From Napoleon to Wahltuch

While looking for something else, I serendipitously came across this picture in The Sphere, Aug 5, 1922.

Victor Leonard Wahltuch, born ay 24, 1875, was an English expert. He was the son of Dr. Adolphe Wahltuch, the founder and first president of the South Manchester Chess Society, who originally hailed from Ukraine. Adolphe Wahltuch was the longtime chess editor of the Manchester Weekly Times. After Adolphe's death in 1907, Victor also edited that chess column for a period of time.  Adolphe, along with two of his sons, Victor and Julius, played on the same team in several events.  

Victor lived until Aug. 27, 1953.  After his death, this little article appeared in Chess Review:

though origins seem a little suspicious, I would love a better photo

That's all I've got.   

Nice curio morsel for a Saturday night

Muy buen reportaje ,Gracias.

Hi

Bye far this is best post I ever read

True

Thanks BG, that was cool!

the castles remind me of my brass castles

"The Chess Amateur" printed the following on the announcement of the death of Adolphe Wahltuch (Victor's father) in 1907, corroborating the story from "The Sphere."

appreciate your sharing a treasure- trove of research!

Is it possible that the original set still survives?

An interesting find and article.  Another of Napoleon's sets as you know can be found at the Vanderbilt Biltmore estate in NC.  https://www.biltmore.com/blog/the-emperors-chess-set/

Thanks BG.

I had written an article on my website (the month before I joined chess.com) about Napoleon and Chess. It talks a bit about the table, board and chessmen displayed at the Biltmore House in Asheville in the Blue Ridge Mts.    The Biltmore site itself has a nice photo and talks about how they came to own it:  https://www.biltmore.com/blog/the-emperors-chess-set/ .

Thanks for bringing it up. 

Well, Robbie, it was England 100 years ago.  I can't find any mention of it since then.  So, who knows?  I sure don't.

Me gustaría una traducción al español.

Very interesting. Looking at the picture I can clearly see the full set on the top line (minus pawns), but the bottom line doesn't make sense to me as we see what appears to be four knights in the middle where the king, queen, and bishops should be. Any idea what is going on here?