Top Chess Piece Designs
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It is quite minimalist, however, one of my favourite is Best Chessmen Ever Stage 1. Harder and more expensive to find unfortunately.
I like it because I feel it is an original design that forgoes design language of most chess sets. For example, Daniel Weil describes chess pieces in architectural terms containing base, shaft and capital. BCE blurs the line between these elements and is a seamless silhouette that rises from the board. Very sexy IMO.
You might appreciate this video.
Are you referring to the chess set that appeared on the cover of Tal's book? I did a post about this (link). This set is often referred to as a Tal set simply because it appeared in the cover of his book. The game was played in the 1962 Soviet Chess Championship but he didn't win the tournament and previously won the Soviet championship. I don't know why @cgrau selected this design for his research... possibly because he didn't have an original set (he later found an original set).
Yeah, I love the BCE sets! I just find their ordering process to be a barrier. Needing to mail someone, inquire about the price, and be put on a 12-month waiting list... I wish I could just press a buy button, pay, and receive a set a month later.
I was referring to the “Latvian” chess set. The kid is more a fan of that one rather than the more stubby Tal sets. I personally love them, with the squat pawns. I’m quite confident I will gift him one of those at some point as well. I just haven’t found a reproduction with authentic-looking knights. Most of the reproductions feature knights that are a bit serpentine. I think the knight of the set below for example is really beautiful and polished, but it just looks nothing like the more robust and minimalist knights of the older Tal sets.
Below is a much more accurate reproduction by House of Staunton. I’m just not satisfied with their options for the finish. I wish they offered antiqued boxwood and a very dark brown stain for the black pieces.
Alternatively, ebony is quite nice (pictured above is ebonized), but it adds a lot to the price, and the white pieces wouldn’t come with an antique finish. I guess when I’m ready to buy a set, I might contact them and see if I can request a custom finish. Below is a photo of an original set from the article, ‘From Tallinn to Tbilisi: The Evolution of the Tal Chess Pieces’; I’m aiming for something like that.
On Etsy an original (but restored) set is being offered for C$54k.