CCI - USA

Chess Collectors International

USA Edition Volume 2017 Issue 3

IN THIS ISSUE
18th Biennial Convention Prague, April 18th-22nd, 2018
A Proposed Museum Exhibition, In Conjunction With CCI's 19th Biennial
To Be Held In Saint Louis, USA, Spring Or Summer Of 2020
Dare to Know, Chess in the Age of Reason
The Case of the Missing
One of a Kind Chess Sets Through the Years
Update on the Ivory Ban
 18th BIENNIAL CONVENTION PRAGUE, April 18th –22nd, 2018
Dear Friends and Members of CCI
Our next international meeting Grandior in the centre of Prague If you would prefer to pay the
will be in the beautiful central where a small contingent of rooms fee in cash at the meeting please
European city of Prague, the birth is being held for us. contact us to confirm you wish to
place of world champion Wilhelm Grandior Hotel, Na Porici 42, do so. Delegates who do not stay
Steinitz in May 1836. There is 11000 Prague in the conference hotel will be
much history to be seen as Prague http://www.hotel-grandior.cz/en/ charged 20 euros to cover the cost
Castle dates from the end of the 9th of meeting room & rents etc. All
Our rate per night including
century and the city flourished delegates must email m.r.wiltshire
breakfast and all taxes is 155 euros
during the 14th-century reign @btinternet.com to confirm their
per double room increasing to 185
(1346-1378) of Charles IV, Holy attendance.
euros for a Deluxe room. Once
Roman Emperor and the king of
our allotment of rooms is booked Yours sincerely
Bohemia of the new Luxembourg
participants will have to pay the Michael Wiltshire
dynasty. As King of Bohemia and
web site published rates less a 10%
Holy Roman Emperor, he
discount. Hotel garage parking is
transformed Prague into an
available at an additional cost. CCI –USA NEWS
imperial capital and it was at that
Booking details will follow shortly.
time the third-largest city in Floyd Sarisohn, Publisher
In order to ensure a smooth and PO Box 166
Europe after Rome and
uncomplicated meeting we are Commack NY 11725 95776
Constantinople. The German July Phone: 631.543.1330
negotiating special rates with
meeting in Selb was again very Fax: 631.543.7901
restaurants and guides; the fee will lichess@aol.com
successful and much enjoyed by
also be announced shortly. It will
everyone who attended. We Duncan Pohl, Editor
include: 1391 Parkview Dr
anticipate a high attendance for Woodland CA
this meeting as many members and Welcome drink on 18th April Phone: 530.383.5750
friends have already indicated their Dinner in hotel on 18th April duncanpohl@sbcglobal.net
wish to participate. Early bookings Drinks and biscuits during CCI-USA NEWS is made possible thanks
are therefore advised, to take coffee break to the volunteer work of all persons
advantage of the special Buffet lunch on 19th April involved. We are not responsible for
contents of articles, the performance of
discounted room rates. Members Buffet lunch on 21st April advertisers, the delivery or quality of their
of the Ken Whyld Association, Gala Dinner on 21st April, services or products, or the legality of any
Bus transfers, entry fees particular program or publication.
http://www.kwabc.org/, which is
dedicated to the collection of chess and tours. EDITORIAL COMMENTS
AND POLICY
books are again cordially invited. All delegates must email The future and quality of this publication
We will have a chess market open m.r.wiltshire@btinternet.com to depends on your contributions. Please
for 2 to 3 hours in the conference confirm their attendance. send comments, notes, reports, articles,
photos, stories, etc., to any of the people
hotel; please bring chess items for Michael Wiltshire listed above. Electronic form would be
sale or exchange and let us know if m.r.wiltshire@btinternet.com best. We would like to take this
you wish to participate so that we opportunity to thank all who contributed to
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 A PROPOSED MUSEUM EXHIBITION
In Conjunction with CCI's 19th Biennial
To be held in Saint Louis, USA
Spring or Summer of 2020
Yes, we all know CCI has been
to St. Louis before, more than
once. Yes, we all know that St.
Louis can be very hot and muggy
in the summertime. Yes, we all
know it's not near a coast, and thus
is less convenient for European
travelers, etc., etc.
However, what no one can
dispute is that St. Louis is also the
center of chess in the USA, and
has been for some years now.
Home to the lavishly appointed
World Chess Hall of Fame
(WCHOF), the redoubtable Chess
Club and Scholastic Center of
Saint Louis (which plays host to
world-class international tourna-
ments such as the Sinquefield
Cup), and even the chess-themed
Kingside Diner, this shady and
picturesque block of Maryland
Avenue dares to call itself the
Chess Campus, probably the first,
and best, in the world.
Please hear me out. Once you
have read my proposal below, and
understand my vision, I hope you
will agree that the WCHOF is the
institution in the best possible
position to present this ground-
breaking new exhibition. And that
consequently, St. Louis MUST be
By Tom Gallegos
The Absentminded Antiquary
the venue for our 19th Biennial in
2020.
Plus, I may have a few tricks up
my sleeve, to make this meeting
very different from any other you
have yet attended in Saint Louis.
Worth a return trip. More on that
later.
This proposal would be in
keeping with the tradition of
holding two biennials in Europe,
then one in the USA; two in
Europe, then another in the USA.
We have done this for many years
now, because our European
membership is generally acknow-
ledged to be stronger and more
active than that in the USA. Our
last biennial was in Paris, our next
will be in Prague. That's two for
Europe. The year 2020 will be the
USA's turn. Our turn.
With the blessing of Floyd and
Bernice Sarisohn, and the able
assistance of my partner Luann
Woneis, I would be taking over as
the point-man for this meeting.
We normally try to hold our
meetings in a city were we have a
member living, someone who is
willing to shoulder the burden of
organizing it. I am 850 miles away
in the Denver area, a long drive or
a short plane ride away from St.
Louis. Not ideal certainly, but
Floyd agrees that with a little help
from our friends at WCHOF,
which they have offered and
rendered in the past, I just might
manage it. I am certainly willing to
give it my best.
What follows is the verbatim
text of the proposal I submitted to
Shannon Bailey, Chief Curator of
the World Chess Hall of Fame.
(And please forgive me if I slip
into the royal "we" usage at times.)
While it has to go through the
Board of Directors obviously, and
Shannon is not yet in a position to
give it the official green-light, she
has made some positive com-
ments, and I have high hopes. I
now submit this for review and
approval by the CCI Executive
Committee, and I invite feedback
from the broader membership as
well. I hope you will like the idea,
and will want to attend such a
biennial, and see such an
exhibition. The earlier I can gauge
your level of interest, and have
some idea of the possible
attendance numbers we might be
looking at, the better. Please
address your comments to me,
Tom Gallegos, at livinginthepast
@comcast.net. Thank you.
Exhibition Proposal
Spring Or Summer, 2020
We think of chess as the game
of kings. And it is. But there was a
time when chess was also the game
of those who were throwing off
their kings. A time when chess
was the game of dangerous radicals
and revolutionaries, writers and
intellectuals; men and women who
used coffeehouses, newspapers
and salons as we use the internet,
to spread once-forbidden ideas and
knowledge, ideas that would
ultimately shatter the old order,
and usher in the modern world.
The problem with chess as a
game of kings, of course, is that it
has always nourished independent
thinking. And this has always been
dangerous to the established order.
In any era, there are those who are
not content to bow down to
authority, especially when that
authority is abusive, wrong-headed,
or simply fails to best serve the
people. As it happened in 1789,
today's monolithic institutions
might easily become tomorrow's
obsolete Ancien Régime.
In all the vast upheavals of the
late 18th century, chess was in the
thick of things, played in taverns
and inns as well as royal courts,
played by misfits and disaffected
intellectuals as well as kings and
aristocrats.
We propose an exhibition of
chess in the 18th century, which
would examine these paradoxes
and contrasts. Ordinarily, this
would be no easy task. The year
1800 is unconsciously considered
as a kind of "event horizon" for
chess collectors; a date before
which it is extremely difficult to
collect much at all. However, we
Submitted To The World Chess Hall Of Fame
DARE TO KNOW
Chess in the Age of Reason
have succeeded in acquiring just
enough pre-1800 material that,
were we to loan it to the WCHOF,
the exhibition would rest on a firm
foundation. The rest could easily
be gathered together as loans from
key CCI members, and the
WCHOF may even have some
relevant material in its own
collections, or potentially seek
loans from other institutions.
(Some scholars define the
Enlightenment as having lasted as
late as 1820-30. Including sets
from the early 19th century would
obviously give us a much greater
selection to work with.)
In conjunction with this
exhibition, we would like to
propose St. Louis as the venue for
the 19th Biennial Congress of
Chess Collectors International,
sometime in the spring or summer
of 2020. We would greatly
appreciate the assistance of the
staff of the WCHOF in planning
and executing this event.
Some five years before the
Storming of the Bastille in 1789,
sapere aude was the old Latin motto
applied to that century by the
German philosopher Immanuel
Kant, in an essay analyzing and
defending the Enlightenment.
Sapere aude translates as "dare to
know," "dare to be wise" or more
loosely as, "dare to think for
yourself." This is also good basic
advice for the chess player. Trust
in your own analysis of the
position, and do not be too cowed
by your opponent's smug looks,
nor too reliant on conventional
wisdom, also known as the "book"
line.
By Tom Gallegos, CCI
October 12, 2017
The Centerpiece Of The
Exhibition
The Encyclopédie Set:
Most serious chess collectors
have at least heard of an
Encyclopédie set, that rare and
famous set whose likeness was first
published in the 18th century, in a
work entitled E n c y c l o p é d i e , o u
dictionnaire raisonné des
sciences, des arts et des métiers
(Encyclopaedia, or a Systematic Dic-
tionary of the Sciences, Arts, and
Crafts), written and edited by Denis
Diderot, Jean le Rond d'Alembert,
and over 150 other authors, some
famous, some obscure, all
collectively known to history as the
Encyclopédistes, a group closely
related to the Philosophes, as the
leading intellectuals of the French
Enlightenment came to be known.
In 18th century France, these
simple wooden sets were not rare
at all. Indeed, this set was shown
in the Encyclopédie precisely because
it was considered a typical playing
set of the day. However, few have
survived the ravages of time.
To Be Coupled With ...
The Encyclopédie:
But far fewer are aware: Just
what was this Encyclopédie?
Scholars agree. If we could choose
just ONE artifact or document to
represent the entire Age of the
Enlightenment, our only choice
would be Diderot's Encyclopédie. It
is the most famous, the most
infamous, the most controversial,
the most revolutionary, the most
subversive, the most dangerous
encyclopedia ever published. It is a
document that helped to lay the
5 Dare to Know

groundwork for the

American Revolution, the
French Revolution, and
many other revolutions
around the world. It is a
document that helped to
separate Church from State.
It is a document that helped
to topple monarchies. And
in the bargain, it was an
accurate snapshot of the
technology, art, literature,
culture, and modes of
thinking of 18th century
France. Scholars still rely
on it today for authoritative
answers to many historical
questions relating to that
period.
The lofty and audacious
goal of the Encyclopédie was
The Encyclopédie Set, along with the most famous illustration from the Encyclopédie
nothing less than to gather
(this plate occurs in the 9th plate volume, first published in 1771).
together all human know-
Photo by Thomas Thomsen.
ledge, and yet at the same
time, to fundamentally
change the way people think. It and once in print, it succeeded in collector has ever managed to
had its own daring story of being revolutionizing the world. display a genuine antique
written and published, at times It is probably safe to say that Encyclopédie chess set, alongside all
against seemingly impossible odds, before now, no museum or private 35 volumes of the true first edition

The Encyclopédie, as first published, 1751 - 1780.

CCI-USA 6

of Diderot's Encyclopédie.
The WCHOF would be the
first. It should be noted
that these are massive folio
volumes, 16" high, and the
35 volumes take up roughly
seven linear feet of shelf
space.

A Few Of The Notable

Enlightenment Era
Occurrences That
Might Be Documented
Or Explored In Such
An Exhibition ...
Ÿ In 1742, the celebrated
French writers and
philosophers Diderot and
Rousseau met at the famed
Café de la Régence. How
could this meeting be Dutch or Northern European Turret set in bone, late-18th century,
documented? The Café a folding leather chessboard of the same period in the background
itself is of paramount
importance to the history of
chess. Look Around The Gallery ... Danish Selenus set, several
Ÿ T r a i t é T h é o r i q u e e t P r a t i q u e Elsewhere in the exhibition, we Geislingen and other German sets
du jeu des Echecs, par une might see a Dutch or northern along with an early 18th century
S o c i é t é d e s A m a t e u r s , was European turret set in bone, a German box-board with stunning
published in France in 1786.
The members of this An early German set on a boxboard with silver clasp and hinges, circa 1730.
Society of Amateurs were
also denizens of the Café de
la Régence.
Ÿ As ambassador to
France, Ben Franklin was
known to play chess with
the ladies of the French
court, sometimes even as
they bathed.
Ÿ The Turk was the
world's first chess-playing
automaton, a notorious
fraud that nevertheless
helped give birth to our
modern concept of artificial
intelligence.
7 Dare to Know

silver clasp and hinges, an

early Calvert set in ivory,
and many other sets and
artifacts to remind us of the
various regional Enlighten-
ment movements that took
place in countries such as
Germany, Russia, Poland,
England, Scotland, Italy and
Spain. Back in the French
quarter, we might also find a
very early transitional
Encyclopédie set that illustra-
ted the change from abstract
knight heads to horse heads.
And don't forget the
American Enlightenment,
which led directly to the
Revolution. There would at
least be a Jeffersonian
barleycorn set in bone, a
Washington set in ivory
(and I am aware the
WCHOF has previously
An Italian set in yellow and black painted wood, probably mid-18th century.
displayed THE Washington
The striking "question mark" knights, for which there are few parallels, seem
set), and a wooden perfectly suited to the task of "questioning authority".
Directoire set to put us in
mind of Ben Franklin.
There would also be a few lections, and with loans from other even college levels. University
rare, ephemeral folding leather CCI members. history departments and Missouri's
chessboards from that era. Again, other museums may wish to get
very few survive. Not Just Chess History, But involved. Special lectures and
Here and there, sets would rest Chess As A Part Of History other programs could delve into
on appropriate boxboards or even The culmination of the the role played by chess at a pivotal
early tavern tables, with period Enlightenment in the United States moment in world history. With
candlesticks, a few bits of was the opening of the West, with any luck, the WCHOF would find
wine/coffee/tobacco parapher- the Louisiana Purchase of 1803 itself playing host to a much larger
nalia, perhaps a few early playing and the Lewis and Clark segment of the public than usual.
cards and dice, 18th century Expedition of 1804-1806. This In conjunction with the
newspapers, books, documents, makes the city of Saint Louis, as exhibition, sometime in the spring
and other artifacts to evoke the the point of departure for Lewis or summer of 2020, Chess
period. There would obviously be and Clark, the perfect place to hold Collectors International would like
no chess clocks as we know them, this exhibition. to hold its 19th Biennial Congress
though a clock or two of the This exhibition would be of in Saint Louis. The organizational
period (perhaps a lantern clock) interest not only to chess collaboration of the WCHOF
would not go amiss. aficionados, but also to the wider would be most welcome.
I have much of what we are public. We would want to make Thank you for your
talking about here, but not all. The sure the general press knew about consideration, and please let me
exhibition could easily be filled out it, and inform local school districts know what you think of this
with the museum's own col- at the elementary, high school, and proposal. Sapere Aude!
 THE CASE OF THE “MISSING”
Imaginary Wanderings of a Chess Collector (Gone Mad)
By Vermont’s own (don’t let him escape!) John A. Mazzucco

The Countdown
Some are small. Some are relatively
big. Some are porcelain in material –
and yet others are composed of metal,
plaster, or plastic. It would be
surprising if many of you are not
already aware of these
characteristics or features of Chess
Figurines. However, how many
of you have taken a keen eye to the
miniature/merely small chess pieces
on the boards or table or floor of
Chess Figurines? Undoubtedly,
there has been considerable
examination of chess pieces on
boards within paintings and prints.
Styles have been examined (at
times, to help verify or support a
dating to the picture and/or the
style). Positions have also been
examined and excitement has been
generated by “serious” chess
players.
(The writer here seriously
questions the definition of what a
“serious” chess player might be. Is
it one who casually but steadily
plays chess daily – against a live
person across the board? Or
perhaps it is one who plays against
his computer several times each
day? Is it one who “studies”
chess? Is it a player with a
particular minimum chess rating?
All I can say – at this very moment
– is “Digression reigns… along with,
perhaps a certain winning(?) King”).
The aspect, which this writer
would like to bring up, is the
number of chess pieces – and not
necessarily the position of the
pieces or the style – contained with-
in an (the) overall chess figurine
piece, including the chess board.
Most chess figurines appear to
be porcelain – and often of a
Dresden make or appearance. As
I am sure the reader is aware, some
are made in Germany, Italy, and
other European nations. Others
are made in Japan, China, and
possibly the USA. Nearly all of
these chess figurines have between
2 and 20+ chess pieces on display,
despite the small nature of the
boards and figurine as a whole. It
is not surprising that the artist
would want to capture a particular
moment within the game of chess
between two opponents – espe-
cially if the opponents are possible
lovers! And so, a game with all 32
chess pieces set in a beginning
position (before the clock is
punched) would appear rather dull.
N’est-ce pas?
The next time you take a good
look at your own figurine(s) – or
that of another chess aficionado –
count the number of chess pieces
on the board as well as the
adjacent table, floor, and other
places where chess pieces might be
stored or discarded. It is not
unusual for there to be a mere
handful in total – and not 32 chess
pieces. One might respond, “Well,
of course, if the game is in
midstream, there is likely to be less
than 32 chess pieces on the
board.” It is, in fact, usually the
case that one finds much less than
32 chess pieces anywhere within
the figurine. It would not be “a
walk in the park” to place 32 chess
pieces on these masterfully small
chess boards (or even adjacent to
them).
At the present time, this writer
and collector has a total of
fourteen (14) figurines, ranging in
size and material from a miniature
Vienna Bronze (with two foxes,
playing a game of chess while on
opposite sides of a picnic table)…
to a porcelain scene of Napoleon
playing Josephine… to a Dresden
3 person piece which many of you
have already seen elsewhere… to
an actually nice, very large ceramic
one made in China… to a massive
and heavy John Rogers plaster
chess group (late 19th century) with
which many of you are already
familiar.
9 The Case of the ‘Missing’

However, there is another chess

figurine, created by artist/glass
blower Milon Townsend. The
piece is named “King’s Folly”.
[Picture #1, previous page]. This
particular scene and theme is one
of my favorites. It appears to
resemble the theme of Man vs.
Mephistopheles – a painting by
Moritz Retzech. The theme has, at
least once before, been the topic in
a previous article within one of the
CCI magazines. Such a scene can
also be observed in a number of
chess-related venues, including on
the Internet, such as this one:
http://files.chesscomfiles.com/alb
ums/batgirl/73ceig41252413563/3
34308_l.jpg.
[Years ago, I once had the
opportunity to purchase a metal
relief (about 18” x 30”) of such a
theme. If the reader is not familiar
with the scene, Moritz Retzech
brought it to life. I failed to
purchase it when I first saw it and
as is often the situation, upon my
revisiting of the antique shop, it
was gone! If any of you have the
metal relief, I am dying to have it
and would seriously consider
buying it from you. (I’d almost sell
my soul for it). Well, maybe not].

The Riddling Problem

Well, as you can assume by
now, this particular chess scene
has captured my fancy. Our CCI
friends Floyd & Bernice Sarisohn
have had such a figurine for sale. I
had been very tempted to purchase
it (in my current “downsizing”
activity). However, something had
stopped me dead (in a manner of
speaking) in my tracks. I had been
concerned with the presence of the 31
chess pieces. Apparently, there are no
broken chess pieces or indications of a
snapped-off chess piece on the board or
adjacent places. A thorough search –
CCI-USA 10

even on the glass floor – reveals no
further chess pieces.
A possible explanation is that
“…it is a work of art… (and the
number of chess pieces is irrele-
vant)…” My words are in
parentheses. Yes, a work of art, as
are most – if not all – figurines.
Looking at dozens – if not
hundreds – of other figurines
(especially the porcelain ones), that
argument can be justified and is
believable. However, nearly all of the
other figurines have a mere
handful, and not just 1 piece shy of
the 32 that I expected to be
present. A further attempt with
respect to the “work of art”
argument is to look closely at the
John Rogers chess group, which is
made from plaster. How may chess
pieces are there?” Well, surprise,
surprise! Counting and looking
closely, there are 32 chess pieces
there. Some are on the board and
others are on the side of the board
or on the table. And the seated
player to the left, has the 32nd
chess piece – a knight – within his
hand, resting near the chessboard.
[Pictures #2 and #3, previous page].
the loan of the picture, Israel only
asked, “… Please only mention my
collection and the link to my site
(www.eosef.com/gsc) and the fact that
they are all for sale (thanks)…” There
you go, Israel, and thanks for
loaning me the picture.
This writer had attempted, for a
few days, to locate and
communicate with Mr. Milon
Townsend. Alas, attempts had
been as futile as Star Trek’s (Next
Generation Series) Federation to
finally dismantle and defeat “The
Borg”… not a pretty picture. In
fact, it was very dismaying. I had
been wanting to find out what the
artist’s intent was in having merely
31 chess pieces in view. Was his
decision intentional? Was it merely
a mistake? An oversight? Were
there, in fact, 32 original chess
pieces on display and in various
locations (and yet, the craftsman-
ship even more superb so that a
broken-off, missing piece would
not be discernible)?
And what should one make of
the title of the work of art, “King’s
Folly”? A close examination of the
figurine shows that it is the king
who has 16 (clear) chess pieces,
and the Jester-like opponent who
has merely 15 frosted chess pieces.
(Note that one chess piece is in the
right hand of the King’s opponent
(the Jester-appearing “Satan”?).
Could this give a clue)?
Why would the piece be named
“King’s Folly” when it is clearly
the King who is ahead in this game
of chess – at least in material –
against a possibly worthy
adversary? Must the writer or the

Hmm... The Mystery

Deepens
Have any of you ever observed
a glass “Adam and Eve (The Tree
of Knowledge)” glass chess scene,
complete with 32 chess pieces
(under the watchful eye of both a
glass serpent – and our CCI friend
Israel Raphaelli). It is a wonder to
behold. It was designed and
reportedly also made by Milon
Townsend – glass blower and ar-
tist extraordinaire. I wish that that
work of art resided in my humble
abode. It does not; its keeper is,
as just mentioned, Israel. Just to
clarify, this piece (to also die for)
isn’t in Israel; it is in New Jersey.
[Picture 4, right]. As “payment” for
11
reader also examine the position of
the chess pieces on the board?
Haven’t we enough to do in
getting ready for another Vermont
Winter (as well as preparing for
our next chess tournament, where
this writer is hoping to score
another 1st place showing his
section – and win some spending
money – as he did during the
recent October 2017 Vermont
Chess Open, with 4 out of 4 wins?
But the writer, once again,
digresses (as well as, perhaps toots
his own horn a tad too much…)!
Further examination, however,
shows the curlicue decorative
extensions of the Jester’s/Satan’s)
clothing and/or possibly body
parts. Could that be a clue? It
does appear that the King’s
opponent is growing a number of
serpentine objects from his arms,
legs and neck areas. Could those
be the beginnings of “out of thin
air” replacement pieces for those
to be lost in his game against the
king? Could they be the start of
replacement pawns or other
pieces? However, if so, they would
need some magical transformation
in order to make them convincing.
And how about that mammalian
critter (a lemur?) – gingerly making
its way across our ponderous
prankster’s shoulders? Is the
crawling creature just monkeying
around or what? Did it take
Mephistopheles’ missing pawn (or
is he about to replace it with a new
one)? I do notice that the slinking
creature is clear in color and not frosted.
Might that give us a clue? The devil is
in the details, my friends.
In the end, in the absence of an
explanation for the 31 (rather than
32) chess pieces, it had been my
belief that this work of art would
likely have remained in the safe,
protective arms of its present
owner, the Long Island Chess
Museum. (In this writer’s not-so-
humble opinion) more docu-
mentary information was needed
before I would seek to acquire this
marvelous glass work of art.
Floyd And Bernice To The
Rescue!
In the writing of this article, my
argument apparently caught the
attention of (past judge and current
attorney), Floyd Sarisohn. Perhaps
as convincing as my own argument
was, my apparent devilish desire to
acquire this work of art – “missing
piece” and all – was more
convincing. (I could try to attribute
my moment of weakness to the
saying, “The devil made me do it”)!
Floyd, in his usual generous and
accommodating ways, agreed to
sell me this splendid glass piece for
possibly less than what he paid for
it – if I also promised him something
with “Northern” in it. Yup. More
maple syrup should/would do it –
as well as a Northern-related chess
set. A very nice, wooden, painted
“Kirkland” Christmas Chess set
will be forthcoming from the
North Pole. And there you have
it. Or do you?
The Saga Continues
The night before the decision
was made for me to acquire this
splendid (imperfect?) work of art, I
was finally able to make contact
with its creator – yes, Milon
Townsend himself. At first, over a
cell phone with its speaker
inadvertently on (and with my wife
quietly listening in without my
knowledge), Mr. Townsend
indicated that the figurine piece
should have 32 chess pieces – and
insinuated that perhaps he could
help repair the figurine if needed.
Mr. Townsend then asked if a
picture could be sent his way via
email – and so, I obliged his
The Case of the ‘Missing’
request. I also proceeded to detail
what I myself saw as far as chess
pieces on the table (and in
Mephistopheles’ right hand)... rank
by rank… the King’s 16 clear chess
pieces, and his opponent’s 15
frosted glass pieces. My email was,
indeed, one tedious email indeed.
These were Mr. Townsend’s two
subsequent emailed replies:
1.) “Looks good to me.
Not broken. I use my artist’s
license frequently, and rarely
get pulled over. I never
‘splain… (explain)…., so you
have to figure it out. Nice to see
older work again, in good
shape….. Sounds like it’ll be
going to a good home, should
you make that choice”.
When I politely confronted him
about his own spoken words of
“… should be 32 chess pieces…”
his emailed reply was as follows:
2.) “I very much enjoyed
‘speaking' with you, and I
wish you the best. Yes, I did
say 32, but it was a long time
ago, and the picture served to
remind me of... but that
would be telling.”
So, dear reader, it appears that
this detective (a Sherlock Holmes
wannabe) writing this article has
met his match – in the word-wise
(and perhaps elusive) master of a
marvelous artist, Mr. Milon
Townsend.
(A Logical?) Epilogue
So, what should I make of this
riddle? Does some large, over-
seeing, Enigmatic Entity in the sky
have a twinkle in his eyes? What is
the lesson to be learned? In our
daily battle on this earth, in our
quest for perfection, is there really
no perfection? Is it all kept behind
a frosted veil? Could “perfection”
all be an illusion? Are we playing
CCI-USA
in a no-win situation? It is
interesting that even Bobby Fisher
reportedly quipped, “I think it’s
almost definitely that the game is a
draw technically”. Yet, fight on, in
our illusion of the perfect game.
And seeking the perfect chess set
or the perfect figurine is what
some of us humans seem to do.
For some reason (and maybe it
is appropriate to speculate, due to
the interesting battle between
“good and evil” on this glass
chessboard, and the chessboard of
life), I am reminded of the possible
biblical allegory of Satan and a
Charismatic New Testament Fel-
low in the desert. It was there (in a
Desert named “Wanting”) that
Satan supposedly tempted that
interesting individual (and perhaps
ONE OF A KIND CHESS SETS THROUGH THE YEARS
Many of you are perhaps
familiar with my book Vintage
Chess Sets of the United States. That
book details many of the chess sets
that were manufactured and/or
sold over the years in the United
States. The original purpose of the
research behind that book had
been to garner information on
chess sets that one could hope to
find while searching in antique
stores, thrift shops or other
outlets, such as the internet. As a
result, however, one critical, but
unspoken, criteria for a company
or chess set to be included in the
book was that the design/set had
to have been manufactured in
some sort of quantity. After all,
what would be the purpose of
including a chess set where so few
mankind) with all of the treasures
of the earth. That is, the physical
treasures would be ours if we
would just kneel down before this
Jester of a Devilish entity. Well,
as some of you might know, that
one Historical Person (in this likely
allegory) reportedly turned down
the invitation. However, it seems that
I, myself, am weak in my own ways –
especially to this tempting and fragile
masterful work of art! So be it. I will
admit to the frailties (and wonders) of
human nature and the human spirit! I
look forward to my near-future
acquisition.
As for this particular intriguing
glass figurine, my own guess is that
somewhere in the corners of that
skyward land, with pillowing white
puffs scattered here and there…
By Duncan Pohl
of them – if any – were made that
the chance of finding one was
virtually little more than zero?
However, by the time I had
finished paging through issue after
issue of vintage chess magazines, I
was left struck by the number of
times truly unique and/or one-of-
a-kind chess sets had graced the
pages and covers of these
magazines, such as Chess Life.
Some designs likely never
existed beyond the imagination of
their designer. Some may have
gotten as far as having a prototype
or model built of the design. But
most designers and/or their
designs probably never went any
further. But, somehow, many of
the designs seem deserving of
12
behind those imaginary Pearly
Gates…, a frosted glass lost pawn
cries out to be found. (Word has it
that a scheming, squirrel-like figure
placed it there). And there you
have it. I end my collecting days
and ways – (until the next “gotta
have it” chess paraphernalia
reaches out and tortures my
soul…)!
On a final note, if any of you
should know the reason behind the
“missing piece”, this missing link
would appreciate learning about it
(as well as your source of
information – assuming the source
is a reliable one). A pint of maple
syrup may also head your way.
© 2017 John A. Mazzucco
receiving a little more attention
before they are lost forever to
memory. So with this article I
would like to show some of those
truly rare and/or unique chess sets.
Most of the illustrations are
rather crude – we are, after all,
looking at illustrations that were
published as long ago as 50, 60,
perhaps even more than 80 years
ago; but it should still be possible
for the reader to get some idea of
how truly unique many of these
sets were. (Unfortunately, some
design illustrations were just too
poor in quality to be of use and
had to be rejected). But what
follows, I believe, are some good
examples of the unique and one-
of-a-kind chess sets that appeared
over the years.
13
The illustration above, along with the letter recreated below, originally appeared in the Chess Review, July 1950, page 194.
New Designs
According to your Readers’
Forum, December, 1949, Paul Reps
of Los Angeles, wants to see new
designs in chessmen. Perhaps he
would like to see mine (above)
They are rather simple in
design, so I simply cast thirty-two
blocks of plaster of paris (1¼” on
a side) and carved them out. I
stained those which were to be the
Black pieces and varnished all to
finish them. Then I glued squares
of felt to the bottoms to make
playing easy and noiseless.
The base of all the pieces and
Pawns consists of a rectangular
block 1¼ by 1¼ by ½ inches.
Atop this, I placed a semi-sphere
on all but the Knights. For the
Pawns, this was all I used. For the
Kings I surmounted the semi-
sphere with a small disc, to give
the piece a semblance of a small
crown. The Queen has eight
horizontal bars, radiating from the
center. If one has a good
imagination, he can see the spiked
crown the Queen ears in diagrams
that you use in Chess Review. The
Rooks have boars, like the
Queens’, but they are only four in
number. The Bishops have four
bars also but those follow the
diagonals of the square base. The
Knights, as in the Staunton pattern
and in their moves, are distinctive
from the rest. On their square
bases, I placed octagons. If you
haven’t noticed yet, you will find
that the design of each piece
depicts its movement. Queen,
Rook and Bishop have bars
running in the directions that they
travel. The Knight’s move (you
have to have a good imagination
for this one) is shown by the fact
that he can go from the small hole
One of a Kind Chess Setts
in the center of the octagon to any
of the eight sides.
This chess set has more
advantages than just a new design.
The simplicity of molding this type
in plastic would make these sets
cheaper. And the beginner will
have less trouble defining and
remembering the moves of the
pieces, especially the Knights.
The only disadvantage that I
have found so far is that, if you
want a King five inches tall, you
need a board over four feet on a
side. (Unless you increase the
other dimensions only slightly,
turning my semi-spheres into semi-
oblate ellipsoids.)
On the whole, I am pretty
proud of the set and I would like
yours and your readers’ opinions
on it.
Paul H. Johnson
Denver, Colorado
CCI-USA 14

The illustration above, and the accompanying letter recreated below, was evidently in response to the chess set
design previously submitted to the Chess Review magazine of July 1950 by Paul H. Johnson (see the chess design
and letter appearing on the previous page). This design and letter appeared in the April 1951
Chess Review, and was submitted by a Mrs. P. Sullivan-Minot.

Modern Chessmen Again
Paul H. Johnson’s ‘Modern
Chessmen’ in your Readers Forum of
July, 1950 (page 194) has inspired
me to submit one of my designs
for consideration and comment. I
believe the lines of my pieces
create an appearance of dynamism,
which is absent in Mr. Johnson’s
set, and which is, perhaps only to
me, an important element of a
well-designed set.
Anyone can make himself this
set quite easily. He has only to
purchase a roll of fairly heavy, yet
flexible, copper wire and then
fashion it into the forms which I
have sketched, with as many
modifications as he chooses. With
a soldering iron, he may fix the
wires ends to a base of metal,
wood, soapstone or any other
material. He might use ordinary
checkers as bases and so indulge in
a bit of whimsical symbolism. If
he wants the set to be extra fancy,
and much more expensive[!], he
can use silver wire rather than
copper. This makes a very
handsome set.
Mr. Johnson points out that
each piece’s function is explained
by his logically conceived designs.
A pretty idea, surely, but is it really
of advantage. Most beginners have
no difficulty remembering how the
pieces move. In making his pieces
so explicit, Mr. Johnson has
decreased their ‘graspability’. At
least, the sketch indicates that they
are easier to push than to lift.
Before Mr. Johnson calls me
overly harsh, I’d like to add that I
admire his set very much. It is
thoughtfully planned, clean cut in
appearance and suited to
inexpensive manufacture.
Mrs. P. Sullivan-Minot
New York, N.Y.
15 One of a Kind Chess Sets

The illustration to the right appeared in

the August 1958 Chess Review, page
226, along with the following story:

The Space Age

Latest contribution to the space
age is Cosmic Chess as its inventor
calls the U.S. patent issued to him.
This invention was announced
in the February 1958 Products
Circular of the Small Business
Administration as a modern design
for chess pieces covering the
parallels between this design and
(a) the usual medieval pieces, (b)
the power relations in playing
chess, and (c) the central themes of
science fiction.
Inventor Bob Kenyon of 1827
Oxford Street, Berkeley,
California, feels that playing
science-fictional Cosmic Chess will
help stimulate the intellectual
growth of our nation’s youth by
showing how the development of
mental discipline can be fun as
well as profitable.
“American boys and girls
should certainly be able to learn
logic at the same or earlier age
than Russian school children, and
at the same time learn to think in
terms of the Space Age,” he states.
“After all, if they are
encouraged to learn chess in grade
school in Russia, and a 15 year old
boy [less than 15 actually] can win
the American Chess Champion-
ship in New York [Robert
Fischer], then the game is not for
mental giants but rather is an
exciting means for developing
computers and spaceships. Our manufacturer who can exploit the
greater mental skill on the part of
youth need to experience more sales potential involved.
average people.”
such involvements. Mr. Kenyon offers as a key to
Perhaps the greatest advantage
Rather than long-time chess the accompanying sketches: 1 & 2
of Cosmic Chess is the well
addicts, Cosmic Chess will appeal to top and side view of the King; 3
considered systematic design
new players, science-fiction &4 of the Queen; 5 & 6 of a
which causes participants to
readers, juveniles, and the gift Bishop; 7, 8 & 9 of a Knight; 10 &
identify with space age problems –
market. The inventor is seeking to 11 of a Rook; and 12 & 13 of a
thinking in terms of atoms,
locate a promotional minded Pawn; or ‘Planet’, ‘Spaceship’,
CCI-USA 16

‘Computer’, ‘Spaceman’, ‘Atomic

Pile’ and ‘Missile’, respectively.

The magazine editor then added the

following: “The above was in essence a
‘release’ sent us by Bob Kenyon – on or
about the same time, we received the
following message from E. A. Talley of
St. Louis, Missouri:”

Rome, March 15 [1958, ed] –

(UP) – The ancient and inter-
national game of chess entered a
space-age orbit today.
Arthur Elliott, once an
animator for Walt Disney and now
living in Rome as a portrait
painter, has turned out a “Space
Chess” set in which: the Pawns are
ground-to-air defense rockets; the
Castles are radar towers; the
Bishops are intercontinental
ballistic missiles; the Knights are
space satellites; the Queen is a
space ship; the King is a space
station.
Elliott, a 44 year old artist from
Hollywood, said his ideas for
Space Age chessmen were more
than just a stunt.
“I’m a chess-player myself,” he
said, “and I aimed at designing
pieces which would carry out the
centuries-old form of chessmen,
whether they be English or French
or Chinese.”
The Californian pointed out
that the shape and style of
chessmen had changed through
out the ages to fit new
developments in instruments of
war and politics “because Chess is
a game of strategy like war or
politics.”
“Once there were chessmen
designed as fortifications like the
castle, and armed men, like the
Knight or the Pawns,” Elliott said,
“Now we think in terms of rockets
and sputniks and ultimate
weapons, and there is no reason
why chess pieces cannot interpret
those ideas.”
Chess collectors familiar with Arthur
Elliott’s ‘Universum’ chess design from
the Italian company, Anri (example
shown above) may be struck by the
coincidence of how both space age
designs – Cosmic Chess and the
Universum – just happened to appear
simultaneously in the same issue of
Chess Review.
But, perhaps, they weren’t the first
‘space age’ chess designs to appear in
the pages of Chess Review? Could this
chess design (below), which appeared
exactly one year earlier – in the August
1957 Chess Review – also be
considered a ‘space age’ design?

A Twentieth Century Chess Design by sculptor-designer John Fetler of Colorado Springs, Colorado,
for a ‘stream-lined’ and functional chess set.
17 One of a Kind Chess Sets

The set pictured to the right appeared

on the cover of the March 1963 Chess
Review with the following
description/letter:
From time to time there have
appeared different chess sets on
the pages of Chess Review. On the
strength of this I am enclosing
some photographs of a newly
created set that is most unusual.
Fashioned by Robert L.
Rosenwald, a New York artist and
sculptor, the pieces depicted are
delightful in their simplicity. They
are unique in that all of them came
from his studio workshop. Thee
Pawn is an ordinary oval-head
screw; the Castle, a carriage bolt;
the Knight, a screen door latch; the
Bishop, a hook-eye (to receive the
door latch); the Queen is a lag bolt’
and the King is a turn-buckle cut
in half with a wing-nut crown! All
are mounted in simple drawer pulls
– the only items of purchase.
The Black pieces are painted
flat black; the White men are left in
their original bright finish. It is a
very playable set and demonstrates
what can be done in the way of
creative effort with items of every
day use.
Julius Rosenwald 2nd

From the July 1967 Chess Review

page 214 [right]
The Ligoa Duncan Gallery at
43 East 89th Street in New York
City announces the acquisition of a
huge “Cowboys vs. Indians” chess
set featuring handcast aluminum
pieces thirty inches tall cavorting
on a board fifteen feet square. We
are told that that chess playing is
encouraged at the gallery following
the European practice of the ‘walk-
around chess games’ where ‘the
winner plays a challenger from the
audience.’
CCI-USA 18

From the May 1969 Chess Review sets I recently designed. The top is beautiful and playable set. I feel
made of brass; the lower, wood the bottom one lends itself
Bob Rosenwald says of our turned on a lathe – my first serious admirably to a production line –
cover sets this month: “Enclosed attempt in some years to design a perhaps in a high quality plastic.”
are photos of two different chess
 UPDATE ON THE IVORY BAN
If the Trump administration
genuinely wanted to straighten out
the ivory mess, WHY on Earth
would they start by tinkering with
the sport hunting exemption, of all
things?!
As of this writing, the ivory ban
remains stubbornly, stupidly in
place. The U.S. penchant for
simplistic approaches to complex
problems continues unabated. The
only development of note is that,
in November, somewhere in the
murky bowels of the Executive
Branch (we are hard-pressed even
to confirm it was the Fish &
Wildlife Service), some genius had
the bright idea to encourage rich
white hunters to go to Africa and
pay lots of money to slaughter
elephants, under the argument that
this would somehow help save the
species.
We are all quite familiar with
this old conservation argument; it
is hardly a new one. The idea that
elephants must sometimes be shot
- by someone other than poachers
- usually takes in a number of
reasons. Elephants are killed 1) as
part of legal culls to control herd
sizes; 2) as the inevitable outcome
of most human-elephant conflicts,
which are becoming increasingly
common as human breeding and
habitation continue to encroach on
the animals' natural rangeland; 3)
to contain outbreaks of disease; or
4) mercy killings for very old or
injured animals in pain.
Here is the fifth reason that
occasionally gets trotted out.
Wealthy hunters pay good money
in licensing fees that go, we are
certain (in Africa's corruption-free
system) 100 percent into
conservation programs. Doubtless
a trophy elephant would, if it
could, take great comfort in the
knowledge that its entire species
was sure to benefit from the
speeding bullet that was about to
blow its brains out. Wouldn't you?
(If you're going to kill me, would
you please have the decency to
write out a check first, made
payable to others of my kind?)
Never mind that bringing in
sport-hunted trophies was
ALREADY legal as part of the
Obama-era regulations that went
into force in 2016. (For two
animals per year, at least. The
prior limit was, as many animals as
you feel like killing.) But
apparently, it wasn't quite legal to
do this from the country of
Zimbabwe in particular, due to
Zimbabwe's allegedly poor herd
management. So, by all means,
let's reopen Zimbabwe for
business, and send in the safaris to
bring home some dead elephants.
The sheer amounts of money
these Great White Hunters have to
shell out for the privilege will
certainly help replenish the coffers
of conservation in that country, it
was reasoned. (Although Trump
himself is not a big game hunter, it
is apparently among the favorite
pastimes of his two sons, Eric and
Don Jr., who are sometimes wont
to have their pictures taken
holding elephant body parts and
bloody knives.)
The blatant hypocrisy of telling
poor, starving Africans they can go
to jail for killing an elephant, and
then having them watch their own
government roll out the red carpet
for wealthy white hunters who are
allowed, even encouraged to kill
elephants, and then even
THANKED for their "conser-
vation efforts" to boot, was
noticed by exactly no one in the
Trump administration.
Upon this announcement,
wildlife organizations around the
world immediately went into full-
panic mode, expecting another all-
out war to stop this latest Trump
environmental outrage. And we
are talking about hunting and
killing nothing less than the world's
most beloved megafauna, so public
opinion quickly lined up solidly
behind them.
After a stern talking to by no
doubt, Ivanka, one week later,
Trump miraculously reversed his
own administration's decision to
permit sport-hunted trophies from
Zimbabwe, saying he was not
convinced it would help the
conservation of the species.
So, yet another potential
environmental blunder was
successfully converted into a non-
action. Not bad for the Trump
administration. And yet, the really
head-spinning part of this is, sport
hunting of elephants from most
parts of Africa remains legal under
the Obama-era regs! Although it is
worth noting that the Fish &
Wildlife information page on
sport-hunting elephants is down
while the contents are "under
review." Check it out:
https://www.fws.gov/internati
onal/permits/by-activity/sport-
hunted-trophies-elephants.html
As far as the wider ban is
concerned, Fish & Wildlife
confirms that it remains very much
in place, though there is rarely
much news about enforcement
efforts these days. No action, at
least no coherent action, seems
likely under the Trump adminis-
tration. While Donald Trump's
supporters wait and wait for him
to do the right thing, and his critics
dread the thought of him doing
anything at all, ivory collectors
everywhere (including many chess
collectors) are left in a frustrating
CCI-USA
state of limbo. Not unlike the
elephants themselves.
On the issue of ivory antiques
such as chess sets, nothing at all
has changed.
On a slightly more hopeful
note, I was recently contacted by a
person claiming to be a reporter at
Chess Life, asking about the whole
issue of chess sets and ivory. He
said he was doing an article for
Chess Life, and asked if I would be
available for an interview. I was
excited at the prospect of finally
having this issue raised in the pages
of one of the chess world's most
prestigious publications, with
circulation somewhere north of a
quarter million people. I quickly
sent him a brief summary of my
timeworn pro-legalization argu-
ment. (This will be nothing new to
regular readers of these pages.) In
part, I wrote:
Collecting antique chess sets
has necessarily led me down the
path of the whole ivory debate, as it
has many collectors of everything
from walking sticks to pianos.
Though I am not a wildlife expert, I
have felt just as qualified to
comment as anyone, because the
problem of poaching is obviously
one of HUMAN behavior, not
animal behavior.
MY entire point, which the entire
world seems determined to ignore,
is that bans usually backfire, and it
is the PROPONENTS of the ban
who will indirectly cause the most
elephant blood to be shed in the
long run. Drug gangs in Central
and South America do not kidnap,
torture and behead people because
drugs are legal, cheap, and easy to
get. They do it because the very
ILLEGALITY of drugs puts vast
amounts of profit potential into the
venture for them. We keep reading
about how the poachers in Africa
have wildlife officials there outnum-
bered and outgunned. Sound
familiar?
While poaching should certainly
remain illegal, and illegal shipments
of ivory should always be
uncovered and detained, this will
only fuel more poaching, unless
these enforcement efforts are
joined with a LEGAL market for
ivory, which is the only way to keep
the price down below the level of
attractiveness to poachers.
The kicker is, this legal market
could easily be supplied forever,
without slaughtering a single
elephant, just by using "natural-
death" ivory, which has ALWAYS
been a major source of supply
(even though environmentalists
would have you believe that every
ivory object comes from an illegally-
poached animal).
Which is easier? Poaching an
elephant? Or simply picking up
tusks from the ground where they
drop? And natural-death tusks are
BETTER tusks, to boot. They just
keep growing, getting bigger and
better, throughout the animal's
lifetime. Slaughtering elephants for
their ivory is actually a short-
sighted economic ap-proach.
20
There are already vast warehouses
in Africa, chock-full of natural-death
tusks, along with tusks from legal
culls, etc., just waiting for the day
when ivory is made legal again.
Releasing this material onto the
market would cause the price of
ivory to plummet almost to the
vanishing point.
Aided by easy, cheap DNA
analysis in the field which is now
available to help interdict poachers,
and identify the herds from which
poached ivory is sourced, such a
legal market could make poaching
elephants about as profitable as
selling iceboxes to Eskimos.
There is obviously a lot more
detail we could go into, about how
a legal market for ivory is the only
real way to put the poachers out of
business, but the main point is that
it will never happen under the ban.
The ban can only help the
poachers.
To really and truly save the
elephants, we cannot take a
simplistic, one-size-fits-all ap-
proach, like we did during
Prohibition, which actually caused
alcohol consumption in this country
to skyrocket.
No, we would have much
greater success in defeating the
poachers if we could simply think a
few moves ahead. You know, like
chess players are supposed to do.
I have not heard anything back from
him yet.
Tom Gallegos