On July 27, at the V.P. Sukachev museum estate, Irkutsk residents and visitors will see rare Mongolian and Chinese chess sets, long unexhibited. One dates to the mid 19th century, the other was donated in 1956, both with unusual pieces and national features.
On July 27, at the V.P. Sukachev Museum-Estate, residents of Irkutsk and visitors to the city will be able to see unique Mongolian and Chinese chess sets. As museum press service employee Maria Averyanova said, two chess sets will be on display.One is Mongolian and dates back to the mid-19th century; it came to the museum from the East Siberian Branch of the Russian Geographical Society, of which V.P. Sukachev was elected chairman in 1890. Notably, all the pieces are made of a hard mountain stone of one color—agalmatolite. The “opponents” can be distinguished only by nuances of carving; there are also distinctive features in the chess figures. The traditional bishops are replaced by camels, and the pawns and queen are made in the form of dogs.
The second set, from the PRC, made of ivory, was donated to the museum in 1956. In this set, the pawns and bishops are warriors armed with sabers. In all the figures, features of the national Chinese costume can be traced depending on the “status” of the chess piece.
These sets are unusual and have not been exhibited for a long time. In the museum, they will be on view only for the next few days. Placed in special glass display cases, they will decorate the ballroom, where a chess tournament in memory of V.P. Sukachev will take place. After July 28, the chess sets will once again be moved to the museum’s storage.