marki
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Post by marki on Feb 12, 2021 14:19:58 GMT
For me there is a very personal link between chess and stamps and it goes way back before this Netflix show that created so much hype recently.
Fast forward several decades to the last summer when I started my topical collection. I was very surprised to read that the first ever chess themed stamp (shown here) was issued by non-else than my home country Bulgaria, in 1947.
As I couldn’t verify the authenticity of this claim, I’d be very thankful for your wisdom on that matter.
Also, I’d love to share my scarce yet precious chess stamps and see yours (no offense, but I am not interested in some exotic postal administrations’ issues where the faces of famous players are barely recognizable, if at all).
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marki
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Post by marki on Feb 16, 2021 7:49:06 GMT
So, here's the first bunch. A nice set of five issued to commemorate the 9th Chess Olympiad held in 1950 in Dubrovnik, SFR Yugoslavia (present day Croatia). Mi N 616 - 620
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marki
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Post by marki on Feb 17, 2021 8:58:35 GMT
Here’s another favorite of mine – a set of six, released by Romania in 1966 to honor the 17th Chess Olympiad held that year in Cuba’s Havana. For the event, 52 nations sent a total of 312 players. The tournament was won by the Soviets, followed closely by the USA and Hungary. Bulgaria also did well, finishing 7th, just behind Romania.
Mi NN 2478 - 2483:
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brightonpete
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Post by brightonpete on Feb 17, 2021 14:31:12 GMT
Here is a Czech Republic stamp (issued February 14, 1996, Scott 2979) honouring Věra Menčíková (1906–1944.) She was a British-Czechoslovak-Russian chess player who became the first world's women's chess champion. She also competed in tournaments with some of the world's leading male chess masters, with occasional successes including two wins over future world champion Max Euwe.
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marki
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Post by marki on Feb 17, 2021 15:12:37 GMT
Thanks a lot for posting this one! I wasn't aware of this particular stamp but will definitely go for it! On a side note, to me she was (wrongly) known as Vera Menchik, maybe because this was the Russian reading of her name.
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Londonbus1
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Cinderella Stamp Club Member 3059
Posts: 4,587
What I collect: Cinderellas and some Ephemera from Great Britain, France and Israel plus a few beautiful bits from elsewhere !! Topical interests include Flags & Judaica, the latter with an emphasis on the Jewish National Fund.
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Post by Londonbus1 on Feb 17, 2021 16:02:52 GMT
Check-Mate ! 5th World Student Chess Games, Varna 1958. Issued July 18th, Perf 10½. No watermark.  |
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Londonbus1
Moderator
Cinderella Stamp Club Member 3059
Posts: 4,587
What I collect: Cinderellas and some Ephemera from Great Britain, France and Israel plus a few beautiful bits from elsewhere !! Topical interests include Flags & Judaica, the latter with an emphasis on the Jewish National Fund.
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Post by Londonbus1 on Feb 17, 2021 16:14:55 GMT
1962 15th Chess Olympics, Varna. Issued July 7th, Perf 10½. No watermark. 1s Bishop 2s Rook 3s Queen 13s Knight 20s Pawn Perforated set Sc#1225-1229. Imperfs noted but not listed in my ancient catalogue.  |
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marki
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Post by marki on Feb 18, 2021 14:08:15 GMT
Londonbus1 thanks for sharing a few more chess stamps from my country! They were designed by the same artist, Stefan Kanchev. Looking again at this 1958 stamp, I'm reminded of an aporia regarding Bulgaria's stamps from the 50s, I had since ever. All of the high values (presumably for international letters) bear this inscription in Latin characters, 'NR Bulgaria'. It stands for N[arodna] R[epublica] Bulgaria, or People's Republic of Bulgaria. My question is, why would they choose to transliterate rather than translate the name?
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Ryan
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Calgary, Alberta, Canada
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What I collect: If I have a catalogue for it, I collect it. And I have many, many catalogues ....
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Post by Ryan on Feb 18, 2021 23:02:34 GMT
They were designed by the same artist, Stefan Kanchev. For fans of Kanchev's work, you can find a site which shows some of his design work. Stamps are in this section. It's not a comprehensive site - they say he designed over 650 stamps in his lifetime. Here are some of his logos - he designed over 1000 of them.  Ryan |
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marki
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Post by marki on Feb 19, 2021 8:41:57 GMT
Ryan thanks for pointing this out! I was aware of this site’s existence, but abstained from sharing it because otherwise it would’ve been too ‘de mauvais goût’. On the same note, in 2015 Bulgaria released two blocks to commemorate Kanchev’s work. Here shown is the regular one (Mi BL403) and then, there is the imperforated version (Mi 404).
P.S. To stick to the thread, on the lower left corner of the block there is the famous chess stamp. The text read as 'The first chess themed stamp in the world'.
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salentin
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collecting Germany,where I live and about 20 more countries,half of them in Asia east of the Indus
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Post by salentin on Feb 19, 2021 15:00:49 GMT
I think the stamps I can show,maybe will not find Marki´s pleasure. Also I have to admit,that I am a lousy chess-player and do not "love" the game. Further more I have to admit,that Bulgaria - I once had a couple of days in Sofia,but that was in 1966 - is not less an "exotic" country for me,than f.i. Laos.
International Chess Federation´s 60th anniversary. Issued April 13th,1984.
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marki
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Post by marki on Feb 19, 2021 15:28:38 GMT
salentin I see your point. Note taken! And I have to admit that I like this particular set of Lao stamps. Thanks for sharing it!
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salentin
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collecting Germany,where I live and about 20 more countries,half of them in Asia east of the Indus
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Post by salentin on Feb 20, 2021 9:51:56 GMT
Tried unsuccessfully to find out the source of the above picture,featuring chess with living figures. Same set as above,issued April 13th,1984.
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salentin
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collecting Germany,where I live and about 20 more countries,half of them in Asia east of the Indus
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Post by salentin on Feb 21, 2021 12:38:40 GMT
Six stamps of the set were also issued in a,at this time (1980th) for Laos,quite unusual souvenir sheet.
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marki
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Post by marki on Feb 23, 2021 10:29:22 GMT
Thanks once again for posting this mini-sheet, salentin ! It is only now, after having these stamps for many decades that I tried to identify the source of the images. So, here’s what I’ve found (in descending order, starting from the upper left stamp): N 2 comes from a 15th century French miniature showing King Louis XI (not sure which one of the two players) playing chess at Plessis-les-Tours Castle (his favorite residence where he died in1483). N3 shows Otto VI, Margrave of Brandenburg-Salzwedel († 1308) playing chess with his wife Hedwig of Habsburg. N5 comes from folio 32, recto of the Libro de los Juegos (Book of Games), commissioned by Alfonso X the Wise and completed in his scriptorium in Toledo in 1283. Pictured are two Spanish damsels playing chess. Stamp N6 comes from folio 25 verso of the same book, but I am unsure of what is pictured Judging from the style, stamps NN1 and 4 should come from the same book, so I googled it. According to Wikipedia, ‘the text is a treatise that addresses the playing of three games: a game of skill, or chess; a game of chance, or dice; and a third game, backgammon, which combines elements of both skill and chance. The book contains the earliest known description of these games. These games are discussed in the final section of the book at both an astronomical and astrological level. Examining further, the text can also be read as an allegorical initiation tale and as a metaphysical guide for leading a balanced, prudent, and virtuous life.’ |
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marki
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Post by marki on Feb 23, 2021 13:51:26 GMT
Here’s my next installment:
1. Mi 3225, USSR 1966, World Chess Championship 2. Mi 1878, France 1974, XXI Chess Olympiad held in Nice 3. Mi 554, USSR 1985, World Chess Championship
I like the pieces design in the first one, the fact that the second was designed by a woman, the famous French designer Pierette Lambert, and the occasion on which the third one was issued – the 1985 match (one of many) between pretender Karpov and defending champion Kasparov.
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salentin
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collecting Germany,where I live and about 20 more countries,half of them in Asia east of the Indus
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Post by salentin on Feb 24, 2021 8:32:19 GMT
Chess is a difficult sport to be featured on stamps.Unlike other sports,like football or equestrians f.i., there are not many dramatic situations of the game,what will give a lively design for a stamp. But maybe the following series,one of the kind marki does not appreciate might be different:
issued Nov.22nd,1988 (part I of 2)
Don´t want to say much about the portraits.But on each stamp is a chess-board with a scene of a game.Probably a significant scene.But I do not know.
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marki
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Post by marki on Feb 24, 2021 11:10:52 GMT
I find it an interesting set, mainly, as salentin says, because of the positions shown. The first player is Rogrido Ruy López de Segura (c.1530 – c. 1580), after which the López (or Spanish) opening is named. Pictured is the position after the third move of the whites. Next is German chess master Adolf Andersen (1818 - 1879), followed by Paul Morphy (1837 – 1884) against whom Andersen played some of his best games, and Wilhelm Steinitz (1836 - 1900), the first official world champion. Sadly, all the games shown here are unknown to me, so I’ll have to replay some of their games in order to establish where the positions come from. |
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salentin
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collecting Germany,where I live and about 20 more countries,half of them in Asia east of the Indus
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Post by salentin on Feb 25, 2021 12:57:28 GMT
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salentin
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collecting Germany,where I live and about 20 more countries,half of them in Asia east of the Indus
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Post by salentin on Mar 6, 2021 6:18:42 GMT
issued Aug.28th,1986; (part I of 2)
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salentin
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collecting Germany,where I live and about 20 more countries,half of them in Asia east of the Indus
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Post by salentin on Mar 7, 2021 16:49:35 GMT
issued Aug.28th,1986; (part II of 2)
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salentin
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collecting Germany,where I live and about 20 more countries,half of them in Asia east of the Indus
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Post by salentin on Mar 8, 2021 9:30:34 GMT
s.s.of the issue shown above;
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hrdoktorx
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What I collect: France (and French territories), Africa, Canada, USA, Germany, Guatemala, stamps about science, flags, maps, stamps on stamps...
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Post by hrdoktorx on Mar 10, 2021 23:16:29 GMT
Received today, from the 2021 German issues (I haven't cancelled that subscription yet), a stamp about the Kasparov-Deep Blue match:  Deutsche Post has decided this year to "go digital" with its stamps, and hence the barcode that now adorns the stamp (and makes its size a little larger than was traditionally the case for modern German stamps). Other 2021 issues also bear such a barcode. Aesthetically a horrible idea if you ask me. |
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marki
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Post by marki on Mar 11, 2021 8:34:13 GMT
hrdoktorx fully agree with you regarding the barcode, but you see - noblesse oblige, I have to add this one to my small topical collection. Thanks for pointing this out!
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brightonpete
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Post by brightonpete on Mar 11, 2021 13:31:14 GMT
The barcode in the selvedge is fine, Canada Post has been doing that for years. But ya, that crossword puzzle rectangle as part of the stamp isn't so nice!
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salentin
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collecting Germany,where I live and about 20 more countries,half of them in Asia east of the Indus
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Post by salentin on Mar 11, 2021 14:44:54 GMT
Very interesting ! If I understood it correctly,the barcode appears only once on a sheet.All water-activated stamps,other than from souvenir sheets, are printed in sheets of 10 and are sold in complete sheets only.By scanning the barcode an invoice can be printed out easily.
The code on the stamp itself is called Matrixcode. It is different for each individual stamp. By that,using the appropriate app,ordinary letters can be tracked,at least within Germany. It also makes it impossibel (?) to produce forgeries and re-use stamps. To keep them readable after cancellation,the cancel-ink is now blue instead of black.
But they do not look very nice,at least to me.
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salentin
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collecting Germany,where I live and about 20 more countries,half of them in Asia east of the Indus
Posts: 5,385
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Post by salentin on Mar 12, 2021 16:52:15 GMT
issued in 1990,Chess-W.C.,Paris; (part I of 2)
When looking through the list of Michel-catalogues,I happened to find a Michel-Chess-Thematic Catalogue (in German).
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wakeybluenose
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Mostly harmless!
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What I collect: GB to 2000 (but definitives to date) / Ireland to 2000 / General WW classics & definitives / ASFEC / SciFi & Fantasy Literature / Local History
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Post by wakeybluenose on Mar 14, 2021 16:14:57 GMT
This far from clean GB stamp is from a set of 4 celebrating the 500th Anniversary of British printing. Issued 29/9/1976, this 11p one is SG1016  |
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salentin
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collecting Germany,where I live and about 20 more countries,half of them in Asia east of the Indus
Posts: 5,385
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Post by salentin on Mar 14, 2021 17:34:25 GMT
issued in 1990,Chess-W.C.,Paris; (part II of 2)
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salentin
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collecting Germany,where I live and about 20 more countries,half of them in Asia east of the Indus
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Post by salentin on Mar 16, 2021 12:51:05 GMT
s.s.of the issue shown above
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