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March 2026
Philidor’s Chess Set: The Story of a Heritage Rescue
By Jean Olivier Leconte, President of the Art, Culture and History Commission of the French Chess Federation (FFE)
Originally published in French on the website of the French Chess Federation.
This is the story of how the efforts of a small number of people helped save an exceptional object: Philidor’s personal chess set. They deserve to be warmly thanked here.
It all began on Wednesday, February 25, 2026. That day, I received a text message from François Zutter, a member of the Chess History and Literature Society, of which I am also a member, asking whether I had seen that Philidor’s chess set was to be auctioned in Paris on Friday, March 13.
For me, the news came entirely out of the blue. I had no prior knowledge of it whatsoever. And there was something extraordinary about the announcement, especially in this year marking the tricentenary of Philidor’s birth.
I had already had the opportunity to see and photograph this chess set during the exhibition devoted to Philidor at the museum in Dreux in the summer of 2025. A report I wrote on that exhibition can be found on lecafedelaregence.blogspot.com (in french).
Read more … Philidor’s Chess Set: The Story of a Heritage Rescue