1,000 yr old chess set to be auctioned off
British auction house Sotheby's is planning to auction off a 1,000-year-old chess set in London on April 20. The set, which was previously owned by German chess grandmaster Lothar Schmid, consists of 16 ivory pieces stylised as 'animal' figures. The 10th-century set is believed to have been made in the Persian city of Nishapur in the Samanid period.