English Chess Forum

I am just about to throw out several hundred of these for tournaments around the London area in the period 1995 to 2015. I kept them so I could compare tournament entry fees and prizes mainly to make sure that the events I was co-organiser of were competitive. While I find it difficult to believe even the most dedicated chess historian would be interested in these, I thought I would offer them (or a random selection of them) to anyone for the cost of postage. Otherwise they will go into the recycling bin this Monday evening.

Mike Gunn wrote: ↑

Fri Dec 09, 2022 2:33 pm

I am just about to throw out several hundred of these for tournaments around the London area in the period 1995 to 2015. I kept them so I could compare tournament entry fees and prizes mainly to make sure that the events I was co-organiser of were competitive. While I find it difficult to believe even the most dedicated chess historian would be interested in these, I thought I would offer them (or a random selection of them) to anyone for the cost of postage. Otherwise they will go into the recycling bin this Monday evening.

Mike,

Frances Bowers will collect them from you and store them in one of his many lock-ups.

They will be offered for sale at the Berks & Bucks Congress via his ephemera stall.

Almost everything is considered "collectable" by somebody somewhere.

Would De Montfort University be interested in them to add to the chess collection that they already have?

Graham Alcock wrote: ↑

Sat Dec 10, 2022 12:10 pm

Would De Montfort University be interested in them to add to the chess collection that they already have?

I would hope so. Congress entry forms, scoresheets, chess products catalogues, and so on, would all be suitable for an archive like that. Not so sure about objects such as chess clocks, chess boards, er, chess pens, lanyards, and so on, but hopefully some archive would take them. And hopefully collectors ensure their collections end up somewhere suitable. There can sometimes be tension between the preservation of valuable items that circulate in the collector trade, and less valuable ephemera, but ultimately it is all of historical value even if sometimes there is debate about what has 'more' historical importance.

Graham Alcock wrote: ↑

Sat Dec 10, 2022 12:10 pm

Would De Montfort University be interested in them to add to the chess collection that they already have?

That is an excellent idea.

Mike Gunn wrote: ↑

Fri Dec 09, 2022 2:33 pm

While I find it difficult to believe even the most dedicated chess historian would be interested in these [...]

Just to pick up on this - the thing about historians (and others) using archives is that it is nearly impossible to know at the time of accession (or when deciding what to keep or throw away) what people in the future will be interested in. It is easy to assume something is of no interest now, but even something seemingly trivial can add value or context to someone's future research or work. Social historians in particular absolutely love it when things like this get preserved and they can build up a detailed picture of the background and 'flavour' and culture of a particular time.

It is difficult to recreate the atmosphere of the 19th-century tournaments, or the early 20th-century tournaments, of the league chess from different periods, without the background. So in some sense, everything is valuable, and it is being aware of what is *missing* that is also important. What didn't get preserved. Sometimes a throwaway comment in a diary will show that the people in the room were all smoking, for example (thankfully that changed). To use a modern example, it may be difficult for future generations to realise how pervasive the culture of people having laptops and mobile phones around is, without photographic evidence or detailed written reports.

It is concerning that the ban on electronic equipment (which extends to cameras) means that the only visual record of many tournaments now is the official photography. There are far less personal photographs that could form a historical record. Sometimes the effects of such changes are not apparent until someone tries to look for a photograph and realises that there aren't any (or far fewer than expected). Official photographers may not cover the lower boards of a tournament, for example.

I'd like to echo the pleas to keep this sort of information, which is very useful for anyone who is interested in reconstructing old tournaments (as I am).