My Commission From Oleg Raikis: "The Ideal Staunton" - A Jaques 1849 Reproduction

Oleg's new "Miyamoto Musashi" color combinations, named after "the outstanding Samurai Miyamoto Musashi, who wrote his notes in black ink, on brown paper":

All of the pieces are 100% solid, including the Knights, and the King's/Queen's finials (they are not glued in); the exact sets in these photos are available.

@MGT88 - in those Black pieces - African Blackwood I think you said? - can you see the grain at all? I can't really tell from the pics.

I'm looking for an excuse to shell out for another set that I really don't need, and if you can see the grain in the ebony, that might just do it!

Yes, it is African Blackwood; the material is extremely dark, however, the grain is visible, it just depends on the lighting conditions, your viewing angle/proximity, etc.; from a distance it can appear pitch black, while up close the grain reveals itself; here are a few pics of my set with the flash on (there are plenty more in this thread), which expose the grain:

Now that would be something special , A Oleg chess set , IpswichMatt !!!!!!!

Forget the high cost of living , Who needs food /////// Spring here so no heating bill .

"Spring is here"....Thank goodness! I can now stop constantly refilling my chess/hobby room humidifier.

@MGT88 - thanks for posting those pics. The grain is clearly visible, and they look seriously nice. Can I ask - are these sets marked in any way? If I sell it on one day, is there any evidence that it's an Oleg set?

After 25 years of living alone, yesterday a woman moved in with me. I got home from work last night clutching the nice-but-busted-up Ayres set that I'd just bought on ebay. She looked at me, looked at the set and said "Another chess set."

I do want that Oleg chess set though - can I justify the cost?

"Another chess set." - oof! Hm. Well, good luck!

"... justify the cost?" - of course! It's not just a hobby, it's a passion!

Thanks. Maybe I'll go with "collecting chess sets isn't something we do...it's something we are..."

Ok guys , Here we have a Oleg set , Now with the high cost of living + Tax wars / all round + keeping the other sex happy or the same one , well these day it's getting harder to tell what is what .

Right we all have nice chess sets some of us have very rare ones !

Now my last big buy was a real gamble this was just after covid , Unknown waters easy to get burnt ,

Still it was a risk which paid of . Point is I had promise my self , No more sets after this gamble ?

So this bring 's me back to what about Chess sharing ,

We all chip in to buy a set . Then we rotation it between US , That way we have a chance to all share chess sets of choice for a moment in time + Keeping everyone Happy .

At the moment it's not felted or signed, but both of these are options; usually Oleg carves his signature into the underside of the base of the king.

Thank you.

Are they weighted?

No, but weighting is an option; personally, I went unweighted and I think it's the best option.

O man, if I got it right you had an Ayres set under your arm coming home the evening of the day she moved in? So I think all credit to her, no scene. You should've said 'I'm sorry this arrived today and maybe I should have bought no chess set around this time, but please forgive me, it's an Ayres, and they never come around, look at it, these lovely busted up pieces, they are here!' No, great you said nothing. Does she like chess at all?

'Oleg Raikis set. Can I justify the cost?' Easy, just book a vacation or make her a gift of two times the price. NO! who'd want to start out with chess men and diamonds are our respective best friends? Just wait a year or two, how about? Haha You do what you feel is best. How much is an Oleg Raikis set? Good luck to you two!

Grand idea, lighthouse, just hard to find a fan group who'd love the same set. An original Man Ray set. O wouldn't we die with all the shipping? I guess I'd only join if it was a local project.

I can feel a bit of the "relationship strain" (already) from across the ocean?! Did your GF not know of your chess playing hobby and passion? Or, did you forget to tell her? Well, maybe you can reason with her like so:

"There are worse things a man could be interested in [and bring home]." (There is a long list, if you sit down and think on it awhile, I'm sure.) Some candidates include illegal items, exotic animals, antique dressers, tennis shoes, collectible automobiles etc. etc.

Maybe the next time, come home with something bigger (or shinier) for her tucked under the other arm. I wish you GL @IpswichMatt in your new living arrangement. Another trick you might use would be to get rid of 2-3 things you are less enamored with for every 1 new set you bring home.

And if some of your wonderful sets "go missing"...

Seriously, though, I do hope the best for you two. I always did get carried away with my collections (books, guitars, chess sets, sentimental things from days past, etc.) and having a wife that's very "stuff-averse" brings its challenges.

Funny. My wife said something similar the last time. Worse is that I play most of my chess online. At least, you play OTB. You can always say this is the required set where I am playing. :-)

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IpswichMatt wrote:

@MGT88 - thanks for posting those pics. The grain is clearly visible, and they look seriously nice. Can I ask - are these sets marked in any way? If I sell it on one day, is there any evidence that it's an Oleg set?

After 25 years of living alone, yesterday a woman moved in with me. I got home from work last night clutching the nice-but-busted-up Ayres set that I'd just bought on ebay. She looked at me, looked at the set and said "Another chess set."

I do want that Oleg chess set though - can I justify the cost?

I think that everyone here must have heard that phrase at some point, likely multiple times

Thank you  ungewichtet , Yes Man Ray , A chess set / painting / photograph / Film / even his essay's, One of my hero .