We played Game 10 with this set. My friend Phil already had his Soviet clock out. It played very well. Phil discovered that one of the eyes on one of the white knights had not been completely carved. I had missed this when I first inspected the set. Check out the eye on the knight at the right.
The dreaded zombie eye.
Very nice set!!!
Thanks, Trev. I see you're from Aurora, IL. My wife's from Hoffman Estates. Welcome to Chess.com!
Bu the way, my friend Phil loved the set, and raved about the kings and queens. He owns Chess Bazaar's other Russian set, which is very nicely done. He had seen the new offering on their web site and wanted to show it to me. Then I pulled it out of my bag and we played with it.
I wouldn't classify that as zombie eye, zombie eyes bulge a little more.
Finally managed to pick up my set. First, some pics (not as high quality as Chuck's, but hopefully helpful anyway). Set is shown on a board with 2.375" squares:
And here's my review, after having had a chance to play a few games:
The set arrived superfast from India. I ordered on Saturday, and 4 days later, Fedex was attempting delivery in Toronto. Very impressive. Set was well packaged and came in a plastic box. As w/ Chuck's set, one of the knight's heads had come loose and needed some application of glue. This seems a common occurence with Chessbazaar, I noted the same w/ their 1849 repro set. Sadly, no "zombie eye" on any of my knights - I find that really charming and in the spirit of Soviet chess... :)
The pieces are decently weighted and play well. No obvious flaws or deficiencies that I noticed. Felts were all applied correctly, no loose weights or weights sticking out from the bottom, no scratches/nicks or other imperfections I could see. The finish was a little uneven, but ok. I think given the simplicity of the design/carving, this set is overpriced (I paid US$ 179 after discount), but considering that I usually have to add hefty charges for shipping to Canada and for Customs, the final amount ended up being ok. Plus, there aren't many options if you're looking for repros of Soviet sets.
I'm not an expert in Soviet chess sets and don't own any vintage Russian pieces. From what I gather, they all have in common a utilitarian design that is intentionally bereft of religious symbolism, crude manufacturing allowing for fast mass production (part of their charm), poor finish, a shape pattern that leans more towards tall and slim than towards short and chunky, and simplistic but large knights. So how do the Chessbazaar pieces match up to that? Well, overall, I think they did a good job. The set looks ok and feels good to handle. This may well end up being my new banger set for Blitz. The only slight criticism I would have is that Chessbazaar changed the design slightly to blow up the base a little, making it appear more bulbous, which really kind of destroys the overall aesthetics of the King's silhouette in particular. It still looks ok, but not as elegant and well-proportioned as the original. Not sure if this was just bad execution or intentional to accommodate weights.
Minor criticism aside, I'm happy with the set. This is not a display item, it needs to be banged around and I fully intend to put this set through it's paces and I think a few scars and dents will enhance rather than diminish my enjoyment of this set. So if you like Soviet-style chess sets, this is not a bad place to start (and certainly cheaper than the 1941 repro that Noj is offering).
Bonus question: what game is the above position from? :)
Spolier:
Tal-Botvinnik WC Gm 1, Moscow 1960? I cheated ...
You are correct :)
How does everyone glue the head back? Is Elmers white wood glue okay? Also how do you keep pressure on it so it bonds well. Have no clamps in the house. Not a woodworker unfortunately.
I used Gorilla glue. Put some on, attached the head, and let it sit for 15 mins. That seems sufficient.
My Caballus set from CB came with 1 ebony knight's head detached. I sanded the peg and gluing surface a bit and I used a quick dry glue. It's been 6-7 months since and the head is still on.
Frank you do not have to put pressure on the piece while drying?
I didn't.
Very nice set!!!