Nice finding, thanks!
Grob…not the opening, but his chess set
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This thread is almost like a mystery being unraveled by chess-enthusiast sleuths! Nice work @ungewichtet, @brasileirosim, and @marcel_herbst...it really is interesting reading and viewing. I can appreciate that the simplicity has its merits--to weather all the play, transport, and rough handling. No need to sulk over a Q's broken crown or a lost K's finial, yet the pieces are easy enough to tell apart.
Ganz schoen von Ihnen @ungewichtet dass Sie alles so leicht uebersetzen. Sehr historiche sachen in der Zeitung. Mein deutsch ist ein wenig schwach weil ich benuzte es nicht so oefters.
The Grob set seems like a timeless and easy on the eyes minimalist style that works in many settings--a clever design that likely will see an uptick in popularity because of you all's thread.
Well done, cannot wait to learn more!
On closer inspection, the article 'Russian chess' is much longer than I thought: The following paragraph, "Amtliches", on the half page folded away on the photo, is not switching to announcements of a local Swiss chess organisation, but presumably proceeds to give official Russian chess stats. Noteworthy details from the visible part of the second column: Great popularity of chess among Russian women/ Appreciation of the variety of Russian chess literature- "almost epochal innovations, often even from masters yet unknown"/ Social standing of chess masters: In Russia, they were seen on a level with artists and awarded governmental accolades, while in Western Europe they were seen as "Existenzbummler", a nice word by Grob meaning something oscillating between flaneur and loiterer of existence.
PWalker, you write a pretty lively German, möge es nie einrosten!
This is an excellent and insightful thread. Thanks to all who have contributed. I have little to add other than to say that the Grob pieces have clean lines and seem to place function over form. Perhaps their design was influenced by the wars and a move to simple, practical (yet still beautiful) designs. I enjoy their retro-modern look; what initially came across as plain now has a deeper beauty.