Some chess pieces that are as unusual as their history
Image source: https://www.chess.com/forum/view/chess-equipment/mechanics-institute-chess-set
In 1906, the San Francisco’s Mechanics’ Institute was hit by an earthquake and fire that destroyed much of the city. Among the losses were many of the club’s one-of-a-kind chess sets.
Then, a few years later, the beloved design made a comeback. The new pieces were apparently made by a craftsman named Joe Clark. According to the surviving account, Clark used exotic hardwoods from a naval shipyard, including timber that had originally been intended for ship propellers, to craft the set.
This set later became associated with Louis Persinger, a violinist of the San Francisco Symphony. Persinger was serious enough about both his interests that in 1918 he founded a chess club for musicians, and he obtained the set from his wife.
So this is a chess design whose story runs from an earthquake, to a shipyard, to the San Francisco Symphony. It really went through everything. More info and second image source: https://www.kwabc.org/files/kwabc/in_memoriam/obit_levene_CCI.pdf
Posted Sep 10, 2026, 7:14 PM UTC