Through the Featured Chess Set project, the World Chess Hall of Fame showcases a variety of chess sets throughout the year. These include highlights from our own collection as well as chess sets owned by friends and chess lovers who have special stories to accompany their sets. For more information about how to participate in the Featured Chess Set project, please inquire at the front desk or email Assistant Curator Emily Allred.
July’s Featured Chess Set is on loan from the collection of the World Chess Hall of Fame’s Assistant Curator Emily Allred. She has worked at the institution since 2013 and has curated or co-curated a number of exhibitions including Prized and Played: Highlights from the Jon Crumiller Collection; Jacqueline Piatigorsky: Patron, Player, Pioneer; A Memorable Life: A Glimpse into the Complex Mind of Bobby Fischer; Living Like Kings: The Unexpected Collision of Chess and Hip Hop; Battle on the Board: Chess during World War II; Her Turn: Revolutionary Women of Chess; and the current exhibition Open Files II: Celebrating 5 Years of Collecting.
Mexico
Hand Carved Chess Set
2016
King size: 1 3⁄8 in.
Board: 7 9⁄16 x 7 9⁄16 x ½ in.
Marble
Collection of Emily Allred
The World Chess Hall of Fame (WCHOF) often collaborates with Chess Collectors International, an organization founded in 1984 and dedicated to the study and promulgation of the art and history of chess artifacts. Since the WCHOF’s founding in 2011, the museum has hosted two meetings of the organization’s Western Hemisphere group. Their passion for collecting has inspired WCHOF staff, and many, like Allred, have started their own collections. Allred’s sister bought this set while on a trip to Mexico, and gave it to her as a Christmas gift. The board for the souvenir set has an inscription with the name of its country of origin.
