Program Type: Exhibition

Exhibits Overview

In September of 2021, the WCHOF will celebrate our tenth anniversary in Saint Louis. When the institution moved from Miami to Saint Louis, it already boasted a collection of over 163 chess sets. However, through the generosity of numerous donors as well as some purchases, it has increased to include over 1200 sets  from over 65 countries. Since our opening, we have hosted numerous exhibitions blending chess with art, history, and popular culture. Among these have been many shows featuring chess sets from our collection and those from lenders around the United States and the world. Pawns & Passports: Chess Sets from Around the Globe includes highlights from the diverse chess set collection of the World Chess Hall of Fame (WCHOF). Through this display, we hope to give visitors the opportunity to “travel” around the world from our gal-lery. We also would like to highlight the stories these sets tell, both through their imagery and the stories of how they traveled from their places of origin to our location in Saint Louis.

Chess History

Since chess’s creation, people of different regions have transformed the pieces to reflect their own cultures and history. While the pieces originally reflected units in the Indian military, replete with chariots, cavalry, elephants, and military advisors, European chess set creators later included pieces like bishops and queens, reflective of their own political structures. In 1849, the Staunton-style chess set was introduced to the public. Though it has since become the standard set for tournament play around the world, people still create sets with unique imagery. Some are meant more for display rather than for play and their appearances draw from stories, history, or local artistic traditions. The sets on view in Pawns & Passports have diverse stories. Many are local variations on playing sets, while others are pieces produced as souvenirs. We invite you to learn more about them through this selection of activities.

Connection to WCHOF Mission

The WCHOF is dedicated to interpreting the game of chess and its continuing cultural and artistic significance. Chess, with its opposing sides and rich history, has proven an attractive arena for artists and creators to explore different imagery and stories. As chess has spread around the world, it has attracted the attention of artists and creators who have made sets that incorporate themes and stories from their own cultures.

Keith Haring: Radiant Gambit features artwork by Haring, a world-renowned pop artist known for his art that proliferated in the New York subway system during the early 1980s. The exhibition includes a never-before-seen private collection of Haring’s works and photographs of the artist, bespoke street art chess sets from Purling London and newly-commissioned pieces by Saint Louis artists, all paying homage to the late pop culture icon.

Keith Haring (1958-1990) emerged as the shooting star of the New York art scene in the 1980s. Becoming world famous almost overnight, his simply drawn figures were soon to be found on watches and cars, T-shirts, and shopping bags, turning Haring into one of the best- known artists of his generation.

He was born in Reading, Pennsylvania, on May 4, 1958, and was raised in nearby Kutztown. As a child, Haring developed a love for drawing. He was fascinated by the cartoon art of Walt Disney and Charles Schultz and the illustrations of Dr. Seuss. He graduated from high school in 1976 and studied at the Ivy School of Art in Pittsburgh, a commercial arts school. After dropping out, after two semesters, he continued to create art and had a solo exhibition at the Pittsburgh Arts and Crafts Center in 1978.

In 1978, Haring moved to New York City to attend the School of Visual Arts. He then discovered a thriving alternative art community that was developing outside of the formal museum and gallery setting but rather in the streets of downtown New York, clubs, and the subways. He became friends with fellow artists Kenny Scharf and Jean-Michel Basquiat, musicians such as Madonna, and other performance and graffiti artists who comprised the burgeoning art community. Haring thrived with this crowd and energy and began exhibiting in and organizing exhibitions and performances in alternative spaces.

In addition to being impressed by the innovation and energy of his contemporaries, Haring was also inspired by the work of Jean Dubuffet, Pierre Alechinsky, William Burroughs, Brion Gysin, and Robert Henri’s manifesto The Art Spirit, which asserted the fundamental independence of the artist. With these influences Haring was able to push his own youthful impulses toward a singular kind of graphic expression based on the primacy of the line. Also drawn to the public and participatory nature of Christo’s work, in particular Running Fence, and by Andy Warhol’s unique fusion of art and life, Haring was determined to devote his career to creating a truly public art.

In 1980, Haring received public attention with his public art in subways. He had found a highly effective medium that allowed him to communicate his work with a wider audience, and he created white chalk drawings on the unused advertising panels covered with matte black paper in subway stations. He considered the subways to be his “laboratory.” Between 1980 and 1985, he produced hundreds of these “subway drawings.” His signature images included dancing figures, a “radiant baby” (a crawling infant emitting rays of light), a barking dog, a flying saucer, large hearts, and figures with televisions for heads. These graffiti drawings became familiar to New York commuters, who would often stop to engage with the artist. He also attracted the attention of the city authorities which arrested him for vandalism on numerous occasions.

Between 1980 and 1989, Haring achieved international recognition and participated in numerous group and solo exhibitions. His first solo exhibition in New York was held at the Westbeth Painters Space in 1981. In 1982, he made his Soho gallery debut with an immensely popular and highly acclaimed one-man exhibition at the Tony Shafrazi Gallery. During this period, he also participated in renowned international survey exhibitions such as Documenta 7 in Kassel, the Sao Paulo Biennial, and the Whitney Biennial. Haring completed numerous public projects in the first half of the 1980s as well, ranging from an animation for the Spectacolor billboard in Times Square, designing sets and backdrops for theaters and clubs, developing watch designs for Swatch and an advertising campaign for Absolut vodka; and creating murals worldwide.

In 1986, Haring opened a retail store called the Pop Shop in Soho, New York in order to provide people greater access to his art at a low price point. The shop sold T-shirts, posters, magnets, toys, and buttons bearing his images. Haring believed that the entire shop was a piece of his art and painted black and white murals throughout the entire space.

Throughout his career, Haring devoted much of his time to public works, which often carried social messages. He produced more than 50 public artworks between 1982 and 1989, in dozens of cities around the world, many of which were created for charities, hospitals, children’s day care centers and orphanages. The now famous Crack is Wack mural of 1986 has become a landmark along New York’s FDR Drive. Other projects include: a mural created for the 100th anniversary of the Statue of Liberty in 1986, on which Haring worked with 900 children; a mural on the exterior of Necker Children’s Hospital in Paris, France, in 1987; and a mural painted on the western side of the Berlin Wall three years before its fall. Haring also held drawing workshops for children in schools and museums in New York, Amsterdam, London, Tokyo, and Bordeaux, and produced imagery for many literacy programs and other public service campaigns.

Throughout his brief career, Haring was featured in more than a hundred solo and group exhibitions and produced more than 50 public artworks in cities around the world many of which were created for charities, orphanages, hospitals and children’s day care centers. He also designed around 85 posters. These included advertisements for exhibitions of his own work as well as cultural events or political issues. Haring’s drawings themselves incorporate the clear cut lines and reduced features needed for effective posters, which have to stand out and be understood at a glance. The uni-colored backgrounds help to make the outlined figures and drawings even clearer. The content of the advertisement is apparent in the illustration — the text being of secondary importance. Haring’s colorful posters, with their precise pictorial language, direct messages, and universal appeal, still exert an incomparable fascination on us to this day.

Haring was socially conscious, and his murals often reflected his position on social issues. He sought to raise awareness of AIDS and fought against the proliferation of illegal drugs.

In 1988, he was diagnosed with AIDS. The following year, he created the Keith Haring Foundation in order to raise awareness of AIDS and to provide funding to AIDS organizations and children’s programs, which is still in operation today. They continue to promote his artwork and his messages through the support of exhibitions, like this one at the World Chess Hall of Fame, various publications, and the licensing of his images.

Keith Haring died of AIDS-related complications on February 16, 1990, at the age of 31. During his very brief career his work was featured in over 100 solo and group exhibitions. In 1986 alone, he was the subject of more than 40 newspaper and magazine articles. He was highly sought after to participate in collaborative projects, and worked with artists and performers as diverse as Madonna, Grace Jones, Bill T. Jones, William Burroughs, Timothy Leary, Jenny Holzer, Yoko Ono, and Andy Warhol.

By expressing universal concepts of birth, death, love, sex, and war, using a primacy of line and directness of message, Haring was able to attract a wide audience and assure the accessibility and staying power of his imagery, which has become a universally recognized visual language of the 20th and 21st centuries. His work is part of significant private and public collections including the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the Art Institute of Chicago, the Musee Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, the Carnegie Museum of Art, The Andy Warhol Museum, and the Stedelijk. His murals still exist throughout the world.

By Shannon Bailey, Chief Curator.

Special thanks to the Keith Haring Foundation and Katharine Wright, PhD, for providing content for this biography.

Downloads

Keith Haring: Radiant Gambit Activity Book:

Stan Chisolm Coloring Section:

Dail Chambers Coloring Section:

Edo Rosenblith Activity:

Peat “EYEZ” Wollaeger Activity:

Single Source Travelling Exhibition organized by: Pan Art Connections Inc. www.pan-art-connections.com

Keith Haring: Radiant Gambit is supported by the Missouri Arts Council, a state agency.

Press

6/11/2021: St. Louis Magazine — Congratulations, A-List 2021 winners and finalists!

5/16/2021: Insider Hook — A New Exhibit Offers a Comprehensive Overview of Keith Haring’s Art

5/15/2021: Hyperallergic — The Darker Side of Keith Haring

5/13/2021: KSDK — Keith Haring art on display in St. Louis

5/12/2021: River Front Times — St. Louis’ World Chess Hall of Fame Hosting Massive Keith Haring Exhibit

5/11/2021: CWE Scene — “Keith Haring: Radiant Gambit” Closing Reception

4/15/2021: Artvoice — World Chess Hall of Fame Celebrates Keith Haring

4/13/2021: Artlyst — Keith Haring: Personal Spiritual Imagery – Revd Jonathan Evens

4/10/2021: Peace and Love Lifestyle — Upcoming Chess Prodigies

4/8/2021: Stuck At The Airport — THE PLACES WE’LL GO: WORLD CHESS HALL OF FAME

4/1/2021: American Towns — St. Louis Featured Events – Exhibition – Keith Haring: Radiant Gambit

4/1/2021: Newsbreezer — Keith Haring also performed her famous street chess in the Hall of Fame Chess Players

3/29/2021: Art Daily — World Chess Hall of Fame exhibition celebrates the legacy of Keith Haring

3/25/2021: CWE Scene — 5 Things To Do In The CWE This Weekend: March 25-28

3/11/2021: Stay Happening — Curator Tour: “Keith Haring: Radiant Gambit” and “Masterminds: Chess Prodigies”

1/15/2021: Fox 2 News — Pop artist Keith Haring exhibit now on display at the St. Louis World Chess Hall of Fame

1/14/2021: travelandleisure.com — Art and Chess Combine at the World Chess Hall of Fame’s Incredible Keith Haring Exhibit

1/14/2021: STL Magazine — https://www.stlmag.com/culture/radiant-gambit-world-chess-hall-of-fame-k…

1/7/2021: fordors.com — Loveœ”The Queen’s Gambit”? Then You Might Like These 7 Places

1/7/2021: choicehotels.com — Top Things to Do with Kids in St. Louis

12/17/2020: HEC TV — Keith Haring: Radiant Gambit at the World Chess Hall of Fame

11/10/2020: New York Times — ‘Queen’s Gambit’ Clothes Make Us Want to Toss Our Leggings

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

December

December’s Featured Chess Set is part of the collection of the World Chess Hall of Fame (WCHOF). Since its creation in 1986, the WCHOF has endeavored to highlight the history and cultural significance of the game of chess. The WCHOF’s collection is diverse and includes sets once owned by legendary players, mass-produced sets with lively pop culture themes, antique ivory sets, travel sets, as well as chess computers. Through these artifacts, the WCHOF illustrates how chess has evolved through its over 1500-year history. This set is part of the museum’s permanent collection.

Maker unknown
Christmas Chess Set
c. late 20th century-early 21st century
King size: 2 ½ in.
Wood
Collection of the World Chess Hall of Fame, gift of Bernice and Floyd Sarisohn

Santa and Mrs. Claus make an appearance in this Christmas-themed chess set. Instead of black and white, the pieces are separated into red and green. Snowmen play the role of pawns, and instead of rooks, Christmas trees have the ability to move forwards, backwards, and sideways. Reindeer are the obvious choice for knights, and mischievous elves act as bishops. Bernice and Floyd Sarisohn gifted the World Chess Hall of Fame with this festive chess set in 2020.

November

November’s Featured Chess Set is a loan from the collection of Libby Fennewald. Her father, Earl Jeffers Ph.D., created the set as one of six heirloom sets for members of his family. Jeffers has a background as an educator, and he was one of the founding members of the Western North Carolina Wood-turners Club. He has given demonstrations on various aspects of how to use a wood lathe.

Earl Jeffers Ph.D.
Heirloom Chess Set 
2019
King size: 4 3/4 in.
Board: 4 x 22 x 22 in.
Walnut, maple, and birch
Collection of Libby Fennewald

This handsome Staunton-style chess set has weighted pieces and a beautiful chessboard complete with a drawer for storing its pieces between games. Earl Jeffers Ph.D., the creator of the chess set, wrote a book documenting how to make the chess set and board at the urging of his family after producing his first heirloom chess set. Titled Designing and Crafting an Heirloom Chess Set (2020), the book includes step-by-step instructions along with photographs, showing how to make a set of one’s own. He has also produced an abridged version of the book titled Creating a Classic Chess Set: Easy Step Procedures for Success (2020). Both are available for purchase in Q Boutique if you would like to learn more about how to make your own keepsake chess set.

October

October’s Featured Chess Set is part of the collection of the World Chess Hall of Fame (WCHOF). Since its creation in 1986, the WCHOF has endeavored to highlight the history and cultural significance of the game of chess. The WCHOF’s collection is diverse and includes sets once owned by legendary players, mass-produced sets with lively pop culture themes, antique ivory sets, travel sets, as well as chess computers. Through these artifacts, the WCHOF illustrates how chess has evolved through its over 1500-year history. This set is part of the museum’s permanent collection.

TrixtrDesign
Pumpkin Chess Set
2020
King size: 2 ⅞ in.
3D printed plastic
Collection of the World Chess Hall of Fame

Halloween is a time of mystery; one can disguise oneself and become something completely different. These orange and white chess pieces are dressed as pumpkins for Halloween, and they offer a seasonal opportunity to play a game of chess. The stalks of each pumpkin retain the shape of their respective chess piece, ensuring that although these chess pieces are in disguise, no confusion is necessary. Some people may think that chess is a trick, but playing with this chess set is undoubtedly a trea

September

September’s Featured Chess Set is part of the collection of the World Chess Hall of Fame (WCHOF). Since its creation in 1986, the WCHOF has endeavored to highlight the history and cultural significance of the game of chess. The WCHOF’s collection is diverse and includes sets once owned by legendary players, mass-produced sets with lively pop culture themes, antique ivory sets, travel sets, as well as chess computers. Through these artifacts, the WCHOF illustrates how chess has evolved through its over 1500-year history. This month’s set is part of the museum’s permanent collection, and was selected in connection with the museum’s 10th anniversary in Saint Louis, which it celebrates on September 9, 2021.

Chess Craft Trade House
Dessert Chess Set
c. 2020
King size: 2 in.
Board: 15/16 x 9 x 9 in.
Pine and birch wood, acrylic paint, felt, and plastic
Collection of the World Chess Hall of Fame

What better way to celebrate the tenth anniversary of the World Chess Hall of Fame being in Saint Louis than a festive cake and ice cream-themed chess set? Chess Craft Trade House, which has been producing chess sets for nearly 90 years, created this set. The company, which began as a small cooperative of artists, today makes a wide variety of games, including chess, backgammon, and checkers. Some are decorated in traditional folk motifs, while others like this set, feature more contemporary themes.

August

August’s Featured Chess Set is part of the collection of the World Chess Hall of Fame (WCHOF). Since its creation in 1986, the WCHOF has endeavored to highlight the history and cultural significance of the game of chess. The WCHOF’s collection is diverse and includes sets once owned by legendary players, mass-produced sets with lively pop culture themes, antique ivory sets, travel sets, as well as chess computers. Through these artifacts, the WCHOF illustrates how chess has evolved through its over 1500-year history. This set is part of the museum’s permanent collection.

Heartland Publishing Services
Authors Chess Set
2007
King size: 4 in.
Board: 3 11/16 x 15 ⅛ x 17 in.
Resin, wood, and leather
Collection of the World Chess Hall of Fame

On August 10, 2021, Missouri will celebrate its bicentennial, and a number of organizations around the state will celebrate its culture and history. Missouri can boast a number of famous writers, among them Maya Angelou, T.S. Eliot, Laura Ingalls Wilder, Langston Hughes, and Tennesee Williams. However, in this chess set, Mark Twain reigns as king among a number of other 19th-century writers. Born Samuel Clemens in 1835, Twain’s childhood in Hannibal, Missouri, would provide him with material for two classic books—The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.

King: Mark Twain

Queen: Emily Dickenson

Bishops: Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Knights: Edgar Allan Poe

Rooks: Walt Whitman

Pawns: Stack of books

July

July’s Featured Chess Set is part of the collection of the World Chess Hall of Fame (WCHOF). Since its creation in 1986, the WCHOF has endeavored to highlight the history and cultural significance of the game of chess. The WCHOF’s collection is diverse and includes sets once owned by legendary players, mass-produced sets with lively pop culture themes, antique ivory sets, travel sets, as well as chess computers. Through these artifacts, the WCHOF illustrates how chess has evolved through its over 1500-year history. This set is part of the museum’s permanent collection.

Jamie T. Cridge
White vs. Pink Shapes
2021
King size: 1 5/16 in.
Board: ¾ x 13 ⅞ x 13 ⅞ in.
3D printed plastic
Collection of the World Chess Hall of Fame

If you could design your own chess set, how would you represent each of the pieces? In this creative set, high school student Jamie T. Cridge transforms the chess pieces into a variety of unusual shapes. As an aspiring engineer, she designed this set  to teach beginners the numerical value of each piece by making each piece a polygon with the number of sides correlating with the value of the piece.  For example, the one-point pawn is a circle, the three-point knight is a triangle, the five-point rook is a pentagon, and since the king is “priceless,” it is represented on the board as a swirl, an open polygon with no sides.  While this set is an excellent resource for beginners learning to play the game, experts will enjoy the set’s unique design as well.

June

June’s Featured Chess Set is on loan to the World Chess Hall of Fame from artist Erin King. King is a multidisciplinary artist working primarily in fiber-based processes. She is driven by the social responsibility of the individual as well as the strength and interconnectedness found in community. She received her Master’s of Fine Arts in Studio Art with an Emphasis in Fibers in May 2019. King was Fiber Artist-in-Residence at Craft Alliance in Saint Louis from July through December 2019. In addition to working as a Gallery Attendant at the World Chess Hall of Fame, she works as a Direct Support Professional at Fine Line Studios in Bridgeton, MO. She also teaches fiber art classes and workshops through Craft Alliance and Perennial St. Louis.

Erin King
Freedom of Assembly
2020-21
King size: 3 ⅝ in.
Board: 18 x 18 ½ in.
Needle-felted wool roving, decommissioned U.S. flag, and magnets
Courtesy of the artist

This chess set consists of 52 felt chess pieces and a red and white chess board woven from the stripes from a deconstructed retired U.S. Flag. The pieces on the board are arranged in a Horde chess variant, in which 36 pawns attempt to defeat the standard set with its powerful pieces. Inspiration for this piece comes from the months of nationwide and global protests that took place in 2020.
In Freedom of Assembly, the traditional use of black vs. white is subverted. Here, the “white” side, with its 36 pawns, are felted using a variety of skin tones and heights to bring humanity to the pawns. In doing so, the artist emphasizes that this battle is not one of black vs. white, but a case of unbalanced power as well as strength in numbers.

May

May’s Featured Chess Set is part of the collection of the World Chess Hall of Fame (WCHOF). Since its creation in 1986, the WCHOF has endeavored to highlight the history and cultural significance of the game of chess. The WCHOF’s collection is diverse and includes sets once owned by legendary players, mass-produced sets with lively pop culture themes, antique ivory sets, travel sets, as well as chess computers. Through these artifacts, the WCHOF illustrates how chess has evolved through its over 1500-year history. This set is part of the museum’s permanent collection.

World Chess Hall of Fame Supporters and Nette Robinson
Exploration Blend
2018
King size: 4 1/8 in.
Board: 21 5/8 x 21 5/8 in.
Boxwood, leather, acrylic paint, and lacquer
Collection of the World Chess Hall of Fame, gift of Purling London

Exploration Blend was created by special supporters and friends of the World Chess Hall of Fame during a workshop led by artist Nette Robinson on August 23, 2018. The set, which is inspired by the theme of warm and cool colors, is accompanied by a board painted by Robinson. Each participant got to customize a chess piece. The event occured in conjunction with the World Chess Hall of Fame’s exhibition Painted Pieces: Art Chess from Purling London (April 12 – September 16, 2018).

April

April’s Featured Chess Set is part of the collection of the World Chess Hall of Fame (WCHOF). Since its creation in 1986, the WCHOF has endeavored to highlight the history and cultural significance of the game of chess. The WCHOF’s collection is diverse and includes sets once owned by legendary players, mass-produced sets with lively pop culture themes, antique ivory sets, travel sets, as well as chess computers. Through these artifacts, the WCHOF illustrates how chess has evolved through its over 1500-year history. This set is part of the museum’s permanent collection.

Maker unknown
Winnie the Pooh Chess Set
Date unknown
King size: 1 ½ in.
Board: 10 x 10 in.
Pewter, marble, and wood
Collection of the World Chess Hall of Fame

The inhabitants of the Hundred Acre Woods act as chess pieces in this nostalgic chess set. A.A. Milne’s legendary characters have sparked children’s imaginations for almost a century. In 1926, Milne wrote Winnie the Pooh, the first of many books telling the story of Pooh’s adventures in the Hundred Acre Woods. In this chess set, Pooh’s next adventure is a game of chess with his friends, including Piglet, Kanga, Roo, Owl, Eeyore, and Tigger.

March

March’s Featured Chess Set is part of the collection of the World Chess Hall of Fame (WCHOF). Since its creation in 1986, the WCHOF has endeavored to highlight the history and cultural significance of the game of chess. The WCHOF’s collection is diverse and includes sets once owned by legendary players, mass-produced sets with lively pop culture themes, antique ivory sets, travel sets, as well as chess computers. Through these artifacts, the WCHOF illustrates how chess has evolved through its over 1500-year history. This set is part of the museum’s permanent collection.

Maker unknown
Nautical Chess Set
Date unknown
King size: 4 in.
Wood
Collection of the World Chess Hall of Fame, gift of Bernice and Floyd Sarisohn

A game of chess with this set takes place at sea. The pawns are weathered sailors, obeying the orders of their captains, the bishops of the chessboard. Buoys are the rooks of this chess set, and dolphins play the role of the knight. The king of the chessboard is the Greek god of the sea, Poseidon, and his queen is an enigmatic mermaid. Bernice and Floyd Sarisohn kindly donated this nautical chess set to the World Chess Hall of Fame, adding to our collection of quirky and unique chess sets.

February

February’s Featured Chess Set is part of the collection of the World Chess Hall of Fame (WCHOF). Since its creation in 1986, the WCHOF has endeavored to highlight the history and cultural significance of the game of chess. The WCHOF’s collection is diverse and includes sets once owned by legendary players, mass-produced sets with lively pop culture themes, antique ivory sets, travel sets, as well as chess computers. Through these artifacts, the WCHOF illustrates how chess has evolved through its over 1500-year history. This set is a generous donation to the World Chess Hall of Fame from Nina Tsypina.

Nina Tsypina and Matvey Solovyev
Thimble Chess Set
Date unknown
King size: 2 ¾ in.
Metal, wood, and felt

Collection of the World Chess Hall of Fame, In memory of Matvey Solovyev, 1932-2020
This imaginative set features thimbles stacked, bent, and cut into the forms of chess pieces. Nina Tsypina and Matvey Solovyev created the set together. The couple immigrated to the United States from Moscow in 1996. While attending the Metropolitan Opera in New York, they saw an image of a chess set in the program, and they were inspired to create sets of their own, though they did not have backgrounds as artists. They often shopped for materials at toy stores. Together they made around 35 chess sets from materials as diverse as bells, dolls, and toothbrushes.

January

January’s Featured Chess Set is part of the collection of the World Chess Hall of Fame (WCHOF). Since its creation in 1986, the WCHOF has endeavored to highlight the history and cultural significance of the game of chess. The WCHOF’s collection is diverse and includes sets once owned by legendary players, mass-produced sets with lively pop culture themes, antique ivory sets, travel sets, as well as chess computers. Through these artifacts, the WCHOF illustrates how chess has evolved through its over 1500-year history. This set is part of the museum’s permanent collection.

Daniel Wilson
Rock vs. Country vs. Opera Chess Set
1984
King size: Rock: 6 ½ in.; Country: 6 ½ in.; Opera: 6 in.
Plaster
Collection of the World Chess Hall of Fame, gift of the family of Harvey and Teddi Robbins

This dynamic chess set uses musicians from different genres of music to represent a three-sided chess game. The white pieces are made up of opera singers, sophisticated guests, and symphony musicians. Black represents cowboy hats, acoustic guitars, and southern twang––in other words, country music. Silver’s pieces are fans of rock ‘n’ roll, crooning their way across the board. Opera enthusiasts, die-hard country fans, and hippie rock ‘n’ rollers compete in this chess set full of musical references.

Organized for the second Cairns Cup, this exhibition contains highlights related to women’s chess from the collection of the World Chess Hall of Fame (WCHOF). Among the artifacts are objects related to important moments in women’s chess history, including Women’s World Chess Championships, Women’s Chess Olympiads, and many U.S. national championships held at the Saint Louis Chess Club (STLCC). Several of the artifacts are related to competitors in the tournament, including Grandmasters Valentina Gunina, Alexandra Kosteniuk, Irina Krush and Woman Grandmaster Carissa Yip.

Inspired by its mission to further promote the game of chess to women and girls, the STLCC created the Cairns Cup, a nine-round classical chess tournament that brings together one of the strongest international fields ever assembled in women’s chess with one of the largest prize funds for an all-female tournament. The tournament is named in honor of STLCC co-founder Dr. Jeanne Cairns Sinquefield, whose maiden name is Cairns. In addition to being the co-founder of the Club, Jeanne also played an instrumental role in creating the Scouts BSA Chess Merit Badge, which has been earned by over 170,000 scouts.

Artifacts Featured in the Exhibition

Power in Check: Chess and the American Presidency showcases a variety of politically-themed chess sets from the World Chess Hall of Fame’s permanent collection. This redux of 2012’s exhibition offers a look at how the “royal game” of chess has fascinated American presidents for over 200 years.

Chess has influenced the American presidency since the administration of George Washington. While a game replete with Kings and Queens might at first seem antithetical to democratic leadership, commanders-in-chief have continually appreciated chess’ practical benefits and cultural significance, playing to escape the pressures of a stressful job, hosting successful players from around the world, and utilizing the game as a metaphor for larger national and international issues.

Dare to Know: Chess in the Age of Reason showcases numerous chess sets, books, artwork, and other artifacts representing Enlightenment centers in Europe and the United States. Chess sets belonging to famous historical figures from the era, including Catherine the Great and Madame Tussaud, will be on view alongside humble playing sets and a display related to the “Mechanical Turk,” a famed chess-playing automaton.

Dare to Know: Chess in the Age of Reason

During the Enlightenment era, European and American scientists, philosophers, and other thinkers questioned the status quo, promoting ideas that would help shape today’s society.  Intellectuals gathered in new public spaces–cafes, coffee shops, salons, and masonic halls–to discuss new ideas. Some dared to challenge the power of monarchs and question organized religion. Many thinkers promoted values of tolerance, interest in other cultures, rationalism, and liberty. At the same time that there were challenges to the monarchy, chess was transforming from a game played by the aristocracy to one played by people of all social standings. Dare to Know: Chess in the Age of Reason explores the history of the game during this period of remarkable change.

Chess, which was knowledge, foresight, and strategy, naturally became a favored pastime of many of the era’s most famous thinkers, including Voltaire, Denis Diderot, and Jean-Jacques Rousseau in France. They took part in the lively social scene that existed in coffee shops such as the legendary Café de la Régence, a renowned chess mecca that attracted philosophes and the best chess players of the era, including François-André Danican Philidor. Dare to Know: Chess in the Age of Reason showcases chess sets, books, artworks, and other artifacts hailing from Enlightenment centers in Europe and what was to become the United States.

Curated by Emily Allred, Curator, World Chess Hall of Fame, with Tom Gallegos

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.

January

January’s Featured Chess Set is part of the collection of the World Chess Hall of Fame (WCHOF). Since its creation in 1986, the WCHOF has endeavored to highlight the history and cultural significance of the game of chess. The WCHOF’s collection is diverse and includes sets once owned by legendary players, mass-produced sets with lively pop culture themes, antique ivory sets, travel sets, as well as chess computers. Through these artifacts, the WCHOF illustrates how chess has evolved through its over 1500-year history.

Born on January 8, 1935, in Tupelo, Mississippi, Elvis Presley is the best-selling solo artist in the history of recorded music. Often referred to as “the king of rock and roll,” Elvis Presley reigns in this chess set. The pawns and knights are references to two of his most famous songs—“Blue Suede Shoes” and “Hound Dog”—which were both released in 1956. The rooks are modeled after Graceland, Elvis’s home in Memphis, Tennessee, which he owned from 1957 until his death in 1977. In 1986, Elvis became part of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame’s first group of inductees.

February

February’s Featured Chess Set is part of the collection of the World Chess Hall of Fame (WCHOF). Since its creation in 1986, the WCHOF has endeavored to highlight the history and cultural significance of the game of chess. The WCHOF’s collection is diverse and includes sets once owned by legendary players, mass-produced sets with lively pop culture themes, antique ivory sets, travel sets, as well as chess computers. Through these artifacts, the WCHOF illustrates how chess has evolved through its over 1500-year history. This set is part of a generous donation from Carol Ruth Silver to the collection of the WCHOF.

This 3d-printed chess set is a replica of a set created by Freedom Rider Carol Ruth Silver. The original, which she donated to the archives of Tougaloo College during the Freedom Riders’ 40th anniversary reunion, is now on view at the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum in Jackson, Mississippi. In 1961, the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) organized Freedom Rides, in which civil rights activists intended to test the enforcement of Boynton v. Virginia (1960), a Supreme Court ruling that stated that racial segregation in interstate bus and rail travel and stations was unconstitutional.

The Freedom Riders faced violence from mobs opposed to desegregation, who were often in collaboration with local police. Many, like Silver, were arrested when they attempted to enter segregated facilities. Silver and other Freedom Riders were sent to the Mississippi State Penitentiary (also known as Parchman Farm), where she served 40 days. She created a chess set from saliva and bread to help pass the time. The dark pieces were colored with blood, and the board was made from a page in a prison-issued Bible. In her book The Freedom Rider Diary: Smuggled Notes From Parchman Prison (2014), Silver described playing chess with an inmate in another cell by shouting the notation for their moves to each other.

March

March’s Featured Chess Set is part of the collection of the World Chess Hall of Fame (WCHOF). Since its creation in 1986, the WCHOF has endeavored to highlight the history and cultural significance of the game of chess. The WCHOF’s collection is diverse and includes sets once owned by legendary players, mass-produced sets with lively pop culture themes, antique ivory sets, travel sets, as well as chess computers. Through these artifacts, the WCHOF illustrates how chess has evolved through its over 1500-year history. This set is part of a generous donation from Gregory Thompson.

In 1849, Nathaniel Cooke created the Staunton chess set, which is today the familiar standard for tournament play. Since the set was created, many designers have imagined alternatives to the set, including the 20th-century artist Man Ray, who created a chess set based upon geometric shapes. Gregory Thompson’s design is a response to both of these famous sets. Called the Zukunft (future) Chess Set, it blends the simplicity of Man Ray’s set with the Staunton set’s interest in historical iconography. The queen and king are geometric shapes which evoke the coronet and cross atop the queen and king in the Staunton style set, while the knight is topped by triangular shapes reminiscent of a horse’s ears. Thompson manufactured the set with a 3D printer at the University City Public Library.

April

April’s Featured Chess Set is part of the collection of the World Chess Hall of Fame (WCHOF). Since its creation in 1986, the WCHOF has endeavored to highlight the history and cultural significance of the game of chess. The WCHOF’s collection is diverse and includes sets once owned by legendary players, mass-produced sets with lively pop culture themes, antique ivory sets, travel sets, as well as chess computers. Through these artifacts, the WCHOF illustrates how chess has evolved through its over 1500-year history.

April’s Featured Chess Set once belonged to Grandmaster William Lombardy, a 2019 inductee to the U.S. Chess Hall of Fame. Born in New York City, William Lombardy helped bring four world championship titles to the United States. Lombardy placed first in the 1957 World Junior Chess Championship, winning all 11 games. Three years later, he led the U.S. team to first place in the World Student Team Chess Championship (1960), scoring 11 wins and two draws. Lombardy also played a critical role as one of Bobby Fischer’s seconds in the 1972 World Chess Championship. He won three U.S. Open Chess Championships in 1963, 1965, and 1975 and played on seven U.S. Chess Olympiad teams between 1958 and 1978, including on the 1976 gold medal winning-team.

May

May’s Featured Chess Set is part of the collection of the World Chess Hall of Fame (WCHOF). Since its creation in 1986, the WCHOF has endeavored to highlight the history and cultural significance of the game of chess. The WCHOF’s collection is diverse and includes sets once owned by legendary players, mass-produced sets with lively pop culture themes, antique ivory sets, travel sets, as well as chess computers. Through these artifacts, the WCHOF illustrates how chess has evolved through its over 1500-year history. May’s Featured Set is a generous donation to the collection of the WCHOF from chess collectors Bill and Barbara Fordney.

The Jeu d’Échecs de Paris Monumental Chess Set features many of the most famous landmarks from the City of Lights. Reigning as king and queen are the Eiffel Tower and the Arc de Triomphe. The bishops are the Panthéon, the final resting place of many of France’s most famous citizens, and Sacre Coeur. The knights are a pair of 18th-century sculptures created by artist Antoine Coysevox for King Louis XIV’s Chateau de Marly and which later overlooked the Tuileries Gardens. Notre Dame and L’Eglise Saint Sulpice, two of the city’s most famous churches, appear as the rooks. The pawns are Wallace Fountains, public drinking fountains donated to the city of Paris by Sir Richard Wallace following the Franco-Prussian War.

June

June’s Featured Chess Set is part of the collection of the World Chess Hall of Fame (WCHOF). Since its creation in 1986, the WCHOF has endeavored to highlight the history and cultural significance of the game of chess. The WCHOF’s collection is diverse and includes sets once owned by legendary players, mass-produced sets with lively pop culture themes, antique ivory sets, travel sets, as well as chess computers. Through these artifacts, the WCHOF illustrates how chess has evolved through its over 1500-year history. This set is part of the museum’s permanent collection.

An anonymous artist captures a military rivalry in clay in this month’s featured chess set. Two leaders, wearing bicorne hats, marshal their soldiers to war in this set. The bicorne became popular as part of European military uniforms in the 1790s, and the two leaders in this set demonstrate the two ways the hat was worn.

July

July’s Featured Chess Set is part of the collection of the World Chess Hall of Fame (WCHOF). Since its creation in 1986, the WCHOF has endeavored to highlight the history and cultural significance of the game of chess. The WCHOF’s collection is diverse and includes sets once owned by legendary players, mass-produced sets with lively pop culture themes, antique ivory sets, travel sets, as well as chess computers. Through these artifacts, the WCHOF illustrates how chess has evolved through its over 1500-year history.

Selected in honor of Canada Day, this chess set features pieces modeled after members of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. The holiday marks the anniversary of the 1867 merging of the country’s original three provinces—Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Canada—into one country. The bases of the pieces are emblazoned with a maple leaf, the national symbol of Canada.

August

Since its creation in 1986, the WCHOF has endeavored to highlight the history and cultural significance of the game of chess. The WCHOF’s collection is diverse and includes sets once owned by legendary players, mass-produced sets with lively pop culture themes, antique ivory sets, travel sets, as well as chess computers. Through these artifacts, the WCHOF illustrates how chess has evolved through its over 1500-year history. August’s Featured Chess Set is on loan from fiber artist Kacey Cowdery.

While working on her BFA at Maryville University, Kacey Cowdery faced the challenge to create a chess set in her senior design class. Students could choose their medium, and she chose fiber. Cowdery states she created the set in 1978, “when fiber was beyond the periphery of acceptable art—unless it pushed into those boundaries with creativity.” A couple of semesters previously, she had used bell peppers as her ‘go-to’ imagery, and thought “why not fall back on it again.” The travel chess set features snap on seeds, with each of the back rank pieces marked with embroidery. Of playing with the set, she states, “My daughter was a rather good player, I was not. I was able to win a few games with her until she became familiar with my stitched code on the play pieces.”

September

September’s Featured Chess Set is part of the collection of the World Chess Hall of Fame (WCHOF). Since its creation in 1986, the WCHOF has endeavored to highlight the history and cultural significance of the game of chess. The WCHOF’s collection is diverse and includes sets once owned by legendary players, mass-produced sets with lively pop culture themes, antique ivory sets, travel sets, as well as chess computers. Through these artifacts, the WCHOF illustrates how chess has evolved through its over 1500-year history. This month’s featured chess set is a new donation to the collection of the WCHOF.

Created from carefully bent wire, the pieces in this set portray the pieces as elegant, energetic silhouettes. Born in Grand-Pré, Nova Scotia, at a young age Ayrton Robert Johnson moved to New York state with his family. He earned his Bachelor of Science degree in Agronomy at Cornell University, and he later earned a Masters of Arts in Education from the University of Rochester. After graduating, he taught high school chemistry in Ithaca, New York, until he retired in 1982. His daughter Cathy Spengler states that, “He was as much an artist by temperament as he was a scientist…Creating things was his primary pursuit and source of enjoyment outside of work, especially in retirement.” He created this unique chess set design while living for a year in Berkeley, California.

October

October’s Featured Chess Set is part of the collection of the World Chess Hall of Fame (WCHOF). Since its creation in 1986, the WCHOF has endeavored to highlight the history and cultural significance of the game of chess. The WCHOF’s collection is diverse and includes sets once owned by legendary players, mass-produced sets with lively pop culture themes, antique ivory sets, travel sets, as well as chess computers. Through these artifacts, the WCHOF illustrates how chess has evolved through its over 1500-year history.

Dorothy and many of the denizens of Oz appear in this chess set with the theme of the beloved children’s book The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. Author L. Frank Baum published the book in 1900, and according to his introduction, the book aspired to be, “a modernized fairy tale, in which the wonderment and joy are retained and the heartaches and nightmares are left out.” W.W. Denslow’s illustrations for the original printing provide the inspiration for these whimsical pieces.

November

November’s Featured Chess Set is part of the collection of the World Chess Hall of Fame (WCHOF). Since its creation in 1986, the WCHOF has endeavored to highlight the history and cultural significance of the game of chess. The WCHOF’s collection is diverse and includes sets once owned by legendary players, mass-produced sets with lively pop culture themes, antique ivory sets, travel sets, as well as chess computers. Through these artifacts, the WCHOF illustrates how chess has evolved through its over 1500-year history.

Michael Buckley donated November’s Featured Chess Set to the World Chess Hall of Fame. While a marine engineer aboard an American Merchant Marine ship, Buckley purchased the set in a shop owned by a retired captain in the South Korean Merchant Marine. The set has hand-carved pieces, with dragons as knights and two-tiered pagodas as the rooks. The heavy box-board, which doubles as storage for the pieces, has carved decorations resembling dragons.

December

December’s Featured Chess Set is part of the collection of the World Chess Hall of Fame (WCHOF). Since its creation in 1986, the WCHOF has endeavored to highlight the history and cultural significance of the game of chess. The WCHOF’s collection is diverse and includes sets once owned by legendary players, mass-produced sets with lively pop culture themes, antique ivory sets, travel sets, as well as chess computers. Through these artifacts, the WCHOF illustrates how chess has evolved through its over 1500-year history.

Dreidels take the place of familiar chess pieces in this decorative Hanukkah-themed chess set. The four-sided tops are played with during the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah. Israeli artist Eran Grebler created the set. Grebler, a second-generation ceramist, has been creating Judaica for over 30 years. He runs a gallery called the Draydel House, which displays over 800 of his creations.

Ground Control: A Journey Through Chess and Space explores space-themed chess sets and significant chess events from the year 1969, in connection with the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing. Highlights of this exhibition include Star Wars, Star Trek, and other pop-culture-themed chess sets from the World Chess Hall of Fame’s permanent collection as well as a signed chessboard that was flown on the final mission of the Endeavor Space Shuttle.

Ground Control: A Journey Through Chess and Space

Organized in connection with the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing on July 16,1969, Ground Control: A Journey Through Chess and Space showcases out-of-this-world artifacts from the collection of the World Chess Hall of Fame (WCHOF) and lenders Duncan Pohl and Allan Savage. Ground Control also examines important chess events from 1969 including Boris Spassky’s victory in the World Chess Championship, Nona Gaprindashvili’s win in the Women’s World Chess Championship, important tournaments in the United States and around the world as well as the births of future world chess champion Viswanathan Anand and trailblazer and future women’s world chess champion Susan Polgar.

Just as the 1972 world chess championship match between Bobby Fischer and Boris Spassky is often seen as an embodiment of the Cold War tensions between the United States and Soviet Union, in the space race, the two nations competed for superiority in the realms of science and technology. They sought to achieve important firsts in space exploration, such as putting the first satellite into orbit, the first manned space flights, and putting a person on the moon. Some of the artifacts in Ground Control testify to the excitement of these years—a chessboard featuring a Soviet rocket blasting into space and artifacts related to a game between the cosmonauts aboard Soyuz 9 (Andrian Nikolayev and Vitaly Sevastyanov) and cosmonaut Viktor Gorbatko and general Nikolai P. Kamanin, who were on Earth.

Space also has a special connection to the history of the WCHOF. One highlight of our collection, acquired after the museum moved from Miami to Saint Louis, is the chessboard flown as part of the official flight kit on the last mission of the Space Shuttle Endeavour (May 16-June 1, 2011). Competitors in the 2010 U.S. and U.S. Women’s Chess Championships, which were held at the Saint Louis Chess Club, signed the board. Also, NASA astronaut Greg Chamitoff was present at the opening festivities of the World Chess Hall of Fame, which coincided with the launch of the Boy Scouts of America Chess Merit Badge (September 11, 2011). Dr. Jeanne Sinquefield led the effort to establish the chess merit badge. Scouts reenacted a recent game between space and Earth on a life-sized board before they received the very first badges.

Chess is one of the world’s oldest games, but it is often featured in visions of the future and the far reaches of the galaxy. Mr. Spock played Tri-Dimensional Chess against Captain James Kirk in Star Trek, which aired from September 8, 1966, through June 3, 1969. The game continued to appear in later Star Trek franchises. The WCHOF’s collection, which numbers over 1000, includes sets related to the game’s top players as well as ones with pop culture themes taken from television shows and movies set in space, including The Jetsons, Star Wars, and Star Trek. Many of these are included in Ground Control. We hope that you will enjoy this exhibition, whether you’re a space enthusiast, a pop culture junkie, or a fan of history.

Shannon Bailey, Chief Curator, World Chess Hall of Fame

Emily Allred, Associate Curator, World Chess Hall of Fame

Chess in 1969

1969 was an important year for chess. The Fischer Boom, with the 1972 World Championship match in Reykjavík providing front-page headlines each morning and leading the news each evening, was three years in the future, but signs were already present the chess world would soon experience significant changes.

Boris Spassky dethroned the world chess champion by a score of 12½-10½ in a match lasting over two months to become the tenth world champion. Petrosian would continue to play at a high level the rest of his career but would never again be a participant in a World Championship match. Like many of the best players (Mikhail Botvinnik, Vassily Smyslov, Mikhail Tal and Yefim Geller) of the 1950s and 1960s, Petrosian’s best days came to end in the late 1960s. Soon a generation of young stars would be replacing them at the top, the one exception being Viktor Korchnoi who only reached his peak in the late 1970s as he approached his 50th birthday.

The challenger was not as lucky in the 1969 Women’s World Championship match as Nona Gaprindashvili successfully defended her crown against Alla Kushnir by a score of 12-7. The two rivals would meet three times for the title between 1965 and 1972 with Nona winning on each occasion. The quality of play in these matches, on the level of an international master, was significantly higher than seen in previous Women’s World Championship competitions and would continue to rise in the 1970s, the result of more women playing and increased opportunities to meet stronger opponents in mixed competitions.

Spassky and Gaprindashvili were not the only Soviets to triumph in 1969. Eighteen-year-old Anatoly Karpov, from the Siberian city of Zlatoust, won the World Junior Championship in Stockholm. Karpov’s victory ended a long drought for the Soviets in the annual competition open to players under 21 as he became their first winner since 1955. Who could have predicted in 1969 that Karpov would go on to become one of the greatest players of all time?

In 1969 Women’s Olympiads were played on only two boards (with one reserve), and the Soviet Union dominated the competition. In the 1969 event held in Lublin, Poland, they scored 26 out of a possible 28 to finish well ahead of Hungary (201/2) and Czechoslovakia (19). Today the Open and Women’s competitions in the Olympiads have the same team composition—four players and one reserve—a reflection of not only how many more female players there are, but also how much stronger they play.
Berkeley Chess School founder Elizabeth Shaughnessy made her debut for the Irish team in the 1969 Olympiad and would go on to represent her homeland in another six Olympiads. Later, in her new hometown of Berkeley, California, she would build a program from scratch that would teach tens of thousands of kids to play chess, a harbinger of the scholastic boom of the 1990s, 2000s, and 2010s.

Bobby Fischer played no tournament or match games in 1969, but his presence was still strongly felt. The publication of My Sixty Memorable Games in January was a commercial as well as critical success, and the hardcover and paperback editions would go through several reprintings. Even in the 21st century, this book is considered one of the greatest chess books ever written, both for its deep pre-computer analysis and Fischer’s frank comments. His 1972 match with Spassky would cause an explosion of interest in the game that would be noticed by English language publishers both in the United States and the United Kingdom. The result would be dozens and dozens of new chess books appearing in the mid-1970s with many of them published by the British firm Batsford and R.H.M. in the United States.

Fischer’s 1968 victories at Netanya and Vinkovci helped make him the top-rated player on the 1969 FIDE rating list at 2720, 30 points ahead of World Champion Boris Spassky and forty points in front of GM Viktor Korchnoi. GMs Bent Larsen of Denmark and Lajos Portisch of Hungary joined Fischer as the only non-Soviets among the top ten.

Right behind Korchnoi on the 1969 FIDE rating list was the “Patriarch of Soviet Chess,” 57-year-old World Chess Champion Mikhail Botvinnik. Rated number four in the world at 2660,  he shared first place with GM Efim Geller at the annual Wijk aan Zee tournament  with 10½/15, a half point ahead of GMs Portisch and Paul Keres.

It was very good year for Portisch, who won at Amster-dam with 11½/15, at Monte Carlo (tied with Smyslov) on 8/11 and at Hastings (the 1969/70 edition), scoring 6/9, ahead of Vlastimil Hort, Svetozar Gligoric, and Wolfgang Uhlmann.

The 1969 US Chess Championship was held at the end of the year in New York City. Fifty-eight-year-old GM Samuel Reshevsky won his eighth title with an 8-3 score followed by IM William Addison at 7½ and GM Pal Benko on 7. That year the U.S. Championship was a Zonal and all three won spots in the 1970 Interzonal. This proved significant when Benko ended up giving his place to Fischer, the beginning of the latter’s journey to becoming world champion. If Benko had not done this Bobby would have had to wait another three years for a shot at the crown. Before 1972, all American players outside of Fischer and Reshevsky were at best semi-professionals. This would soon change due to increased prize funds and more teaching and writing opportunities.

WIM Gisela Gresser set a record when she won her ninth U.S. Women’s Championship at the age of 63 with a score of 7½ from 9, a point ahead of her long-time rival WIM Mona May Karff. The closest any woman has come to Gresser in the last 50 years is GM Irina Krush with seven titles. Today most top female players learn to play well before they are 10, but Gresser didn’t pick up the game until she was in her late 30s! She only won her first U.S. Women’s Championship title in 1944 at the age of 38 and became a US Chess rated master in 1963 at 57—an age when players are long retired.

Contrast Gresser with GM Susan Polgar who hold the American records for highest rated female player (2577 FIDE) and (2598 USCF). Polgar was born on April 19, 1969, in Budapest, Hungary, and her parents started teaching the game not long after she could walk and talk. She later led the United States to its best-ever finish (second place) in the 2004 Women’s Chess Olympiad, turning in the best individual performance of the event. The former Women’s World Champion has led Texas Tech and Webster University to many collegiate titles.

Future U.S. Chess Hall of Famers Pal Benko, Milan Vukcevich, and Arthur Bisguier tied for first with scores of 9½-2½ in the 70th U.S. Open held August 10-22 in Lincoln, Nebraska. Seattle Master Viktors Pupols of Seattle was the early front runner after defeating Benko in round seven, but faded near the end to finish with 8½ points. Pupols, at the age of 85, has already played over 100 tournament games in 2019. This past February he defeated International Master Bryce Tiglon in the Washington State Championship, an event he first played in back in 1954! This example of an octogenarian playing successfully is not common, but hardly unknown as just this year 82-year International Master Anthony Saidy defeated a 2500+ FIDE rated grandmaster at the National Open.

During the U.S. Open in Lincoln, outgoing US Chess Federation President Marshall Rohland of Wisconsin reported the organization’s membership had increased from 11,202 to 13,488. This steady growth was typical for the US Chess Federation during the 1960s and set the table for the massive increase it experienced during the Fischer Boom—up to almost 60,000 members in 1973. This number rapidly decreased when Bobby failed to defend his title and the 1973 record total was not eclipsed until 1992.

Today, thanks to a tremendous rise in the number of scholastic players, the organization is rapidly approaching 100,000 members.

The U.S. Chess Federation magazine Chess Life and U.S. Chess Hall of Famer Al Horowitz’s Chess Review (founded in 1933) merged in the fall of 1969 with the new publication adopting the name Chess Life & Review. This lasted until the early 1980s when it reverted back to Chess Life.
—IM John Donaldson

International Master John Donaldson served as Chess Director of the Mechanics’ Institute in San Francisco, California, from 1998 to 2018. He worked for Inside Chess magazine from 1988 to 2000 and has authored over 30 books on the game. Donaldson earned the IM title in 1983, has two norms toward the coveted GM title, and has captained the U.S. national chess team on 21 occasions, including to gold in the 2016 Baku Chess Olympiad—the first time for the U.S. since 1976.

The First Public Earth vs. Space Chess Match

Of all imaginable things that could have happened during my time in space, I had no idea that a chess match would be the most historic. Officially, in the battle of the first ever public Earth vs. Space chess match, the winner was Earth, but this is not the whole story. In fact, this was not the first game. Even more, the winner may or may not be Earth! How could this be? Well, the unofficial story is a little more intriguing and a lot more amusing.

Prior to my own first mission, I was a CapCom in NASA’s Mission Control, the voice speaking to the crew onboard the International Space Station (ISS). I was curious about the informal games that I saw several crews ‘play’ with those of us on the ground. The purpose was to boost morale for the team and to have some sort of engagement beyond the daily grind of executing procedures and solving problems. Of course, being involved in a spaceflight mission is, and was, exciting stuff! But as with anything else, the tasks of the day, in and of themselves, were simply that—tasks. They created little opportunity for rapport between the crew and ground. At some point, the games began, and they were typically simple and silly things, like guessing games and trivial pursuits. I distinctly recall sitting on-console in Mission Control thinking, “when I fly, it’s going to be a real game, a serious game…a chess game!”

As my turn to fly on ISS Expedition 17 approached, I began shopping for a chess set that I could adapt for zero gravity. I found the perfect set—a plastic-coated metallic board with magnetic pieces. I was in business. That is, until NASA saw this strange personal item on my manifest list with magnets. “No magnets allowed,” they said. “It could interfere with electronic devices onboard.” This was just a few weeks before launch, and I panicked. Quarantine was a week away, it was BUSY, and there was little time to purchase and receive something else. My solution, of course, was Velcro! I bought a cheap set of plastic pieces and packaged them with Velcro sheets. One of my first and most important tasks in space was to cut out circular pieces of sticky-back Velcro and attach them to the bottom of 32 chess pieces. It worked! I had a Zero-G chess set and was ready to challenge Mission Control to a game.

As part of an International Space Station program, the first Earth vs. Space chess game was naturally going to be a round-the-world engagement with all the primary mission control centers involved—Houston, Huntsville, Moscow, Montreal, Oberpfaffenhofen (Germany), Tsukuba (Japan), and Toulouse. The arrangement was that each control center would make a move in turn without kibitzing between control centers. Little did I know that NASA organized a small tiger team of enthusiastic chess players to assure that NASA won. The first game didn’t go well—for Earth, that is!

Taking turns between countries to move ended up being a serious handicap. So much so that I later heard that Moscow was politely furious with Japan for losing the game. They demanded a Russian-only rematch, which resulted in multiple ongoing simultaneous games with each country. Playing one game was easy enough, but six simultaneous games was a stretch. After all, the mission planners didn’t allocate time in the schedule for chess!

Before these games could finish, however, a few special folks on planet Earth invented a bigger bolder version of Earth vs. Space Chess, that would engage the public at large. Along with the US Chess Federation (US Chess) and the NASA Public Affairs Office (PAO), they created a public game where anyone on Earth could vote for their favorite moves. A team of exceptional chess experts was selected to advise. They were the 3rd grade national chess champions from Stevenson Elementary School in Bellevue, Washington. After each move from space, the students would analyze the game, pick a handful of top moves, and post them online for public voting. This game did go well!

It was a very exciting game, with many twists and turns, but ultimately Earth was victorious. There is a deeper meaning to this victory. If the 3rd grade team beat me, and I beat Mission Control, then the inescapable conclusion is that the 3rd grade team is smarter than Mission Control! Right?

This was all so fun and inspiring that we did it again three years later during the last mission of Space Shuttle Endeav-our (STS-134) (May 16-June 1, 2011). It was a fast-paced game with space represented by Box and Taz (my crewmate Gregory Johnson and myself). Being a much shorter mission, the game was completed on the ground on September 10, 2011, during the inaugural ceremony of the Boy Scouts of America chess merit badge, which was spearheaded by Dr. Jeanne Sinquefield. With grandmasters leading the charge, scouts acted out the game on a life-size board in the streets of Saint Louis. Trailing by a pawn that was sacrificed for an upper hand on the offensive that Box and I maintained for much of the game, Earth vs. Space ultimately came to a stalemate. It seems that another rematch is in order during a future mission. Perhaps next time space will be represented by a female moon-walking Eagle Scout!

By the way, ISS Expedition 17 and Space Shuttle STS-134 were spectacular missions that helped pave the way for future exploration of our solar system. For more information see (https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/expeditions/expedition17/inde…). Special thanks to Hal Bogner (US Chess Federation) and Kelly Humphries (NASA Public Affairs Office) for making this all possible, and to the Saint Louis Chess Club, World Chess Hall of Fame, and Boy Scouts of America for their roles in the Earth vs. Space chess competition.

—Greg Chamitoff, Ph.D., Former NASA Astronaut

Dr. Gregory Chamitoff served as a NASA Astronaut for 15 years, including Shuttle Missions STS-124,126,134 and Space Station long duration missions Expedition 17 and 18. He has lived and worked in space for almost 200 days as a Flight Engineer, Science Officer, and Mission Specialist. His last mission was on the final flight of Space Shuttle Endeavour, during which he performed two spacewalks, including the last one of the Shuttle era, which also completed the assembly of the International Space Station. Chamitoff also played the first public Earth vs. Space chess game. He earned his B.S. in Electrical Engineering from Cal Poly, M.S. in Aeronautics from Caltech, and Ph.D. in Aeronautics and Astronautics from MIT. Chamitoff also holds a Minor and a Masters in Planetary Science. He is currently a Professor of Practice in Aerospace Engineering, and Director of the AeroSpace Technology Research & Operations (ASTRO) Laboratory at Texas A&M University. Chamitoff is co-author and co-editor of Human Spaceflight Operations, a textbook on the lessons learned from the past 60 years of spaceflight. His research includes space robotics, autonomous systems, and the development of collaborative VR simulation environments for space system engineering and mission design.

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Press

01/03/2019: FOX 2 NOW — Weekends on the Web: Saturday & Sunday, January 4-5, 2020

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11/28/2019: New Kerala — We have lift off! World Chess Hall of Fame celebrates 50th anniversary of Apollo 11 moon landing with space-themed exhibit

11/7/2019: St. Louis Public Radio — On Chess: A Journey Through Chess and Space

11/6/2019: FOX 2 Now — Ground Control: A Journey Through Chess & Space

11/5/2019: Yahoo! Finance — We have lift off! World Chess Hall of Fame celebrates 50th anniversary of Apollo 11 moon landing with space-themed exhibit

11/5/2019: PR Newswire — We have lift off! World Chess Hall of Fame celebrates 50th anniversary of Apollo 11 moon landing with space-themed exhibit

11/1/2019: St. Louis Post-Dispatch — Best Bets: John Williams, ‘Rocky Horror,’ Día de los Muertos, Melanie Martinez, ‘Muny Magic’

10/31/2019: St. Louis Post-Dispatch — Ground Control: A Journey Through Chess and Space

10/28/2019: Exhibition Press Release