The Elgin Marbles are once again in the news after Rishi Sunak’s sensational snub to that heir of Pericles, the Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis. The connection between the

marvellous Marbles and chess is not generally known, but definitely exists. In what follows I have made liberal and grateful use of the expert insights of the prominent British artist, Barry

Martin, after Marcel Duchamp,  doubtless one of the strongest chess playing artists in the long and distinguished history of our game. The Staunton pattern knight is generally thought to

have originated from the horses’ heads depicted in the Elgin Marbles , which were brought to this country in 1816. But if Nathaniel Cooke or Jaques or Howard Staunton himself, in designing

more specifically, their significance to Freemasonry. The Elgin marbles formed part of the east pediment of the Acropolis in Greece which is dedicated to the “Birth of Athena”. To the left

of Athena herself is the sun god chariot of Helios, rising from the sea after a night racing underground from west to east. Its resurrection each new day, as the new sun, was considered a

miracle in itself. In Egyptian religion, Heliopolis, a city to the north of Egypt, was dedicated to the worship of the sun god Re, and its later priests claimed Osiris (King and Judge of the

dead) was Re’s grandson and they switched their worship to him. On-Helios, as depicted in the Elgin Marbles, is, therefore, linked indirectly with Osiris, the god of resurrection and

rebirth.  This is in itself of tantamount importance in Freemasonry, as is the word “On”, which forms one of the most sacred words in the Craft. It is this that may have attracted the

designers of the Staunton chessmen. It is interesting to note that only two of the Helios horses’ heads are in the British Museum; the other two, making up the group of four, remain in

Greece. It would, therefore, be in accordance with the spirit of the Staunton chessmen that the knight represented those powerful ideas, associated with the horses of the Elgin Marbles, and

not just their outward appearance. As both Duchamp himself and the great chess strategist, Aron Nimzowitsch, have emphasised, both in art and chess the thought behind a move or a work of

art, is of greater significance than the external visuals. Accordingly, Barry Martin suggests — and I concur — that the architects of the Staunton chess pieces intended those pieces to carry

a freight of symbolic significance, in accordance with Masonic thinking. This was in addition to the visual and practical advantages of such elegantly functional pieces, in the playing of

chess. That Howard Staunton was a Freemason has yet to be proved, but that in itself would have been quite usual in his time. Indeed many coffee houses and divans that were centres for

chess, were also meeting places for Freemasons’ lodges. For example,  The Great Eastern Hotel, venue for Garry Kasparov’s match victory against Korchnoi, in the 1983 world championship

candidates cycle, houses a spectacular Masonic Temple in its basement. I well recall taking Florencio Campomanes, the then President of FIDÉ (the world chess federation) on a tour of the

said Temple. His reaction was extraordinary: on witnessing the ceremonial paraphernalia, he fled from the scene, as if pursued by all the demons of Hell. My solution to the riddle of the

Marbles is as follows. In former times I was implacably opposed to repatriation, fearing — perhaps justifiably — that Athenian conservation methods were not up to the task of appropriate

preservation. Now, though, the successors of Socrates, Plato, Aristotle and Phidias, have constructed a splendid Acropolis Museum, which I have personally visited, well suited to housing the

original Marbles. Modern computerised technology is well able to create perfect 3D copies of those Marbles, so why not offer complete repatriation, if a sufficiently munificent  Greek

Maecenas can be found? Outcome: deliriously happy Greeks; wildly popular Brits, public replicas in the British Museum, indistinguishable from Elgin’s trove, crowned with substantial

compensatory revenue for the BM on an unprecedented scale. The objection to my plan: what if every other claimant culture also demanded return of their artefacts? Well, why not? Just apply

the same formula in all such cases. Many years ago I used to visit the London Natural History Museum, where I was greeted each week by the impressively gigantic skeleton of a Diplodocus, now

known as Dippy , currently on tour and replaced by the skeleton of a sperm whale, called Hope. I was completely unaware (ergo unperturbed) by the fact that the Diplodocus “skeleton” was

actually one of a trio of plaster casts, presented to the President of France, The Kaiser and King Edward VII by the transatlantic industrialist and saurophile Andrew Carnegie. Perhaps

connoisseurs of art and culture, such as the _fons et origo _of my Elginian information_, _Barry Martin, might be able to discern a discrepancy, but to the general public, the replicas would

represent  an easily digestible form of caviar, perhaps not Beluga but certainly Oscietra or Sevruga. Meanwhile, following his controversial dispute over “cheating”, Grandmaster Hans

Niemann prepared for his first appearance in this year’s rejuvenated London Classic by winning in Zagreb, with the astonishing and Fischeresque score of 8/9. TURNIR MIRA – TOURNAMENT OF

PEACE 2023 (ZAGREB, CROATIA) This week’s prime game is an impressive Niemann win from that event. I conclude by featuring a win by that imperishable polymath, Howard Staunton. HOWARD

STAUNTON VS BERNHARD HORWITZ London (1851), London 1.C4 E6 2. NC3 F5 3. G3 NF6 4. BG2 C6 5. D3 NA6 6. A3 BE7 7. E3 O-O 8. NGE2 NC7 9. O-O D5 10. B3 Staunton was fond of the double flank

development of his bishop. It is, however, somewhat time-consuming and Horwitz should now have seized his chance to occupy the centre with 10…e5. 10… QE8 11. BB2 QF7 12. RC1 BD7 13. E4 This

central thrust, all the stronger for being delayed, announces that White has won the battle of the opening. 13… FXE4 14. DXE4 RAD8 15. E5 NFE8 16. F4 DXC4 17. BXC4 BC5+ 18. KH1 BE3 19. RB1

G6 An unnecessary weakening of the f6-square from which Staunton now profits. 20. QB3 BC8 21. NE4 BB6 22. RBD1 NA6 23. QC3 RXD1 24. RXD1 NC5 25. ND6 QC7 26. QC2 NG7 27. G4 The prelude to the

decisive attack, in which Staunton’s pieces stream across to menace the black king. Firstly, Staunton restricts the possibilities of Black’s defensive knight on g7. 27… QE7 28. BD4 QC7 29.

A4 NA6 30. C5 BA5 31. QB3 B6 32. NE4 BXC5 33. NF6+ KH8 34. QH3 NE8 35. BA1 Staunton’s deployment of his forces creates a wonderfully aesthetic impression highlighted by this sweeping retreat

of his bishop which is, nevertheless, still firmly targeted on the black king. 35… NXF6 36. EXF6 KG8 37. BE5 QB7 38. BE4 QF7 If Black can blockade the passed pawn he may survive, but

Staunton’s next brilliant stroke banishes such hopes. 39. NG1 A profound retreat. The piece is now free to manoeuvre via f3 to e5 or g5, thus causing havoc with the defensive units around

the black king. 39… BD8 40. G5 BB7 41. NF3 RE8 42. BD6 BXF6 43. GXF6 QXF6 44. NG5 QG7 45. BE5 QE7 46. BXG6 Black resigns 1-0 After 46… h5, 47. Qxh5 is mating: 47… Qg7 48. Bf7+ Kf8 49. Bd6+

Re7 50. Nxe6 checkmate. Ray’s 206th book, “Chess in the Year of the King”, written in collaboration with former Reuters chess correspondent, Adam Black, appeared earlier this year. Now  his 

207th, “Napoleon and Goethe: The Touchstone of Genius” (which discusses their relationship with chess and explains how Ray used Napoleonic era  battle strategies to develop his own chess

style) has materialised, just in time to complement Ridley Scott’s new epic biopic , ‘Napoleon’. Both books are available from Amazon and Blackwells. It is hoped that reviews will be

appearing in the august pages of _The Article_. Barry Martin contributes a monthly chess column to the in print and online newspaper _Eye on London._ A MESSAGE FROM THEARTICLE _We are the

only publication that’s committed to covering every angle. We have an important contribution to make, one that’s needed now more than ever, and we need your help to continue publishing

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