The Silly William Gambit

He’s not playing chess against Death. He’s playing against something far worse…

Eccentric chess prodigy Silly William finds himself on a train bound for hell (Or Philadelphia, as it is known in some circles,) and he finds himself seated across from a man named Bum Fiddler, who only plays the gimmickiest opening in all of chess: the Scholar’s Mate Attack. Bum Fiddler informs Silly William that at the end of this train ride, he is going to die, and that Bum Fiddler is going to K*ll him. But in the meantime, they are bored, and there is chess. So why not play? Fortunately for Silly William, he has spent his entire life specifically crafting a gambit to refute the Scholar’s Mate Attack, and he sees no better scenario in which one could fully deploy it. Over the course of this train ride, they play seven chess games. Silly William brings the games to life with move by move annotations that explain the thoughts in each player’s mind, as he teaches the audience how to play his gambit, whilst sprinkling in tales from his youth, waxing poetic, and sharing a pint or two of philosophy. The entire story takes place over the course of these seven games. And as the games progress, Silly William will come to find that the opponent sitting across from him is none other than Addiction itself; the Addiction which took the life of his best friend and the addiction that has come to grip him as well. Over time, the lines between the two players begin to blur, and Silly William will have to at last confront where a person stops and their addiction begins.

The Silly William Gambit had a successful run at The Edinburgh Fringe Festival 2025, and went on to have a sold-out limite run at The Producers Club Theatre directly following. The show has since been developed further and brought to 75 minutes, and you won't want to miss it.

Fringe Review: “Recomended show”

“It’s a technically challenging offering which is well performed.”

“Bader makes the stage very much his own and is adept at leaping from one side to the other, giving the words physical force and focus. It thoroughly enhances the production.”

The Wee Review ⭐⭐⭐⭐

“​​Each of the places they (our protagonist and his nemesis) visit is fantastical and absurd, yet rooted in a reality we can recognise….Actor-playwright Matt Bader evokes each location with a deft comic touch, flipping between roles and narrating the detail of the scene, deploying a kind of delirious but measured energy which keeps the train on its tracks and chugging happily along.”

“You dont have to know chess to follow the story line… an audience which appreciates both chess and wacky theatre may not be that easy to find. If you’re in that segment of life’s Venn diagram, though, you absolutely shouldn’t miss this show.”

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Host or Publisher Diamond Mesh Inc