Every year, on July 11, Mongolia celebrates its independence from China. The Chessmen Museum commemorates this day by bringing one of its most special chess sets to the public’s attention: a chess game with a board made of felt, imported from Mongolia. Museum director Ridder Dijkshoorn tells us everything about it.
“When I was a child, I collected stamps and I especially adored those from Mongolia. The stamps were big and depicted all kinds of wild horsemen riding all over the serrated pieces of paper that the stamps consisted of. It wasn’t until I was older that I understood that only a few of these stamps had actually been used as such. Most of them found their way to boys like me who collected them, through stamp traders.”
“Mongolia was no match for the Arab Emirates when it came to stamps. Famous western paintings were depicted on ‘golden’ stamps. Had these stamps actually been produced in the Emirates it would probably have meant the death of the mailman and/or the addressee, because the stamps were mostly images of female nudes.”
The little guy in between two super powers
“In primary school I learned that Mongolia was a country sandwiched in between the Soviet Union and China. With two big brothers like that, Mongolia was more or less able to keep its own course. I also learned about Ghengis Khan, the most powerful medieval Mongolian leader who was able to take control of an empire that stretched out from the Asian savannah all the way to Hungary in Europe. There was not much else to say about this relatively big country with a low population density because it only had about two or three million inhabitants.”
“The book The horse boy by Rupert Isaacson (a book I highly recommend) taught me that the capital city of Mongolia, Ulaanbaatar, has become a highly polluted and westernized city. The Mongolian countryside outside of the city is still beautiful and breathtaking, according to the writer. But for how long will it stay that way? As it happens, the Mongolian earth is rich in minerals and multinationals have already started digging up these treasures. They hardly pay any taxes, or don’t pay any taxes at all to the Mongolian government because, as you may have already guessed, these multinationals have registered themselves in Amsterdam with only a postal address. So their tax contribution goes to the Dutch government. And because of ‘special tax fares’ that the Dutch government created especially for foreign multinationals, the taxes are just a fraction of what the multinationals should really be paying to Mongolia.”
Panoramic view of Ulaanbaatar, the westernized capital of Mongolia
“Fortunately, Mongolia has come to its senses and is one of the first developing countries to cancel this unprofitable trade and tax treaty with the Netherlands. Yes, this means that the state treasure will not receive as much tax contribution from the multinationals as before and so we will have to pay a bit more, in taxes or VAT. It also means that Mongolia will now be able to claim taxes over the gained minerals to the multinationals directly. This will give the country the opportunity to increase the average annual income of the Mongolians (which is some $ 540, – on a yearly basis) to a more realistic income in the future.”
Yak felt
“Mongolia’s national holiday is July 11, all the more reason to write about Mongolia today. Another reason is that I was able to get my hands on a very unique chess game made in Mongolia. The board is made of felt –which is made of horse hair or yak hair- and can be rolled up. This way the board fits into two felt ‘cups’ that also hold the chess pieces and this makes it easy to take the game from one place to another. Which comes in handy because originally the Mongolian people are a nomad people that used to pack up their joerts (tents) to travel after their herds.”
Mongolian chess board and cups made of felt
“For a couple of weeks I was so happy with this unusual chess set, until I saw the same exact game somewhere else, and somewhere else again. Now I am happy though that the Mongolian people have found another product –alongside with the stamps- that they can export to other countries. This makes them depend a tiny bit less on the multinationals that ruin their landscape to gain so-called treasures. So the Mongolian chess set is still prominently on display at the Chessmen Museum. A unique set with a special history.”
By Ridder Dijkshoorn
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