Did you know ?

[noybear]

There had been a few chess sets/ pieces within the last few months of M & M's....plastic toppers from their candy products. I don't know if anyone other than one other collector friend took advantage and got a set or not....doesn't really matter, I guess. My only point is that they are fixed to a white plastic square base and there may be other set owners out there that may have also looked at the pieces and tried to figure out some method of filling this white plastic base and possibly weighting them to make them more usable ?

From my visual inspection, I had assumed that the chess top sections had been glued to these base sections....not so ! The white plastic base sections have a pair of tabs that are very similar to Lego's and I used a letter opener to get between and pry the chess piece off.....they are a very tight fit. I had zero damage to either part doing this and have saved the plastic base sections for the possibility that the set might be resold some day.

As a result, I have a typical smaller round base that is semi-hollow and a simple fishing weight can be glued in for weighting purposes if desired.

The only pieces that are a bit awkward for identification in play are the king and queen other than that is is very usable for chess games.

Clay Neubert

[knight_knight_zzz]

Clay,

Regarding the M&M pieces/sets: Any possible pictures (anywhere) - via Picasa? "Photo bucket"? Another website link? etc.? Interesting little description there, but could use more to get an even better "picture".

John (says the pot to the kettle...) 😉     

[lichess]

John, I bought one of the M& M chess sets earlier this year. When you come to visit, you will be able see it up close which is better than by picture. Floyd

[knight_knight_zzz]

Floyd, OK. Thanks. John.

And one rather long "PS": I guess that with Halloween having recently passed, all of the M&Ms are gone, and folks viewing no longer have any interest in sweet sets which Clay had brought up for possible discussion. C'est la vie! Well, onto the next "holiday" in this country, which some folks might have forgotten or are not aware. Let us not forget our Veterans, as it is Veterans Day. 

Getting back to the "Did you know" topic of this thread, do you (Floyd) - or anyone else - know how many specific war related chess sets exist out there? (meaning a set specific to a war, such as the Civil War, WWII, WWI, English & Scots, Spain & England, American Colonists & England, and apparently even the Korean War, etc...?) The Korean War Chess set??? Well, see the following mentioning of them: http://www.chesssetpieces.com/military/korean-war/ 

I had never known such a Korean War themed set existed! Interesting, however, how/why I have never seen a chess set on the Vietnam War (perhaps too political or maybe it touches a raw nerve?) There is one U-tube link which seems to me to be so distasteful, (just MHO) that I will not even place a link here to it!

Regardless, the chess world does indeed and afterall, reflect cultures!

John.

[noybear]

Time for another history refresher, John.

In 1918, in the 11th month, on the 11th day and at the 11th hour the guns fell silent in Europe, signaling the end of the Great War to end all wars. However it was another several months before the actual armistace was formally signed.

In 1938 the US formally named this date as a date of observance. It was not until 1954 that the United States Congress ammended itself and declared that this day would honor all veterans of all wars.

For discussion's sake, even the word 'war' must be qualified. To my thinking a war must involve large numbers, let's say thousands of warriors to be on the table. How about the list be limited to 'significant historical events' ?
Vlad Teppich's battles against the Ottomans were noteworthy but not globally well known, for example. Vlad is also known as Vlad the Impaler or to those not so interested in history, you can call him Vlad Dracu. Vlad 'Son of the Dragon' would later be fictionalized and come to be known as Dracula.

Like Vlad, William Wallace's efforts were more a local event, not of global significance.

It is hard to get around several prime examples of war and conquest such as Alexander, Caesar, and then Napoleon, all world altering persons. The American Revolution and Civil War and then the Great Wars, 1 and 2 are difficult to ignore. Korea and Vietnam are newsworthy but not in the same catagory as the current mideastern conflicts based on numbers of particpants, nations, length of time and so forth.

The biggest problem in developing a set with these themes is a distinct lack of identifiable characters. A theme that I believe would be worthwhile is based on Verne's '20,000 Leagues Under the Sea'....Nemo and the Nautilaus and other factors are in place but it is harder to identify another opponent for an opposing side. On the other hand, maybe opposing colors are good enough ?

In my opinion, World War I has been very ignored as a theme for chess. Of course, the Spanish conquest of what is now Mexico is another lost theme. Others can argue that sets of each have been done but not well so far.

We seem to be a very narrow minded planet these days. We are interested in events that involve ourselves and our generation and the generation of our parents but not much about our grand or great grand parents. Why ? Good question that I do not have an answer for, maybe others have their own opinions ?

Clay Neubert

[chesspurr]

Hi Clay,

As a collector I have only one set of chessmen, which one can describe as a war set . The Chinese versus the Europeans, in Ivory, circa 1820-40's

Being of Anglo Irish origin, the idea of having a 1916 Easter rising set, has a basic problem.

How does one decide what pieces, the Irish freedom fighters should look like.

Great Britain had " an Air Force, Dreadnought super Battle ships, Cannon , and so on. Whilst the Irish had " Illegal weapons like Rifles ". Clearly a very serious imbalance here.

Yet it was a War, and people died in it, the numbers should be irrelevant .

Political chess men are more flexible, as then the military imbalance can be ignored. At least the pieces can all be acceptably historically correct, since a Monarch is a ruler, and so on .

Then there are the potential buyers of such sets, as it makes good sense to assume that some countries, might have historical grudges, against the past or present super powers.

In my personal opinion a well made set of chessmen depicting the opposing armies of Britain v Ireland back in 1922, would look less appealing. A Political set of equal quality ,would be far more preferable to own.

My personal opinion of course, others no doubt will disagree with my views.

[corptaxman]

I don't really have any! For me, one of the basic problems with modernish 'themed' sets is that either the maker appears to be trying to make a point, or the pieces seem to be selected almost randomly. In both cases, I find there is little to latch onto as a playing set - my preferred choice.

I'm sure, however, that others will appreciate the virtually infinite variety that figural/themed sets allow.