English Chess Forum

A friend has sent a picture of Knaresborough and a chequered house, I've surfed about and there quite a number of them.

Apparently...

"The Old Manor House at Waterside, Knaresborough, North Yorkshire has a painted, black and white, checker board design. The reason being one of the owners in the 1800's was a chess fanatic and he wanted to proclaim his passion for the board game. Since that time, many buildings and shops have followed suit."

Anybody any idea who the chess enthusiast was? I have the place on my bucket list and am already planning a visit hopefully very soon.

Not a clue, but it's a nice place to go fly fishing

There is also Mother Shipton's cave, though they look to have touristed it up since I last went when I was a kid https://www.mothershipton.co.uk

Mother Shipton's Cave was once owned by Paul Daniels and Debbie McGee.

A chequer pattern on an old building is not so uncommon. What I didn't follow was the reasoning that the building in Knaresborough has an association with a chessplayer. Perhaps a few have, but I expect a lot haven't.