Soviet Shkolnik chess sets (my journey of discovery)

Funny how things connect sometimes. Some months ago, I considered getting my wife the Shkolnik II reproduction by The Chess Empire for her birthday, without knowing anything about it. I just really liked the design, with the really tall mitres on the bishops and the dual colors. It just struck me as a rather unique design, with a certain stature.

All I could find about the set was that apparently it came from the 1920s, according to an Etsy review. Turns out they were wrong, as I just found out. Either way, in the end I gifted her a Česká Klubovka reproduction instead.

Some weeks ago, I got my stepson a Mordovian chess set for Christmas; and then I found plastic Soviet chess sets on Etsy, and I figured why not get him one of those as well as a smaller gift? I couldn’t quite decide between two designs, so I asked my wife which she liked more. She told me to go with the second one.

Well, earlier I was browsing the Soviet Chess Sets Gallery by Chuck Grau, based on a search of the Valdai “Nobles” chess set, and suddenly I see the Shkolnik I!

I scroll further, and then I notice the plastic Shkolnik II, which is the set I considered getting my stepson. Apart from the knight, the reproduction I considered getting my wife is quite accurate. Funny that I didn’t even notice this was the set I considered getting her! And the Shkolnik II came out in the 1950s, not in the 1920s as the reviewer suggested. I’m not sure where he got that from.

And scrolling down further, there is the Shkolnik III, which is the set I ended up getting my stepson! I had no idea these two were even related. In hindsight, I don’t know how I could have missed it, because the king and queen are quite distinct, and very similar between the two versions. In my defense, most of the photos of these plastic Soviet sets were not these side views for a proper comparison. I searched quite a bit to produce these two images (which I upscaled with AI, then isolated from their backgrounds, and in the image below I switched the bishop and knight around to get the same order). The Shkolnik III came out in the ’70s, but the set I bought was from the ’80s.

Wait, let me just show you the set. Here it is, looking very similar to the set above—probably the same one, actually:

So I came full circle! Fascinating how I almost bought a seemingly obscure set for my wife because I liked how it looked, and I inadvertently ended up getting the next iteration of that very set for my stepson. And my wife rejected the Shkolnik II, so maybe good thing I didn’t get her the reproduction? Probably so, because she is absolutely in love with the Česká Klubovka set I got her.

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Oh as a bonus, here is the 1930s Bakelite Soviet Staunton set, which bears some resemblance to the Shkolnik II. I wonder if that reviewer of the Shkolnik II saw an earlier iteration of this set and got the year confused. Although I still don’t quite know why he thought of the 1920s.

Interesting that the king of the 1930s Staunton set has this flame-like finial, just like the 1952 Mordovian set I got my stepson for Christmas…

Lovely.

Beautiful collection!

Interesting that the knights are either Staunton design or typical of most soviet pieces.