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Check and mate.

The Stamp Collecting Report, I'm Lloyd de Vries

There's a connection between the game of chess and stamps.

"So many chess players in fact are collectors themselves." :03

Jon Edwards is president and editor of the Chess on Stamps Study Unit, a group for people
who are interested in both. Each hobby has a strong following, and Edwards says the
postal services know this.

"So we wind up with hundreds and hundreds of stamps, tons of event cancellations." :05

But has there been a U-S stamp for chess?

"Tragically, no, and not for want of effort. ... I personally would have bought out the
entire stock." :03

That's especially disappointing for Edwards, ranked among the top 200 players in the world
and also the U-S and North American Correspondence Champion -- that is, he plays by mail,
appropriately enough.

"For the Correspondence Chess players, since we've been sending so many moves through the
mail, it would be absolutely delightful to have a chess image on there." :07

— on the special postcards the players use to exchange one move at a time.

"People often ask why don't we use e-mail. The reality is that I rely on the relative
inefficiency of the postal system for my sanity. If I sent a move out and it immediately
came back, as it would through e-mail, instead of being able to play 30, 40 or 50 games
at once, I'd be able to play only a handful." :15

I'm Lloyd de Vries of The Virtual Stamp Club. For more on stamps and stamp collecting,
visit virtual-stamp-club-dot-com.

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