Subject: Site review - Chess Collectors Worldwide Date: 1999/07/06 Author: Mark Weeks <100046.2106@compuserve.com> The fourth review of the sites bookmarked for the Chess History discussion group is 'Chess Collectors Worldwide' by Stephen Mendiola, at URL http://www.axnet.net/chesscollectors/. The page opens with the explanation that "Chess Collectors Worldwide started in 1995. Our web site has grown to become the #1 Chess Set Collecting page on the Internet. We are a non-profit organization that provides information about Chess Set Collecting, and the World of Chess." Is this chess history? I think so, both because of 'chess as history' and because of 'history as chess'. I'm thinking of those chess sets where the pieces represent generals from the American Civil War or from the Battle of Waterloo. The charter for the Chess history discussion group says, 'All aspects of chess history can be covered, including events, personalities, boards & sets, art, computers, theory. games, etc. etc.' Chess Collectors Worldwide is one of the few bookmarked sites covering boards & sets. The links on the main page are:- - Chess Collectors and Auctions - Collectors Chat Live! - House of Staunton - House of Staunton (photo)Catalog - Rudolph U.S.A. Chess Sets - Scholastic Chess Clubs so I'll look at each one in turn. --- [Chess Collectors and Auctions] The page has six numbered links and some additional information, which includes a list of upcoming & past auctions. Most of the dates on the page are from before 1999, although there is one listed auction on 'April 20, 1999'. When I first looked at this page there was a link '1.Staunton Chess Sets', which was a text page about Jaques of London Staunton chessmen. Now there is a link called '1.For Charles' which shows two dark photos of chess pieces & boards. The board looks like a vinyl rollup board, but it's too dark to tell. I suspect that this is a temporary link to show a chess board to 'Charles', but now I have some doubts about this site. '2.Staunton Chess Sets (Photo Catalog)' opens into a double frame page. The left frame is 'A Brief History of the Staunton Chessmen' by Frank A. Camaratta; the right frame is 'The House of Staunton Catalog', with downloads for catalogs in compressed files (PC/ZIP & Mac/HQX versions). The PC file size is 48K, which uncompresses into a 58K Acrobat PDF file. The PDF file has 30 pages & is dated May 1997. It is a list of chess sets for sale & there are no images. The frame also has links to 18 different chess sets. I clicked the first link ('Cook 1849') which is a 36K JPEG photo of the chess set. '3.Figurine Chess Sets' is a text page. It mentions the 'Chess Collector issue for January 1998', a May 1998 Congress and has a few addresses; '4.Deja News (ChessNewsgroup)' links to http://www.dejanews.com/. Which is the Deja news service that also hosts the chess history group. '5.Computer Chess Message Board' links to http://www.icdchess.com/ccc.html, which is the 'Computer Chess Club' run by ICD. I've seen this before, but have never taken the time to get a username and password, so I didn't go any further. '6.Online Auctions' links to http://cayman.ebay.com/aw/. I don't know if there is any difference between this address and the www.ebay.com address. While preparing this post, I looked for chess set auctions on eBay, and found on 1999-06-29 : '335 items found for the search "chess set*"' & '520 items found for the search "chess -set*"'. Of the '855 items found for the search "chess"', more than half of them were for sets. That is an impressive statistic which proves the popularity of this subject. [Collectors Chat Live!] 'Chess Collectors Worldwide is working in conjunction with Chess Depot to bring you the first real time Chess Chat Room! One may also post messages for other collectors around the world!' I clicked on the http://www.edepot.com/chess.html link, which turned out to be another chess site. The 'Chess Discussion Forum' is active. [House of Staunton] 'Own the Luxury and Beauty of an Authentic House of Staunton Set!' The page contains a few advertisements for products from 'The House of Staunton', which appears to be a business run by Frank Camaratta. [House of Staunton (photo)Catalog] This link is the same as 'Staunton Chess Sets (Photo Catalog)' described above. [Rudolph U.S.A. Chess Sets] This is a very simple page which says only 'Roger Rudolph U.S.A. / American Staunton' and has two links. Both links are to advertisements for the Rudolph U.S.A company, which makes chess sets. [Scholastic Chess Clubs] This is a list of San Diego Chess Clubs, including one scholastic club run by Mendiola. [Links/Software] This is a page of 'Chess Links/Software Reviews' [Credits] This is a list of people who have contributed in some way or other to the site. --- The display requirements for a serious collector must be significant, not to mention the job of dusting a board & 32 pieces for each set in the collection. I've often been impressed by the beauty of many chess sets and can understand the fascination. I have a few technical nitpicks. The text pages staunton.html & figurine.html use a background which makes the text hard to read. A lot of the material seems old, so I wonder how often the site is updated. This is particularly surprising for a site that serves as a channel to at two other commercial sites. Collecting chess sets is not an area I follow myself. I have two or three chess boards & sets at home, which I only take out when I go on vacation. One of the boards is an old vinyl rollup which has been rolled up for so many years that it's permanently curled & needs books to keep the rooks from tipping over when I set up the initial position. Why am I saying this? To prove the point that I'm not qualified to comment on the subject. That hasn't, of course, stop me from commenting. Respectfully, Mark Weeks