The Giant Claw

This photo reminded me of a horror film with the same name as the title of this post. I saw it when I was six or seven years old and it gave me the heebie-jeebies -- or was it the willies? -- for days afterwards. I was afraid of falling asleep at night because the giant bird might stick its claw through my bedroom window and grab me while I was sleeping. Not too long ago, I saw a scene from the film on YouTube and wondered how the silly bird could frighten anyone. I think the movie even earned a place in cinematic history for the worst special effects ever.

The photo's description said,

19 July 1977 • Gulliver at Guildhall? • Guildhall Yard, City of London Silver Jubilee Fete continued today with a living chess tournament. The Robert Silk Chess Living Lightning tournament pieces are made up of children from three of the City's most famous schools -- Prior Weston Primary School, Arts Educational School, and the Sir John Cass Foundation School.

The players are William Hartston and John Nunn, renowned in chess circles as International Masters. The umpire is Mr. Paul Buswell of the British Chess Federation, and the giant chessboard, measuring eight meters square, has been constructed from 256 carpet tiles. The prize is a study tour to Russia. • PRESS ASSOCIATON PHOTOS

One prize, three schools, 32 children. Since the prize doesn't sound like it was intended for Hartston or Nunn, how did the organizers determine who won it? Maybe it was for the winner of the 'Living Lightning tournament'. That raises another question: how do you play lightning chess with living pieces? Something doesn't make sense here and it's probably me. Time for a vacation from blogging?