Director Ridder Dijkshoorn speaks about special pieces from the collection of his Chessmen Museum. A creatively designed chess game made up of little robots is the star today. In addition to telling the story of the game, Ridder Dijkshoorn would also like to make a special appeal: he doesn´t know who the designer of this beautiful chess set is.
“Sir, you are robbing me of the most photographed object of the whole Spiegelstraat (a streetname in Amsterdam) “, was the mock-outraged reaction of antiquarian Harry Jong when I bought this game from him. Whenever I, born and raised in Rotterdam, visit Amsterdam, I always make a little detour to the Spiegelstraat to see if I can find anything of my interest. This is exactly what I did in the summer of 2012. When I got closer to the window of Antiques Shop Harry Jong, an extraordinary chess set caught my attention immediately. I instantly knew: “I have got to have this game, if I can afford it of course.” I was lucky, the price was very reasonable.
Some extra glue
“You do have to be very careful when you pick up the pieces, they haven´t been properly glued together”, was the antique dealer´s advice. I found this out myself soon after: even though the chess set had been very carefully wrapped by Mr Jong, several pieces had lost some of their limbs during the journey home. Fortunately Dijkshoorn was able to properly set up the game by simply placing the lost little legs under the tiny robots. A ´do not touch´-sign was in order though, to avoid pieces from falling down and getting crippled.
Recently, staff member Ivanka thoroughly repaired the chess pieces with professional instant glue, so that all of the figurines stand a bit more firmly on their little legs. They are ready to rock for the opening of the new season on March 1, 2014. I have baptised this chess game The Qwarckxelzs®. This seemed like a worthy name for a particularly imaginative creation. If anyone has an idea for a comic or cartoon about the photogenic Qwarckxelzs®, they are invited to get in touch with me.
Who is the designer?
I do keep wondering who the artist is that has invented and created these immensely beautiful creatures. If he or she reads this article, or if it is brought to their attention by someone else, I would like to cordially invite him or her to come and visit the Chessmen Museum. I would like to show them just how much visitors of the museum love this chess set.
By Ridder Dijkshoorn
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