Prince William's engagement and Prince William's Chess?

Chess news and chess trivia blog (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2010

Big News Buzz: Kate Middleton and Prince William of Britain who announced their engagement on Tuesday after a courtship of seven years.

Hi Everybody,

Are you by any chance talking about the engagement of the British Prince William with Kate Middleton? It's the top news all over the place. For starters you can read this very nice latest news report here. Their press conference covered by the BBC is here.

But do you know chess has a connection with Prince William and the British Royalty? If you haven't read it already, here is the full historian Edward Winter's fantastic article on Chess and British Royalty.

And, here is the nice (though very old) photo of Prince William (an ancestor of the current young Prince) and Prince Richard - the sons of Duke of Gloucester - playing chess.

It's been taken from Page 158 of CHESS, 24 December 1954.

It is common knowledge that “Some of the most beautiful and interesting chess men and tables in the world are at Windsor, many of them worth thousands of pounds. There is one Oriental set, each figure of which is made of gold and ivory encrusted with rare and precious stones. The table to match is of exquisite colouring and workmanship, beautifully figured and inlaid. This chess set was used for games between the Kaiser and the late Lord Balfour 35 years ago when the latter, ignoring Edward VII’s hint that the royal visitor should be allowed to win, soundly trounced him!

Go on read the full article. Enjoy.

From Alexandra Kosteniuk's

www.chessblog.com

Also see her personal blog at

www.chessqueen.com