Surrealists and chess

by ChessBase
6/22/2026 – The Lyon Olympique Échecs club has just sent out an alert to 17,500 chess players and 2,500 other contacts. The message reads: "Surrealists and Chess – for €40, help us save a 19th-century workshop right in the heart of Lyon!" A support committee has been set up, which comprises writers, poets, painters, photographers, gallery owners, doctors, politicians, lawyers, bankers and more. Now it's time for the chess community to join.
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Contemporary art and chess

Our dear Marie-Claude Schoendorf, née Masson, the guardian of the fabulous place on rue Victor Hugo in Lyon (apartment/studio 1882-1886, Napoleon III era), passed away at the beginning of this year

A 19th-century workshop in the heart of Lyon!

She is the aunt of Christophe Leroy, Director of one of the most important French chess clubs, Lyon Olympique Échecs (LOE). Some chess players, including Anatoly Karpov, as well as several French Champions, met her in her home. Others also had the opportunity to meet her husband, Max Schoendorff, a painter, engraver, set designer, and humanist.

Recently, a support committee was created, building on the recently established association "Max and Marie-Claude Schoendorff, it's urgent!" In three months, thanks to the significant work of Odile Nguyen-Schoendorff, Max's sister, just over 150 members joined this committee. It comprises writers, several of whom have received literary prizes (including the Nobel Prize in Literature), several poets, painters, photographers, professors, university professors, translators, publishers, gallery owners, booksellers, doctors and members of medical professions, students, politicians, a lawyer, two bankers, and domestic workers. Unfortunately, there were only three chess players!

The project for a chess museum

The Lyon Olympique Échecs association, led by its President Christophe Mathieu, has been deeply involved in the history of chess in France, and particularly in Lyon, for almost 42 years. The club's enthusiasts are collecting historical pieces for a major project: a Museum of French Chess! 

Now, the chess players community must take action – Christophe Leroy asks for your help.

Remember his construction of a fabulous 64m² mirrored chessboard in the park of the famous 19th-century Château de la Poupée, located in the town of Marcy l'Étoile. A surreal adventure unfolded there – Alice and the Chess Master – which referenced Lewis Carroll's "Through the Looking-Glass and What Alice Found There." 

Marie-Claude and Max Schoendorff were involved in this work. Their connection to the French chess world is noteworthy through their passion for Marcel Duchamp and Man Ray. After the passing of Marie-Claude, it is time to kill two birds with one stone and bring the into a bright future! 

Now it's time for the chess community to join forces. Here's the membership page.

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