Windsor Castle Chessmen--An American Classic

This is a very nice set and an excellent presentation.

Chuck, this is great looking set. It looks like the kind of set that is to be used! Is it possible that you could provide a little history on these chessmen? Thanks for sharing. Great photos!

Beautiful set Chuck.

And that pic in #6 is where you would expect to find it, in a smoky club room with a single bulb lamp lighting the board. 

I really like that pic too. I feel like I've seen it before.  Can someone identify the woman playing? 

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Nowadays, these once ubiquitous chessmen are almost extinct. Good examples are prized by collectors. Even very poor examples command healthy prices at auction – when they can be found. Red and Natural sets, like the one offered here, are far more scarce and only a few examples are known to exist. This particular red and natural set, with almost no damage, is believed to be the finest example in existence.

What happened to these sets and who actually manufactured them? The history of these once very popular chess sets is enigmatic. Here’s what we have been able to pull together so far.

The first appearance of the Windsor Castle chessmen appears to have been in December of 1949 at the Manhattan Chess Club. During the Christmas/New Year’s week of December 23 1948 through January 2, 1949, the Manhattan Chess Club hosted the New York International Tourney. Reuben Fine prevailed with a score of 8 – 1 over the ten-man field which included Miguel Najdorf and Dr. Max Euwe. From the photographs which appeared in the January 1949 issue of Chess Review (pages 3 and 4), it appears that at least some of the boards were furnished with Windsor Castle chessmen. The photograph on page 3 shows Rubin Fine playing the White pieces of a Windsor Castle against Al Horowitz; the photograph on page 4 shows 18-year old Arthur Bisguier playing the White pieces against Miguel Najdorf.

Woman's Chess Champion Lisa Lane looking beautiful.

The first thing I thought of, when looking at the photographs of these chess pieces, is whether the currently popular "Ultimate" chess set took some inspiration from this set?

This set has a better Knight, and the Pawn is not so stubby, but a lot seems to be similar.

Thanks, Ron!

Thanks, Darren!

Thanks, Walt! One of our friends has provided some history. These sets were widely used in tournaments in the sixties and seventies. There is a rich photographic record of icons of the era such as Bobby Fischer and Lisa Lane playing with these pieces. I played with them in Milwaukee in the late sixties in North Central and Western Opens. Here is a photo of them being used in Milwaukee in that era.