Monday, September 6, 2010

Were Chess Relics Uncovered During a Moscow Construction Project?

This "oh by the way" throw-away segment in the following article from The Moscow News online in English caught my eye:

Moscow’s chess lovers ready to practice
by Lidia Okorokova at 06/09/2010 22:15

Chess on display

Chess also has its own museum in Moscow, established in 1980, but it is currently closed for refitting and renovation.

“The chess museum may be re-opened soon with a new collection of chess that were discovered recently at a construction site in Moscow during an archaeological excavation,” chief Moscow archaeologist Alexander Veksler recently said at a press-conference at Interfax.

The museum’s collection has unique sets of chess pieces from 18th – 20th centuries, including chess boards made from jade and gems from the Urals, so one can only hope that it will be open to the public again soon.

Address: Moscow, Gogolevsky
Bulvar 14, Kropotkinskaya metro.
Phone: (495) 291-4429
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Hmmmm, seems I missed the announcement.  Just what is this "new collection of chess" that were discovered recently at a construction site in Moscow?

I mean, if someone tossed away a 19th century Staunton set in Moscow in 1910 and it was buried under the rubble of a building blown up during the Revolution or one or both world wars, who cares?  That is hardly earth-shattering news and although such a set might merit interest in a local museum - really - it's hardly worth a news report on the Interfax. I was not able to find anything else online on the discovery and I'm not a subscriber to Interfax so, that's it, folks.  Unless someone else out there has further information.

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