My chess sets: England captaincy presentation set

This is an occasional series of postings inspired by a brief discussion on the flight home from Turkey this summer. The flight attendant saw I was reading a chess book (quelle surprise) and, just making polite small talk, said she also liked playing chess, saying that depending on whether other crew members played, she would play on stopovers. Later in the flight she asked me if I had a chess set at home…and that set me thinking. How many chess sets do I have? And since then number is, well, shall we say, quite high, I thought I would blog about them especially those which ‘mean something to me’.

This beautiful set was presented to me by Richard Caborn MP, then Minister for Sport, at the Houses of Parliament, when I became England men’s captain.

I have used the set a lot, but not as much as the green ivory set which Jane bought me for my fortieth. I do like this set a lot, and the reason for receiving it is of course a significant occasion in my life; just maybe loyalty to Jane means her set edges this one out.

Rating

10/10: lovely pieces, and a wonderful memento of my appointment.