YA SAW MY DUBROVNIK ON MY DRUEKE, NOW MY SPASSKY FISCHER 40TH HOS
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The regulation of ivory in the United States stems from international treaties, the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended, and the African Elephant Conservation Act of 1989.
"Worked ivory," that is to say ivory that has been carved or formed into functional pieces (art, piano keys, etc) is less rigidly controlled, especially if its provenance and age are well-documented as "old ivory".
If the chess sets were manufactured prior to the legislation, or the raw ivory collected before that time, they would likely pass muster.
Thanks Jamie , makes sense .
I think the only ivory set HoS currently sells is made of mammoth ivory, which is classified as a fossil.
The games in the main hall were played on a stone board the one in the picture of Fischer's b x h2 blunder from game 1. But the wood board must be the one from game 3 when Spassky and Fischer played in the side table tennis room, one of the most important games ever as that was the first time Fischer beats Spassky . If Spassky had reacted to Fischer's nh5 in the Benoni correctly like in Portisch Gligoric later in 1972 probably chess history would be changed.
Robb who did you deal with at HOS when you bought that set in 2013?
Christine... No longer there...
Ahh not everyone there might be so accomodating, just saying. My set was nice also a blood rose wood and box wood but I don't think they checked over the pieces and I asked to make sure and they said they check it all. My crosses from the Kings fell off as I unpacked the set which told me they never opened it up to check each piece. So I glued it on myself. At that point I didn't want to send the two kings back for a a little elmers. 
I do think for the money I paid it is a great set . NY 1924. Compared to what were available 25 years ago it rocks for the price I paid. So I am happy anyways bit they could check over the pieces a bit better.
wiscmike wrote:
My crosses from the Kings fell off as I unpacked the set which told me they never opened it up to check each piece. So I glued it on myself.
The finials for the kings are supposed to be removable for ease of transport and replacement, and I understand that the kings come with them off. Though I suppose you may be saying that, even when seated correctly, they were too loose and came out.
I've owned two sets of pieces with finnials too loose in the hole. Masking tape solved the problem both times.
andy277 wrote:
wiscmike wrote:
My crosses from the Kings fell off as I unpacked the set which told me they never opened it up to check each piece. So I glued it on myself.
The finials for the kings are supposed to be removable for ease of transport and replacement, and I understand that the kings come with them off. Though I suppose you may be saying that, even when seated correctly, they were too loose and came out.
Yes they were too loose. At that point I called them on the phone and talked to a person who I believed was the manager. He told me they glue them with Elmer's before the set leaves. Now I am told by the good people on here they are suppose to come packed separately and never glued so you can replace them. If this is the case I was lied to.
It makes more sense to me to leave them unglued in case of future damage, but you weren't necessarily lied to — they may well have changed their practice with regard to the finials. Perhaps they found that too many people were ringing them to complain that the finials weren't installed or they found that they weren't fitting well, so they now secure them before they leave the warehouse. I have seen a post from some time ago where it was clearly stated that the finials came separately in the box.
Interesting... On my 40th edition I posted here they are both tight and seemed fixed. I'm not gonna yank on them though to see how fixed they are, but I did check them when I received the set I posted here in the beginning of the thread and they are very tight and wouldn't attempt to remove. They did not come seperately lose in my case but can't speak for others...
Personally I would prefer the finials to be shipped off the kings tops. Less chance of them snapping off during shipping.
My HOS set that I bought last year had the finials placed in a very small ziplock bag and fit perfectly.This year a new set from them came with them inserted, which I was surprised since the cardboard box and trays that it came in was not as nice and protective (as far as cardboard and foam are concerned) as last years. But they were a-ok anyway 
. Hard to say why the difference in packing
Maybe the package changed at the sourse (India). That's my guess as the box I got my set in was really cheapo cardboard, the kind you do not see in this country.
