Where can I find a Soviet chess set with very ferocious/vicious knight?

I really love a ferocious knight that looks foaming-at-the-mouth angry and deranged, such as the one below from a 1920s–1930s set from the Vsekokhudozhnik artel. I would love to get this set, but it’s way beyond my budget. Any idea where I can find other sets with a knight like this—either original Soviet sets or reproductions?

Act quickly, the auction ends today: https://www.ebay.com/itm/226378196301?_trkparms=amclksrc%3DITM%26aid%3D777008%26algo%3DPERSONAL.TOPIC%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D272992%26meid%3D1a987201893041bb92c698a33086206a%26pid%3D101949%26rk%3D1%26rkt%3D1%26itm%3D226378196301%26pmt%3D0%26noa%3D1%26pg%3D4375194%26algv%3DRecentlyViewedItemsV2WithMLRV6RankerPricelessTop30Features_BP&_trksid=p4375194.c101949.m162918&_trkparms=parentrq%3A66d0745c1920a8d790ce8f38ffff241c%7Cpageci%3A4251a502-84a2-11ef-807c-bead18447d59%7Ciid%3A1%7Cvlpname%3Avlp_homepage

Awesome design! I’m looking for non-lacquer sets, however. Curious that Chessbazaar discontinued this design though.

HoS Odessa

Yeah I saw it on clearance, and considered getting it based on those cool finials on the kings, and the droplet terminals on the bishops. But in this case, the knights actually kept me from getting the set. That, and the lack of historical reference. At least, there are some Soviet sets with droplet bishops—most prominently the set I have below, and variations on this set; but the Odessa set doesn’t seem to be a reproduction of any particular set.

I think you're probably right that it's not a proper reproduction. I like it's combination of nice design features.

Royal Chess Mall offers basically the same set, except with different king finials.

I just learned that apparently the set is loosely based on a Mordovian set with unusual knights.

Speaking of sets that use elements from various Soviet sets, Violet Crown Chess has a set called the Modern Soviet which features Botvinnik-Flohr II panther knights. I’m more focused on original sets and would prefer to get an original BFII, but I have to admit it’s a beautiful set.

I noticed the similarity with the RCM set and decided I like the HoS finials better, as well as the clearance price. Between this and the ICC Averbakh, I think i have enough sets with similarity to the RCM '33 Botvinnik Flohr that i don't need to get it, at least for now. I already also have a Mordovian fka Latvian repro. Good quality originals a certainly another avenue.

Stephen Kong is doing a collab with ICC to reproduce Antonio Fabiano's FB-I set, so I’m waiting for that one to come out.

What Mordovian repro do you have? I find Chessbazaar's bright red one pleasant to look at, but the price is too high for me; and the knights of the originals from the early '50s are more to my liking.

I did get my stepson an original from 1952 for upcoming Christmas, for about the same price. I was prepared to spend more to get a relatively pristine one.

Maybe at some point I will get myself a cheap one, sand the paint off, and refinish it in natural and wine red or something. I really like the contrast of the natural wood king finial and red body of the repro; nicer than the black finials in the original above. It would be nice to refinish a set with that beautiful contrast.

The chessbazaar repro uses the red pieces as black and light pieces as white. I have present in my (bad) memory red and dark originals.. and light and dark originals, which is where you'd get the natural wood in the finials' ying and yang. Did you happen to see red and light one originals, as well? In any case, natural and wine red could look good, for sure. Ah, and I wanted to say, a great red and brown board!

I have the chessbazaar in sheesham and natural. It was much less expensive when I bought it. It seems that CB has raised prices a lot recently.

I agree with ungewichtet about board.

No, I don't believe there are original sets with white and red pieces. The white side is always red, orange, or yellow, light brown, or dark brown. I’ve seen one in a beige color, but I believe that one used to be red which faded, as you can still see some red on the collars and crowns of the royals. Either way, the black pieces are always black.

And thanks for the compliment about the board! I selected this set for its beautiful board as well. There was a cheaper red set with paint relatively intact that came with a grayish brown board, but of course red is way more striking.

By the way, I had a look at my collection of Mordovian sets on Etsy (I put every listing of Soviet sets I could find in different categories), and I realized there are no cheap Mordovian sets anymore. At least not any with beautifully carved early '50s knights. I’m curious if the prices may come down again in a few years.

Nice! Sheesham is beautiful.

It seems I got into the hobby way too late. I’m curious what beautiful sets I could have afforded a few years ago.

WandelKonigin how did you learn all of this, you said you started your collecting hobby recently…

Also on the first picture the knight looks very worn out, does it really has such a big value?

Yeah, 3 or 4 months ago. I got into the hobby by researching and documenting chess sets to figure out what beautiful sets I could gift my wife that have historical significance. I created a stylesheet listing various chess sets with their manufacturer, year of production, which tournaments they were used in, and which grandmasters played with them. Here, I went from looking for a good gift for my wife to researching chess sets as a hobby.

My stepson saw the stylesheet and pointed at the Mordovian set, saying he loved that design. It has a tenuous connection with Tal as well, who is his favorite chess player. So I got him a 1952 set for upcoming Christmas. I then figured since he uses a plastic chess set for casual play and study, it would be cool to get him a plastic Soviet chess set as a side gift. I ended up buying a Shkolnik III.

I had it on my desk for a while and I fell in love with it, so I got myself one as well. I recently ordered a Shkolnik II as well, and I got myself a ’50s “Droplet” set (the brown set I posted yesterday); and my wife got me an amazing little ’40s–’50s Championship set for upcoming Christmas. I only held the white knight so far, as I want to keep the other pieces a surprise for when I open them at Christmas.

Anyway, so that’s how I got into collecting chess sets for myself as well. I got quite obsessed with researching Soviet chess sets in particular. I’ve been documenting and saving pictures of many Soviet sets and reproductions, and I spent time categorizing each Soviet set I could find on Etsy to get a sense of the different styles and how prevalent they are.

I feel I’m only just starting to learn more about Soviet sets, although it does feel like I’ve been in the hobby for more than just a handful of months.

And yeah, the ferocious knight in my original post is quite worn—as is the knight I’m holding in the photo above. At first, my intention was to restore it, but I quite like the pattern of wear now; it accentuates the shapes. I do plan on sanding and refinishing the Droplet set though. I think it can look a lot nicer, and unlike the small Championship set, I don’t feel it’s a loss to alter it. It’s not a particularly valuable set. I guess the ’50s Championship sets aren’t that rare either, but I find the patina of my set is particularly beautiful.

The ferocious knight set in my original post is worth quite a bit more due to its relative rarity, and the artel that made it is relatively known. This particular set is being offered for about C$3,000 on Etsy, although someone told me last week that the prices some of these sets go for are ridiculous, and that a similar set was sold in England for 400 pounds not too long ago. I guess it’s a matter of what people are willing to spend on it. A relatively rare set from the ’30s is of course quite desirable. Many chess collectors also love the wear of the pieces as it’s evidence of their use and age. Plus, people like myself are really charmed by particular Soviet knight designs, as they have so much personality and attitude. I love that. I don’t really see that in non-Soviet chess sets for some reason.

I have a moldovan set, I had to import it from the USSR as most of the European ones were not as advertised. I can post a picture if anyones interested?

From where? I think most of the listings are from Ukraine. I got mine from SovietChessUSSRGift, which is one of the main Ukrainian sellers of Soviet sets.

And sure, I would love to see your set!

WandelKonigin wrote:
Yeah, 3 or 4 months ago. I got into the hobby by researching and documenting chess sets to figure out what beautiful sets I could gift my wife that have historical significance. I created a stylesheet listing various chess sets with their manufacturer, year of production, which tournaments they were used in, and which grandmasters played with them. Here, I went from looking for a good gift for my wife to researching chess sets as a hobby.
My stepson saw the stylesheet and pointed at the Mordovian set, saying he loved that design. It has a tenuous connection with Tal as well, who is his favorite chess player. So I got him a 1952 set for upcoming Christmas. I then figured since he uses a plastic chess set for casual play and study, it would be cool to get him a plastic Soviet chess set as a side gift. I ended up buying a Shkolnik III.

I had it on my desk for a while and I fell in love with it, so I got myself one as well. I recently ordered a Shkolnik II as well, and I got myself a ’50s “Droplet” set (the brown set I posted yesterday); and my wife got me an amazing little ’40s–’50s Championship set for upcoming Christmas. I only held the white knight so far, as I want to keep the other pieces a surprise for when I open them at Christmas.

Anyway, so that’s how I got into collecting chess sets for myself as well. I got quite obsessed with researching Soviet...


I am not into chess sets but I am from Russia and know a lot about Soviet, I even learned playing chess from the school of Karpov. Know I am thinking about researching more about chess sets