Not The Best Chess Set Reproduction

After looking at the pictures of Carl's Official Staunton reproduction, better as an homage than a reproduction, Piatigorsky Cup Chess set, and comparing it to pictures of the original, I must say that this set is certainly not the best reproduction of a Chess set.

All the pictures in this post are from http://www.joshmentzer.com/chess/

This is the fellow that, with his brother owns the original make sets.  They are selling the original design sets for a whopping $1500, unfinished and $2000 finished.

The first thing I question is the sizing of the pieces.  Above is a picture of the set with Herman Steiner, the creator, himself.  Is the reproduction set the same size as the original?  This is a question and I make no claims either way if it is the same size or not.

Above are pictures of the unfinished pieces, first the dark pieces and then the light pieces.  The dark pieces are made of Mahogany.  The Official Staunton set is a stained boxwood.  Not a good comparison.

The white pieces are made of Maple in the original with the white pieces of the reproduction being boxwood.  Once again this is not exact.

Above are the unfinished Knights.

And above are the finished Knights.

So, while this new "reproduction" set of Official Staunton may very well be nice, it isn't quite the quality of the original.  And it isn't very affordable for a stained set either.

I know that goodknightmike is clamoring that this new set should be the chess set of the year, but give me a break.

There are far nicer sets available than this reproduction for the money.

Are you representing both sets in this post?

With photos?

All you need do for photos of the Official Staunton Piatigorsky set is to look at the threads, multiple, that goodknightmike has started about this set.

The "reproduction" set is not made of Mahogany and Maple instead it is Boxwood with the dark pieces being stained.  Goodknightmike has said this in those threads and I believe the company web site says the same.

I do have the question still about the sizing comparisons.

I don't know, but $600,including shipping,for a stained set seems quite expensive to me.  In that price range, you usually find the authentic wood and no staining.

Just a couple points. The OS set is shorter than the Steiner set, which had a 5" king. It makes practical sense to have down-sized it given what most people have for boards, and 4.4" kings are as big as anyone makes them. As to the price, sure it's high in an absolute sense. But then, it's a limited production run of fifty sets, so all the development and start up costs aren't spread over as many sets, so of course they are more expensive. The OS set is far more reasonably priced than the originals, finished and unfinished, which go for thousands the last time I checked. As to production quality, judging from the pictures, the OS pieces are better carved, better turned, and better finished, though, as I think RC mentioned, the mahogany staining is uneven. The mahogany stain and boxwood don't bother me. You could use maple and mahogany, I suppose, but I expect that would really drive the price up. As to the design changes to the knight, sure, OS has modified the original. Improved it if you ask me, but that's a matter of taste. So it's not a perfect reproduction. I can live with that even if others can't. I still appreciate a well-done homage set I can play with. I'll take it over the original here at the relative price points.

Robert and Chuck, thank you for the information you have provided.

I understand the resizing to stay within the now legalities of tournament chess.

I also understand that the woods originally used were scraps from a local furniture shop and the woods are ones that are local to the U.S. and the makers in India do not have access to these woods.

I also understand the limited run concept. 

I do disagree with the staining instead of using a naturally colored wood for the dark pieces.  For instance, Padauk or even a Golden Rosewood, of the higher quality that HoS uses as an example, could have been used.

I also appreciate the better quality of production that the current carvers are putting out than the originals.

Thanks again.

By the way, as to the comments about why I might be blocked by those 2 guys, I really can not and do not concern myself with either of them anymore after having a few discussions with others of merit.  If those two are so sensitive to not be able to handle disagreement, that is their problem.

Please note that I have no negative emotion regarding any of this.  A chess set is a chess set.  What some like others may not.

Okay, I'll be the first to admit it, we don't 'need' anything more than a $6 set of plastic chess pieces and a paper board to play a game of chess. We just really 'want' all the other stuff! The exotic woods, the rare collectibles, antique sets, commemorative sets, reproductions of classic sets, etc. Depending on... Well, for me, it really doesn't depend on anything more than -- I want it! And the sooner the better.

Nobody needs a Porsche 911 either, but it sure is more fun than a Ford Focus...

You got that right Frank as I drive off in my 1998 Ford Taurus, hope we can make it to 300,000 miles miles Old Red.  

Would love a ride even in a Prosche!!!!! 

Or my Ford Fiesta. . .