Thank you for another wonderful post, Arlindo. While I prefer the knights' proportions in the reproduction, I agree with Robert. The patina, the history, the opposite color finials on kings and queens, I love all these features of the originals.
A Russian-Soviet Chess, a Story, Speculation
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Aug 3, 2015
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Very beautiful set. I live the replica photos as well as the original you have. The original has character and value of age of course. I grew up in late 80s and first half of 90s Ukraine and I regret that at that time I wasn't interested in collecting chess sets. Could have asked my parents to buy all sorts of oldest well preserved sets at the open air market (bazar). Recently I did purchase , and posted photos of, chessbazaar's replica of Russian/Soviet chess that looks almost like the one pictured here. That one is based on a slightly different historic design that has slight fewer details but is almost like this. It is very excellent.
Have you thought about contacting ChessBazaar people who are in India with the goal of not having them make a replica for you personally but maybe to suggest to them that they make one for public sale on the site?
Your set is more intricate and they could easily make it. Maybe they'll ask you for photos and measurements and make one for us to eventually buy? I think that would be a service to chess collectors and players everywhere.
(Очень красивые шахматы! Вы не знаете, продают ли пенсионеры свои старые шахматные наборы на базарах в сегодняшнее время? Или уже все распродали за годы? )
This is one my most beloved soviet chess set (40-50). I love the simplicity, the patina, the touch of the pieces. They are not weighted, but like most of soviet sets , the bases of the pieces provide wonderful for stabilization ( yes, we can play blitz chess with the pieces! Petrosian and a “ado” Fischer in Moscow show us that is possible), and above all, this set is not distractive, is a “rational” set for practical play, nor for showroom .
The Story: When a Brazilian chess friend ( Andre Greff) visited my blog, and saw my video in Youtube he fell in love with this set. He pics my generous photos and go to a friend of him, Brazilian craftsman ( Ademar Correia) and ask if is possible to make a replica of this set, with some modifications mainly in the Knigths. Yes! He made! An extraordinary replica with wonderful storage box, and so on. Great crafsmanship, great wood worker! Perhaps I can say that the replica is so stupendous that surpasses the original. A marvel.
That makes me think: Why chess suppliers, sellers in the market, liked to “ invent”, to create chess sets with stupid names, with Pegasus and Pony Knights, or like pregnant mares, sometimes with “ horrondous” bases like saints at the church, or “heels shoes”, Why? Why nor reproduce the original set, without killing the original. Days ago I saw a replica of the Indajesa spanish set, and my god, this replica is so frightening , so “fat”, that the pieces instead of dancers in the Liceo, seems more like wrestlers in smackdown!
Look at the German Pieces, The Lardy, Jaques, The Dubrovnik ( Yes, great replicas indeed) why not making the same with some fantastic and historical chess sets? Why some reproductions seems to me like lame, stumbling, that makes blush the original?!
Show time ? The " fake diamonds are chesslovers best friends"?
Different ways (American and European) to see the chess pieces culture? Flooding the market with chess pieces, which gives the feeling of variety, but in the long run tire consumers, and collector of chess pieces?
answer who knows.