Mike, that green set has got to be an absolute rarity. Green and plain ivory Leuchars Jaques?! Pardon my while I go get a paper towel to mop up the drool...
Most chess set authorities feel my set is Catonese made. Agreed, my set does look like a Leuchars which makes you wonder.
Mike, that green set has got to be an absolute rarity. Green and plain ivory Leuchars Jaques?! Pardon my while I go get a paper towel to mop up the drool...
Yes, it's a gorgeous set. But is it a Leuchars? Mike, I had assumed this was a Cantonese Staunton set (albeit an exceptionally beautiful one). Can you confirm?
Most chess set authorities feel my set is Catonese made. But who knows for sure?
Both the encore and fantasy knight sets are superb!thx for posting such beautiful chessmen!
The carving is lovely but I just can’t stand the green colouring!
Yesterday I met with the young man that first got me interested in the Dubrovnik II to show him my sets, all of them. As an aside, his Dubrovnik II that he got in 2010 is ebonized for the dark pieces. Noj no longer has that option, but it looks very nice. I saw and played a game with it yesterday.
Anyway, this is an answer to the request from Aristotele 1 for pictures of my Morphy Series set. I took these at the small town coffee shop where we met.
This is a House of Staunton Morphy Series, 4" King, in Blood Rosewood.
The board is a HoS 2.5" vinyl board that I trimmed the edges, thanks to Lou.
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thanks eyechess,
the set looks fabulous. Since the style of the pieces is "classical" I had some doubts about the blood rosewood, but although it is a bit difficult to judge from the pics, the blood rosewood seems very nice. What is your opinion?
The color is really, really nice. This set is about 7 years old now and the dark pieces have indeed gotten darker over time.
In the picture of the Kings in front, you can see the color of the dark pieces the best. It is a deep burgundy color now.
Yes, I like this set quite a bit and plan on using it for some very slow games on a 2.5" custom wood board that I am having made of Paduak and Red Oak.
Yesterday I met with the young man that first got me interested in the Dubrovnik II to show him my sets, all of them. As an aside, his Dubrovnik II that he got in 2010 is ebonized for the dark pieces. Noj no longer has that option, but it looks very nice. I saw and played a game with it yesterday.
Anyway, this is an answer to the request from Aristotele 1 for pictures of my Morphy Series set. I took these at the small town coffee shop where we met.
This is a House of Staunton Morphy Series, 4" King, in Blood Rosewood.
The board is a HoS 2.5" vinyl board that I trimmed the edges, thanks to Lou.
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Thanks eyechess for the nice pics of your beautiful HOS Morphy set. The knight carvings are exceptionally well done! This is probably IMO one of the best Jaques replica sets put out by the HOS.
you put me into trouble now: if I ever manage to get one Morphy set what wood will I have to chose for the black army? :)
thanks a lot
Thanks Mike.
I bought this set over others basically for two reasons.
First, I like bishops that have their tops not be round. I prefer the bishop tops to be differently shaped as they are in this set. Plus I like the miter cuts a lot.
Secondly, this set is substantial and meaty. I love my Marshall set of the same size but it looks like thickened toothpicks compared to this set. And the Marshall is more substantial than the Collector Series that I first owned.
The rooks are monsters. Look at the size of those guys.
The Knights indeed are very well done.
Yes, I like this set a lot.
That red lacquer is stunning.
Very nice indeed!! I'm a fan of lacquered sets. The black lacquered also look great!
Thanks Mike.
I bought this set over others basically for two reasons.
First, I like bishops that have their tops not be round. I prefer the bishop tops to be differently shaped as they are in this set. Plus I like the miter cuts a lot.
Secondly, this set is substantial and meaty. I love my Marshall set of the same size but it looks like thickened toothpicks compared to this set. And the Marshall is more substantial than the Collector Series that I first owned.
The rooks are monsters. Look at the size of those guys.
The Knights indeed are very well done.
Yes, I like this set a lot.
Ron, has your blood rosewood pieces darkened any over the years? My blood rosewood HOS Zagreb set pieces darkened over the years and now look like rosewood.
Oh I don't know, Bob. That red lacquer set is a real looker.
At that size, I bet those rooks have some major heft to them.
We were looking at the Marshall 4" Rosewood just before pulling this set out. Well, when we pulled the rooks and even pawns of my Morphy set out we both could immediately feel and tell the difference in weight. To go to the 4.4" size has got to mean immense and the pieces do look grand, above.
Yes Mike, that set has certainly darkened over the years. There isn't as much red as there used to be.
This set still doesn't look like Rosewood, though. I can't rightly explain it but if you look at the pictures, especially the one with the Kings in front and together, you will see it looks like a dark burgundy that none of my regular Rosewoods ever did. Now that I look again, I have it. It looks like Oxblood.
I bought a Players Series back in 1998 and when I gave it to a young master in 2005 it was almost as dark as ebony.
I used my cell phone for those pictures, sorry.
When I get some time during daylight, I'll get my Nikon D90 with flash and get some nice pictures of that set and some others.
Just received the lastest edition to the "family" last Friday. A 4" New American set in blood rosewood from the Chess Piece.
I took these photos at night. The rosewood is not as dark as it looks.
SPECS (on a 2.375" board)
KING = Height - 4.125", Diameter - 1.85" (scaling factor = 77.9%), Weight - 3.1 oz.
PAWN = Height - 2.125", Diameter - 1.4" (scaling factor = 58.9%), Weight - 1.3 oz.
Total set weighs in at 57 oz., which is just about right for these slender bodied pieces. The design allows them to fit a smaller 2.25" chess board (used below) if you're cramped for space.
To give you an idea of color, here's a picture of the New American king (right) next to the Red Sandalwood king from my Fantasy Knight set (left).
sweet set
GNM, that green and cream color set is truly outstanding! I've never seen another like it. What's the scoop?
Thanks,
Lou
Hi Lou:
Most vintage set experts feel my set is Catonese made. There has been much debate about the age of this beautiful set. Arguments from chess collectors and antique chess set authorities date this set between 1849 and the 1920s. Kings measure 3 1/8" in height. All the Catonese ivory sets I've seen have the dark pieces stained in red. My set in the green stain is the only one I've ever seen.