Hi,

    I purchased these mini isle of lewis chess pieces from a carboot sale for seven pounds ! and the board cost me 19.99

Just thought i would show off my new set !

That's pretty cool.  Congrats.

Cool! I got the SAC version as Christmas gift a few years ago. Since my last name is Lewis, I'm pretty proud of it. Yours is cool, the rooks are towers.

Agreed. The tower design is nice. 

So the rooks are towers!!

Pretty cool looking set and bd but I wouldn't use the set very often - Staunton sets are de riguer for me to play and analyze with. What are the pieces made of? The Bd looks nice but a tad big for this set - or else the pieces are too small for the bd :=). At any rate I think the mismatch would bug me more than using a non-Staunton set.

It looks like "carboot sale" is the equivalent of a US flea market?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Car_boot_sale

"So the rooks are towers!!"

According to an article in the March 2012 Chess Life, the Rooks in the original Lewis sets were Berzerkers. And that is the way Studio Anne Carlton produces them. The Lewis sets are thought to be of Viking origen. The modern idea of making rooks towers did not come about to a couple of century later than the Lewis sets' date.

Incedentenly in some pre European versions of Chess, Rooks were Chariots. Which explains the piece's movements.

So yes, I think his rooks as towers are nice. But it is an attempt to by the manufacturer to modernize the set and make it more playable, to better suit the taste of the modern chess player.

visit the island youll be even more impressed

Chrz.

I agree the board is a tiny bit too large. But i never really notice when playing/ analysing. I'm going to buy the specific staunton set for this board. as i am used to playing with these pieces more.

 The ones i have are the studio anne carlton mini isle of lewis set.

heres the description.

Compact version of the historical Isle of Lewis chess piece collection. Fabricated from a crushed stone composite and based on the original design. The original Isle of Lewis chess pieces we discovered the Scottish island almost 200 years ago. Today, the original set is on display in the British museum and is regarded as one of the most important historical finds ever in the UK. These mini Lewis style chess pieces display amazing detailing for their size

There is another thread about the Isle of Lewis here that you might find interesting;

http://www.chess.com/forum/view/chess-equipment/isle-of-lewis-chess-set?page=1

I posted photos of the Isle of Lewis set my wife gave me for a wedding present on posts #30 & #35 in the above thread.