The Lewis Chessmen

11th April 1831

Vari pezzi degli scacchi del 12 secolo.

On this day, the Lewis chessmen, a group of distinctive 12th-century chess pieces, were put on display for the first time at a meeting of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland. The chessmen were discovered by Malcolm MacCleod in a sandbank on the west coast of the Isle of Lewis, in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland in early 1831. The chessmen, totalling 78 pieces, constitute some of the few complete, surviving medieval chess sets, although it is not clear if one single complete set can be assembled from the pieces found. MacCleod sold the chessmen to Captain Roderick Ryrie and eventually 82 of them ended up in the British Museum in London and 11 in the National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh.

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Author: Tony

Born and raised in Malaysia between Kuala Lumpur and Singapore. Educated at Wycliffe College in Stonehouse, Gloucestershire, England. Living in the foothills of Mount Etna since 1982 and teaching English at Catania University since 1987.

2 thoughts on “The Lewis Chessmen”

  1. I enjoyed reading this information on chess I have started playing chess again for three months and I have been teaching it to my young students at the same time. Teaching chess to children is not just about the game. It’s about guiding young minds to think, to wait, to choose, and to grow with every move.

    1. Dany, this sentence is a non-functioning hybrid: “I have started playing chess again for three months”. You’re confusing two sentences types:

      1. I started paying chess again three months ago.
      2. I have been playing chess for three months.

      I think in this case, with the “again” factor, the first version is more appropriate.

      The rest of your comment is all good. 🙂

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