Last Night's Set--Soviet Grossmeister

Last night my friend Phil and I played with this Soviet Grossmeister set from the eighties on my RC MacMillan Memorial Knock-off Board. The white pieces have a gorgeous patina. The set is lightly weighted but very stable. The felting is pretty crude. I may redo it. The white knight heads, crudely carved, are wood. The more detailed black knight heads are plastic. I find the rooks, queens, and bishops in this set to be outstanding, among my very favorites at all three positions.

Tal and Bronstein playing with this set. A lot like Phil and I. (Great shot of the back of the clock, by the way.)

Tal with the Grossmeister set.

Here are some close-ups I took earlier on a Jaques board. I'll try to snap some on the RCMAC board later.

I love these rooks. Sturdy. Elegant. Strong. Stout turrets. Just outstanding in every way.

The coronet on the white queen is simply beautiful...

Not often you see a slit in the miter of a Soviet bishop. Here and the Tal Set...

Check out the deep cuts in the Tal Set bishops...

The crude wood white knights, and the plastic black ones...

The rest of the gang...

Pieces and table are really a great and nice ensemble...
Compliments!

This is very nice, both set and board.

I have a question.  The term "Soviet Grossmeister" seems to mix both the Russian concept of "Soviet" and the German sounding "Grossmeister".  Is this a German, Soviet set or is the term Grossmeister just borrowed from the German?

GREAT set! I love mine. If someone put out an exact homage (crude and all) in boxwood and ebony I would buy one straight away. Just add a little more weight to it. I am beginning to believe that "Tal set" may have been created just for that tournament. There are similarities to other sets in it but the bases seem extra flaired. And the knights have an exaggerated curve to them. I call mine the "Chernivtsi Set" 

Great question, Ron. The sets are definitely Soviet. I've seen them called Grandmaster and Grossmeister, which means the same thing in German, so I expect it's simply borrowing. I don't know what they're called in Russian.

Merci, Herve!

Your set is exquisite, Ron, and that board so well-preserved!

The Tal set was created for the '62 Soviet Championship, and may have been used in a few more men's tournaments. Here are Petrosian, Smyslov, and Stein playing on it in the '62 Championship.

It was also used in Soviet women's tournaments. Lisa Lane once played on it in a Soviet Tournament. I once had the opportunity to ask her about it, but was in the middle of the Everglades without cell reception when she called. A long story.

Another shot of Petrosian playing with the Tal set, here with Tal looking on.

Wow!  Truly excellent!

This is the first historical set that seems like it could be a legitimate predecessor to the HoS "Zagreb '59" set.  Up to this point, I was beginning to think the whole Zagreb design was purely a fanciful projection of the Dubrovnik+Soviet sets in the mind of Frank Camaratta.  To see an actual set from approximately that time period with opposite colored finials on both the monarchs AND the bishops is quite a revelation to me!

Thanks for the post.

Possibly made in East Germany

Yes, but the downward head facing Knights of the Zagreb set certainly are not even close to these Knights.

The opposite colored finials of King, Queen and Bishop is seen in a lot of these type of sets, especially the Noj Dubrovnik 1950 and Noj Dubrovnik II sets.

I'm still looking for the origination of those Knights with their heads turned down.

Eyechess, I'm not saying in any way that the Zagreb '59 pieces are truly historically accurate, and I'm sure many of the design features are without historical precedent (downturned knights heads, spiked ball finials)... but rather I had not, until this post, seen the overall THEME (opposite colored finials on BOTH the monarchs AND bishops) until now. You know what the funny part is, though? I have a mad appreciation for all things Tal, and read through books by him and about him all the time. I've actually seen several of the photographs in this thread before, but I never NOTICED the finials! I always glanced at the sets and thought "Dubrovnik" without looking closer! Pretty funny, eh? :)

Here's your set in this video with GM's Karpov, Vaganian and Petrosian. Playing on a board/box in the beginning ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A_-ftpPdMJQ