Who doesn't know the Muzychuk sisters, world stars in women's chess? Their father Oleh is a Ukrainian chess trainer who started teaching daughter Anna the game at the age of two! She went on to become the fourth female to exceed 2600 on the Elo scale. Oleg is also the maker of handmade chess sets, and is maintained production in the middle of the war that is ravaging his country. We have pictures of his work and urge you (and dealers) to effect purchases from the Muzychuk Store.
Anna Muzychuk was born in February 1990 in Lviv, Ukraine. Her sister Mariya was born two years later. They both learned to play chess at age two from their parents, Nataliya and Oleh, both professional chess teachers, working and coaching at the Lviv State Institute of Physical Culture sports school.
Anna began competing in chess tournaments at age five, and by the time she was ten years old she could defeat both of her parents. In 2003, at the age of thirteen, she won the Ukrainian women's championship, a feat accomplished without full grandmaster training – which her family could not afford. In 2005 she won the gold medal at the World Youth Championships in the under-16 girls' division. She gained the full grandmaster title at the age of 21, and went on to become the fourth woman in history to attain a FIDE rating of over 2600.
Anna's sister Mariya had a similarly sterling career, becoming a grandmaster at the age of 23. Today the sisters are ranked 8th and 9th in the world in women's chess.
A day after the Russian assault on Ukraine began, after careful deliberation, Anna and Mariya decided to flee the country. They undertook a harrowing journey to Poland and then to Germany and Spain.
In April I asked Anna to tell us what the escape from their war-torn country had been like. Here is her harrowing description. Since that time, the two have been living in Valencia, while the family and relatives remained in Ukraine. They planned to visit them for Christmas 2022 and New Year, but it was too dangerous, with the electrical supply being destroyed by kamikaze Russian drone strikes.
This week Anna told me about her father's company. Oleh Muzychuk has been hand-crafting wooden chess pieces for around 25 years. Most of Ukrainian GMs, including Anna and Mariya, have trained using the sets which her father made. The Olympiad in Bled was also played with Oleh's chess pieces.
But as the chess sets were handmade, the process was very time-consuming. So, in the middle of 2021, Oleh decided to open a factory. They bought a place and installed the necessary machines – and then the war started. But they didn't stop and continued production. But of course everything became much more complicated. Still, they managed to make things work and started selling chess sets. They installed a temporary website, which is still under development.
If you visit the site you can see the models that are available, what they look like, the sizes and the prices. They can make around 1000 units of products per month. Hopefully later things will improve and they will be able to do even more. They are also working on making other models of chess pieces. Chess dealers, but also private chess enthusiasts, can contact them for purchases and information.
Here are some pictures of the chess sets that Oleh produces – click on the images to enlarge:
There are also some ornamental sets:
You would do well to contact the Muzychuk Store and stock up on some beautiful hand-crafted chess sets. And do something really worthwhile for this war-torn country.