Chess Sets at the Smithsonian

The Smithsonian Museum has some pretty interesting stuff on display. Here is a picture of Civil War General George B. McClellan’s chess set.  The box is covered with black paper and has his name inscribed on the top.  The set was made by Schuyler, Hartley and Graham in New York City.  A white Pawn and black Knight are missing.

Ray Charles’ peg set is shown here.  Charles was a pretty decent player who played a lot, but just for fun.  He was once interviewed by Larry Evans for Chess Life and came within one move of drawing their offhand game!