Beautiful chess pieces

Chess pieces in a unique museum

By Yamil Duba, author of Poor Chess

Don Quixote de La Mancha

Marshall Francisco Solano López is ready for the battle. Next to him stands his beloved wife Madame Lynch. Bishop Palacios and Priest Fidel Maiz are not yet protagonists of the infamous blood trials. General Bartolome Mitre and Governor Venancio Flores gaze in complete silence. Both are waiting for orders by the Emperor Pedro II. But the battle that will never start nor end. The days - and nights- of strife will not come back. Why?

Because these stories and characters are no longer alive but are part of a unique private collection of chess sets: the Hrisuk Collection that includes documents, images, swords, bayonets, uniforms, old bells, international treaties and forgotten books related to the Paraguayan history and thus is more than just a chess collection.

Mr Hrisuk is a successful businessman. As you could guess we are in Paraguay, in the center of South America. The name of the city, built at the margin of the Paraná river —one of the more important rivers of the continent— is Encarnación. This fast-growing town of nearly 110.000 people is the second largest city of the country (after the capital Asunción) and was founded by Saint Roque González of Santa Cruz in 1615, a Jesuit priest of Spanish descent.

Below are some pictures taken in that magical corner of the world. There you can find sets representing a variety of characters from Don Quixote of la Mancha to the Mexican Queen Anacaona, all the way through pieces containing the finest whiskey and others built on pure ivory. Before leaving I asked a last question to my guide, Rosana - the owner’s daughter.

What’s the finest piece of this collection? She took me to a hidden corner of the huge salon and pointed out an old and wide black case. Inside of it was the only known copy - the other two are missing - of President Rutherford B. Hayes’ resolution over the boundary debate about the Chaco region after the War of the Triple Alliance. Just that.

Rocinante stands next to the dangerous mill.

Ivory pieces on a board with ivory embeddings

Pieces in traditional Chinese costumes

Ferdinand II of Aragon next to a young Christopher Columbus, who represents a bishop.