Vintage Chess Sets Archives - chessbazaar Blog

Another month flew by and the chess world is slowly getting settled back to normal after the huge Easter sale ends at chessbazaar.com. Speaking of flagships, the Arabian knight series are making headlines. Now that the first batch of units is starting to reach eager fans, everybody seems to be busy either playing with it or looking for a place to display it. Another big announcement from the previous month is the British Chess Company (BCC) Reproduced Staunton double collared chess set. This chess set features chessmen that are crafted with a combination of ebony wood and box wood.

Interestingly enough, Reproduced 19th Century Antique Series Dublin Pattern Chess Set made the headlines as well. This chess set features chessmen that are crafted with a combination of rose wood and antiqued box wood. A rebirth of the Staunton series weighted wooden chess pieces, now available in ebony & box wood. If you think you might have missed the launches or are simply looking for an orderly recap, the table below should be for you. It also comes complete with links to our respective product page.

The Arabian Knight Series Artisan Staunton Chess Pieces

The British Chess Company (BCC) Reproduced Staunton Double Collared Chess Set

Reproduced 19th Century Antique Series Dublin Pattern Chess Set

A Rebirth of The Staunton Series Weighted Wooden Chess Pieces

Let’s see what the gossip is all about. First and foremost, perhaps, is the Arabian Knight series artisan staunton chess pieces beautifully crafted in ebony & bud rose wood with the combination of box wood. The pieces are heavily weighted and even exceed the triple-weight classification. The King proudly stands at 4.2 inches and its base is a robust 1.9 inches. The knights are well-crafted and represent the highest grade of knight carving skills that our master artisans have to offer. Know More>

We saw quite few announcements last month, but the British Chess Company (BCC) was definitely the most exciting one. After the success of 1849 chess set, 1851 chess set and 1935 Botvinnik Flohr Reproduced Chess Set, chessbazaar™ in association with Alan Dewey, is proud to introduce “The British Chess Company Popular Staunton Chess Set”, featuring the finest aspects of any Staunton pattern chess set ever seen. This chess set features chessmen that are crafted with a combination of ebony wood and box wood. The dark chess pieces are made of ebony wood.

Moving on to 19th Century Antique Dublin these chess pieces are Extremely rare. Chess pieces with a king height of 4.2″ and a base diameter of 1.7” is rugged and has thick green felt on their bases. This chess set features chessmen that are crafted with a combination of rose wood and antiqued box wood.

Reproduced Antique Series Dublin Pattern Chess Pieces

We have released a new chess set as part of the budget-friendly Staunton series. The Staunton Series weighted chess pieces offers a 3.5″ King with a diameter of 1.4″ and all chess pieces are weighted by adding a stud of iron within the base. The dark chess pieces are made of Ebony wood and the lighter chess pieces are made of Box wood.

“Did you ever starve for a chess design you always wanted? Chessbazaar™ is there to help you make your dream chess set a reality. Know More>

That’s all for now, Follow us on Twitter & Facebook to stay up-to-date with the latest releases, offers & promotions. We’d glad to know your views and experiences of the chess sets which you have purchased from us.

Chess has been one of the oldest games played in the civilized world. The nobility and upper classes of the society found the other popular games at that time like wrestling, animal fighting and other form of physical activities below their dignity to indulge in and this led to chess becoming popular in upper echelons of society far and wide.

chess sets, chess pieces, chess evolution

As the game of chess got popular all over the world, the chess pieces also underwent a lot of changes in design and material. The chess sets were made in different designs and materials depending upon the social, economic and political situation of the region it was played in.

Reproduced Antique Circa 1800 Series Handcarved Chess Pieces in Bud Rose & Box Wood - 4.6" King — Reproduced Antique Circa 1800 Series Handcarved Chess Pieces in Bud Rose & Box Wood – 4.6″ King

This led to different variants of chess design being used all over the world. In India and China where dexterous artisans and elephant ivory was available in abundance, the chess pieces were made in ivory. The kings, princes and nawabs took pride in getting made the chess pieces in ivory procured from the elephants hunted down by them.

Reproduced 1849 Staunton Pattern Chess Set in Ebony / Antiqued Box wood with King Side Stamping - 4.4" King — Reproduced 1849 Staunton Pattern Chess Set in Ebony / Antiqued Box wood with King Side Stamping – 4.4″ King

In Europe and Middle East, wooden sets were made which was then decorated with fine carvings. In Africa, where ebony wood was easily available, chess sets were made in ebony wood. Industrialization in mid 19th century led to bulk production of wooden chess sets in United Kingdom which could be standardized unlike chess pieces carved by hand.

https://www.chessbazaar.com/chess-pieces/reproduced-antique-chess-sets.html — The Reproduction 1950 Dubrovnik Bobby Fischer Chess Set in Stained Crimson / Box Wood – 3.6″ King

The advent of standard Staunton chess sets in middle of nineteenth century in UK led to the popular designs of chess sets slowly being replaced with Staunton pattern chess sets. The Staunton pattern chess sets became popular with players and soon all major tournaments and competitions were only played with this design of chess sets only. This practice of using Staunton Pattern Chess Sets at all major tournaments has continued since then and this design will keep dominating the chess equipment scene till some radically better design replaces this.

Vintage Chess Sets

MONTHLY ROUND-UP – MARCH 2016

Evolution of Chess Sets