BIOGRAPHY page 2
The Grandmaster's next match brought him back to Earth to face the Prime Mover. An artificial intelligence created by Doctor Doom as an opponent for manipulating pawns in real-world strategy, the Prime Mover had been abandoned by the doctor. It launched itself into space and began sending out signals, looking for a new challenger. The Grandmaster responded, finding the Prime Mover to be an ideal opponent. Each player would select a team of gladiators to pit against each other. If the Grandmaster won, the Prime Mover would cede absolute authority over Earth to the Elder. If the Prime Mover won, the Grandmaster would give it the power to dominate Earth itself.
Grandmaster sought out his former pawns, the Squadron Sinister, only to discover Nighthawk had betrayed the Squadron and joined the Defenders in defeating them. Intrigued at an even better team of pieces, the Grandmaster explained the situation to Nighthawk, who reluctantly called in 
the other Defenders. To the obsessive Grandmaster, the Earth was nothing more than the stakes in his latest game, but the Prime Mover was clear about its malevolent intent towards humanity. Therefore, Doctor Strange, Namor, Hulk and Valkyrie agreed to serve as the Grandmaster's pawns. To round out the stable of six gladiators, Nighthawk also had Grandmaster recruit his former foe, Daredevil, the Man Without Fear.
The Prime Mover used Grandmaster's power to recruit his own minions, expanding his search to alien worlds throughout time and space. His minions were pitted against the Defenders in three two-on-two match-ups. The bat-like Chiroptera was fast and savage in the air against Nighthawk, until the Defender realized the alien's constant screeching meant it was blind and navigating by echolocation. By timing his moves between screeches, Nighthawk lured Chiroptera into a solid rock arch. Valkyrie was initially stymied by Takkor, a multi-armed horseman and flying steed who claimed to be unkillable. Sure enough, Takkor only laughed when Val cut off his head and swept down to catch his skull and easily reattach it. Val recognized her mistake and identified "Takkor" was actually the horse using a rider as a puppet. By aiming appropriately, she killed Takkor and ended this match. (Grandmaster - 2; Prime-Mover - 0)
In the next bout, the Grandmaster's pawns were sorely outmatched by the randomly chosen environment. Constantly erupting volcanic steam vents rapidly dehydrated Namor while playing havoc with Daredevil's radar and other senses. The amphibious Teju savagely beat Namor to death with his lizard-y tail, while the polymorphic Dumog used his tentacles to guide Daredevil into 
a lava blast, killing a second hero. (Grandmaster - 2; Prime-Mover - 2) In the final match-up, Doctor Strange and the Hulk faced off against Korvac and Grott the Man-Slayer. Korvac's computerized responses countered Doctor Strange's spells one after another. The sorcerer finally defeated his foe by switching tactics and simply punching the cyborg in the jaw. Hulk fought Grott. Grott tough. Grott strong. Hulk stronger. (Grandmaster - 4; Prime-Mover - 2)
The Grandmaster won his contest by choosing gladiators of skill and ingenuity rather than by mere power. Having won the Earth, the Grandmaster was pleased with his pawns and decided on a whim to maintain control over the Earth and cultivate a stable of gladiators for his games. The Defenders tried to oppose him, but were struck down in an instant. Only Daredevil held back, for he saw how powerful the Grandmaster was. Instead, he chose a different tactic and challenged the Grandmaster to a game. If Daredevil won, Grandmaster would rescind his claim to Earth and its people. If Grandmaster won, he would get Earth's moon as well. The wager would be decided by a simple coin toss. The Grandmaster called "tails" and, when Daredevil's coin came up "heads," a disappointed Grandmaster honored his agreement and left the Defenders and Earth behind. (Unbeknownst to the Grandmaster, Daredevil's super sense of touch read the balance of the coin perfectly, allowing him to control its flips.) [Giant-Size Defenders #3]
During the rise of the nascent cosmic entity Korvac, the Grandmaster's brother Elder the Collector was killed by Korvac. Even the Grandmaster's power over life and death was insufficient to resurrect an immortal once they had somehow died. To bring back the Collector, the Grandmaster arranged for a contest with Mistress Death herself. The renowned champions of Earth were chosen to be their pieces and so all of Earth was placed under an inertia-spell, making its population immobile as if in suspended animation. A vast arena was conjured in Earth orbit and the sum total of all super-heroes on the world were summoned as a stable of gladiators.
With the battlefield ready, the stakes were declared. If the Grandmaster won, he would receive the power to resurrect his brother Elder. If Death won, she would claim the Grandmaster for herself. The game would involve 24 champions for each player, separated into four teams of three, to compete against the opposing team for possession of four fragments of the Golden Globe of Life. Whoever's gladiators secured the most pieces would be the winner. As incentive for his pawns, the Grandmaster warned that if any heroes refused to participate, Earth would remain in stasis indefinitely. On the other hand, if his team was successful, the Grandmaster vowed to never again involve Earth's people in his games. Mistress Death (initially obscured from view and simply called the Unknown) promised to extend the life of Earth's star by a million years if her gladiators were the victors. And with that, the players chose their teams and the games began.
At the North Pole, Daredevil, Talisman and Darkstar fought for the Grandmaster while Iron Fist, Sunfire and Invisible Girl served the Unknown. Flyer fought flyer and the Immortal Weapon of K'un-Lun squared off against the son of Battlin' Jack Murdock. Invisible Girl tried to get the drop on Talisman, but his knowledge of the dream-time gave him senses beyond the norm and he detected her approach. His bullroarer exposed Susan Richards to the dream-time, heavily disrupting her senses. As Sunfire's flames broke up the ice beneath their feet, several champions spotted the globe slice out in the water. In the end, it was Daredevil who snared the prize first. [Grandmaster - 1; Unknown - 0)
Next came Defensor, She-Hulk and Captain Britain for the Grandmaster fighting Iron Man, Sabra and Arabian Knight for the Unknown in a deserted desert town. The Arab and the Israeli were uncomfortable allies and Defensor's Latin chauvinism did little to impress the savage She-Hulk. In the end, though, Iron Man and Arabian Knight proved victorious. (Grandmaster - 1; Unknown - 1)
In round three, the Grandmaster's players were Wolverine, le Peregrine and the Thing, while the Unknown's champions were Angel, Vanguard and Black Panther. Ben Grimm and Angel defeated their opponents, bringing the fight down to Wolverine versus Black Panther. The Thing stepped in to prevent his teammate Wolverine from killing Black Panther and uncovered the globe shard, ending that round. (Grandmaster - 2; Unknown - 1)
Finally, Captain America, Blitzkrieg and Sasquatch fought for the Grandmaster in an equatorial jungle against Storm, Collective Man and Shamrock for the Unknown. Several combatants neutralized each other in equal matches, until Blitzkrieg created an electrical storm that unearthed the shard. The lucky Shamrock happened to be closest at the time and secured the final prize in the game. (Grandmaster - 2; Unknown - 2)
And so, with the Grandmaster the undisputed winner, victory went to him. The Golden Globe of Life reassembled and with it, Grandmaster had the power to restore Collector to the world of the living. But Death had chosen her wager carefully -- she promised to give the Grandmaster the power to restore the Collector, not that he would want to use it. The Golden Globe could bring an immortal back from the dead, but it needed to be charged with an equivalent amount of lifeforce; the Grandmaster would have to sacrifice his own life so that the Collector could be reanimated. 
Clever Death suggested that the combined life energy of all Earth's heroes in the arena might also suffice, if Grandmaster wished to sacrifice them instead. However, the Grandmaster was now bound by victory to honor his vow to his champions and never again involve Earth's people in his games against their will. Trapped by his own wager, Grandmaster could not defeat death, the ultimate opponent. He fulfilled his promises and filled the Golden Globe of Life with his own energies, crumbling to dust. The Collector was restored a moment later and was shocked to see the remains of the Grandmaster. As the people of Earth were restored to their natural places, Mistress Death offered the Collector a wager of his own... [Marvel Super Hero Contest of Champions #1-3]
[Note: Yes, the final score between the Grandmaster and Death did not reflect the outcome. It seems someone in Marvel editorial lost track of who was on which team and believed Shamrock's victory meant Grandmaster won 3 - 1, when actually it ended in a tie.]
But the Grandmaster's greatest wager was yet to come, for now he gambled to bring himself back to life and beat Death itself. In the realm of the dead, he studied Death for many months before devising the means to defeat her and claim her power for himself. Using the bond between Elders, Grandmaster contacted Collector in the realm of the living and they orchestrated a plot to use the Avengers as pawns. At a baseball game between the East Coast and West Coast Avengers, the Elders arranged to strike down the East Coast team with a bolt from the blue, killing them.
The Silver Surfer had been informed of the Elders' schemes and he arrived in time to pass that information on to the surviving West Coast branch. They confronted the Collector, while the East Coast team was greeted in the realm of the dead by Grandmaster. Each Elder used half-truths to sway their team of Avengers. The Collector claimed Grandmaster intended to offer the Eakos to 
Death in exchange for his own restored life. Collector offered a poison to kill the Whackos so they could enter the realm of the dead and extract their comrades from the Grandmaster's control. Meanwhile, Grandmaster told the East Coast team that Collector had gone mad with fear after returning to life. He intended to offer the West Coasters to Death in exchange for never dying again. Grandmaster told them he had discovered the means to bring all of them back to life, but the East Coast Avengers would have to keep the West Coast team from separating them.
And so, the misled Avengers gathered in the realm of the dead to fight against each other, both sides believing they were working to preserve all of their lives.
Iron Man beat Captain Marvel; Captain America beat Mockingbird
Doctor Pym beat the Wasp; Thor beat Wonder Man
Doctor Druid beat Tigra; Moon Knight beat Black Knight
Hawkeye beat She-Hulk (Grandmaster - 3, Collector - 4)
But the entire affair had been a distraction. Silver Surfer had also drunk the Collector's poison and left the battle to find Mistress Death. His intervention brought Death directly into the conflict, but that was exactly what the Grandmaster wanted. When Death appeared, the Grandmaster seized her, trapping the embodiment of Death in astral bands and claimed her power for himself. [West Coast Avengers Annual #2]
The Grandmaster bragged about his success to the Surfer and the now united Avengers. He explained that the contest of champions had been deliberately played by him in order to orchestrate his own death, so that he could enter Death's realm and steal her power. He now intended to use that power to create five life bombs. By detonating these five annihilation weapons in five corners of the universe, he would initiate a new Big Bang and destroy the current universe, remaking a new universe in its place more suitable for his games.
The Avengers challenged him for a sporting chance to stop his plans and the Grandmaster naturally agreed. He used the power of Death to summon a Legion of the Unliving, competitors to prevent the Avengers from neutralizing his bombs. The conflict that followed proved fatal for most of the combatants. One life bomb exploded, destroying a full 1/5th of the universe. The Avengers destroyed the other four bombs, but at the cost of their own lives in nearly every contest. The only survivors were Captain America and Hawkeye. They returned to the realm of the dead only for Grandmaster to announce round two, with all the recently deceased Avengers joining his Legion to face the two lone survivors.
Thinking quickly, Hawkeye challenged the Grandmaster to a new game. Openly recognizing that he and Cap had no chance of victory against the Legion, Hawkeye proposed a simple game of chance. He took two arrows and snapped an arrowhead on one of the shafts, then shuffled them behind his back. Hawkeye provoked the Grandmaster's gambling addiction, pushing him to bet everything on whether he picked the arrow with the head on it. The Grandmaster agreed but, when he chose an arrow, it had no arrowhead attached. His devastation at having lost distracted 
the Grandmaster enough for Mistress Death to escape her bonds and banish the Grandmaster from her realm. In the aftermath, Hawkeye revealed to Death and Captain America that he had cheated and palmed the arrowhead when Grandmaster chose. [Avengers Annual #16]