The most famous chess pieces in the world were carved from walrus ivory during the Middle Ages, but much of their history is still unknown. The Lewis Chessmen are the most important chess pieces in ...

Sotheby's has determined that a figurine a Scottish antique dealer bought in 1964 is actually a 900-year-old Viking chess piece — one of five missing from 4 chess sets. . A small carved figure sat in ...

Related: The Mystery of the Little Norwegian Chessmen. The Magnificent King: 12 th Century, Norway "Each one of these is really a magnificent gem of Romanesque sculpture," Boehm says, pointing out the ...

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or ...

THE deputy chairman of the British Museum all but closed the door on the complete return of the Lewis chessmen to Scotland yesterday, even as a 16-month tour of 30 historic pieces to four venues north ...

If, by some typically improbable turn of events, Homer Simpson were to unearth from his backyard an old chest containing a chess set from medieval times, what would the pieces look like? Chances are ...

National causes can be made of small things - one thinks of Jenkins' Ear - but few can have had such a charming and witty source as the collection of small objects known as the Lewis Chessmen that ...

In 1972 the world was gripped by one of the great battles of the Cold War. It was fought in Iceland and it was a chess match - one between the American Bobby Fischer and the Russian Boris Spassky.

These chess pieces were found unexpectedly on a beach on the Isle of Lewis in Scotland in 1831. They were carved from walrus ivory and whale tooth between around 1150 and 1200. When found some were ...