The 1st Chess Olympiad and creation of the FI(D)E - Getting organized (2/4)
by Jean Oliver Leconte
Second part of the articles devoted to the 1st Chess Olympiad and the creation of the FI(D)E.
Part one: The 1st Chess Olympiad and creation of the FI(D)E - The first steps (1/4)
While the organisation of the grand tournament starts moving forward, the newspaper le Figaro ironises.
Chess and the Olympic Games
There will even be a chess tournament during the Olympic Games!
It is being organised under the patronage of Mr Fernand Gavarry, Minister Plenipotentiary, Commander of the Legion of Honour, and will take place from 12 to 20 July in the salons of a grand hotel in the Étoile district.
Most of the major chess federations will be taking part.
After the Muscle Festival, it will be a small gala for the Brain.
Read more … The 1st Chess Olympiad and creation of the FI(D)E - Getting organized (2/4)
The 1st Chess Olympiad and creation of the FI(D)E - The first steps (1/4)
by Jean Oliver Leconte
The year 2024 corresponds to the centenary of the creation of FIDE - Fédération Internationale Des Échecs. More precisely, it was in Paris on 20 July 1924 that FIDE was created (originally called FIE - The current acronym FIDE would be adopted at the 2nd FIDE Congress in Zurich, Switzerland in 1925, but the meaning did not vary: Fédération Internationale Des Échecs).
I propose to retrace this creation of FIDE, as well as the first Chess Olympiad via several articles. These two events are closely linked. Moreover, as we shall see, the idea of an International Chess Federation came after the launch of the organization of the international chess tournament alongside the Olympic Games.
This first part is devoted to the beginnings of the first Chess Olympiad.
To date, the FFE has said very little about this FIDE centenary event. You can find an article on its website here. But these events seem to me to be very meager (reconstruction of the act of signing the creation of FIDE and giant simultaneous).
There is no mention in these events, for example, of Pierre Vincent, the driving force behind the creation of FIDE. His grave is in the Montmartre cemetery.
Read more … The 1st Chess Olympiad and creation of the FI(D)E - The first steps (1/4)
Update on the Invitation to this year's General Assembly in Budapest (Hungary)
Dear members of the society!
This is to update you about our General Assembly on 13.-14. September 2024 in Budapest. For the time being we already have 20 participants, and we hope to convene in a building from the Hungarian Chess Federation (H-1055 Budapest, Falk Miksa u. 10). The FIDE organizing committee for the Olympiad will stay in the Intercontinental Hotel. You are kindly invited to organize your own accommodation. The current program stands as follows.
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Chess, China, Ding Liren, Psychology and Technology
Ricardo Guerra, a new member of our association, (see New Member: Ricardo Guerra), conducted an interview with Croatian International Grandmaster Davorin Kuljašević, biographer of Ding Liren, the current World Chess Champion.
Here is a very interesting interview:
New Member: Marc Ghannoum
Our new member, Marc Ghannoum from Canada, introduces himself in the members area (you must be logged in to read).
Exhibition: Chess and porcelain
On 15 March, an exhibition will open in Hohenberg an der Eger, which for the first time is dedicated exclusively to porcelain and chess.
The following information can be found in the "Schach-Ticker".
SCHACH & PORZELLAN. DIE WELT AUF 64 FELDERN – eine Sonderausstellung des Porzellanikons (18.2.2024)
Facts about the exhibition
- Objects from 12 countries: Germany, Austria, Italy, Poland, Russia, Czechoslovakia, Spain, Portugal, Great Britain, France, China and Japan.
- "The World on 64 Squares" is the first exhibition in Germany to exclusively show chess pieces made of porcelain.
- Various activities and events on the subject of chess are planned to accompany the exhibition.
- A 116-page catalogue will be published to accompany the exhibition.
- The exhibition at Porzellanikon in Hohenberg an der Eger will run from 16 March to 13 October 2024. Opening hours: Tuesday to Sunday and on public holidays 10 am to 5 pm. There are 28 chess sets, 43 individual pieces and 34 sets of pieces on display.
- Address: Porzellanikon Hohenberg a.d. Eger, Schirndinger Str. 48, 95691 Hohenberg a.d. Eger, phone: +49 9233 7722-0, website: https://www.porzellanikon.org
Siegfried Schönle (Kassel), February 2024
Chess piece finds in Sandomierz and a conference volume
by Siegfried Schönle [You can find the original article in German here. Translation by DeepL]
Who among the chess piece collectors and chess book collectors knows right away where Sandomierz is and what was found there? Certainly very few!
I didn't know, or more precisely: I didn't know anything about this place!
Sandomierz is a place in Poland, located south-west of Lublin and about 230 kilometres south of Warsaw.
A conference of Polish and international researchers, organised and led by Ms. Agnieszka Stempin, dealt with the sensational finds from the years around 1968. The conference took place after 50 years, in 2018, under the title:
The Cultural Role of Chess in Medieval and Modern Times
50th Anniversary Jubilee of the Sandomierz Chess Discovery
This highly recommended conference volume [MUZEUM ARCHEOLOGICZNE W POZNANIU BIBLIOTHECA FONTES ARCHAEOLOGICI POSNANIENSES, Vol. 21] was edited by Ms. Agnieszka Stempin and is printed entirely in English. The lectures and essays are divided into 5 groups:
- Sandomierz Chess in the Context of the Medieval Chess Finds from Poland – 50 years of Mystery
- Archaeology of Chess – Between East and West
- Terminology and Image of Chess in Medieval Written Sources
- Around the Game
- Reminiscences
Read more … Chess piece finds in Sandomierz and a conference volume
bernd ellinghoven (1953 - 2023)
Our friend bernd ellinghoven passed away on November 13, 2023. Bernd was a well-known expert in problem and fairy chess. He was also editor and publisher of the magazine feenschach for over 30 years.
Thomas Brand, creator of the site Rund um die Retroanalyse, has published an obituary on his website: bernd ellinghoven
New Member: Ricardo Guerra
Our new member, Ricardo Guerra from Ponte Vedra Beach (US), is introduced in the members area (you must be logged in to read).
Invitation to this year's General Assembly in Budapest (Hungary)
Dear members of the society!
At General Assembly on 2 September 2023 in Belfort, the Chair of the FIDE Historical Commission, Willy Iclicki, has kindly indicated the possiblity to meet in 2024 in the margins of the next Chess Olympiad in Budapest. Responding positively to the idea, the Board proposes the following draft program for 13.-15. September 2024 in Budapest.
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