Diego Rasskin Gutman

Acerca de - Ajedrez universal, desde mi jardín Las piezas y el tablero de ajedrez son singularmente abominables, porque multiplican la realidad borgiana. Y sin embargo, se mueve... Click to read Ajedrez universal, desde mi jardín, by Diego Rasskin...

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diegorasskingutman.substack.com/about

That's Max Ernst chess set!

https://www.harappa.com/slide/game-board

Game pieces from Mohenjo-daro, one of the cities of the Indus Valley civilization (circa 3300-5300 ya), on a modern wooden board. Materials include faience, pottery, shell, marble, agate, slate, and steatite.

Along with the Başur Höyük pieces, these are the oldest game pieces ever found.

Learn your Knight moves, Italian style, 18th century

Source: Kristina Lavysh A Vizier from Lukoml and a Pawn from Volkovysk: on Imported and Locally Manufactured Products Among the Finds of Figurative Chessmen in Rus.

Most unusual pawn, made of Ivory or walrus tusk, dated late 11th – early 12th century. Found in Volkovysk, Belarus.

National Art Museum of Republic of Belarus. Photos by N. P. Melnikov.

#NoKings

Cornelis de Man (1621-1706), The Chess Players

Mother and daughter playing chess; Alfonso X, Libro de juegos. 1200s. F58r

The chess players, John Lavery 1929

And Magnus prevails in a dramatic last round in Norway. Well fitted ending. World keeps turning.

A collage of photos labeled "The Chess Player's Life at Lake Hopatcong" shows Capablanca and his family on the lake, Frank Marshall driving a car, Geza Maroczy playing a violin outdoors, Edward Lasker wearing an old-fashioned swimsuit and preparing for a dive, and Abraham Kupchik eating from a huge slice of watermelon.

June 5 being World Environment Day, here's a look at the outdoor activities the chess masters got up to at the 1926 Late Hopatcong (New Jersey) Tournament. From American Chess Bulletin, July 1926.

There's a little town in Northern Spain with a great chess name!

GM MagnusCarlsen (10 years ago): "I very much like the game of ideas between the two players. It's captivating, it's fun, and it keeps me going."

Bobby Fischer describing chess moves:

aggressive
amazing
careless
contrived
crushing
cunning
dearly
desperate
devastating
doomed
effortlessly
fluid
free
hoping
ideal
impatient
melodramatic
mysterious
natural
panicking
powerful
sharper
simple
surprise
tempting
unappetizing
unfortunate
unpleasant

More gaming treasures from my visit to the MET

Visiting the MET, having the Nishapur chess set in front of me was an incredible experience!!

In "The Morals of Chess", 1750, Benjamin Franklin wrote that by playing Chess , we may learn:

"1st, Foresight, which looks a little into futurity...
2d, Circumspection, which surveys the whole Chess-board, or scene of action...
3d, Caution, not to make our moves too hastily..."

Black-and-white photo of Anthony Quinn and Gregory Peck, in costume as World War II commandos, sitting in directors' chairs on opposite sides of a small chess set. Next to the photo is a clipping from Chess Review magazine that reads: "Chess Review has received a clipping from Barnie Windelman on the subject of chess as a sort of personality indicator. It seems that the actor, Anthony Quinn, uses chess to get a line on human nature. Feeling that character traits are often revealed in a game of chess, Quinn says that he brought a chess set on location while the film, 'Guns of Navarone' was being shot in Greece. He then played chess with five other stars because he wished, in his own words, to know more about them for the purpose of more effectively portraying scenes of close cameraderie. Results of the chess research: Gregory Peck 'plays a slow, calculated game . . . He does very few things impulsively.' David Niven, on the other hand, is a 'devil-may-care fellow' with 'a great sense of humor,' and Stanley Baker, wo 'plays a very hard game,' is aggressive, but '. . . is a good sport' and 'likes action.' Anthony Quail 'was a colonel . . . and you can sense the military in his thinking.' As for James Darren, he 'has a bulldog quality and tenacity which make him the best player of all . . .' So chess has become a diagnostic tool."

Anthony Quinn, born April 21, 1915, used chess to inform his acting. Here's a famous image from the set of The Guns of Navarone (1961), together with Quinn's comments about his costars' playing styles.

Magic Circles, Cardinal Points and Game Boards

William Roberts, The Chess Players, 1930

Power chess

The word "Rook" means "charriot" in old Persian (before conquered by Arabs). It also refers to a mighty mythological giant bird, (simurgh, sometimes phoenix) which would later appear, for example, in Sinbad's adventures... Chess is intertwined with all aspects of human culture...

The Sandomierz ches set, c. 1100s, was found in Sandomierz, Poland. Made of antler; this set of obvious Arabic geometric design, made its way to Northern Europe at a very early time.

A magnificent set!

District Museum in Sandomierz

Chess during the French revolution: it was suggested to change the name of the pieces to erase its royal connotations; Louis-Bernard Guyton de Morveau proposed these changes:

King: flag bearer
Queen: officer
Bishop: dragons
Knights: cavalry
Rooks: cannons
Pawns: infantry

These chessmen were found at La motte de Loisy, France. From circa 10-11th century, made of deer antler.

It's a sort of hybrid set. The Rook is incredibly similar to the Afrasiab set. The Queen looks European and the pawns and King, Arabic.

Mâcon, musée des Ursulines

Gorgeous three views of this circa late 9th-early 10th century chess King, made of rock crystal from the Middle East.

As it happened with many of this crystal pieces, it was perforated on the top to be re-used as a reliquary (to keep holy relics)

Victoria and Albert Museum

This picture, taken en Algiers ca. 1899 is timeless.

Games, the fabric of humanity

Detroit Photographic Company, Detroit, Míchigan

The Giant (Le Géant) (Paul Nouge at the Belgian Coast, 1937)
Photo by René Magritte

V Kandinsky, 1937 Thirty

Pure Bauhaus. Chess, organic abstraction, biological reminiscence, musicality, prehistoric gestures...

Simply fantastic!

Les quatre fils Aymon, 1400s, a chess-induced battle...

playing chess can be dangereux!

Scott, Kubrick, Dr. Strangelove..
chess