On
these pages, you will see how Chess-Now is promoting
the use of chess for leisure, travel and cultural experiences
for our clients. Learning is a lifetime activity and
chess can bring senior, adult and junior players together
for a meaningful experience that spans the generations.
Scenes from a recent trip to London. |
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The entrance to the British
Museum |
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The Lewis Chessmen
in their store. |
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The real Lewis Chessmen
in the exhibit in the British Museum.
The
exhibit description reads:
The
Lewis Chessmen
Walrus
Ivory probably Scandinavian
about
1150-1200 AD
A
board of 93 pieces was found on the Isle of Lewis,
Outer Hebrides in 1831. Eleven are held by the
National Museum of Scotland, Edinburgh. A selection
of the remainder is shown here. Parts
of four separate chess-sets were found with a
set of plain counters for table games and a belt
buckle. They may have been lost by a trader in
walrus ivory. The closest stylistic parallels
for the chessmen are to be found on Scandinavian
walrus-ivory and buildings. |
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These famous chess pieces were
found off the Scottish mainland and their ornate
detail and human figures have a reamarkable quality
that portrays life in the Middle Ages. For
an excellent discussion of these important chess
pieces see Chapter 3 of the recently published book
The Immortal Game - A History of Chess,
by David Shenk available at www.immortalgame.com. |
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The
Troubled Las Vegas Skyline as of June 2009.
The
National Open changed venues to the spacious and
accommodating South Point Hotel
located south of the Strip. The Las Vegas skyline
however was effected by economic conditions and
virtually came to a standstill on the development
of new properties. Shown to the right are all
the National Open players assembling in the playing
hall for the round that is about to begin. |
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The
Las Vegas Skyline as of June 2004.
While
chess tournaments are going on inside the hotels
of Las Vegas, the changing skyline continues to
reflect the chess game going on with the development
of new and amazing properties. In 2004, the National
Open was at the Riviera where the Vegas skyline
featured the new Wynn hotel which
had just opened. |
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| In 2007, due to the success of Wynn's
first building, up from the ground appears
a second building known as Encore. |
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| In June 2008, Encore is near
completion and towers above the Las Vegas skyline. |
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| Today both the Wynn and Encore
have their place on the Strip as seen at night from
the Palazzo walkway. |
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| Of course not everything is
going up, some hotels are coming down. After the
use of some keenly placed dynamite here is what
remains of the Stardust Hotel as
seen from the Top of the Riviera, pretty much a
hole with a alot of sand. In June 2007 ground was
broken on a new Mega-Resort to be known as Echelon
which will be completed in 2010.
The Frontier and Trump
Tower are seen to the left of the open
space. . |
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June
2008 update shows the Echelon rising from the
ground across the Strip from the Riviera. Also
the hotel next to the Riviera is gone. The
Echelon will feature 30 restaurants,
5 hotels, 4 spas, 2 concert venues, a 300,000-square-foot
shopping area and a casino.
NOTE:
Due to lack of financing, construction
on this project has stopped. This has never happened
on a Las Vegas strip property before and the delay
could take over a year. See Boyd Delays
$4.8 Billion Resort article in the
Wall Street Journal on August 2, 2008. |
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| Today the Echelon sits eerily
abandoned across from the Riviera a victim of the
financing debacle. Trump Tower
and what were the remains of the Frontier
are seen to the back left. |
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In 2007,
the Venetian Hotel tower wasn't
enough to handle all the people attending Las
Vegas, so a second tower bigger than the first
to be known as the Palazzo is
under construction.
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In June 2008, the Palazzo
sits high above the Strip competely finished and
home of the Jersey Boys musical and new restaurant
by Charlie Trotter. |
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| Today the Frontier Hotel is gone
with the dynamite and has been replaced by the Trump
Tower. |
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In 2008, behind the Riviera, is the
new Fountainebleau hotel conferece
center where the El Rancho site had been. In order
to make the hotel fit, some of the residents in
the nearby Turnberry Tower lost their view of the
Strip and get to see the highrise parking lot instead. |
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In 2009, the Fountainebleau
hotel conferece center garage has been nicely enclosed
but some of the residents in the nearby Turnberry
Tower will never have their view of the Strip. |
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In June 2009, the Fountainebleau
at 70% completion filed for bankruptcy protection
and 3,300 construction workers lost their jobs.
The hotel was supposed to employ 6,000 hotel and
casino workers and is now mired in lawsuits against
banks and financiers who did not hold up agreements
to finish the project. See the April 24 and
June 11, 2009 editions of the Wall Street
Journal for details about the devastating
impact the shutdown of privately funded projects
is having on Las Vegas. |
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