Master Pieces: Dr. George Dean Lectures at the World Chess Hall of Fame

Even if you missed the lecture, don’t miss the Deans’ one-of-a-kind collection! Chess Masterpieces: Highlights from the Dr. George and Vivian Dean Collection is on view at the World Chess Hall of Fame through February 12, 2012.

On October 6^th, a capacity crowd filled the third floor of the World Chess Hall of Fame for a lecture by Dr. George Dean, collector of the chess sets in the exhibition Chess Masterpieces: Highlights from the Dr. George and Vivian Dean Collection. Dr. Dean and his wife Vivian have been collecting chess sets for half a century, assembling over one thousand sets in what has become the world’s foremost private collection. 

The lecture, entitled “Master Pieces: Chess Sets from the Dr. George and Vivian Dean Collection,” used the couple’s most significant sets to illustrate how chess adapted to the many cultures it touched. Dr. Dean also interspersed his discussion with personal anecdotes of their experiences as collectors, from the accidental acquisition of their first chess set on a trip to the Middle East to their impromptu drive from Detroit to Chicago to track down one of the two known Faberg