Review of Kadun Retro 70s set

I have long wanted to buy a Retro 70s set from Kadun (https://kadun.ru/chess/Chess_kadun_retro_70), but the price seemed high all the time. Finally, after waiting for the discount on Black Friday, I placed an order, and I was right. Unfortunately, immediately after that, Kadun raised prices again, and now my completed purchase is 40% more profitable than the current price on the site.

Kadun is arguably the best chess manufacturer in Russia. The company is located in St. Petersburg, but the production facility is in Bryansk. As usual in Russia, the emphasis is not on tournament sets but souvenir chess. Although they have a special section called Retro Chess, which contains one of the review sets - Retro 70s. Despite the reference to the 1970s and the name of Mark Taimanov (a fellow countryman - a resident of Leningrad), connoisseurs will see an undeniable resemblance to the Botvinnik-Flor II set, which has much earlier roots.

I share ideas about old sets with the character and soul of the time, but I'm buying new reproductions for now. I guess I'll come to this like MCH818 but later.

The set comes in a folding solid oak board with Sapele and maple cages, packed in a box covered with linen. The letters and numbers could have been made more attractive in design. But then they are not printed but inlaid. The inside of the board is pasted over with velvet fabric to preserve the pieces.

The Certificate indicated that my set is beech/tinted beech (ash wood on-site). Nevertheless, the quality is excellent, and all pieces have a dark brown felt backing with the Kadun logo.

Slim profiles of kings, queens, and bishops are the hallmark of this style. The pieces are stable and very comfortable to play with. The white part exhibits the beautiful beech texture and sharp edges, but the black army is heavily covered with black paint, which, unfortunately, "blurs" the texture and sharp edges.

There are no extra Queens; the pieces are slightly weighted; the whole set weighs 890g. The King has a height of 10.6 cm, a base of 4.2 cm, and 38 g. A minor disadvantage is that the Queen is 6g heavier than the King in white pieces. I tried to fix this by choosing from three sets, and I could not - it was like that everywhere.

There is no doubt that the leading and central figure of the set is the Knight. Even though it does not look like the Knight from BFII set and doesn't match the photo on the Kadun website, I am fascinated by this figure. And the main thing is that it is made from one piece of wood.

The board in the set has a 50mm square despite the 42mm king base. When I asked them, they said that these are exact reproductions of the historical chess set, and they cannot and do not want to change anything.

Photo of the set on included board.

Photo on different boards with a square of 2.25 inches.

 Thanks for watching.

Congrats! Nice purchase! I really like sets from Kadun. I first saw a Kadun set posted by @Loubalch. It was this one shown in this thread https://www.chess.com/forum/view/chess-equipment/another-soviet-russian-chess-set-pictorial?page=3. I really like the miniature look of the 60s Retro. I looked at the sets on their website and all of them look really nice. I think they make great sets. 

The knights you received look good but as you stated the knights look different than the website. I would ask the Kadun about it because you paid for the knights that were shown on the website. It is worth a try at least. Anyhow, it is just a suggestion.

Congratz! They look really attractive! What you wrote about getting different knights make me wonder what the original ones look like though. Can you post pics of the advertised knights?

edit: nevermind, I was able to figure out Russian and found the set

Kadun's '60s Retro set is a reproduction of a set mass produced in the forties through the sixties, and possibly originating in the 1930s. The original set is known as the Valdai Nobles set: Valdai, because they were made there; and Nobles because that is what it was called in the USSR, one of very few sets that actually had a name. This is a sixties original:

This is a version from the early 1950s.

Finally, this is a version that I believe to be from the 1930s. Some collectors agree with this assessment, others do not.

A wonderful review. I've always admired Kadun's products. Congratulations.

I would definitely categorize this set as a reproduction of the Botvinnik-Flohr II set of the fifties, where it was used in the 1956 Moscow Olympiad. The design had noticeably evolved since its introduction at the 1934 Leningrad Masters Tournament.

Here is a specimen of the "Olympic" version of the set, 1950-1960.

They look better on a board.

I'm still mesmerized by your board mister Chuck If I recall correctly it was your neighbor who made that frame wasn't it?  Nice nice

Another gem that makes me consider coming out of collecting retirement.

@CGrau Thanks for the explanation. Your 60s set is so nice. I really love it. You have an amazing collection. All of your vintage Soviet sets are always in great condition (considering  where it comes from) except for maybe two I can think of that were battle-worn a bit. What's your favorite vintage Soviet set?

I want to take a guess and say that board is a Jaques of London board. I am probably wrong though.

Thanks to everyone for the feedback, especially Cgrau, for the detailed explanation and historical background.

The Retro 60s set I bought in the fall of 2020 was the first in my chess collection. But my son immediately took the set to himself, and I did not even have time to feel its historical background. Of course, I didn’t know anything about the Valdai chess set then. Maybe later I should try to make a short overview.

One more photo on a 2,25-inch board, accidentally not included in the review.

That's another beautiful 😍 board mister! Match nicely to the beautiful set 👍

Thank you, Michael! I tried to make photos in your style but ... I still see some possible improvements (clocks, light, boards, etc).

Despite not being a lover of Soviet like chess design, I have to admit that this set is far a beautiful one, completely well handcrafted and finished, glad to see another kind of wood for the white pieces (I think I have never seen a set made out of beech wood) and also to know another great maker.

I agree mister Jac, I'm also not into Soviet sets but there are indeed a few designs/sets that I find beautiful. On top of that, from what I've seen like this one the carving and finish is top class.

Thanks. It's from House of Staunton some years ago. I believe they called it "Traditional Superior" or "Superior Traditional." Something like that. Mahogany frame, rosewood and maple squares. Very similar to some Jaques boards.

Very nice photo.

One more historical note. At least some of the 1950s BFIIs also were manufactured in Valdai. Here is a set manufactured in 1955 with its original box, from Goodknightmike's collection. Chess.com is being balky now. 

Since i am not a collector, i can only speak for the set itself (and boards). Beautiful and amazingly elegant! The contrast of wide, solid sturdy bases and thin lines above are remarkable. Thank you for the posting, very appreciative for this. 

I think Mike has the set for sale at Etsy if anyone is interested. 

I hope this doesn't come off as an dumb question. Can you explain the significance of the set being made in Valdai?