TOOLS OF A CHESS ADDICT

I am intrigued by sets used in major tournaments in major chess-playing countries, including those that were  featured in World Championships. UNITED STATES   The W T Pinney Liberty set was a main feature in the 1940s as the set used in the US Championships where players like Isaac Kashdan, Reuben Fine, Samuel Reshevsky and Al Horowitz were contending for the title of US Champion. I did not acquire the Windsor Castle set as it was plastic-based.   Next was the Herman Steiner set which was used in the 2 Piatigorsky Cup tournaments in the 1960s.     The Drueke was featured in the Lone Pine series of tournaments held in the 1970s and early 80s, followed by the New York Open in the 80s and 90s before the Sinquefield Cup tournaments reestablished the US as a major international tournament scene from 2010 till present. The 2014 version had elegant Knights, which was improved in the 2017 edition below. BRAZIL The other South American set that came my way was gener...

 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 ...