Knights to Remember

I've taken this photo right now:

Very nice, they look like animated little ponies. 🐎😃

And now, something completely different for those battling in financial markets as well as challengers over the chessboard, a set combining both, replacing the horse as the animal totem with carvings of the bull and bear for the opposing market forces they represent. From a limited-edition set no longer available in this configuration.

Thank you, Tvym,

I love it when people get puns.  My knight history is quite interesting. When I first started chess, I was distraught because I lost five consecutive games (all in better positions to knight forks. I turned in my score sheet to John Donaldson, the TD at the MI at that time. He told him I hated knights and that I lost five consecutive games to knight forks.  He quipped;, knights are giving you nightmares. I laughed, and the frustration was gone. I shared that story with one of my close friends. A week later, I received a nightlight shaped like a  Knight for my nightmares, resulting in another peal of laughter.

Several months later, I played a game with Jerry, one of our club members, and again was trapped by a knight fork. Jerry said, you don’t like night jobs, which made me laugh. Later on, I trapped him with a knight fork; I think it was a royal fork. “You got me back,” Jerry said, “and with interest,” I enjoy my nightlife.

@loubalch Those look massive, I wonder how heavy they are. Gorgeous pieces, though!

@Renate-Irene Thank you for the stories. Knights are beautiful but deadly! It is wonderful when you execute a fork but so unpleasant being on the receiving end of one!

@LesuhAn,

3.25" hight, 1.9" diameter, 2.95 oz. The Padauk darkens to a fine burgundy with age.

@loubalch Thank you for the size information. I love the darkened padauk color and the board; they're simply gorgeous. Is that second photo from your own set?!

Yes, shown on a custom-made 2.5" solid Padauk and Northern Ash board.

Ooh, thank you for the extra photos. You are a lucky guy; those pieces and board are beautiful. 🙂

Thanks, here are the dimensions for the rest of the set on a 2.5" chessboard.

I am surprised the king and queen have larger bases than the knights! The color of the padauk is one of the prettiest shades I've seen. 

They are from a Escardibul set. I like those tall pieces, but I find the knights a bit weird to be honest.

Aged Padauk comes very close to the 'unobtainium' of chess woods -- red sandalwood. I was fortunate to score this NOS (new old stock) set about seven years ago from a dealer who had it tucked away in off-site storage for more than 10+ years. Gap-jawed and not the prettiest of knights, still, it's hard not to be wooed by this beautiful wood.

And the remainder of this well-proportioned set.

4.25" King

Gambit, a pair of noble knights! Beautifully finished.

@natureexplorer Thanks for sharing your knights. They look surprised like they were just pinned or something. 😅

@loubalch I can see why that color is prized. Nice set, the proportions are perfect. Am I being too nosy to ask how many sets you own?  I never knew that about sandalwood. I am going to Google why they banned growing it by individuals.

@Pulpofeira the knights do seem a bit different from the rest of the set which is pretty, btw. I really like the grain on the lighter pieces.

@GambitHawk I agree with lou! Love the curve of the knights, the mane and the cherry like color. 🙂

Not counting portable magnetic sets, I have 22 sets 3.5" or larger, 20 wooden, and 2 Ultimate plastic sets.

Be careful, there are still a few unscrupulous vendors out there trying to pass off aged Padauk as Red Sandalwood (see text below)! Here's a side-by-side comparison. The Attica Padauk knight on the left was purchased within the last 6 months and will likely darken further over time. The Red Sandal knight on the right is probably 18-20 years old. 

Here's a perfect example, a vendor on Amazon (who shall remain nameless) is selling what he claims is a 2.5" (that's right 2.5"!) red sandalwood set for $860, plus only $5 for shipping (such a deal)! Check out the knight on the left in the picture below. If that's red sandalwood I'll eat my hat! Looks a lot like Padauk to me, or some other reddish wood. A 2.5" Padauk set is worth at most about $150, but claiming it's Red Sandalwood our greedy vendor gets to pocket an extra $700 clams. Somehow the knight on the left below looks nothing like the real Sandalwood knight on the right above, but it's a nice scam if you can work it!

Thank you for telling me. 22 beautiful chess sets, wow, just wow!

I have to confess I love both of those knights. I am partial to the reddish woods. If I am ever in a position to buy such a fine set I will be aware, thank you. 🙂

@loubalch

I'm on my phone and somehow I missed the whole 2nd half of your post. That is a scam. It's funny after seeing your beautiful knights those two knights in the last photo look crudely made, dull and unappealing to me. 😄

@loubalch I know nothing about sandalwood. The photo you use has the colors washed out on all the pieces. Perhaps it is over-exposed or the white balance is off. If you look at the second photo from the top left on the Amazon page, the reddish brown looks completely different. But sandalwood or not, I am keeping my $850 in my pocket! Regardless of whether it is sandalwood, the photos point out a general problem in purchasing chess pieces online - poor photography.

22 chess sets?! Are you married, @loubalch?