greatest fan
And now her being
His still gets to me
And screws the way I'm playing

[ANATOLY]
Here I see a man caring
About a minor sporting triumph, sharing
A show with esoterics
Paranoids, hysterics
Who don't pay attention
To what goes on around them
They leave all those they touch the way they found them
Is this the life I need
A childish, selfish greed
While those who love me bleed to death?

Then I think of her
Her and her father
What would she prefer?
I know I'd rather
Live my life alone
Than feel that I have harmed them

[FREDDIE]
At last! He's made a mistake!

[ANATOLY]
I cannot go on hurting all the people who have trusted me!

[FREDDIE]
He can not escape from here!

[ANATOLY]
Well, here we are
The final stages of a soul-destroying game
The sacrifice of someone I will never find again

[FREDDIE]
Check!

[ANATOLY]
Never!

[FREDDIE]
Check!

[ANATOLY]
Never!

[FREDDIE]
Check!

[ANATOLY]
Never!

[FREDDIE]
Check!

[ANATOLY]
Never!

[FREDDIE]
Check!

[ANATOLY]
Never!

[FREDDIE]
Backed the losing side
Florence Vassy!
Took you for a ride
Florence Vassy!
You just haven't got
The instinct of a winner!

[ANATOLY]
There is nothing more to do
No hope, no way
To save the game
The end of play
So I lose today
And tomorrow

[CHOIR]
We have just witnessed history made!
Power moves West, ending an era
This is a great day for American chess!

(faintly chanting)
USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA!