Children playing chess during Chess Day at The Met Cloisters. Photo by Terese Loeb Kreuzer
«From November 11 to 30, the Seaport District's Fulton Market Building was the chess capital of the world. Magnus Carlsen, the 25-year-old Norwegian reigning World Chess Champion, competed against his challenger, 26-year-old Russian Sergey Karjakin, in a 12-game match broadcast online and around the world. But on November 13, amateur chess enthusiasts honed their skills during Chess Day at The Met Cloisters, playing with reproductions of the Lewis Chessmen, the famous 12th-century chess pieces discovered in 1831 on the Isle of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland.»
Kids, friends, and strangers were caught up in the timeless and epic battles between kings and queens and their armies of pawns, knights, bishops, and rooks. Some visitors tried their luck against master players Dylan McClain and Jon Crumiller. Jon competed against three players at once while Dylan faced two young opponents simultaneously with his eyes closed, reinforcing the credibility of celebrated tales of blindfolded players of the Middle Ages, as recorded by Giovanni Villani in Florence and by Khalil al-Safadi in Damascus in the 13th and 14th centuries.
Master players Dylan McClain and Jon Crumiller playing visitors during Chess Day at The Met Cloisters. Photo by Nancy Wu
With eyes wide open, medieval chess players often found romance, and that seems to have been equally in evidence at The Met Cloisters.
Left: Mirror case, ca. 1300. Paris. Elephant ivory, Height: 10.5 cm, Width: 10.4 cm, Depth: 1.7 cm, Weight: 0.1 kg. The Victoria and Albert Museum (803-1891). Right: Two visitors find romance in playing chess. Photo by Nancy Wu
Once the games finished, Barbara Drake Boehm, Paul and Jill Ruddock Senior Curator for The Met Cloisters, joined Dylan and Jon (who is an avid collector of chess pieces) for a lively conversation about the evolution of the game in the Middle Ages. The focus of the discussion was a special display of ivory and amber chessboards and pieces from The Met collection that will be on view until early February.
Visitors examining the ivory and amber chessboards and pieces that are currently on view at The Met Cloisters. Photos by Terese Loeb Kreuzer