Chess history trivia

[MJMcCready]

Which contest began its tenure with the winners reported as being awarded a trophy by Sir George Newnes, valued at £200 in its day?

[David McAlister]

Which contest began its tenure with the winners reported as being awarded a trophy by Sir George Newnes, valued at £200 in its day?

I think the answer is the Great Britain -v- America Cable Matches which began in 1896.

[MJMcCready]

Yes, or Anglo-American cable matches as they are more commonly known or at least described.

[MJMcCready]

What was discovered in 1831 and where?

[John Upham]

What was discovered in 1831 and where?

The Isle of Lewis chess pieces?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lewis_chessmen

[MJMcCready]

Yes sir indeed.

[MJMcCready]

The modern, and now accepted, form of the rook as a tower, first appears in the fifth edition of a book written by whom?

After the published event, the older form of the rook 'disappeared with startling rapidity' so it is quoted.

[John Clarke]

What was discovered in 1831 and where?

As phrased, the question can be answered equally correctly with: electromagnetic induction, by Michael Faraday, in his laboratory at the Royal Institution, London.

[MJMcCready]

Yes, except it doesn't fall under the category of chess history trivia.

[Kevin Thurlow]

But the following letter shows a connection between Michael Faraday and the Lewis "chessmen"

https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/faraday/letters/Faraday4668u

I award John a bonus point.

[MJMcCready]

Good lord, what's he up to there? Experiments?

[Kevin Thurlow]

A fair question... Presumably, they wanted to know what the items were made of and as the Laboratory of the Government Chemist only appeared in 1842, they asked the foremost scientist of the day what to do. I am sure Faraday was delighted to be asked an unusual question. Whether they knew or cared that any testing might destroy the items is unclear. I hope he told them what the liquid was, and did not randomly send them a bucket of concentrated acid! Maybe they just wanted a cleaning agent?

[MJMcCready]

The modern, and now accepted, form of the rook as a tower, first appears in the fifth edition of a book written by whom?

After the published event, the older form of the rook 'disappeared with startling rapidity' so it is quoted.

[John Clarke]

But the following letter shows a connection between Michael Faraday and the Lewis "chessmen"

https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/faraday/letters/Faraday4668u

I award John a bonus point.

Bonus point gratefully accepted, Kevin! I'd no idea Faraday had been consulted in that way. But he should of course have also advised them to "test on a small or inconspicuous area before use".

[MJMcCready]

Sincere apologies if my attempts to convert readers into listening decent music fail, nonetheless, which British post punk rock/80s rock/pop band wrote a song about chess?