I’ve come up with a way to introduce Svetlana into Act One, and also strengthen the musical’s emphasis on how Molokov and Water are the real chess players.
Have Svetlana be Molokov’s daughter. Imply that Svetlana and Anatoly married young because Svetlana got pregnant and Molokov insisted (so he could control them both).
Add a scene after Molokov encourages Anatoly to flirt with/go after Florence (Molokov & Anatoly) for both Florence and Svetlana to interact and Anatoly is about to introduce Svetlana as “My w-“ and Molokov interrupts to say that Svetlana is Anatoly’s second/assistant/something along those lines. So now you’ve established that Molokov is willing to use his own daughter as a pawn, and you get Florence and Svetlana as foils regarding their relationship with their fathers.
Add Someone Else’s Story right after Florence and Anatoly defect to England. Boom!
What do we think, Chess fans?








