Jaques Reproduction Sets

I was assessing my sets and other equipment over the last few days.  I know that there are different designed sets other than the "Staunton" design.  But what is this "Staunton" design?

Looking at the various sets out there we find a number of sets that qualify as "Staunton" design.  In fact the USCF plastic set which has been the standard of their acceptable design is actually a Lardy style.

I realized that this so called Staunton design that people clamor about on this forum are truly Jaques designs.  The Lardy, German Knight, Noj's GM Pavasovic, Spanish, Mexican, Romanian and other sets all look very Staunton like making them legal designs for tournament play, both USCF and FIDE.

The majority of sets discussed on this forum end up being reproductions of Jaques sets.  Sure, the Jaques designs themselves vary quite a bit, especially when looking at the Knights.  So the reproductions end up looking quite a bit different from each other, even in the same company.

We have Players and Collectors here.  Sure some of the players, like me, have a collection going, and some of the collectors play with their sets as well.  But, it can be differentiated from those who buy sets to have in their collection and those who buy various sets to use and play with without any concern of collecting.

With that, I currently own 16 wood sets.  Six of those sets are reproductions of the Jaques designs and all of them come from The House of Staunton.  They include the Morphy 4.0" Blood Rosewood, Marshall 4.0" Rosewood, Pawn Sacrifice/Fischer-Spassky Ebonized, Fischer-Spassky Golden Rosewood, Players Series and the York Series.  Now each of these has a specific place for me.  The Morphy and Marshall Series are my big sets in a Rosewood.  The 2 FIscher-Spassky sets end up being my most standard Jaques design in both black and Golden Rosewood, while the Players is a standard Jaques in standard or darker Rosewood.  And the York is my smaller, 3.5" Jaques reproduction in black.  I have been eyeing their Jaques 1940 Reproduction as a Black, larger set alternative, and at $249 for that set, it's quite a deal.

Now, a lot of reproductions that Frank Camaratta and Shawn Sullivan of HoS have come up with vary mostly with different Knight designs.  But they do work.

Official Staunton does indeed follow very closely in the steps of HoS.  It is a known fact that Carl uses manufacturer(s) that HoS has used in the past and no longer use.  I have found 2 sets that Carl has come out with after HoS that look identical to HoS sets.  I haven't bothered to look further because if I want a good Jaques Reproduction The House of Staunton has the best in both quality and service.  Both are exceptional.  Sure, others can approach their level of excellence in these aspects, but none can surpass them.

Jaques themselves still sell their sets.  Of course they now, for quite awhile, have their sets made in India, so are they just now reproducing their own sets?  I remember back in the late 1990's and early 2000's Frank Camaratta telling me that he wholesaled the Jaques sets to Jaques.  Yes, Frank was having the Jaques sets made in India for Jaques.  Of course Jaques has the highest prices.

When it comes to the other companies, like Chess Bazaar, they are having the Jaques designs literally knocked off.  None of the Chess Bazaar reproductions, including their Dubrovnik design, would ever be considered a true replication of the original designs.  For instance, Alan Dewey gave them a design of a reproduction Jaques and they did not even comply with his design details.  But you do get what you pay for.

So, a good question to ask is this.  How many different Jaques designs exist to consider buying?  I personally dislike the Cooke Knights.  I feel their noses are too short.  But I do like the 1851 design, the 1940 design and the 1960's design of the Fischer-Spassky.  What else is out there to consider?

I think Staunton Style is more accurate as a label rather than Staunton Design which is Jaques IMO. As long as you can tell a Knight & Bishop etc... in these sets, they should be good to go. Before the Staunton Design there were many different sets making identification of the pieces difficult for players.