Como report - 9th CCI Italy meeting 8. to 11. October 2015
Sunny and mild weather provided a great atmosphere for the group of chess collectors which congregated in lovely lakeside Como in Northern Italy over the weekend from 8th to 11th of Octobre. CCI Italy counting ca. 30 steady members, almost a third them contrived to carve a slot in their Agenda and come to the Como meeting. The event was most ably organized and orchestrated by Milly and Rodolfo Pozzi, who has served as president of CCI Italy for the last 6 years. Several longtime CCI stalwarts could not make it, like Gianfelice Ferlito and Carmelo Coco from Sicily.
On arrival Thursday afternoon the handful of collectors was treated to an opulent dinner in the Pozzi's home, lavishly adorned with modern art and Rodolfo Pozzi's superb chess collection. Chief among these are his many chess sets of Mongolian origin, a them on which Rodolfo has published a most informative booklet. On day two, Saturday, most visitors went off to the Milan EXPO which has drawn Hundreds of Thousands of visitors this year, many of them milling around in Como and adjoining areas. Yours truly took a bye on this bath in the masses, and went off mountainclimbing above and sightseeing in the old town - which happens to be the birthplace of Alexander Volta, great inventor and electrotechnic genius (yes, volt and voltage....)
On Saturday the meeting got down to business in the vaulted Hotel meeting room. Renowned chess historian Alessandro Sanvito made a surprise appearance to attend the lectures, but without giving one of his own. Roberto Cassano proposed a very well documented talk on the "Italia" chess men, a style of club pieces meant to replace the imported "enemy british" Staunton style in the fascist thirties. These chessmen never found a great deal of acceptance in clubs and competitions, and vanished almost completely after WW 2, being extremely rare to find nowadays - unlike the german counterpart "Deutsche Bundesform" which enjoyed a longer ease of life. Francesco Belladonna could not appear to talk about the Luca Pacioli chess men, but sent his manuscript instead!
Rodolfo Pozzi reported on the mysterious theft of the chess board between the chess laying bronce statues on Washington Square in Washington DC - an occurrence US CCI members certainly must be painfully aware of. Seems just the chess board was pried loose - the statues were too heavy to handle!
Antonio Ciaramella provided a highly illuminating talk on various single medieval chess pieces dug up in various campaigns in Piemont Province AFTER the sensational Venafro find. Among them are two rooks, some kings and queens, and the Montaldo knight, all of them in bone. Antonio has written a booklet on chess in the Piemont , which also features these medieval chessmen, and can be obtained via the Chess Association Cuneo (scacchicuneo@gmail.com). Finally, the Chess Museum curator described a very rare and very odd chess timer from the 70ies in Argentina - the WALBO differencial timer - which worked with liquids and enjoyed a brief season in Buenos Aires for Ping-Pong chess.
On Saturday the meeting got down to business in the vaulted Hotel meeting room. Renowned chess historian Alessandro Sanvito made a surprise appearance to attend the lectures, but without giving one of his own. Roberto Cassano proposed a very well documented talk on the "Italia" chess men, a style of club pieces meant to replace the imported "enemy british" Staunton style in the fascist thirties. These chessmen never found a great deal of acceptance in clubs and competitions, and vanished almost completely after WW 2, being extremely rare to find nowadays - unlike the german counterpart "Deutsche Bundesform" which enjoyed a longer ease of life. Francesco Belladonna could not appear to talk about the Luca Pacioli chess men, but sent his manuscript instead!
Rodolfo Pozzi reported on the mysterious theft of the chess board between the chess laying bronce statues on Washington Square in Washington DC - an occurrence US CCI members certainly must be painfully aware of. Seems just the chess board was pried loose - the statues were too heavy to handle!
Antonio Ciaramella provided a highly illuminating talk on various single medieval chess pieces dug up in various campaigns in Piemont Province AFTER the sensational Venafro find. Among them are two rooks, some kings and queens, and the Montaldo knight, all of them in bone. Antonio has written a booklet on chess in the Piemont , which also features these medieval chessmen, and can be obtained via the Chess Association Cuneo (scacchicuneo@gmail.com). Finally, the Chess Museum curator described a very rare and very odd chess timer from the 70ies in Argentina - the WALBO differencial timer - which worked with liquids and enjoyed a brief season in Buenos Aires for Ping-Pong chess.
In the afternoon, the CCI group acceded to an exhibition of modern chess set in the local Art Museum, organized by Milly Pozzi with chess sets from Rodolfo's. To publicize and promote the show, a simultaneous took place in the Piazza outside the Museum, with up and coming chess hope FM Luca Moroni taking on some 30 chess fans, among them three CCI members, who only conceded defeat after a prolonged struggle !! Several newspaper articles in the days after proved that this is the way to publicize and promote chess. The vernissage was well visited too, some 40 visitors spilling through the rooms and having a very erudite intro by art critic Roberto Borghi, whose intro was based on the legacy both of Marcel Duchamp, and of italian author and art critic Giuseppe Pontiggia. One of the chess sets is well known to CCI members - it was designed by and executed to this design for Rodolfo Pozzi himself. Another highly visual set is a heirloom of the great Italian artist Enrico Baj - huge figures made from everyday articles, every figure different, in a grand display of chess mania. To top off the day, all participants available congregated in the Hotel restaurant for a lavish "Presidents" dinner to formalize the passage of the baton from actual President Rodolfo Pozzi - to his predecessor and successor Massimiliano de Angelis.
On Sunday the Pozzis had organized a special treat - a motor launch trip along the villa-studded lake margins to scenic Bellagio, the pearl among the all idyllic villages glued to the waterfront all around the lake. Zigzagging across the lake we passed the Villa d'Este, the Villa Plinius (in a former era and antique version, abode of Pliny the older) , the Villa Carlotta, George Clooney's former Villa, and many other less famous luxurious abodes on the lake. Bellagio turned out to be beleaguered by tourists, motorcycle clubs, and generally many people thronging through the narrow walks and staircases, and filling cafés and restaurants.
Still, we had a quiet lunch in a garden, with sunlight filtering through the leaves, before it was time to prepare for the hydrofoil trip back to Como. Yours truly took the late boat, and therefore managed to to explore the little village in some more facets, including the Melzi gardens with a memorial to the Habsburg emperor Ferdinand II., under whom one Duke Melzi was governor of Lombardia.
The next and 10th meeting of CCI Italy will most likely take place in Rome in 2017, as the new President Massimiliano de Angelis hails from the Holy City. Prepare Your Agenda well ahead, right after the coming World CCI meeting in Paris next year - the cozy and familiar atmosphere of an Italian CCI meet is very captivating !!
Still, we had a quiet lunch in a garden, with sunlight filtering through the leaves, before it was time to prepare for the hydrofoil trip back to Como. Yours truly took the late boat, and therefore managed to to explore the little village in some more facets, including the Melzi gardens with a memorial to the Habsburg emperor Ferdinand II., under whom one Duke Melzi was governor of Lombardia.
The next and 10th meeting of CCI Italy will most likely take place in Rome in 2017, as the new President Massimiliano de Angelis hails from the Holy City. Prepare Your Agenda well ahead, right after the coming World CCI meeting in Paris next year - the cozy and familiar atmosphere of an Italian CCI meet is very captivating !!
Thanks to Rodolfo Pozzi and Roberto Cassano for permission to use several fotos.
(C) Nicholas Lanier 2015
(C) Nicholas Lanier 2015