that would be pretty freakin sweet!
The Ultimate Chess Set
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when you get one made, send me the link to the pic!
When we finally get custom chess sets on here you can just use pictures of them!
Why do you have 5 World Champs playing as pawns?
Most of the greats lived when there was no championship, I tried to choose the most popular or notable players instead of the 'best'.
The ultimate Chess Set would look something like this, made out of Walrus Ivory and Walrus teeth.
Now I know this has (almost) nothing to do with the topic, but it's such a beautiful set it deserves to be appreciated.
It's nice... but... are the pawns tombstones?
Some info on the beautiful set.
Quoted from Wikipedia.
The chessmen were probably made in Norway, perhaps by craftsmen in Trondheim (where similar pieces have been found), sometime during the 12th century,[1] although scholars have suggested other sources in the Scandinavian world.[2] During that period the Outer Hebrides, along with other major groups of Scottish islands, were ruled by Norway. Some historians believe that the Lewis chessmen were hidden (or lost) after some mishap occurred during their transportation from Norway to wealthy Norse settlements on the east coast of Ireland. The large number of pieces and their lack of signs of wear may suggest they were the stock of a trader or dealer in such pieces.[1] Along with the chess pieces, there were found 14 plain round tablemen for the game of tables and one belt buckle, all made of ivory, making a total of 93 artifacts.[3]
Almost all of the pieces in the collection are carved from walrus ivory, with a few made instead from whale teeth. The 78 pieces consist of 8 kings, 8 queens, 16 bishops, 15 knights, 12 rooks, and 19 pawns. Although there are 19 pawns (a complete set requires 16), they have the greatest range of sizes of all the pieces, which has suggested that the 78 pieces might belong to at least 5 different sets.[4] All the pieces are sculptures of human figures, except the pawns which are smaller, geometric shapes. The knights are shown holding spears and shields, mounted on rather diminutive horses. The rooks depict standing soldiers or warders holding a shield and sword, four of which are shown as wild-eyed berserkers biting their shields with battle fury.[5] Some pieces bore traces of red stain when found, indicating that red and white were used to distinguish the two sides, rather than the black and white used in modern chess.
To the modern eye, the figural pieces, with their bulging eyes and glum expressions, have a distinct comical character. This is especially true of the single rook with a worried, sideways glance (front left of first image below) and the beserkers biting their shields which have been called "irresistibly comic to a modern audience."[6] It is believed, however, that the comic or sad expressions were not intended or perceived as such by the makers to whom these images instead displayed strength, ferocity or, in the case of the queens who hold their heads with a hand, "contemplation, repose and possibly wisdom."[7]
Now there seems to be some controversy as to the story of how these came to, and how old they really are, never the less, it's an interesting read.
Anyone knows of any other old beautiful chess sets?
Kings: Bobby Fischer, Garry Kasparov
Queens: Paul Morphy, Mikhail Tal
Rooks: Jose Capablanca, Anatoly Karpov, Viswanathan Anand, François-André Danican Philidor
Bishops: Adolf Andersson, Vladimir Kramnik, Alexander Alekhine, Nigel Short
Knights: Judit Polgár, Veselin Topalov, Boris Spassky, Wilhelm Steinitz
Pawns: Emanuel Lasker, Max Euwe, Tigran Petrosian, Alexander Khalifman, Johannes Zuckertort, Vasily Smyslov, Bent Larsen, Henry Bird, Howard Staunton, Mikhail Botvinnik, Alexander Morozevich, Magnus Carlsen, Vassily Ivanchuk, Alexei Shirov, Viktor Korchnoi, Ruslan Ponomariov
Opinions?