TOOLS OF A CHESS ADDICT

These pieces fashioned in France at the Jura region were often used in the period 1920-1980 and featured in many major events such as the Women's Olympiad 1956, the Nice Chess Olympiad 1974 and Dubai1986 and tournaments during this time. One of the features of an old Lardy is the "lean" of the taller pieces markedly the King or Queen, owing to the insufficient drying of the wood before production. Hence it is a rarity that you get an upright Lardy royal. The wooden French Lardy design was also exported to the US in the 1940s-1970s by major game producers such as Plesantine Games, the Pacific Game company (marketed under the name Cavalier), as well as Drueke, Parker Bros and E.S. Lowe, with minor changes especially in the design of the Knight and Bishop. Here is an old French Staunton set which is a precursor of the later Lardy's. Shown here is a early acquisition of a Lardy marketed by Marshall Fields, mainly sized at 3.25" or 3.5" King. I like t...

Welcome to my blog where I list my collection of chess sets , my tools for going over games and playing chess with friends. Of course, I use all my pieces in games besides admiring their artfulness, design and historical significance. Unlike those who collect ornamental chess creations and what not, my taste has been restricted primarily to Staunton designed chess pieces or pieces used in major chess events, such as World Championships, Olympiads or tournaments of historical significance. So I often get inspirations from old chess photographs of players making their moves with the pieces in such events. As chess events occur in all corners of the world and spanning across 168 years (taking the first clock-used chess tournament in 1851), there are several themes in the design of the pieces from the ones created and patented by Nathaniel Cook to the current FIDE World Championship set used in all currrent FIDE events. I shall attempt to show the ones I have in my collection as I be...