More on ChessBazaar's Latvian Set

Great post with the many detailed comparison photos.

Many thanks, Rickyro!

CB did a good job of reproducing the original proportions of the pieces. You might not like the relative size of the knight, but CB's reproduction is faithful to the original design.

I received and just opened this set that I bought at the 25% Backorder discount.

This is the first set I bought from Chess Bazaar and here are my thoughts about this set and Chess Bazaar in general:

1. This set is an exceptional set, especially for the low, delivered price to the U.S. of $101.99 (remember the 25% Backorder discount).  This set is easily comparable in quality to sets that I own up to $250.

2. I have looked at the pictures that cgrau has put in this thread and others and I agree that CB really hit the nail on the head with this being a true reproduction.  I also appreciate them making the set and finials a bit thicker than the original design making this set very playable.

3. I agree with cgrau that this set could use a bit more weight to the pieces, but it is alright as is for that as well.

4. Yes, I also will use a 2.375" square size board with this set.  Once again we need to take into consideration the size of the complete piece(s) to decide what square size works best.

5. Chuck, I do think this set is very playable and plan on using it for rated play in our club's tournaments.

6. Yes, I really like this set quite a bit.

7. From the pictures and statements on this forum over the last year and 10 months that I have been coming here, it really looks as if Chess Bazaar has finally done a completely accurate reproduction with no piece or pieces being off from the original design as in their other reproductions.

8. This set also comes in at the quite inexpensive level, especially looking at how they have raised their prices on other sets over the last year or so.  To get this nice of a set at $136 full retail and including shipping at that price, is really a bargain.  A few years ago a friend of mine told me that there was a huge, humongous profit or mark-up on Chess sets.  Seeing this is coming from India where the manufacturers are makes this sensible and quite possible.  From pretty much any other company that I have seen, this set would easily cost $200 or more full retail.  And seeing that I got it delivered to me in Peoria, Illinois for $101.99 complete is remarkable (yeah, that's why I'm remarking on it).

9. Someone has mentioned that CB seems to have sets that have problems or really nice ones,  This set is a really nice one, so I heartily suggest people feel secure in buying this one.  It's a winner.

I think they got the body proportions and head right, but I find none of the Indian artisans ever get the manes right. The RetroMaximum knight is better in this regard (though I’m not a fan of the short king finial).

Here is a 1949 set for reference. I really like those feather-like manes of the early Mordovian sets. For some reason the manes in the Indian reproductions lack that grace in the cuts.

Welp I just ordered the CB Latvian due to Wandel reviving the thread...

Nice! It’s a beautiful set to be fair. Nice king finials are beautiful, and the set is well-weighted unlike RetroMaximum's set or the originals. As for the manes, they did show a lot of variation throughout the years. The feather-like manes disappeared in the later '50s if I’m not mistaken.

I will upload a picture later of how the knight design has evolved throughout the years.

You really can't go wrong with that set. It’s just that none of the Indian artisans do the knights the way I prefer them.

You're right about the manes in your pics being more beautiful, the more stylized flat ones fit better, but I don't care as much about that than the overall design of the set. It's beautifully balanced and has flowing curves, I'm willing to compromise a bit

I ordered the sheesham/boxwood one

Ahh, it turns out the feather-like manes officially disappeared in 1958.

Below are various Mordovian sets from Eduardo Bauzá’s collection, showing a fascinating amount of variety in these sets.

1. ’30s Berezovsky
2. ’40s
3. 1949
4. ’50s
5. Fabrika Igrushki (GM2 Bronstein-like knights)
6. Undated
7. ’60s
8. Khalturin Artel
9. ’70s plastic knights (‘Swan knights’ as I call them)
10. ’80s
11. ’80s
12. ’50s Kazakhstan

My CB knight, purchased last year, is not exactly like cgrau's, and it definitely doesn't look like any of Wandel's photos of originals. There's variety in reproductions, even from the same vendor, as there was variety in the originals, and also in the tastes of chessmen afficionados. Vive la difference.

Is that bone?

It's boxwood, possibly a little over-exposed. It's from my CB boxwood & sheesham like you ordered. A bit of the sheesham queen is visible in the corner.

Ah ok, I only saw no grain and something that looked like subsurface scattering on the top right, but overexposed makes a lot of sense as well

Nice! It actually looks to me like the more robust later Mordovian knights. Below is a ’70s photo of some Soviet children (I don’t know which country) playing with a Mordovian set. The white knight on the left looks quite like yours.

I recently ordered an original ’80s Mordovian Obyedovskay set—characterized by a lack of cuts in the queens’ crowns, and rather crude slabs for knights. You know, like the ones used in The Queen’s Gambit, as you can see in the photo below.

Below is the set. The bishops and rooks aren’t quite like the one used in the series, as the bishops still have those more candle-like miters as the earlier Mordovian sets, and the rooks still have crenelations. But I ordered it based on the light finish of the white pieces which is more like the set used in the series than the more yellow-colored pieces I’ve seen.

The set isn’t going to win any beauty competitions, and certainly it lacks the grace of earlier Mordovian sets, but I think it’s a beautiful example of the later Mordovian Obyedovskay style. And I think it will be a fun gift to my wife, as she loves the series, and she already has the chess board used in The Queen’s Gambit finale to go with it.

Anyway, I agree there is a great variety of styles and preferences, and different ways to appreciate each set.

I actually prefer the bishops from your set, the QG ones look like "Hans Niemann cheating device". Can't clearly see it on the pics from the series but I think I also prefer the pawn head shape of yours.

Yeah I also prefer my bishops, although it would have been cool if the set were an exact match.

Irrespective, it’s far from the beauty of the 1953 set below I’m gifting my stepson for Christmas. But I love the fact that I’m gifting two Mordovian sets, made about 30 years apart.

I just noticed that the set of the series has very distinct ridges in the bases, just like the ’50s sets. I don’t think the ’80s sets were like that. It’s funny how the series supposedly depicts 1964, yet they’re using a 1980s Mordovian set (which historically was also never used in tournaments as far as I’m aware).

While it makes no sense historically, in terms of aesthetics I think it was a nice choice to use a more minimalist design. They could have used the set below—which is a Mordovian style with what looks like Grandmaster 2 (Bronstein) knights—which was actually seen in the ’60s. But I guess the knight looks a little sinister. The minimalist Obyedovskay knights suit Beth Harmon better.

Anyway, none of this has anything to do with ChessBazaar’s reproduction, so I will shut up now. 🤐