What Drueke set am I looking for?

I was checking out the USCF regulations on chess piece sizing. It is interesting to note that, if one wanted to be completely anal about it, these pieces, w 1 5/8 King bases, are not technically legal for play on either a 2" or 2 1/4" board.

Granted, I have seen these pieces in tournament play before, and I personally would not complain about their use on either of the two boards, but according to the official rules .... The King base diameter is to big for the 2" and too small for the 2 1/4. Just a little fyi.

Shoooooo, thanks for the info, I'm gona throught these suckers away right now. lol

:-D :-D

As a comparison to the weight you mentioned, I had the owner of a set currently on ebay weigh his. Here are his findings. .

The weights I received were all different 34gr for the king....queen 29...bishop 25

He was unsure of which model number he has. They appear to be the same pieces, and he has the box with the sliding top, but does not have the label on the box stating a number or h designation. I hoped this would give some clarity to our query, but instead ....the plot thickens. He does state that he thinks they are the 36 h. I wonder if weights changed over the years?

It appears that Mike (midavis) and I have the same sets excipt his is triple weighted. I'm thinking ( and this was a long time ago dude ) the wooden box with the sliding lid was an accessory that you could buy separate, hence no lable. But the Players Choice set that goldendog has was different. What the difference is, you're going to need more info from him to find out.

P.S. u need to get the pieces from your dad so u know what u r looking for. I have a friend who has a set with pieces missing who may want to sell.

The age of each of these sets in question might well be a clue.  If some of them were made for a short while by Carrom after the take-over using the same molds, they may have chosen (I started to say 'skimped' but that's judgemental) to sell sets with lesser weighting, but then I would also guess that Carrom would probably cease and desist with hand finishing the mold seams.

I would remove the felt and weights from one of my pieces to weigh them with various combinations of weights for comparison, but I just finished re-felting them and unless someone can twist my arm, I'm a bit reluctant to do that.

And on another facet, I (or rather my grandkids) lost the weights from one of my knights and I used four U.S. quarters to bring it back to the equivalent weight (45 grams) of the other knight.  I searched the 'net in vain for sources of round weights for chess pieces, thinking that some may want to increase the weights of other sets.  The weights in my #35 set appear to be round steel slugs, about 1/16" thick (or slightly more - from memory).

To my feel, triple weighted pieces are generally just right, but perhaps that's because I've used them for so long.  Quads (experienced with other sets) are too heavy to my feel, and as the weights stack up in the inside, it also raises the center of gravity and increases the tendency to tip over.  Just my humble opinion and preference...

Drueke did make a 5" set in a similar style to the player's choice/luxury line/35/36 series.  I want to say it was a number 34 but I could be wrong.  I have two of them - one I bought new back in 1976 and it came with a divided wood box with a sliding top.

As the original poster mentioned, it might well have been available with a board that had swing out compartments - I juse bought a smaller drueke board and set off ebay like that - but with about a 2" high king.  

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Chess-Set-/321083274162?nma=true&si=ldWD3QJ2lOnijzYPSF%252BmxyykbHw%253D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557

The 5" set white pieces are the usual drueke manilla color - the black pieces are a mottled brown (which actually looks somewhat like wood).

I will try to dig out one of my 5" sets and confirm the number later - unfortunately I don't have a camera of any sort.   

The 5" sets do very occasionally show up on ebay.

Edit - OK - I trudged through the snow to one of my outbuildings (which is separately heated and is where I keep a  lot of my chess sets) and the 5" Drueke set is actually a number 38.

That board in your link looks extremely familiar!! Much smaller, but it's the same style. And what a deal you got!! Good for you. I do need to get over there and check the size and weight. I'm sure they weren't the brown mottled ones though. Thanks for the link with the photo.

If anyone can post a pic of a 5" Player's Choice set, it'd be a first to my knowledge.

I can't even find a mention of it in my old chess mags and catalogs.

So, props await!

The only place I saw something official about it was a photo on ebay of the primer that came with the 35 & 36 sets. It mentioned the small, medium, and large sets with King hights. I have seen a few drueke pieces listed individually on ebay lately. I think the king was just a little under 5" and Brown with black spots.http://www.ebay.com/itm/Drueke-No-35-Simulated-Wood-Chessmen-Chess-Grand-Rapids-/370758276162?pt=Games_US&hash=item5652ea5442

You have to click on the "view original listing" link, and then view the second photo.

The set linked on ebay in @wiremando's post above is exactly the set I have, assuming the weights are the same.  (Thanks for finding the link).  Mine do not have "brown spots" however (nor do I see any brown spots in the photo) and the king is not 5".  My pieces show a very faint mottling of the camel (light) pieces but you have to look very closely under good light to see it.  The box is identical.  But over $100?  Whatever ...

As I stated above, the Paladin set from Chesshouse is virtually identical except for the knight, and triple weighted.  I don't think I'd pay $100 for a #35 set unless you are a collector.

Yes, my link/post was a bit confusing. The link was for the reference to the 5"King set, in the primer. I just looked for the link to the mottled Brown spotted King, and I was mistaken. It actually is wood, not a plastic player's choice. My bad.

Here is a closed ebay listing for the 5" set.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Old-Antique-Druekes-Chess-Set-in-hard-wood-box-King-is-5-tall-Nice-big-set-/350713280588?pt=Games_US&hash=item51a823f84c&nma=true&si=ldWD3QJ2lOnijzYPSF%252BmxyykbHw%253D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557#ht_544wt_1157

That box is much different than mine - so likely an add on rather than an original

$200! Not bad for an old plastic set.

Thanks! I'll include the pics here so that they'll show up on google searches.

Drueke 5 inch Player's Choice.

goldendog - you are welcome.

The last red and white player's choice that I saw on ebay went for about $600 (they are really really rare).

Gallant Knight (which I liked better than Drueke back in the late sixties when I was playing tournaments) made a very nice 5" set in at least four different variants in seven different colors (white was duplicated in two of them).  They came in a really nice leatherette box.   They (especially the black and white variant) are a bit more common than the Drueke 5".

I also have a nifty fouray set stashed away from 1966 that was made by gallant knight - it has 3 1/4" pieces in red, white, black and blue.  The board is a bit different than the later incarnations of fouray.   

Ah, thanks @goldendog!  I've never seen the mottled brown Drueke finish before.  The pieces appear to me an identical mold style to my #35 set except for the relative height of the pieces.

Goldendog; Could you show us a better picture of the player choice set? I would like to know the exact difference between them and the 35s.

I will ask again has anyone seen a drueke wooden set? I think they started making them around 1905. But at $200 for an old plastic set I'd hate to see the price of a 1905 wooden set. LOL

As I don't own a 35, all I can do is post pics from googling and ebay.

I don't think old Drueke wooden pieces have the cachet of more modern Player's Choice sets, in the eyes of collectors, who are aiming to recapture a bit of their chess youth.

Same deal for the back issue comic book market, which I follow some. There are issues much more plentiful and in better available condition that utterly outstrip in value and demand older and much rarer books. If everyone would kill for that Spiderman, the demand stays high and value follows.

Some collectors really want an old wooden Drueke but not nearly as many as desire a no. 35.

@RealBulldozer, I think there may be (??) a very slight difference between the "Player's Choice" and the #35.  The PC picture above "looks" like my #35 set but I can't tell for sure.  I can take some shots of my #35 set (triple weighted but no "h" designation on the box) if you like.  Perhaps a side by side comparison with the Chesshouse Paladin set?  Your call.