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Revolutionary Chess
An 18" by 24" poster, suitable for framing.

Ideal for a kid's room, a school, a library, a club meeting room, or anywhere you would like to inspire patriotism and thinking.

Add a note requesting it, and the artist will dedicate your poster with a personal message.

Of America's Founding Fathers, do you know which of them played chess?

MegaChess commissioned famed historical researcher and painter Maria Radnoti to find the answer.

It turns out only three of them knew the game well and had a chess set; Ben Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, and George Washington. Ms. Radnoti dug deeper and found where and when the historical game may have taken place.

Consider the autumn of 1783. Two years earlier, the Battle of Yorktown had sealed the fate of the British and the birth of the United States. General George Washington returned to civilian life, to his Mt. Vernon farm. It would be 6 years before he would return to public life as America's first President.

His friend Thomas Jefferson lived in Monticello, a few day's ride to the southwest. Jefferson was despondent, his beloved wife having died recently. He still had a year before he would travel to France for 5 years. Washington enjoyed the culture and magnificence of Monticello, and was prone to make the journey to bring cheer and camaraderie to his grieving friend.

Although Ben Franklin hailed from Philadelphia, he was a man of the world. He returned in 1783 from France, having achieved the French alliance that allowed the colonies to win the Revolutionary War. Franklin had a house called Franklin Court in Philadelphia, but it's not likely he spent much time there during these times. The British had commandeered it during the war, and their Captain John André occupied it until about this time.

Franklin grumbled about this often, demanding King George III pay for the damage left by Capt. André. Capt. André was fond of parties, ladies, and a good time, as well as Franklin's paintings, books, and musical instruments -- with which he absconded. Franklin never got a penny from the king, but his consolation was that Capt. André was hanged as an accomplice to the Benedict Arnold misadventure. As an intelligent and cultured man temporarily without a home, Franklin occasionally made his way to Monticello as well.

If the three met at Monticello, they would have socialized in the Tea Room. Jefferson had designed it himself to have large walls of windows, to let the sun shine in on his friends.

Franklin had a chess set of the French "Regency" design, as well as a miniature ivory set. Washington had an ivory chess set, and Jefferson had at least a half dozen chess sets. They probably would have played one of those. Jefferson had one beautiful set of carved ivory busts presented to him by the French government, but it was missing the kings, as legend has it, because the French didn't want to offend a man who had worked so hard to rid America of kings.

Jefferson also had a conventional English "Barleycorn" bone chess set, and the design was growing in popularity, almost becoming a standard before the Staunton style emerged. For an actual game, Jefferson would have chosen that set since all three gentleman were familiar with the pieces.

As far as who would have played, Franklin and Jefferson were the best matched. Franklin was an enthusiastic player, and 3 years later, he would write the first chess article published in the US, "The Morals of Chess". Jefferson, an intellectual who could read the Greek Classics in Greek, had every chess book available in his time in the Monticello Library. But would they have left Washington out of a game? Their retired Commander-in-Chief? Not likely.

And since Franklin enjoyed watching the game almost as much as playing it, he would have been happy to see if Washington, who had prevailed in past battles as the underdog, could beat Jefferson. The intellectual vs. the strategist. In that Franklin rails against kibitzers in his "Morals of Chess", Ms. Radnoti painted him with his mouth closed.

What did they talk about? Surely someone would have mentioned how chess factored into Washington's bold move to cross the Delaware. It was common knowledge that Colonel Johann Rall pocketed the note warning of Washington's arrival, too busy with a chess game (fact). It was found in his pocket, still unread after he died during the next day's surprise attack. Checkmate.