Chess Review . Postal Chess Recorder Album and correspondence materials, circa 1950s–1960s

Found in Beirut, Lebanon
Sunday flea market acquisition, January 2026

Collected and archived by Emergency Room
Post Modern Archeology Collection

This postal chess recorder album was originally distributed by Chess Review, a New York–based chess magazine that organized international correspondence games. The booklet contains printed boards used to record move-by-move positions during matches played through the mail, a slow form of chess practiced widely before the digital era.

The album belonged to Joseph Fayad, whose name appears inside the cover. The parcel label indicates it was mailed from New York to Beirut, reflecting the global network of correspondence chess players that connected enthusiasts across continents.

Inside the album were additional remnants of this exchange: blank vintage postcards, handwritten letters, and newspaper clippings related to chess. One letter, written in French and dated December 12, 1965, comes from a German player living in Lebanon who was searching for a Lebanese chess partner to play regularly by correspondence.

Together, these elements transform the object from a simple game accessory into a small archive of mid-century communication, documenting a time when games unfolded over weeks or months, carried across borders by the postal system.