Chess board taken by King Charles to his Execution Sells for £600,000 to Private Collector

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Hi everyone,

The Daily Mail has just reported that the chess board taken by King Charles to his execution sells for £600,000 to private collector Amber games board was believed to be the one King Charles took to his execution. James Rush writes: An amber chess board taken by King Charles 1 to his execution has been sold for a record £600,000.

The board was owned by the controversial King, who was such an enthusiast for chess he was engrossed in a game when a messenger told him he had been betrayed by the Scots to the Parliamentarians during the English Civil War. The news sealed the royal's fate and he was executed on January 30, 1649.Final moves: The amber board opens up to reveal a board for the game backgammon, one of the oldest board games for two players which also involves an element of luck. On the other side of the piece is a board for the game Nine Men's Morris, which has also been known as Cowboy Checkers.

It is known the King took with him two precious possessions to the scaffold where he was beheaded: a Bible and an amber games board, believed to be the one that has now sold for £601,250. Erik Bijzet, an expert in European sculpture at auctioneers Sotherby's, said: 'This board was made by Georg Schreiber who was known as the "King of the Gamesboards".

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