CCI - U A NEWSChess Collectors International Volume 2015 Issue 2 IN THIS ISSUE Lookingglass Alice Ivory Sales Banned in California Upcoming Exhibits, World Chess Hall of Fame Something Original Waddington’s Canada Auction Results, June 16, 2015 St Louis, August 28030, 2015, Gateway to the Chess Photos from the 2015 St Louis CCI Convention

THEATER REVIEW:

LOOKINGGLASS ALICE

At the Denver Center for the Performing Arts September 11 - October 11, 2015

by Tom Gallegos The Absentminded Antiquary

Based loosely on Lewis Carroll's Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There (1871), the play Lookingglass Alice takes a heavily chess-themed book and turns it into a heavily chess-themed work of art. Or rather, a chess-themed work of dynamic, confusing, and at times incomprehensible stagecraft. A printed study guide to the play actually includes a rudimentary chess primer! Adapted and directed by David Catlin, this started out as a project of the Tony Award-winning Lookingglass Theater Company in Chicago. I review this mainly to get the word out, so you can keep an eye out for it. If it should ever tour in your area, I would say you should definitely try to catch it.

Often described as gymnastics and circus arts onstage, there is certainly a nod here to Cirque du Soleil, but this is something different, and in the end, much more faithful to Carroll than to Cirque. Surprises abound, and though I will do my best not to give away any plot spoilers, I must flirt with doing so. Through a magician's conjuring trick, a sizeable chunk of the audience suddenly finds itself onstage, part of the act. The theater becomes a giant Hall of Mirror (singular), a portal between the Two Worlds. Alice becomes airborne. Out of nowhere, for no apparent reason, folding chairs are launched into the air in rapid succession, like a barrage of artillery shells.

Pawn Alice is put in her place by the intimidating Red Queen

3 Lookingglass Alice

Here and there along the way, familiar

Carrollian formulae, such as the irresistibly disturbing (or disturbingly irresistible) Jabberwocky are invoked, uttered like wizardly incantations that have echoed for well over a century now.

"Humpty-Dumpty has a great fall." What could be a more trivial plot spoiler than that? I mean, we've all heard the nursery rhyme; we all KNOW he's going to fall. And yet somehow, when it finally happens, the audience gasps.

What does it all mean? Chess is the unifying theme. As she adjusts with impressive resilience (not to mention amazing strength and agility) to the bizarre new world she finds herself in, Alice meets many strange characters, among them the Red Queen, is informed in no uncertain terms that she is a mere pawn, and, like any good

pawn, Alice begins to conceive the notion that she might one day be promoted to a queen. When she realizes what square she is starting out on, and what square she must get to next, her journey begins. Along the way she makes a few friends, meets a few suspicious characters, and gets wrapped up in seemingly infinite complications and unsolvable metaphysical conundrums, like those we often encounter in even the most casual game of chess. Is Alice really just a dream that the sleeping King is having? Will she really cease to exist if he should wake? Who can say? We must let the combinations play out. The mere fact that the ultimate outcome of her quest for promotion can remain in doubt for as long as it does is reason enough for me to recommend this game. Sorry, I mean...this play.

IVORY SALES BANNED IN CALIFORNIA by Godfrey Harris

Governor Jerry Brown signed AB 96 on

Sunday, October 4. Beginning July 1, 2016, the sale of virtually any object made from or with ivory in the State of California – older pianos and violin bows being the principal exceptions – will become a misdemeanor subject to a $50,000 fine. The bill goes beyond Federal law by ending both commercial and private sales of all antique ivory objects – unless the piece contains less than 5% ivory by volume. The Governor's reasoning for approving the bill was not immediately known, but the Humane Society of the U.S. – the animal rights group that pushed retiring Speaker Toni Adkins into sponsoring the bill – noted that AB 96 would close "loopholes" that escaped the ban Governor Brown signed three decades ago.

Please recall that the California Fish and Game Department told me in Sacramento that they have no personnel and no funds to enforce the law and none is currently anticipated to materialize. So don't be shocked if you read of a show raid or two next summer on some hapless Chinatown establishment, swap meet spot, antique mall, or smaller auction house to bring attention to the new law. The Ivory Education Institute is currently exploring with its legal team whether a class action suit, claiming that AB 96 is a violation of the 5th and 14th Amendment to the Federal Constitution by a taking of such property as netsuke, chess sets, portraits, and jewelry without compensation, is viable.

UPCOMING EXHIBITS, WORLD CHESS HALL OF FAME

Ladies’ Knight: A Female Perspective on Chess October 29, 2015 – April 17, 2016

This exhibit examines how a game often dominated by men inspires contemporary women artists.

The exhibition presents works by artists Crystal Fischetti, Debbie Han, Barbara Kruger, Liliya Lifánova, Goshka Macuga, Sophie Matisse, Yoko Ono, Daniela Raytchev, Jennifer Shahade, Yuko Suga, Diana Thater, and Rachel Whiteread. Their diverse interpretations of the game range from the playful and feminine to the serious and encourage dialogue about subjects like crime, language, peace and conflict, and inequality (see sample pictures, this page and next).

5 Upcoming Exhibits, World Chess Hall of Fame

Also Upcoming Kings, Queens, and Castles Oct 31, 2015 – Sept 11, 2016 (Pictures currently unavailable)

The World Chess Hall of Fame is pleased to present Kings, Queens & Castles, an innovative exhibition that brings the chess board to life and provides an engaging introduction to individual chess pieces and game strategy.

Commissioned by the World Chess Hall of Fame, Kings, Queens, and Castles was developed in partnership with The Magic House. Following its debut at the World Chess Hall of Fame, it will travel to select Children’s Museums nationally.

SOMETHING ORIGINAL by Clayton Neubert

Don't get me wrong – I am not complaining

at all but there are only so many themes of chess sets. A young King Arthur through mid-life to old age with a whitened beard, Charlemagne and other unnamed kings can only go so far. Wars are now down to specific battles. Rectangles, squares, cubes, circles, spheres and all of their variants have been exhausted, it seems. Even mediums of metal, wood, plastic, ceramic, porcelain, glass and so on offer nothing new.

Maybe I am a rarity among fellow collectors but I have too much time on my hands. Conversation seems to inevitably end up talking chess sets. One such conversation with my brother, Martin Neubert, some time ago produced his idea about a set using toys from a typical household. As things began to take shape many childhood memories came flooding back. Toy soldiers, trucks & cars, tops, jacks, Lincoln logs – and of course my sister had dolls and other girly things of the time. So many things that I cannot begin to recall all of the

possibilities that were discussed on that day. However, the idea stuck in my mind and it has fermented and evolved there for years.

Obviously, smaller versions of anything would be necessary to fit on a chessboard. So began the bantering back and forth of what could be used in which position continued.

In my opinion, the greatest universal toy that both little boys and little girls have is teddy bears – OK, so soft stuffed animals. I personally can't think of too many children that were not subjected to a teddy bear at one time or another. In my opinion it is the king of all toys. Dolls would fit nicely as queens and without thinking Raggedy Ann came to mind. Who doesn't remember the wind-up, pop-up Jack-In-The-Box, the "fool" in French sets as bishops. Knights? Well, the typical horse would do, but I don't know of any children that have had their own pony except Shirley Temple. Toy soldiers perhaps? A wooden box to hold everything would work fine as a rook. And then things hit

7 Something Original

a snag! Jacks could be used as pawns for the girl's side of the board and marbles could be used for the boy's side, but they just didn't feel right. Different colored marbles/balls could be used for pawns. Since a set of jacks involves use of a ball, I thought, "Why not combine jacks and balls or jacks and marbles?"

Although the pieces would be appropriate there was the issue of size across the entire discussion. However, there is that wonderful place called eBay, and "sooner or later everything is on eBay". I spend enough time just going through new listings for chess sets each day. This is going to be on the scale of Ahab's search for the great white whale.

I never have found Raggedy Ann’s the right size, or close to it, but I am flexible. Same thing goes for teddy bears. They seem to be either large or way, way too large. Fortunately, McDonald's has done a number of Barbies that are right at 4¼” tall – Aha! Very closest teddy I found was 3” tall standing – sitting, about 1¼”. Although I did find what I thought could potentially be a great Jack-in-the-Box, it would

have involved buying a mold set for a chess set, casting pieces, cutting them down and attaching to a spring that was also attached to a cube (as the box) and then painting and so forth – insanity of the first order! On the other hand, the old children's story about one tin soldier came to mind and the soldiers also worked, but I ran into size issues again. On the other hand, I did find nutcracker ornaments that were just right. Next up came the issue of a horse, and a rocking horse would work perfectly but even those too small ended up with rockers that made them too large. Taking time to remember back when, once upon a time, I was a young boy was harder than I would have thought – eventually the stick horse came flooding back. In the myriad world of dollhouse miniatures I found exactly that, wooden stick horses. Now a toy box would have been fine – toy boxes as rooks, but they lacked a certain something, when I stumbled upon a long since forgotten perfect solution – alphabet blocks. To be honest, I don't really remember practicing any spelling or anything similar, but I do remember destroying walls and castles and forts made from these

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blocks with my cars and trucks. Taking a bit of artistic license, I used the letters C-H-E and S for my castles. Jacks were not difficult to find in a local craft store, which did surprise me at the time. The problem with the jacks was they did not look or feel "traditional", and being 6 pointed items (3 prongs down and 3 prongs up), there was the additional problem of trying to affix a marble, which is normally glass – and nothing really sticks to glass, so I elected to use wooden balls that would substitute for marbles, or rubber bounce balls for the jacks themselves.

All of this was working very well but the pieces would not stand on their own, in many cases, so bases would be needed. Eighth inch and quarter inch thick discs just lacked character, but I found 1½” diameter wooden tires that really jumped out. The lines around the circumference (tire tread) added character, the very slight bulbous shape of the face and the recess for placement of an axle just added to the suitability.

A 1/2" diameter dowel cut short fit the recess for the axle and drilling it required a small

simple jig, but drilling at an angle with most any drill bit was technically challenging. However, it worked out perfectly and the wooden horses sitting at this angle just looks and feel right. The bases for the Barbies didn't work at all so 1/2" diameter discs were cut from acrylic using a tenon cutter (but not to many people have such a tool) to attach to her feet and then fit into the recess of the tire bases also.

In writing all of this down, I realized that other collectors might want a copy of this set so I had to check parts availabilities; everything is out there and available on most any given day except for one issue – the jacks. Now I did not give this much thought when I bought these originally, but in this past week I have learned that there are at least 3 sizes of these things. New jacks sets use smaller jacks that I measured at close to 5/8" point to point straight across the center, and also a larger set that is rated at 1½" across the center. But the small are much too small and the large might work but would be too big (in my opinion) in relation to the other figures. What I used were 1 inch across and

9 Something Original

were perfect. It took some time and effort, but I did finally locate the company that still makes these, so I can at least give a source for them if someone wants to copy this.

The alphabet blocks also present a small problem in that we want 4 blocks out of a set of 30 some. To find and buy a set on eBay is costly and then some, in my opinion, but a friend with a CarveWright machine can do the top surface exactly as the originals and I did not even pay attention to the 4 outside surfaces, so copies are not perfect alphabet blocks, but pretty close.

To summarize costs: teddy bears were $9, Barbie's were $5 each ($10 for 2), nutcracker soldiers were $12 for a group of 12, 4 stick horses ended up at $15, alphabet blocks were $22, jacks were $6 each – so $12 plus local sales taxes, wooden tires (3 packages of 12 each) were right at $21, and wooden balls were $7 for 25 point .875" and similar for 4 1.750", plus $3.25 shipping. Paint and glues and a couple other minor things were not even added in.

The total then, amounted to $118+. Time for painting and the other labor involved ended up being between 30 and 40 hours and this does not factor in finding the right parts, and so forth, to replicate this accurately.

The big question is "Was it worth it?" I think so! The number of people who have seen my

collection either stop at this, or come back to it, so it does capture people's attention.

I would consider and be willing to take commissions but because of various factors each set would technically be one-of-a-kind. Set number 1 will never leave my hands, set #2 is spoken for, so number 3 upward would be available, with a potential cap of only about a dozen, give or take a couple.

I can be reached directly at: noybear@hotmail.com for any comments, questions or to commission a set.

Examples of parts used in

making the ‘Toy Set’

WADDINGTON’S CANADA AUCTION RESULTS, JUNE 16, 2015

Lot 201: Large Turkish Turned & Carved Ivory ‘Tulip’, early 19th Century King Height: 6.25”

One side stained green, the other left natural, each piece of tall elongated proportions and designed to Muslim convention.

Estimate: 4,000 6,000 Canadian Realized: 5,040 Canadian

Lot 202: German Turned & Carved Ivory ‘Selenus’ Pattern, Early/Mid 19th Century, King Height: 8.75”

With natural and red dyed opposing armies lead by crowned monarchs with balleried bodies, balustrade bishops and pawns, horse heads as Knights, and domed towers with crescent moon finals as Rooks.

Estimate: 2,000 – 3,000 Canadian Realized: 2,400 Canadian

Lot 203: German Amber Bust Form, Koingsberg, 18th Century King Height: 2.8”

With opposing opaque and translucent sides, each figure on baluster support with spreading foot, Bishop’s miters inscribed ‘Cito’, with elephants as Rooks.

Estimate: 20,000 – 30,000 Canadian Realized: 94,500 Canadian

Lot 204: North Indian ‘Muslim’ Pattern Turned Ivory, 18th Century King Height: 2.4”

Opposing sides dyed red and green respectively with conventionalized pieces banded with incised decoration including chevrons and daper brick pattern.

Estimate: 800 – 1,200 Canadian Realized: 1,440 Canadian

11 Waddington’s, June 16, 2015

Lot 205: Large Indian Turned and Carved Ivory, 19th Century King Height: 6.4” One side stained black, the other left natural, each piece of tall, elongated proportions with bulbous body, the monarchs with pierce carved and ‘heads’ Estimate: 2,000 – 3,000 Canadian Realized: 3,600 Canadian

Lot 206: French Ivory Mounted Boxwood ‘Directoire’, late 18th/ealy 19th Century King Height: 3.4” One side natural, the other ebonized, the crowned monarchs with urn form bodies, bishops with sperical bodies, knights with elongated horse heads, turrents as rooks, and vase form pawns Estimate: 700 - 900 Canadian Realized: 780 Canadian

Lot 207: French Carved Ivory ‘Medieval’ Style Figural, 19th Century King Height: 4” One side natural, the other stained with red bases, both sides with monarchs as kings and queens, mounted knights as Knights, turrets as Rooks and armoured foot soldiers as Pawns, the white bishops as troubadors, the stained bishops as jesters. Provenance: Phillips, NY, Sale No. 642, Lot 112, 1986 Estimate: 6,000 – 8,000 Canadian Realized:19,200 Canadian

Lot 208: French Medieval Style Carved, Painted and Parcel Gilt Figural c1930, King Height: 5” Modelled as the French (gilt) vs the Ottomans (blue), all pieces raised on weighted bases with the monarchs seated and knights mounted, Saints and Khans as bishops, fortresses and mosques as rooks Estimate: 2,000 – 3,000 Canadian Realized: 16,800 Canadian

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Lot 209: Five Western Indian Green Stained Carved Ivory Chess Pieces, 18th Century, Largest Height: 2.7”

The largest depicting two conjoined elephants having monarch seated in howday with three attendants, the second an elephant and rider, the third a boat with four oarsmen, and two half-kneeling warrors, probably pawns. Provenance: Sotheby Parke-Bernet, London, June 29th 1981, Lot 227

Estimate: 300 - 500 Canadian Realized: 1,140 Canadian

Lot 210: Large Chinese Export Turned and Carved Ivory ‘Burmese Pattern’ 19th Century, King Height: 5.1”

One side stained green, the other left natural, the monarchs with pierced carved crowns with mask and fleurs-dis-lys

Estimate: 1,000 – 1,500 Canadian Realized: 1,560 Canadian

Lot 211: Chinese Export Pierce Carved Ivory Disc, Canton, early 19th Century Disc Diameter: 1.4”

Estimate: 300 - 400 Canadian Realized: 840 Canadian

Lot 212: Chinese Export Pierced Carved Ivory Disc, Canton, 19th Century Disc Diameter: 4.25”

Estimate: 200 - 300 Canadian Realized: 240 Canadian

13 Waddington’s, June 16, 2015

Lot 213: Chinese Export Turned and Carved Ivory ‘King George’ Bust Form Macao, early 19th Century, King Height: 3.4”

The natural army led by George III and Queen Charlotte and red dyed opposing army led by Qian Long Emperor and Empress.

Estimate: 1,000 – 1,500 Canadian Realized: 1,560

Lot 214: Chinese Export Carved Ivory ‘King George’ Figural, Canton, early 19th Century, King Height: 4.8”

The white army with George III and Charlotte against the red army led by Emperor Qian Long

Estimate: 2,000 -3,000 Canadian Realized: 3,360

:ot 215: Anglo-Indian Turned and Carved, c1850, King Height: 3.75”

The conventionalized opposing armies dyed red and black respectively, the monarchs with pierced galleries

Estimate: 800 – 1,200 Canadian Realized: 960

Lot 216: Spanish Turned and Carved Bone Bust Type ‘Pulpit’, c 1800 King Height 3.75”

The opposing side dyed brown, with kings and queens modeled with stiff leaf crown finials, bishops with miters, horses as knights, turrets as rooks and balustrade pawns. Provenance: Sotheby parke-Berment, Sale 605, Lot 32

Estimate: 3,000 – 5,000 Canadian Realized: 3,840 Canadian

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Lot 217: Soviet Parcel Gilt and Painted Porcelain ‘Reds vs Whites’, Natalia Danko, State Porcelain Manufactory, 1933/34, King Height: 4” The white army with Death and Fortuna as monarchs, soldiers as bishops, armoured horses as knights, swan galleons as rooks and slaves as pawns. The red army with allegorical figures of industry and Agriculture as monarchs, armed soldiers as bishops, plow horses as knights, ships as rooks and farmers bearing sheaves of wheat as pawns. Estimate: 20,000 – 30,000 Canadian Realized:33,600 Canadian

Lot 218: Victorian Ebony Strung Figured Oak ‘Royal Cabinet of Games’ Compenium, c1870, 6.9” x 13” x 8.75” Probably Chapman, Son & Co. opening to interior fitted with Staunton pattern chess set, cribbage board, checkers, dominos, dice and playing cards Estimate: 600 - 800 Canadian Realized: 510 Canadian

Lot 222: 3 Piece Austrian Cold Painted Bronze Desk Set, early 20th Century Comprising a pen stand with two Arabian figures playing chess on a bench, with hookay and ink pot concealed within table all on Persian carpet and marble base, with figural rocker blotter and letter opener en suite. Estimate: 1,500 – 2,500 Canadian Realized: 3,360

CCI –USA NEWS

Floyd Sarisohn Duncan Pohl Frank Camaratta [Publisher] [Editor] [Co-Editor] PO Box 166 1391Parkview Dr fmcamaratta@mindspring.com Commack NY 11725 Woodland CA 95776 Ph: 631.543.1330 Ph: 530.383.5750 lichess@aol.com duncanpohl@sbcglobal.net Fax:631.543.7901 Do you have a picture you would like to see on the cover of the Newsletter? If so, please send a high resolution, uncropped, clear photograph to duncanpohl@gmail.com. First priority will be given to pictures that accompany an article submitted for publication – and used – within that particular issue. Every effort will be made to follow the principle of first come, first served, but the final decision will also depend on quality, subject matter, and other publication requirements that ultimately may dictate what can best be used. CCI-USA NEWS is made possible thanks to the volunteer work of all persons involved. We are not responsible for contents of articles, the performance of advertisers, the delivery or quality of their services or products, or the legality of any particular program or publication EDITORIAL COMMENTS AND POLICY The future and quality of this publication depends on your contributions. Please send comments, notes, reports, articles, photos, stories, etc., to any of the people listed above. Electronic form would be best. We would like to take this opportunity to thank all who contributed to this issue.

Saint Louis (August 28 - 30, 2015)

GATEWAY TO THE CHESS

by Tom Gallegos The Absentminded Antiquary

St. Louis boasts the official, certified, Guinness World Record "Largest Chess Piece in the World," seen here (Not necessarily to scale.)

Chess would have been very much in

evidence at the glittering court of Louis IX, who reigned as King of France from A.D. 1226 until his death in 1270. A famous crusader, legal reformer, and great patron of the arts, Louis attracted to his circle all the leading thinkers, artists, scribes and soldiers of his time. Most of these people, knights and poets, lords and ladies, would have played chess as a matter of course.

Not only was King Louis the wealthiest and most powerful monarch on the continent, he was such a good, wise, compassionate and pious ruler that he was canonized not long after his death.

Louis himself, however, was no friend to chess. With a lifelong aversion to all games (or possibly stinging from some humiliating loss), in 1254 the King signed a religious edict, which

CCI-USA News 16

outlawed chess as "a useless and boring game," an invention of the Devil. Many of us can remember outraged siblings on the losing side of the board, who made essentially the same proclamation when we were young.

SAINT Louis obviously never set foot in the modern American metropolis that bears his name. However, in a strange twist of fate, which no doubt has the holy monarch spinning in his grave, this city has in recent years become the chess capital of the USA. On Maryland Avenue, in what must be one of the city's most attractive neighborhoods, the Central West End, sits the World Chess Hall of Fame (WCHOF), which moved here after the previous Hall of Fame in Miami closed a few years before. (CCI had an earlier meeting in St. Louis in 2011, to coincide with the grand opening.) The WCHOF functions both as a Hall of Fame, and as a museum of chess history, art and culture, fulfilling both duties admirably.

Most chess clubs I have frequented in my time have been a bit dingy and dank; often on their last legs financially. A sparkling exception to that rule sits directly across the street from the WCHOF; namely, the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis, comprising three floors of spacious, modern, high tech areas dedicated to playing, teaching and learning the game of chess. Chess players have truly found a home here, whether they are beginners or world champions, or anything in between. There is space for strong international tournaments or matches, and a media room for commentators. It may be the most well-appointed chess club in existence. Even the old Soviet Pioneer Palaces, which once churned out government-sponsored grandmasters by the score, and served as oases in the resource-poor Soviet desert, would have had a hard time competing with the opulence, comfort, and up-to-date technology of the St. Louis Chess Club.

One such ultra-strong international tournament, the Sinquefield Cup, was in progress during the CCI meeting. It had started

before our members even arrived and would not conclude until after our departure. This event, barely three years old, has now become part of the newly-launched "Grand Chess Tour," a cycle of three elite tournaments to take place every year; to wit, Norway Chess (in Stavanger, Norway), the Sinquefield Cup (St. Louis), and the London Chess Classic (London, England).

The average FIDE rating of the players at this year's Sinquefield Cup? A whopping 2795!

How has the city of St. Louis been blessed with such an abundance of chess resources and amenities? It has all been made possible through the amazing generosity, vision and perseverance of Rex Sinquefield and his wife, Jeanne. Rex is well known in the business community as a philanthropist and financial/investment genius, a groundbreaking economist who sprang out of the fertile soil that was the University of Chicago in the early 1970's. With success in the bag, Mr. Sinquefield now runs a foundation and contributes to the many political, educational and social causes about which he is passionate. What a boon to the city of St. Louis that chess just happens to be one of those causes! (I can almost hear King Louis IX grumbling in his

sleep.) With the recent addition of a tastefully chess-

themed restaurant, the Kingside Diner, people are even starting to refer to this part of Maryland Avenue as the "Chess Campus," two words I never thought I would hear in such close proximity.

Into this Caissa-inspired heaven entered the members of Chess Collectors International, for

our 2015 Western Hemisphere conference. It was an all-too-brief, three day meeting. A few highlights: THURSDAY, August 27th:

No, this was not an official meeting day. The conference had not yet started. But so many of us had come to town a day early that there was an impromptu dinner in Eau Bistro, in the Chase

17 Gateway to the Chess

Park Plaza, with a menu described as "contemporary American." It's getting hard to tell the official dinners from the unofficial with CCI, since this was quite an elegant affair, and I believe most of us (the attendees) were there. While the Chase was our "official" conference hotel (and one of the nicest in the city), no meetings or talks took place there, as they did in 2011, since the WCHOF just down the street makes such an attractive and welcoming venue for all things chess. A nearby Holiday Inn provided a less expensive stay for many.

Chief Curator Shannon Bailey and our own Floyd Sarisohn played host that night. A professional wait staff regaled us with mouth-watering descriptions of the delicacies to come. I had to look around to make sure I hadn't been whisked away to Le Cordon Bleu. The conversation was lively, with much of it revolving around the Sinquefield Cup, which would be won several days later by Levon Aronian, the Armenian grandmaster (FIDE 2765), beating out higher rated players such as Magnus Carlsen of Norway (2853) and Hikaru Nakamura of the USA (2814). Many of us followed our favorite players with all the passion and fervor of fantasy football fanatics. I'm not entirely certain there wasn't a bit of wagering going on around me.

By the way, among the Chase's many luxury amenities is their own multiplex movie theater. During the conference, all of their shows happened to be on special for a mere $5 each. Luann and I took in a late screening of The Man from U.N.C.L.E. re-make, which I mention only because it includes one frustratingly short, but hilarious chess scene. Go see it. FRIDAY, August 28th:

This evening kicked off the official festivities with a wine and cheese reception at the Hall of Fame. Chief Curator Shannon Bailey and patron Rex Sinquefield both made welcoming remarks to the crowd.

On view in the museum were three exhibitions; on the first floor, a modern art exhibition entitled, Marcel Dzama: Mischief Makes a Move (which runs from May 14, 2015 - October 18, 2015). On the second floor was Encore! Ivory Chess Treasures from the Jon Crumiller Collection (running May 14, 2015 - October 18, 2015). And on the third floor, Battle on the Board: Chess during World War II (running June 25, 2015 - Jan 17, 2016). A veritable feast for the eyes and mind of anyone interested in chess.

You can check out more about these and other upcoming exhibitions at www.worldchesshof.org.

Dinner that night was at Bar Italia Ristorante, just a few steps from the WCHOF, with everybody ordering off the menu. I must say there are an awful lot of great-looking restaurants up and down the street that we never got to try. Can't imagine this will be our last trip to St. Louis. SATURDAY, August 29th:

This was the main, action-packed day of the conference. First thing in the morning, we gathered in the 3rd floor attic of the WCHOF to hear talks. After welcoming remarks by Floyd Sarisohn, there was a series of short reports by WCHOF staffers. Chief Curator Shannon Bailey repeated her welcome, and gave us an overview of the museum exhibits. Assistant Curator Emily Allred spoke in more detail about the show she curated, Battle on the Board: Chess during World War II. Brian Flowers, Buyer and General Manager, introduced us to Q Boutique, which is much more than your typical museum gift shop. And Registrar Maggie Abbott spoke briefly about loans and donations.

After the museum staff, Jon Crumiller rose to share more of his in-depth research on chess set history, this time focusing on Howard Staunton as documented in the pages of the 19th Century London Illustrated News. Frank Camaratta, arguably the world's greatest expert on the

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Staunton design, made some very brief remarks on, unsurprisingly, the Staunton design. Talks like these are really the meat of our conferences, in my estimation. A priceless opportunity to learn from experts, in person, about major historical developments in the evolution of our most important chess design, still in use to this day. (In a world-class tournament happening right across the street, no less!)

Yours truly had been asked to update the members on the current status of the ivory ban in the USA. I had just a few minutes to try and give a mini-civics lesson, explaining the difference between laws (no new ones), regulations (new ones being proposed), and Executive Orders and Director's Orders, which are essentially memos to Federal employees on how to interpret and enforce existing laws and regs. Basically, I pointed out that confusion is running rampant, not only among collectors and dealers, but also in the halls of government itself. They are trying to tighten the ban, and they are doing it by clamping down, and strictly interpreting/enforcing certain provisions of the old regulations. But they don't have any new regulations in place yet which actually accomplish this. Only "memos." The law on ivory is still very much in flux, I tried to say. Questions in the room flew fast and furious, and reflected the general unrest that always surrounds this topic, but my time was suddenly over. Read more on this most urgent subject below.

Floyd Sarisohn gave us a refreshing change of pace with his "View of the Well Dressed Chess Collector," a tour of the infinite and colorful varieties of chess-themed clothing, from tee shirts and ties, on up to full outfits. It made me wonder vaguely whether Floyd's dry-cleaning bills were starting to cut into his budget for actual chess sets. Then, while we were waiting for another speaker to arrive, Floyd gave a second short talk with a truly thought-provoking question embedded in the title: "Will Hillary be

Queen or King? 20th Century Political Chess

Sets." Just before the break, Woman Grandmaster

and Editor of Chess Life Online, Jennifer Shahade came to the podium to give us a recap and analysis of the progress of the Sinquefield Cup to date.

After lunch at the Kingside Diner (where the food seems to be every bit as good as any diner you could name), it was back across the street to the WCHOF, where we crowded into the second floor Gallery 2 to hear Jon Crumiller speak about his unparalleled collection of chess sets, a small portion of which was on display in the exhibition already mentioned above. The theme was antique ivory sets in particular, and the Crumiller collection includes many of the most spectacular sets ever carved and turned, literally from all around the world, in that most controversial of sculptural materials.

Mr. Crumiller's many insights about the styles and history of the sets themselves were spot-on, of course. But since the topic was ivory, questions from the crowd necessarily turned his attention to the recent tightening of the ivory ban by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. Here I got the impression that Jon had been fed some serious misinformation, most likely by overzealous agents of Fish & Wildlife itself. That said, Jon also lives in New Jersey, which has one of the toughest state bans. He stated flatly that the Federal government has outlawed all buying and selling of ivory, that the new laws have essentially declared ivory to be "worthless," and that if he were to donate his ivory sets to a museum, he couldn't even take a tax deduction.

Of course, NONE of this is true in my estimation. To summarize briefly, the newly-proposed rules are still in legal limbo, with no final action yet taken, even though Fish & Wildlife already seems to be trying to enforce them as if they were actually the law. The new rules, if they ever are finalized, will still technically contain exceptions for antiques and for smaller amounts of ivory, though

19 Gateway to the Chess

documentation is of course very problematic. On this date we were still in a "public comment" period, which has only recently closed. Fish & Wildlife eventually received over ONE MILLION comments, which they must now wade through, including a 23-page rant by yours truly. If the new rules, or anything like them, ever are enacted as final regulations, they will most likely be ruled unconstitutional in court, on both ex post facto and Fifth Amendment grounds.

But then, nobody asked me. Actually, Jon was being interviewed on camera at this point, so I did not want to butt in. Jon had been called away during my talk earlier in the day, and had apparently not heard my take on the situation. Of course, while the world waits for Fish & Wildlife to get its act together and finalize the new rules, there are certainly plenty of horror stories to be told about their overzealous enforcement of the old rules. I would urge Jon, and the rest of the membership (I'm talking to you, Frank), not to give up hope just yet.

Jon also stated that, to his mind, the poaching of elephants must be stopped, and with this I most heartily agree. (The ivory ban will not stop it, however. Quite the opposite: The ban is causing the poaching. Read my 23-page rant for further details.) Jon also said that he can't help loving the sets, even if they are legally "worthless," and with this sentiment as well, I can only agree. (Choking up a bit, here.)

After Jon's sincere and heartfelt presentation, we trooped back across the street one more time (maybe there needs to be a stoplight in the middle of the block here?) to watch the start of Round 6 of the Sinquefield Cup. As spacious as the Chess Club is, it does tend to get awfully crowded in the tournament room when the world's elite players are slugging it out. So, one hour after the round began, there was live streaming of the event to the 3rd floor attic we

had recently vacated, or a live commentary taking place right inside the Kingside Diner, if anyone was still hungry for either food or chess.

Our gala dinner was held that night in a rather dark, below-ground restaurant called Scape American Bistro. The food was generally good, despite a few minor mix-ups. At one point Larry List stood to raise an impromptu toast, a touching tribute, to Floyd and Bernice Sarisohn, our tireless organizers, whose efforts I have praised many times in these pages over the years. It is not enough, we can all agree. Floyd announced that he'd promised his wife and son that this was the last meeting he would ever organize. But we all know, without Floyd and Bernice, these meetings simply could not occur. How will we ever get along without them? SUNDAY, August 30th:

After an included brunch at the Kingside Diner (done with meal vouchers, show up anytime from 6 to 11 am), it was time for the usual bustling chess fair. This year's fair was held in the WCHOF's 3rd floor attic, which may sound a bit cramped, but was actually a perfect venue for shopping, trading and haggling over sets, boards, books and even chess clothing.

Then it was time for the 7th round of the Sinquefield Cup across the street, which was of course packed to the gills, but there was always live streaming from the WCHOF attic, or live commentary in the Kingside Diner, take your

pick. A few days after our meeting, the cinema at

the Chase Park Plaza was due to screen the premiere of Pawn Sacrifice, the Bobby Fischer bio-flick starring Tobey Maguire, with attendant hoopla by the WCHOF, but sadly, most if not all CCI members were scheduled to be long gone by then.

PHOTOS FROM THE ST LOUIS 2015 CCI CONVENTION

PHOTOS FROM THE ST LOUIS 2015 CCI CONVENTION

PHOTOS FROM THE ST LOUIS 2015 CCI CONVENTION

PHOTOS FROM THE ST LOUIS 2015 CCI CONVENTION

PHOTOS FROM THE ST LOUIS 2015 CCI CONVENTION