Romp With Rook: Chess History - A Rare Morphy Photograph

A rare photograph of Morphy making a move against Louis Paulsen during the First American Chess Congress (New York, 1857). This certainly must have been a "posed" picture judging by the abominable playing conditions (LOL) and the state of photography in 1857.

Romp wth Rook - The Chess Art of Veronika Kasatkina

Here is a sample of chess art designed by the famous Russian graphic artist Veronika Kasatkina. Her work graces the covers of software made by Convekta and the Russian Chess Magazine 64. She works mostly with digital media, and deals with a chess theme. You can purchase a set of 28 Chess Art Postcards or a set of eight 8" x 12" posters from ChessCentral. Individual posters are also available from Convekta Chess Store. Here are a couple of my favorites:


"Night"

"River of Time"


A collage of her work:

Romp With Rook - Chess and the Great Flood

How the game of Chess survived the great flood:
























Chess Ark by Kosobukin Juri (USSR)

Romp With Rook - Big Game Hunting

Romp with Rook - A Funny Chess Cartoon

Here's one of my favorite chess cartoons - especially appropriate for Rook Van Winkle :-)

Romp with Rook - Chess Bumper Stickers, Chess T-Shirts, And Chess Mugs

Do you know of a good chess bumper sticker, T-Shirt, or mug? Or do you have a good slogan for one?

My personal favorite bumper sticker was this one offered by the USCF back in the 1980's:



(Click on the above picture to view full-size)

It's those little fists that I like. :-)

ChessUSA has three chess bumper stickers for sale, including the familiar "Chess Nut" one:



Cafe Press have a wide selection of chess-related T-shirts, mugs, and other things. A sample:


It's always better to sacrifice your opponent's men. - GrandMaster S. Tartakower

For even more visit there Chessopolis Shop.

Finally, there are many crude (and sometimes rude) attempts to use the word "mate" in a bumper sticker slogan, but here's one that is really rather nice:






Romance is like a game of chess: one false move and you're mated

Next Saturday we'll be back with another installment in the series Romp with Rook. Until then, have fun with chess!

Romp with Rook - Horsing Around

For our first installment in Rook's new series Romp with Rook, Rook does a little horsing around - sharing this amusing little cartoon "Chess Centaur" by Estis Oleg (SSSR):

Mystery Chess Set

Yesterday I came across a picture of an English "Barleycorn" chess set. Suddenly, my memory was jogged. I seemed to recall a somewhat similar set that my grandmother once had. It was part of a collection of games she had brought from Scotland when she moved to America in the 1920's. Checking with my family it turns out that my brother had latched on to it - and he was kind enough to supply a picture of it which you can view above.

They are very inexpensive light wood pieces. They are not weighted and do not have felt bottoms. There was never a chess board (that we know of) that went with it.

Doing a little research, I have come across somewhat similar sets on the web. The House of Staunton calls them "Pre-Staunton Sets." Evidently this style was quite popular in Great Britain and Germany in the 19th and early 20th century before losing out to the more standard Staunton design. But what do I call it? An English Barleycorn? A French Regence? Or perhaps a St. George or a Calvert design?

Any comments would be appreciated...