Drueke chess set

I agree that these pieces are very nicely weighted.  And their slender shapes make them even more bottom-heavy, and less likely to topple over during fast games.

Speaking of fast games, I never allowed anyone to use my Druke set for speed chess since I was afraid that the delicate points on the queens' crowns would be broken off.  I'm sure I'm not the only one to protect nicer sets, not using them much for actual games, except with calm and gentle friends.

My admiration (and protectiveness) of good looking chess sets does not mean I have a fetish for the pieces.  It just means that I still have the capacity to enjoy beauty (and I don't like to see expensive artwork unnecesarilly damaged).

Yeah, I am lucky. I walked into a game store in Virginia about 1990 or 1991 to buy a good plastic set. I didn't know Drueke from Drano but I knew I liked the pieces so I bought it. I was going to try find a chess club to play with but I ended up moving and I've barely used the set.

My pieces aren't seamless, though. They have the same ridge you can see in TurboFish's first post.

I just don't get it. I look at the desing and the only thing I see different is the color of it.

I have 22 sets i use for teachig beginners and they are similar in design other than mine

are black and white ( or off white, or cream ) plastic a d weighted.

I like your set. I don't care for fancy ones to play with.

DENVER

The pieces came out lighter in my picture than they really are. They're actually the color of Frank Helwig's set in his picture, a somewhat yellowish cream.

Hey, Turbo--That's My Set!!! Thanks for the post and the photo. I've had mine since the early '90's and I love it. The pieces are big and weighty and sturdy but not indestructible as I found out over the years. During one game a white bishop rolled off the table, landed top-first on an uncarpeted floor, and lost his head! A simple regluing brought him back to reality. Other than that I only had to replace the weights and bottom felt that came off the black king and one black pawn. Oh, and after moving many times, one of the black pawns got lost. Its replacement is a black plastic almost-look-a-like, not weighted. Overall it has the appearance and feel of a much higher quality set and I like playing it.

Last year I found a good board for it--a $10.00 garage sale special--2" squares. After sanding it down I applied several coats of polyurethane gloss, polished and buffed it, and now it shines and could be mistaken for a $150.00 board, a good battlefield for the Drueke pieces! (No gloss on the pieces, tho', they are fine just the way they are.) Until I can acquire a really nice luxury or reproduced antique set, I will enjoy these pieces!!

TurboFish: "And their slender shapes make them even more bottom-heavy, and less likely to topple over during fast games."

Yeh -- "bottom-heavy" is what I like about them. Great feel to move them about.

Julio.. with a rating of only 1192 this set is to good for you. We really don't want to hear your sarcastic comments. You need to find some other venue rather than chess IMO.

Julio:

At some point less than 100 years ago, the process of making plastic at industrial levels was created.

In its time it was the symbol of modernism and the pride of industrialism. A brand new material, versitile, durable, resistant, and rich in textures.

People tired of wood, iron and stone was just exited about the new material. Factories in the leaders countries of industrialism furnished themself with plastic injectors, and this companies became the top brands on the world, still holding the brands reputation up to today.

Engeniers develop all sort of plastic products. From the pen to a car, all innovation, as plastic was consider the material of the future.

Jumping to this trend, some toys manufacturers got their plastic injectors and they created plastic chess sets. The sets you see in this pictures can't be purchased new today, they are part of the history, no only chess history but western civilization history.

There is nothing wrong with a plastic chess set, and as matter of fact it is very interesting to find a chess set created as short as 2 or 3 decades after plastic was invented.

have the red & white and the black & cream Drueke.  I hunted high & low for the red & white set and found one 30 years ago at Chess Digest.  Don't think they made too many red sets. Packed away right now, will take a picture the next few days.

Wiscmike.. Yep I remember Ken Smith, Nice guy. I ordered several books from Chess Digest before he went out of business. I can't wait to see them pics Mike!

Ken Smith the chess master as well as the poker player. Mr Top Hat at the WSOP. Funny how so many chess players are also poker players even back then. 

Yep Mike they were gamers back then. Capablanca played Bridge I read.

The cheaper, the better!

I have a Drueke Player's Choice set of pieces, but there are some missing, and the black king got exposed to too much heat and started leaning noticeably. I've been looking for a good replacement set that is similar in design.

The closest I've found so far is the ChessUSA 61-206 pieces.

Here's a photo of the 61-206 pieces interleaved with the Drueke pieces.

For each pair of like pieces, the ChessUSA piece is on the left.

Here are the differences that might not be apparent from the photo.

• The ChessUSA king is 3 3/4" tall, whereas the Drueke king is 3 5/8" tall. (The ChessUSA website says their king is 3 5/8", but that is simply not correct).

• The Drueke king weighs 2.0 ounces (56-57 grams). The ChessUSA king weighs 1.6 ounces (45-46 grams). (Their website says 1.8 ounces, but my scale begs to differ).

• The Drueke rook and minor pieces are about 15% heavier than the ChessUSA rook and minor pieces.

• The Drueke pawns were all 21 grams. The ChessUSA pawns averaged 21 grams, but indivually ranged from 20 to 23.

• The slot on the ChessUSA bishop is fully cut out. The Drueke bishop slot is mostly filled...it is more of a groove than a slot. The frilly part on top of the queen is quite a bit different, but you need to look down from the top to see that.

There's a photo the queens from above in the album here. That album also has a close up of the knights.

Of particular note is the color. The ChessUSA set's color is close enough to the Drueke's color that you could use pawns from the ChessUSA set to replace missing pawns from a Drueke set and probably no one would notice.

The overall design is close enough to the Drueke that you could also probably get away with replacing other missing Drueke pieces as long as you replaced all the pieces of that type. For instance, if your old Drueke set is missing one bishop, you could replace all four bishops with ChessUSA bishops and they would fit right in. If you just replaced the missing bishop, people would notice the differences.

Thanks, tzs, for the interesting comparison. Such subtle differences in the pieces. I like the Drueke queen's crown better but I like the full cut bishop of the 61-206. The knights of the -206's seem to have a little more of a drop-jaw look, ya think? And that's a real 'cross of glory' on the 206 king--too big!! Do you think ChessUSA would sell me one black pawn to replace the one I lost? Or do they only deal in complete sets??

Capa and Alekhine became less than friends but would still gather over the bridge table at times.

I'm not sure what that says about them, apart from that they loved a game of bridge.

I'm a fairly devout traditionalist. I prefer the old Drueke over the newer version.

Though I never owned a full-sized Drueke, a friend who owned an extra-heavy Drueke in maple and ebony and I spent many hours over the chesboard with them. 

They were always a delight to use.

I also love my plastic 3.75" Collector, which also handles very satisfyingly.

Not sure if the latter means I prefer the old stuff even though it's the newer set by several decades, but I have a real affection for them both, and I think they are both excellent, practical sets.

Julio, the very first complete game I ever played, my 'Immortal' :lol:, was played against the little red-haired neighbor girl on the apartment steps in Phoenix, AZ on a plastic set not much bigger than the nail on your big toe--(exaggerating). The game's the same no matter what quality board or pieces. The Drueke pieces are solid plastic, not hollow and they are more like a professional set. They are tough and practical, unlike a luxury set you would worry about collecting scratches on the wood.

Unpacked my two Drueke sets a little bit ago and took a couple pictures, always a challenge for me.  When I see what they call quality today in plastic coming from China these beat the crap out of them all. No wonder they command such a premium price. Even the box is mint. In fact I like these better than many wood sets. 

The red & white and the Black & cream.  Too bad they stopped making them, they would command a high price and easily sell.

Also the board is about 30 years old and looks as good as the first day it arrived. It is a Drueke linen folding board with 2.25" squares, green & beige.  Cleans easy, folds easy, and never has a gap. Best damn portable board ever made, wears like iron.  The world went to roll up for potability but this board is also easily portable.  

They had great products including their wood boards which I won two of, why they felt it was necessary to change things when Caroom bought them out is a mystery to me. 

Wiscmike.. Thanks for the pics.! Those pieces are great looking. The Red & Ivory set I think is very rare. The folding linen board is fantastic looking.