1972 World Championship Chess Pieces

Hi Folks I am thinking of buying a reproduction of the 1972 World Championship chess pieces. Does anyone have any recommendations of the versions available? Thanks

Speaking of 1972 World Championship versions: Can someone explain to me what's the differences between House of Staunton's Reykjavik II, Reykjavik Elite and Fischer Spassky Series? They look identical to my eyes on the photos, and the description text is also nearly word by word identical.

I think they are all the same.  So the least expensive option is the one HoS has on Clearance for $149.  I own this set in Ebonized and Golden Rosewood.  This is a great set at a very low price.

Thanks I will look at the HOS set. Any other recommendations?

A couple of months ago I have been choosing which one of these I would get. Here are the sets EBONIZED boxwood that i am aware of in order of price:

59$   - Chessbazaar. The cheapest of sets with 1972 in the name, the knight is simple and not at all like the Fischer/Spasskiy sets. Other pieces are the same type however.

63$   -   Royal chess mall, ebay.   The cheap of the 1972 like set, with a crude looking knight.

81$   -   Royal chess mall, ebay.   This royalchessmalls standard looking 1972 set.

99$   - Chess bazaar. This is the chessbazaars mid range 1972 fischer vs spasski set. This is the set i bought two of as a beater set (one to play one for future piece replacements), have been using it over the last few months 4-6 times a week with my usual game partner. I have nothing bad to say about the set, it is possible more expensive sets in more rare wood types are nicer but for my twice a week games that take place in public places this one is great.

160$ House of Stauton. This is their 1972 set that is on clearance, it has been on clearance since before I first started looking for a 1972 set 6 months ago. So i assume this is permanent price, but since its "clearance" there are no returns or exchanges.

209$ House Of Stauton Reykjavik II set. This is HOS non clearance set so there are returns and exchanges, The knights look slightly different as do pawns (the collars are more cone like), this set exists in more exotic woods for more $$

595$ HOS. Luxury version in ebony, in case you are looking for library decorations.

18$  And honorable mention - the plastic version of the set 18$ or less if buying in bulk. I think its a HOS set but you can get it from several sellers on line:  House of Stauton ,  Wholesalechess, USCFsales. I do have this set in plastic and its not bad, if there is a negative it is that the pawn collars are thin / sharp, on the positive side the weight balance of the set is amazing - you can hold the king upside down on its filial, tip it over and after tumbling once the king will end up upright.

Thanks BattleDuck.  I looked at Chess Bazaar site.  I can't see any difference between their 1972 Reykjavik set and their Fischer Spassky set except the price . Does anyone know what the difference is?

Between the Chess Bazaar sets, the 1972 Fischer-Spassky Staunton Pattern Chess Set V2.0 is a finer set than the Reproduced 1972 Reykjavik Staunton Chess Pieces. I purchased both sets.

In regards to the Fischer-Spassky set, the king, queen and bishop are more slender, the king has a slightly bigger base, the rook is taller, and the pawn is more slender with a slightly bigger base. The knight design is different too.

The overall perception is that the Reykjavik set is stocky-looking compared to the Fischer-Spassky set.

If you visit the CB website an zoom in on the photos, I believe you will be able to tell the difference.

Thanks brother7. I can see the differences now. Of the two which is the more accurate reproduction of the 1972 set used by Fischer and Spassky? 

Sorry but I'm not familiar enough with the original set to make a judgement.

I forgot to mention that the Fischer-Spassky set is not as heavy as the Reykjavik set. Fischer-Spassky is probably double-weighed, whereas Reykjavik is triple-weighted.

If I could do it all over again, I would skip the Reykjavik set entirely, even though it is the cheaper set.

Reyk II is, but the link I gave is a 595$ set: Fischer-Spassky luxury commemorative its the HOS top end offering of this type of set, and I included it for completeness in case someone is looking for an expensive decoration.

Fischer-Spassky is a closer historical verison.

here is the original

Rejk II is to my eyes a simpler version, cheaper, and I suppose maybe sturdier as the finer the detail the easier to break, though i think only the rooks have serious weaknesses and are the same for both sets.

biggest difference are the knights - rejk ones are closer to the knight on the left,  fischer/spass to the one on the right

Thanks BattleDuck for the photo of the actual set used. I did a bit of searching and I think the photo you posted is of the actual set used in game 3 only of the match. The set is privatelyowned. The set used in all the other games in the match is in an Iceland museum. None of this I knew so thanks again for posting. I believe both sets used were close to identical. 

https://www.reykjavikopen.com/exhibition-at-national-museum/

Here is link to the other set used on display at the chess museum

I think there are subtle differences between the 1972, Fischer Spassky Luxury Commemorative and the newer Pawn Sacrifice sets. HOS says the more expensive sets are made by better carvers but they're all essentially the same design.

The confusion is amplified by the fact that HOS uses the EXACT same images (with slightly differnet color tint) for the pieces on white that appear below the image galleries for each of these sets! Hit the "flip" button and you'll see the identical grain in the white pieces in all three sets! 

The picture galleries for each set are different so this is likely somebody just taking a shortcut when laying out the website. I doubt that they're all exactly the same sets repackaged and being sold for different prices - more likely the same (or similar) design but made by different grades of craftsmen. It's hard to say for sure based on the pics alone... 

K.