At the behest of Dr. Ricardo Calvo (a/k/a The Chief) in 1999, we scrambled around frantically to make - literally - last minute arrangements to get Don McLean over to Hamburg to give a presentation on behalf of Goddesschess, then a fledgling new website.
You can read more about Mr. Don's adventures in Hamburg at the
Goddesschess website (scroll down to 1999 Hamburg in Table of Contents).
SOME FACTS CONCERNING THE INITIATIVE GROUP KONIGSTEIN
Egbert Meissenburg(Seevetal,
October 26, 1999)
[The
following is excerpted and paraphrased from an English translation of the
original German "Programm zum V. Symposium der INITIATIVGRUPPE KONIGSTEIN,
Hamburg, November 1999". The original
English translation was done by Kenneth Whyld, one of the participants in the
5th Symposium of the IGK. An extensive bibliography of presentations and papers
by the members of the Initiative Group Konigstein is omitted.]
Chess history is a journey into an
extensive past – and the house in which the researcher dwells and works has many
doors.
The Initiative Group Konigstein is a world-wide association of
chess historians, originating from
Germany; its aim as a community in researching chess
history is emphasizing and promoting scientific research and expert treatment of
the entire history of the game of chess in all its branches and facets. It is,
without actually having an established organization structure, a loose union of
scientists, serious researchers into the history of chess and, finally, also the
enthusiasts generally interested in chess history. The circle, open to all, is
international in all aspects, as its many languages and diversity of promotion
proves.
While the primary goal of the Initiative Group Konigstein is to
attempt to approach a little closer to chess-historical truth: "Quid est
veriats?"—it is also a fundamental aim to promote sympathetic cooperation of the
various directions of chess research through mutual support of, and respect and
tolerance for, the personalities of each scholar. The specialist respects the
ingenious essayist, and vice versa! This tolerance should always stand in the
forefront of our mutual relations, the relationships of chess historians in
general, and in all journalistic transactions.
Chess history remains an
assembly ground of greatly differing temperaments – but never should learning,
or objectivity (objectivity in no way means lack of opinion!), or thoroughness,
or love of truth, or caution in judgment (yes, along with the ability to admit
to errors), be lacking in anyone participating. Thus, journalistic chutzpah,
arrogance, bias, intolerance and polemics should be rejected and banished as
something totally unacceptable.
The Initiative Group Konigstein is a
group of some seventy members, of many nationalities and languages, all of who
have dedicated themselves in varying degrees to chess history. What we have
really "initiated" will perhaps, remain debatable – as, for instance, whether
the 1991 Konigstein meeting, in fact, triggered the C-14 investigation into the
Venafro chessmen (with publication in 1995); on the other hand, without the
Initiative Group Konigstein, perhaps many chess-historical studies might never
have been written, or might never have been published.
The initial
Symposium of the IGK was held in Konigstein/Taunus [near Frankfurt/Main,
Germany] in
August, 1991, with
fourteen participants invited by Dr. Thomas H. Thomsen and Joanna Thomsen. The
group discussed "The Origins of Chess". The group took its name after the place
of their initial meeting.
The second workshop of chess historians was
hosted in
November 1993 by the
Max Euwe-Centrum in
Amsterdam,
organized by Egbert Meissenburg. Subjects of discussion included the early
history of chess (India,
China,
Uruk, Talmud), how "chess" might be defined within historical context, and the
existence and origins of the abstract-form Arabic/Islamic chess
pieces.
In
November,
1994, the third meeting of the group took place at the "Internationales
Forschungszentrum Kulturwissenschaften" in
Vienna, Austria, organized by Dr. Ernst Strouhal
(Hochschule fur angewandte Kunst, Lehrkanzel fur Philosophie, Vienna). Its theme
was "Vom Wesir zur Dame, Kulturelle Regeln, ihr Zwang und ihre Bruchigkeit. Uber
kulturelle Transformationen am Beispiel des Schachspiels"
In
July, 1995, the first issue of
"Okkasioneller Rundbrief" was published in Seevetal, edited by Egbert
Meissenburg. The goal of the "Rundbrief" was to foster closer contact among the
chess historians of the Initiative Group Konigstein. The first issue contained
articles from Ricardo Calvo, Gerhard Josten, and Franco Pratesi. There have now
been fourteen issues of "Rundbrief", the last in
August, 1999.
In
November, 1996, the fourth chess historical workshop on
"Approaching the Roots of Chess" was held at the Central University in
Pondicherry, India. This meeting
represented the first time an attempt was made to bring together well-known
specialists in chess history, Sanskrit studies, Indology and archaeology. Dr. C.
Panduranga Bhatta was the chief organizer. Five members of the IGK group
attended: Dr. Andreas Bock-Raming, Manfred A.J. Eder, Dr. Irving Finkel, Koichi
Masukawa, and Egbert Meissenburg.
Copyright (c) Egbert Meissenburg, 1999.
All rights reserved.
WORDS OF WELCOME
Egbert
Meissenburg
November 15,
1999A cordial welcome to all participants of the 5th Symposium of
the Initiative Group Konigstein in Hamburg held at the Club Center of the
Hamburger Schach-klub.
Tassilo von Heydebrand und der Lasa passed away in
July,1899. The peculiar areas of his chess research were the European Middle
Ages and the early modern times. It was our aim to celebrate the centennial of
von der Lasa’s death primarily but not exclusively with the interests of this
most prominent German chess historian in the 19th century.
These are the
themes I offered for lectures:
CHESS IN THE MIDDLE AGES
Everyday
Culture and Game-Specifics
a.. The literary dissemination of the
game
b.. The situation regarding chess manuscripts
c.. New Chess and the
changes; the Europeanisation of chess
d.. Chess techniques and chess
players
e.. The nature of chess problems
f.. Chessmen and archaeological
discoveries
g.. Chess representations in paintings
h.. Other games in
competition with chess
This is and was [only] a program. As you shall remark,
some of the subjects cannot be treated in this 1999 Hamburg Symposium. Other
lectures to be read shall concern the earliest history of chess in the Far East.
As von der Lasa was a successful bibliophile too, I decided to ask a
professional (now retired, but still active) librarian to say some words
concerning the situation of the literature of chess history in a public
library.
I wrote for the 2nd Amsterdam Symposium of the IGK the following
words of introduction which were valid not only for 1993 but are valid in the
same manner for 1999, too:
"Wir freuen uns auf neue personliche Kontakte
und auf das Wiedersehen mit alten Freunden. Wir werden arbeitsreiche, aber auch
fruchtbare Stunden der wissen-schaftlich-forschenden Auseinandersetzung
haben."
My further expectations for the Hamburg meeting are that we have
days in friendship and tolerance without any disturbances and with fair and
serious discussions on the history of chess in general and in
detail.
Last, but not least: my hearty thanks to all those who gave me
assistance in organizing this Symposium.
