Magnetic Chess Sets Are Really Useful
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Magnetic chess sets are really cool because they are usually pretty small and easy to carry around, and they are also useful if your opponent tends to flip the board a lot. 5/5 stars, and would totally recommend!
Agree!! Also, they don't feel much different than the non-magnetic, regular chess boards while making the pieces stick on their positions through small magnets
I agree,too! I very like magnetic chess sets because in my opinion they are very comfortable :board
Nov 14, 2024
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#4
This one takes virtually no room in my bag and can enjoy on an airplane tray or on my lap on the hotel bed - No worry of the pieces flying about…
Nov 15, 2024
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#5
I got myself this ’70 magnetic Soviet “Penguin” set recently. Such a fun set!
And my stepson’s favorite chess player is Tal, who was from Riga. So I got him this magnetic Soviet Mushroom set, produced in Riga.
I am planning to buy one now. A magnetic set would be of great help going forward with travel plans ahead
Nov 16, 2024
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#7
@WandelKoningin I have the exact same Soviet mushroom magnetic set that you got for your stepson. It's the set I always put in my backpack for a road trip or when I go down to the local coffee shop with some chess books.
Even the board appears to be the same, except that mine has brown trim instead of black. I recognized it was Soviet but never knew anything else about it (i.e., that it was a "mushroom" set and made in Latvia). Do you happen to know anything else about it (e.g., year of production)? Thanks.
I have a small magnetic set. The board is about 5 inches by 5 inches. The pieces stand about 1/3 inch to 1 inch high.
i have used this for over 50 years as an analysis board. When I read a chess book, I use this set to work through the variations. Since it is small and magnetic, I can reset the board in seconds. It is much faster and easier to reset than a full-sized board.
I strongly recommend this as an analysis tool.
Nov 16, 2024
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#9
goodspellr wrote:
@WandelKoningin I have the exact same Soviet mushroom magnetic set that you got for your stepson. It's the set I always put in my backpack for a road trip or when I go down to the local coffee shop with some chess books.
Even the board appears to be the same, except that mine has brown trim instead of black. I recognized it was Soviet but never knew anything else about it (i.e., that it was a "mushroom" set and made in Latvia). Do you happen to know anything else about it (e.g., year of production)? Thanks.
Nice! I found 12 of these sets on Etsy, but only one of them has a brown rim. I wonder if they’re rare.
They were made in the '70s and '80s. Most of them are listed as coming from the '70s, so I assume they were mainly produced then. Unfortunately I don’t know an exact year or manufacturer.
Actually, I just found some listings with a photo of the back of the box! Mine didn’t come with a box. Here is one from 1973, which seems to be manually corrected to 1977 for some reason:
Most of them do say 1977:
Maybe they were produced from the late '70s to early '80s then. Last week a Latvian person in one of the chess collector groups on Facebook said he remembers these sets from childhood, but didn’t know what name they went by. I guess like most Soviet sets, they didn’t have a name. On the front of the boxes it just says 'Magnetic chess' in Latvian.
Nov 21, 2024
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#12
goodspellr wrote:
@WandelKoningin Awesome information. Thank you.
A Latvian friend of mine found the manufacturer as well: they were made in Ausma. That’s also where the (non-travel) set below was produced, which I have been calling Latvian Ausma set up until this point.
I guess I need to come up with a new name now that I know both are Ausma sets (and I believe the one above is a ’70s set as well).