Chess Collectors International - USA News and Looking for a Webmaster

Hola darlings!

Yes yes yes, I've been very delinquent, I know.  I've been consumed with gardening and traveling.

You'll see the news in the post below this one about the fantastical "discovery" and sale at auction of a genuine Lewis chess piece (a "Warder") on July 2, 2019 for nearly $1 million.  Although I am a reader of The Washington Post, I somehow missed this story - but then I realized I was visiting one of the family compounds up north Wisconsin and was out of my usual routine of reading the WaPo news much more thoroughly than I do while on vacation :)  Anyway, it's an incredible story.  As far as I've been able to determine, the piece was sold to an "anonymous" bidder.  Wonder who it was...

CCI USA is also looking for a webmaster.  Here's the "ad" from the news letter/magazine:

CCI needs a web presence!  Unfortunately, it's been several years since CCI has had a functioning English language website.   Crazy, right?  We are looking for a volunteer who can create and maintain a basic, no-frills website for the club on one of the free or inexpensive services such as Wix, Go Daddy, etc.  If you have web design and development skills, and would like to be our club's new webmaster's, please contact Tom Gallegos at livinginthepast@comcast.net and let's discuss.  

The other big news is the planned CCI 19th Biennial Congress set for May 27 - 31, 2020 in St. Lewis.  I attended an earlier biennial, also held in St. Louis, in 2011 (how time flies!) and it was wonderful!  It coincided with the Kings v. Queens chess tournament at the St. Louis Chess Club as it's popularly called, directly across the street from the lovely building housing the World Chess Hall of Fame where I was able to watch live action and also spent considerable time in the lower level listening to the live games coverage by the commentators, IM Jennifer Shahade and GM Yasser Seirawan.  I also did a lot of exploring of the local neighborhood around the club, the chess museum and the hotel where I was staying and posted about it at this blog.  Here's one of the posts about the Kings v. Queens Tournament.  

Ancient Lewis Chess Piece Discovered in a Drawer Sold for Nearly One Million Dollars

Holy Hathor!  I found out about the discovery from the CCI-USA June 2019 news/magazine edition which is edited by Duncan Pohl (CCI is Chess Collectors International).  I finally had a chance to read it while I was waiting at a doctor's office for my appointment to be called!

The story itself about how the piece was discovered is absolutely amazing.  The piece came up for auction on July 2, 2019 at Sotheby's London, and was estimated to go for as much as $1.3 million, the first time any Lewis chess piece has been offered for auction.

The piece itself is called a "Warder" and is the equivalent of a modern Rook (Castle), carved from Walrus ivory.  You can read more about the piece, it's discovery and the auction at the links below.

Photo by Tristan Fewings/Getty Images for Sotheby’s.

A Lewis Chessman, Bought for $6 and Then Tucked Away in a Drawer for Decades, Just Sold at Auction for Almost $1 Million
Sarah Cascone, July 3, 2019
ArtNet News

A Newly Discovered Lewis Chessman Comes to Auction
Jue 4, 2019
By Sotheby's

Why this single chess piece could fetch $1 million in an upcoming auction
Alex Horton, June 3, 2019
The Washington Post

Lewis Chess Piece Bought for 5 Pounds and Kept in Drawer Sells for 735,000 Pounds
Simon Johnson, 2 July 2019
The Telegraph