21st Century Knights Tour

THE BLURB:
The Chess Knight's Tour has a long and esteemed place in the
history of magic and mentalism. Some of our finest
performers have made this a major feature of their program.

Now Lior Manor has brought the Tour into the 21st century.
He has developed a new and visually exciting way to present
the Knight's Tour. This routine has literally proven its
worth around the world.

By using computer technology, Lior now allows you to have
the best of both worlds – you carry almost nothing (there is
certainly no need for a large or bulky board) yet everyone
in the audience is assured of seeing the movement. The board
is located on a computer disk, with added features that
provide the demonstration with an extra level of visual
appeal.

You receive a special program allowing you to incorporate
tailor made changes that reflect your client’s attributes
such as its corporate message.

This is a great tool for corporate workers, mentalists, and
any stage magician that simply desires to add another
dimension to his show.

Written by Ken Weber
Designed by Haim Goldenberg

"There are few routines that match Lior's presentation of
the Knight's Tour for drama and suspense.

Audiences really believe this is a demonstration of 'Super
Mentality'. Lior's use of technology allows the performer to
present this remarkable routine to a large audience. Indeed,
the excitement grows as each move is made because the whole
chess board is visible on the screen. Although this routine
requires practice and good acting skills, the investment is
worth it. Once this is mastered, you have a memorable stunt
that can be performed for any size audience, from a sales
meeting to a theater show -- and everyone in attendance will
feel involved... "
- Barrie Richardson

"It is the most brilliant innovation in the Knight's Tour
history"
- Marc Salem

MY COMMENTS:
What a great idea! But let me perfectly honest and admit
that I have a bias. I'm not a fan of the Knight's Tour. I
remember seeing Reveen perform it many years ago and it
certainly was impressive. However, I was a young boy at
that time and my memory of the presentational details is
quite hazy.

There are a few main problems with the basic presentation of
the Knight's Tour, as far as I'm concerned. First, unless
you have a giant, expensive board, it's hard to find a
suitable size chess board that's both portable and visible
for larger audiences. (Reveen used an expensive large chess
board) Second, the audience must know the game of chess, or
at least how the knight moves. They must appreciate the
difficulty of doing the tour. Even though you can explain
the knight's movements before performing the tour, it can
still be quite confusing to the non-chess enthusiasts, which
make-up the majority of most audiences. Third, the more
squares that are toured, the less the suspense. The
audience begins to realize about two-thirds of the way
through that the feat will be accomplished. As such, the
ending is almost anti-climactic. This has been my
experience with both watching and performing the basic
effect.

Compare this with the magic square. The grid is smaller (16
squares) and audiences easily understand that all the
numbers add up to a certain number. Each combination
revelation is a new and amazing surprise to the audience.
This plot is very easy to understand and follow.

Now, I know that quite a few may disagree with me. But I
truly feel that the Knight's Tour just isn't as powerful as
the magic square. Sure, I also know that there are
mentalists that have great presentations for the Knight's
Tour and that some mentalists have sleep-inducing
presentations of the magic square.

That said, let me talk about Lior Manor's product. Lior has
elegantly solved the first problem. By projecting the chess
board, the audience can easily see the board. And it is a
professional looking, easy to use board. The audience
member you recruit only needs to use the mouse and click on
each square as the performer calls it out.

And it is for this reason that I state the following: If
you perform Knight's Tour, especially for corporate
audiences, you need to have this product. Solving the
problem of its visibility to the audience is an invaluable
addition.

I should also point out that to do this effect, you'll need
to have access to a computer and a projector. The program
is small enough to keep on a flash drive, so you can borrow
these items if you need to.

Let's talk about the other features. After the tour is
completed, a picture or a message appears. The message can
be anything you want it to say. Unfortunately, in regards
to the picture, it is fixed and you cannot import your own
picture or logo. I wish that feature would have been there.

Also, I would have liked to see an optional timer. The few
times I've performed the Knight's Tour, I used a timer that
added another level of suspense. Those in the audience who
didn't understand the difficulty of the Knight's Tour could
at least understand the need for the performer to land on
all the squares before time runs out. This is a very minor
quibble, of course.

Another feature I would have liked to see is for the program
to identify, or light up, the L shape pattern that the
Knight makes as each square is chosen and eliminated. The
pattern could light up for a split second and then disappear
along with the chosen square. This would make it much
easier for those who don't understand the game to see that
the Knight's movements are correct.

The package includes a CD with the program in two formats,
one for PCs and one for Macs, and a PDF file for the 23-page
instructions by Ken Weber. The best way to do the knight's
tour involves some serious memorization work and there are
explanations for some of the better techniques to enable you
to do this. The instructions also include Lior's
presentation with some handling touches that Lior uses to
heighten the effect dramatically.

Despite my bias about the Knight's Tour (perhaps I need to
see Lior perform it live), and the absence of features I
would have liked to see, Lior's program is highly
recommended and essential to anyone who performs, or wishes
to perform, the Knight's Tour. If you have never performed
the Knight's Tour, everything you need to help you learn it
is included. Technically, I think Lior priced it a bit
high, but it's definitely worth it to the corporate
mentalist who will easily recoup the cost with any one
performance.