Old Vienna Chess Sets

Yesterday, I've found an almost unused Old Vienna Chess Set. Board Size is 25x25cm. Age is unclear but it is similar to the one my grandfather tought me to play Chess. According to some information on the net they discontinued this Old Vienna style 50 years ago.

Are there other users of Vienna Chess Sets who want to share a picture of theirs? I know there is a House of Staunton reproduction available but besides that they were not popular the last decades. Therefore I assume that the existing sets would have a certain age.

Looking forward some nice pics. And maybe stories :-)

Remark: the set in #1 seems to be manufactured by J.A. Nekvasil who shut down production in the late 1950s or early 1960s. Nekvasil was the last company which produced Old Vienna sets back then.

Thanks a lot! You really have some beautiful sets. I didn't know that there was a manufacturer in former Yugoslavia.

I love these old Vienna coffeehouse sets, especially when playing through game in old issues of The Wiener Schachzeitung.

@Chessreader156: you also seem to have a nice table for that.

@ORTFM - I found a 50x50cm set at the local marketplace. At first glance I thought it is the same as yours but there are some differences e.g. number of riffles on the bishop head. The knights also appear slightly different etc. When you look closely, the board is rotated 90° with respect to the folding line of the box.

It feels solid but I would say it is unweighted, especially in comparison with the Chessbazaar set which I happen to own as well.

Do give you an idea on the set I took a phot of the kings - Chessbazaar (left) and my set (right).

I think that Chessbazaar did a great job there with the unique features and still a slight hint of 21st century. Which I think is good.

And maybe also important to add - mine is, of course, not the only set of its kind and some features which appear different with respect to mine might exist in another set.

Looks nice. 

Finally, I've found another set which is more similar to the reproduction provided by House of Staunton. Some pieces have some slight damage and the board might need some makeover as well. Nevertheless, it does have some nice features.

@Josimar73 Yes @ORTFM ‘s Subozan set (manufactured in Subotica) was widely used in former Yugoslavia. It’s the chess set of my youth

Here is my set. It was left behind at my dads house in Czechoslovakia by the retreating German army! That makes it at least 75 years old!

The board is new - Chessbazaar.

The top of the King looks quite interesting. Thanks for sharing!

Normally, when one finds some old boards it is either with a wooden board box or only the pieces. Recently, I've found one of those cardboard ones which where used at clubs or at home at low cost. Most of them were simply thrown away and replaced with newer ones. Mainly because they were soaked with beer, burnt with ashes from cigarettes and cigars or just falling apart from heavy use.

This one board is actually in a very good condition and I like it a lot. If I would need to guess I would say that it was for home use as there is no labeling of files and ranks. On the other hand, when consulting old b/w images of tournaments this labeling was not always there. -->e.g. other tournament with foldable boards

Found a travel set by accident :-) Look at the eyes of the knights! Some pegs don't get in smoothly so I didn't force them in. Interestingly, just as one other board of mine the board is rotated by 90degrees compared to "normal" orientation to fold between 4th and 5th rank.

Thanks for posting. How do you find all these Vienna sets? I've been looking for one but I can only find the same few on eBay :/   Would appreciate any pointers.

Let my show you my set. I cleaned and slightly restored the pieces keeping the patina. Old board (31 x 31 cm)  cleaned and partly restored as well. The two are matching - from the same period, first decades of the 20th century. One black pawn missing, crown tops of Black Queen an White King (K=8cm) missing. 

I I would like to show you another old Vienna set I have recently obtained. This one is somewhat  different from the usual design. I find unusual the sphere topped figures, especiallay the pawns. I think the set is early 20th century, and comes probably with its original folding board (42x42 cm, K=8,2 cm). I have searched the net but have not found sets very much like this, only somewhat similar designs. I would appriciate anyone's input /opinion on this set, do you possess or have you met a similar one?

This is a very nice vintage Vienna set unlike the chubby and disproportionate ones sold by Chessbazaar.