Nostalgia

I’ve seen this video before. It is very cool to see these sets.

I hadn’t seen this before so thanks for sharing it Herman. MCH818 I agree. Really cool.

Excellent. Thanks for posting. It featured a set which is the only set still made in Russia. Does anyone know any details about this set? This video makes me want to buy some old Russian sets 🙂

If only one spoke portugeese... His blog looks very interesting.

XADREZ MEMÓRIA: Peças Xadrez Russas (xadrezmemoria.blogspot.com)

Old Russian sets are available on eBay. I see them often when I am looking for another set to add to my collection.

May be from 1920ies, 30ies or 40ies, Artel Kultsport- or so I read. The seller said her husband brought it home when he returned from imprisonment of war in Russia.

I once saw offered the exact same style but looking quite a lot more elegant and older, description saying they were from 1890ies, unlike the sets reproduced by the artel Kultsport later.

Cool set @ungewichtet!

Yes...Extremely cool set.....I have quite a few Soviet sets.My favorite one is from Oldset(Etsy) It's The 19th Century Soviet Alekhine pieces. Soviet sets offer quite a bit of varying styles.

"Young Andrei Tarkovsky and his father poet Arseny Tarkovsky playing chess... Photo by Lev Gornung / Moscow 1947"

Found posted on twitter.. Nostalghia

Cool photo!

Interesting set! It looks a lot like the set below, which I call the Ascension set (or more in jest, the Soviet Soul set) as the pieces seem to lift off the bases (like souls leaving their material bodies).

These sets seem to come from the ’50s; Eduardo Bauzá suggested they may be from 1957. I found 7 of these sets on Etsy. The image above I put together based on photos from a set Alexander Chelnokov owns or used to own, which he said was made by Kuibyshev.

The set Bauzá owns was made by the Luzhskaya Mebelnaya Fabrika (Luga Furniture Factory).

Is that the set below? I swore I recently found this set on this forum under the name Alekhine reproduction by Oldset, but I can no longer find it. In the group Shakhmatnyye Kollektsionery: Soviet and Tsarist Chess Sets on Facebook I found no reference to it being associated with Alekhine, but Eduardo Bauzá (who owns the set below) posted an image of the set in the Moscow Chess Museum, with a sign that said it was possibly used in the 1907 Rotlewi–Rubinstein match; and he said it was also used in the 1908 Rubinstein–Salwe match in Łódź, Poland.

Anyway, beautiful set! It looks very ritualistic to me with all these pillars with chalices.

Oldset made so many amazing Soviet reproductions from what I’ve seen. I would love to get his Averbakh I reproduction at some point.

Photo by Noshir Patel.

Photo by Stephen Kong (Chess Praxis).

My wife did get me the Indian Chess Company 1949 Moscow reproduction for upcoming Christmas! =D

Look how cute the knights are—all flat, and with their tongues sticking out!

Everyone who owns this reproduction suspiciously always shows the knights in profile—and so does Yuri Averbakh himself during the 1949 Moscow Championship (photo below upscaled with AI for added clarity).

Once I have my set in possession, I’m going to be a maverick and show my knights from the front for everyone to observe their goofy flatness! XD

The Averbakh I reproduction by Alexander Chelnokov is beautiful as well. It would be cool to own all three and make a comparison.

Photo by Eduardo Bauzá.

Photo by Alexander Chelnokov, of a set he made with some alterations on request from the client (predominantly the finials of the royals).

My ICC Averbakh arrived a couple days ago.

Such a beauty! It looks so great on your board with the white squares as well. What board is that?

And I see you’re another maverick. 😆

This is the board https://www.houseofstaunton.com/chess-products/olive-and-birds-eye-maple-standard-traditional-chess-board.html, 2.25 inch squares.

I admit that I am attracted to the variety of unusual chess designs, but I do prefer relatively abstract designs over figural.

Yeah, same. I’m a big fan of Soviet sets in particular. The knights often have so much character and an attitude, and I much prefer the more creative finials on the royals.

Do you happen to know how that board compares with walnut and maple? https://www.houseofstaunton.com/chess-boards/clearance-walnut-and-maple-classic-traditional-chess-board-225.html

Is Bird's Eye maple lighter than the type of maple generally used?

I agree with you about the character of those knights. Royal Chess Mall - 1933 Botvinnik Flohr-I is on my wish list for that reason.

Bird's eye refers to the grain pattern. It is supposed to have small circle patterns like shown here https://www.wood-database.com/birdseye-maple/, but it is much less pronounced on my board. My board is pretty light, but I couldn't say whether it is lighter than the walnut/maple board. I think the olive wood has more interesting grain than the walnut, but the biggest physical difference between the two boards is that mine as a molded edge.

@mjeman That's very convincing antiquing on those white Averbakh pieces.

Yeah it’s a cool design! I’ve been enamored with HoS’ version, although I have been less certain about the knights. Plus the price is very high. For some reason Chess Antiques has a HoS version at a lower price but with opposite-colored finials on the kings. Not that the original set had those…

Unfortunately neither set has such cool knights as the original below though. And I like the oversized ball finial on the queen. I believe Stephen Kong (Chess Praxis) is working on a collab reproduction. I’m curious if Indian Chess Company will release it. If so, I will wait for that.

The Bird’s Eye pattern looks quite attractive! Would you be willing to take a picture of your board in such a way that the texture becomes visible? I’m curious to know what it will look like on a chess board.