9/2/2022 – One of the most magnificent collections of historical chess sets is currently on display at the Museum of Ancient Art in Lisbon. The collection is part of an exhibition on games and cultural exchange between Europe and Asia, reports Stefan Löffler from Portugal. The exhibition, curated by Ulrich Schädler and Thomas Thomsen, can be seen until 25 September. | Photos: Museo Nacional De Arte Antiga
new: ChessBase 16 - Mega package Edition 2022
Your key to fresh ideas, precise analyses and targeted training!
Everyone uses ChessBase, from the World Champion to the amateur next door. It is the program of choice for anyone who loves the game and wants to know more about it. Start your personal success story with ChessBase and enjoy the game even more.
ChessBase is a personal, stand-alone chess database that has become the standard throughout the world. Everyone uses ChessBase, from the World Champion to the amateur next door. It is the program of choice for anyone who loves the game and wants to know more about it.
The new Komodo Dragon 3 engine has gained 100 Elo points in playing strength over its predecessor when using a processor core in blitz. That's a huge improvement for a program that already reached at
an Elo level of over 3500!
€99.90
After an international career as a banker, most recently at the helm of Lloyds Banking Group and Crédit Suisse, António Horta-Osório returned to his native Portugal this year. Together with his wife Ana, he has built up an extensive Asian collection with a special focus on games and chess.
It forms the basis of the exhibition "Jogos Cruzados", which is on show at the renowned Museum of Ancient Art in Lisbon until 25 September.
Games tell of the exchange between Europe and Asia. The curators of the exhibition are the director of the Swiss Games Museum Ulrich Schädler and the German chess collector Thomas Thomsen. The Museum of Ancient Art also has a long-standing connection to chess itself: its curator Dagoberto Markl, who died in 2010, wrote a book about Alekhine's death in Estoril, among other things. From Markl's collection, a travelling chess hidden in a walking stick has found its way into the exhibition (see teaser image).
It starts with card and board games originating in China, the Indian dice game Pachisi and the "goose game", popular across Europe in the 17th century. Backgammon and Asian chess variants such as Qiangqi and Shogi also feature.
Of course, the most extensive parts are the two sections on chess as we know it, because the variety of its pieces inspired different designs and it was often combined with other games, such as chess sets that have backgammon or mill on the back. Above all, chess sets were produced in great quantity and variety for representative purposes and have survived as collectors' items in good condition.
Especially in the 19th century, the trade in colonial chess sets from Indian, Chinese and occasionally Japanese manufactories flourished. The East India Company and other colonial companies dominated the production, which was aimed exclusively at export. This had nothing to do with the types of chess actually played in Asia. Our international or European chess only came to India and China under late colonial auspices, where, incidentally, cheap chess sets are manufactured industrially today.
The most outstanding exhibits are, of course, the unique pieces such as the Augsburg game, which is made of materials that are as varied as they are valuable: Tortoise shell, ivory, precious stones, porcelain.
Those who decide at short notice can combine the visit to the museum with the highly remunerated rapid tournament this weekend, 3 and 4 September, in Lisbon. A guided tour is planned for the participants after the last round on Sunday afternoon. Participants from the ongoing Maia Chess Festival, which includes an Open and an English-language conference this Friday, are also expected.
Stefan LöfflerStefan Löffler, a journalist and International Master based in Vienna and Lisbon, is member of FIDE's Education Commission, a consultant at ChessPlus Ltd. www.chessplus.net and Programme Director of the London Chess Conference: www.londonchessconference.com.
Videos: Romain Edouard starts his series "Critical Lines in the Dragon", Leon Mendonca shows Caro-Kann (3...dxe4 4.Nxe4 Bf5 5.Ng3 Bg6 6.N1e2). "Lucky bag" with 44 annotated games - analyses by Kapnisis, Mikhalchishin, Sasikiran and many others!
Let us learn together how to find the best spot for the queen in the early middlegame, how to navigate this piece around the board, how to time the queen attack, how to decide whether to exchange it or not, and much more!
Let us explore together how the rooks should enter the game in the early middlegame, how they operate on open files and how they sometimes join a deadly attack, being transferred in front of the pawn chain and many more topics!
Let us learn together how to find the best spot for the queen in the early middlegame, how to navigate this piece around the board, how to time the queen attack, how to decide whether to exchange it or not, and much more!
Ruy Lopez Powerbase 2023 is a database and contains a total of 10947 games from Mega 2023 and the Correspondence Database 2022, of which 1232 are annotated.
In this 60 Minutes video course you will learn the ins-and-outs of the Grivas Sicilian which starts after 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Qb6!
€9.90
Fritztrainer in App Store
for iPads and iPhones
We use cookies and comparable technologies to provide certain functions, to improve the user experience and to offer interest-oriented content. Depending on their intended use, analysis cookies and marketing cookies may be used in addition to technically required cookies. Here you can make detailed settings or revoke your consent (if necessary partially) with effect for the future. Further information can be found in our data protection declaration.
Pop-up for detailed settings
We use cookies and comparable technologies to provide certain functions, to improve the user experience and to offer interest-oriented content. Depending on their intended use, cookies may be used in addition to technically required cookies, analysis cookies and marketing cookies. You can decide which cookies to use by selecting the appropriate options below. Please note that your selection may affect the functionality of the service. Further information can be found in our privacy policy.
Technically required cookies
Technically required cookies: so that you can navigate and use the basic functions and store preferences.
Analysis Cookies
To help us determine how visitors interact with our website to improve the user experience.
Marketing-Cookies
To help us offer and evaluate relevant content and interesting and appropriate advertisement.