THE OLYMPIADS

 The Chess Olympiads marked its milestones on chess development globally, from its inception on July 1924 in London till the present day. Many of the sets used were iconic in that designs of the pieces were specifically themed to commemorate the event. As I collect the sets based on this theme, I would display what I have.

1936 Munich Olympiad 

Hitler hosted the Olympiad in Germany and to rid of all religious influences, had the Bundesform commissioned for use. 

All finials and mitres were redesigned with the final product shown

1939 Buenos Aires Olympiad

The plastic Magistral was used so I skipped that set though HOS did release it on wood. Awaiting the Christmas sale...

1950 Dubrovnik Olympiad  

I owned only the plastic version. NOJ is out of reach for now, maybe the Staunton Castle set if there is a sale... 

1956 Moscow Olmpiad

 The set used was what collectors termed a Botvinnik-Flohr match design version 2.

 I acquired this reproduction from Andrei of Oldset (found in ETSY) who did a great job in duplicating the Knights.

                                   

                 

The photos are a little dimmed but the set does come with a boxed board which was nicely finished.        

1960 Leipzig Chess Olmpiad

I thought I had found the set which resembled a Bayerwald but it seems that I was wrong.

A fellow collector pointed to the differences. It seems that the set retained features of the DDR set (which made sense as Leipzig was in East Germany in 1960). This would be an interesting set to hunt for as it is not used (as far as I know) after the Olympiad. Perhaps HOS or CB may want to try for a repro?

1962 Varna Olympiad

I had the chance to own a set but passed mainly because the 1962 pieces were plastic and not wood-based. It's features were copied by the 2000 Istanbul Olympiad set.

1970 Siegen Olmpiad 

A clash of giants took place at this Olympiad, with the iconic picture below:

The Bohemia set was used in the Olympiad with the Knight often described as a chicken or dog head.

Quite a few of these sets are available in Germany Ebay and are reasonably priced. I got mine strangely in US on an estate sale. It's a pity that the box-board was damaged with a visible dent. The set was in near mint condition - paid US40 inclusive of shipping. The pieces are stable (though not weighed) and felted. King height about 3.7".  

1972 Skopje Oympiad

I jumped to place the order for the Skopje Olympiad set from HOS when it was available. Anjan was the wood for the Black pieces. 

1974 Nice Olympiad  

Lardy of France made it a marketing campaign for their sets as they used the famous logo in their sets produced during this period.

Many of these sets would fetch a premium with the logo on it - but I managed to get them below USD60 a set through some serious hunting on Ebay Germany. Not just the redwood ones but also those with Olive Wood and Glass Eyes

   

My affair with the Lardy pieces started when I was teaching one of my students whose father generously allowed his Lardy set to be used for the lesson. It was a joy to behold the feel of the Knights. Since then I was tracking them in all sizes, from the smallest at 2.5" to the largest at 4.5". My personal teaching set is a Lardy, of course. 

1978 Buenos Aires Olympiad

I didn't get the Official Olympico Campo but an Campo which looks very much like the one used in the 1978 Olympiad set. 

1994 Moscow Olmpiad  

The GM4 set was used in this hastily arranged Olympiad that saw chess politics tower over the games, with the re-emergence of Kasparov rejoining FIDE from the collapsed PCA. This set was bought without the board for a mere USD15 minus shipping. 

 

After 2000, I had not followed the Olympiads till 2018 when I was present at the Batumi Olympiad where the DGT German Knights took the stage.