\n
<\/p>\n
Almost any
\nobject can become a collection item for a passionate collector. In fact, there are as many collections as
\nthere are collectors. The first collectors were, naturally, people who could
\nafford it: sovereigns, noble men, officers, tradesmen, explorers, clerics, and
\nthe first collections would usually include art objects and jewelry. Today, some
\nof the the biggest collectors are museums around the world, which have
\ninherited, bought or have been donated the collections they house today.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
Some of the
\nmost popular collection items are chess pieces. The game of chess has long been
\none of the most respected games, described as a sport for the mind but used also
\nas a metaphor to describe geostrategic, political and economic confrontations.
\nSo, check players are the big powers that rule the world, while the smaller
\ncountries are pieces on the board, moved backwards and forwards depending on
\nthe big players’ interests.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
From staging
\nchess games with people, animals and props at kings’ courts to virtual
\nrealities created by computers, chess is one of the most powerful images of
\nconfrontation. Beyond any metaphor, the objects used in the game of chess, the
\npieces and the two-colored board, which can be collected, can vary from the
\ncheapest and most banal, to the most expensive and exclusivist, genuine works
\nof art, accessible only to those who can afford them. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
Florin Gheorghiu is an international chess master, one of the biggest
\nRomanian chess players. One of his greatest performances is the draw in direct
\ngames with the great Bobby Fisher, considered by many the best chess player in
\nhistory. We asked Florin Gheorghiu about the most impressive chess boards he’s
\nseen in his career. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
Usually, the most beautiful and most valuable pieces are those that
\ncollectors keep in their homes, be they politicians, businesspeople, actors,
\ndirectors, officers or regular people. There are pieces made of ivory, silver,
\nsometimes even gold. Some of them are diamonds. But these are not pieces to
\nplay with in a competition. They are there to account for something
\nrepresentative from a personal or historical point of view. The collector shows
\ntheir collection to friends or wants to take advantage of the prices that
\nchange on the international market and therefore gain something out of it. So,
\nit has nothing to do with chess playing as a competition.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
There is evidence of important collections in the Romanian territories
\nstarting with the 19th century. One of the biggest collectors was
\nengineer Constantin Orghidan (1874-1944), the one who created an impressive
\ncollection of coins, jewelry, documents and rare books. Another passionate
\ncollector was radiologist George Severeanu (1879-1939). He was passionate about
\nhistory, and he collected coins and other artefacts which he donated to the
\nBucharest municipality. As regards chess pieces, they were mainly owned by
\nnobility, who would order them from abroad. Collectors today have pieces that
\ngo back to the 18 hundred. They were sculpted in lacquered wood or ivory, others
\nwere cast in metal, all genuine objects of art. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
Usually, collectors own chess pieces, as the chess boards are rather
\nrare. The game of chess became officially a sports discipline in 1886, when the
\nfirst world championship was documented. 37 years before that, though, the
\nEnglish journalist Nathaniel Cooke created standard pieces for the game and the
\nproducer of sports gear, Jaques of London, bought the manufacturing rights.
\nHowever, history would brand Cooke’s pieces as Staunton, after the name of the
\ngreat chess master who appreciated Cooke’s pieces describing them as easily identifiable,
\nvery stable and nice looking. They say that the first sets of Staunton originals
\nwere numbered and signed by the master himself. Florin Gheorghiu told us that
\nhe too owns a set of Staunton pieces, a gift from the former Cuban leader Fidel
\nCastro:<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
I have never played with collection pieces, but for us,
\nprofessional chess players, the most important have always been the Staunton
\nchess boards. They are largely used in international competitions and world
\nchampionships. I have a set myself, at home, which I received from Fidel Castro
\nin 1966. He was probably impressed by my victory against Bobby Fisher, in
\nHavana, and turned the event into a political achievement. So, he made me this
\nsurprise, to honour what, to him, was a victory of communism against
\ncapitalism. (MI)<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Some of the most popular collection items are chess pieces<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":122883,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[45210],"tags":[33729,42900,42136,45647],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-169910","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-rri-encyclopaedia","tag-chess","tag-collection","tag-florin-gheorghiu","tag-staunton"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n