What's the story behind the Colombian chessmen?

That ebonized set in that photo seems a little worn for wear after being played with for so many games unless the ebonizing process used to make them didn't take too well to the type of wood used and that set was recently made by local craftsmen. Cool street chess photo though. In addition, why are most of the pieces being played with mismatched pieces? Beginning with the pawns, the diameter of the heads are different, the knights, kings, and queens are of obvious different styles. Rook styles differ as well. There is only one bishop that is visible but that has been removed from play to the left of the nearest player. Hard to distinguish the pieces from that overhead shot.

It must be for the pure love of the game that these small details don't really matter as long as there are 32 chess pieces on the board of legal rank and positioning. IMHO. 

I like it how the photo from e-bay looks nothing like the fot from the street.

I am going to say something a bit heretic here... but if you want some really unique chess set from Colombia, I recommend you to look into sets made of Tagua.

If you really want top quality wood carving, then probably shop on Ecuador, the woodcarvers there are of much superior craftsmanship.

@rcmacmillan, thanks for the info and link to cgrau's thread.

Bishop from Amazonia-Premiere set does sort of resemble the bishop from the Colombian set shown at top of this thread. I wonder if Indian carvers based their design on the AP set.

@QtoQlevel3, yes I agree, they do look cool. Love the way they're worn out.

Here are some more photos of those big headed mushroom like pieces found in the streets of Bogota. All three photos appear to be taken near Plaza De Las Nieves on Carrera 7, for anyone fortunate enough to visit the city.

(Photo from alamy)

(Photo from colombiatravelreporter)

(Photo from pinterest)

I played a couple times at the Club de Lasker in Bogota.  They charged an hourly rental of chess sets and clocks.  Here's a photo of the sets they rented.  The pieces were heavily weighted and thick with paint.  The king and bishop have the sharper angles but other than that, they don't resemble the "Colombian" set in question.

TheChessPiece claims to have created them in 2006. Maybe they have an explanation. I was considering buying a set some years ago because I like the knight and bishop designs. I eventually decided I didn't like the rooks (too skinny) and the bulbous bases of the pieces.

https://www.thechesspiece.com/proddetail.asp?prod=The-Colombian-Knight-Bloodrosewood-Chess-Set

@Gomer_Pyle thanks for the info. I was hoping there was an interesting story behind the unique design. Guess they just slapped some fancy name that no one used.

@coss5367 thanks for sharing. Were those chess pieces made of metal? Looks like rust where the paint had chipped off. I like the board more than the pieces.

Hi everyone, could you tell me if this vintage/antique, 4ins and weighted Tournament set which is Columbian, Brazilian, Mexican or otherwise South American? I haven't been able to pin down its origins or period and any comments would be most gratefully received. Further photos can be found on another discussion entitled 'Unusual Staunton-type chess set' in the Chess Equipment strand.  

Ha, forgot to add photo.............

As a coincidence, I just received my new 4.6" Columbian Chess set yesterday.   Yes the knights are EXQUISITE (IMHO)...     Full set of pics here:  https://www.smugmug.com/app/organize/Newest-Staunton-Set

Nice

Thanks Honeybrook - I was waffling and on the fence for about 1 week contemplating on picking this set up...   and the final clincher came on day 4 or 5 when I saw the fine print stating it was triple weighted about 5.0 lbs...   I whipped out my credit card so fast the knights were spinning their equine heads...     LOL

Thanks, and sorry - no offence meant.

Enjoy you set " What board will you be using ?

No, there's is no history of this set with Columbia. It happens to be crafted by Indian artisian Bhupinder Singh (Mandeep's Dad) who happens to works for Chopra chess(distributor). If chesspiece.com claims to this design, he might be right since HoS started working with Mandeep only after 2011.

@manfred_scriba_ms07 -Thanks for the info. It's now apparent the "Colombian" moniker was simply for marketing purpose.

Women's Chess Olympiad 1974, (Medellín, Colombia).
Colombia 1974 Chess Set