I love beautiful wooden chess sets. That is why I only use wooden pieces at my Polgar Chess Center in New York. For more than a year, I worked with House of Staunton and Cajun Chess on designing my own line of very high quality wooden chess set. The style of each piece was handpicked by me. My favorite is the incredible quality of the Knights.
It is finally ready for this Holidays Season. The picture above is my set. There will only be 200 sets made and each set comes with a numbered certificate of authenticity from 1 to 200. The set comes in two different choices: 100 Rosewood and 100 Ebonized and it is priced at only $399. They will be ready to shipped shortly.
You lucky girl!
Very beautiful Susan, a set that would be a pleasure for a confirmed woodpusher like me 🙂
Susan, those are gorgeous! The knights remind me of those in the House of Staunton Sultan sets, though your set is about US$600 less!
In the photo, The white and black pieces on d4-d7 seem noticeably lighter and darker, respectively, than the rest of the set. Are these examples of the other choice of wood, or is it just a trick of the light/camera?
Speaking of the photo , is it also a puzzle? If so, my picks are Nxc7+ or exd5, depending on the ply.
The Insa clock !! I have one on my desk 😀
Susan culd you post a few more pictures?
D.K.
Have you tried your sets in practical timed play? In my experience, the quality of the set not always correspond with its practicality. At some point, the elaborateness and rich ornamentation of pieces begins to distract and makes the position over the board look more complicated than it actually is. On the lower end, with very simple sets, the problem is distinguishing the pieces, e.g. King vs Queen and Bishop vs Pawn. There is a middle ground with classical sets, in which the pieces are easily distinguished without too much ornaments to complicate the position. Do you know of any research on this topic to select the most PRACTICAL sets?
I would rather have a funny set designed by your sister Sofia.
I love her pawnys.
http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1741/1141/400/Pawny.jpg
why does the white king look like the white queen???????????????????????????????????????????
To anonym:
The white king is probably on b1 or c1 and is not on the picture, however you can see 2 white queens one is off the board – (the second queen is for pawn promotion purposes only :D)
D.K.
I just now noticed that the position was somewhat familiar – I like this opening (for black) it has many tactics and a nice endgame if one survives the middle one 😀
D.K.
I think you are looking at a spare Queen (for promotions), there is a black one visible too, off the edge of the board. Gorgeous set. Make sure you click on the picture.
lantonov
If you have so much trouble with the sets maybe you should try a different game. haha.
I never met such a fussy person. Glad I don’t have to live with you. You would drive me nuts. Just try to settle back and enjoy life the way it is.
Gabor, You are correct. They do that in some Russian sets too.
Best wishes,
Susan Polgar
http://www.PolgarChess.com
Gorgeous set!
You can play with somewhat similar pieces in Chessmaster 10. See screenshots: here and here
I usually don’t answer to anons but now I just can’t hide my happiness that I don’t live with such a quarrelsome and picky jerk.
The knights do look beautiful, and I’m very picky about the knights’ appearance in sets.
I wish I could afford one. :/
“only” 400$ ?!?
You must be kidding?
I dunno, look at this one:
http://cgi.ebay.com/4-0-Ebony-Staunton-Chess-Set-American-Hardwood-Board_W0QQitemZ160057421372QQihZ006QQcategoryZ2554QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
If the last link is chopped short, here it is again:
http://tinyurl.com/y4xpk6
“Do I remember correctly, that in Hungary there were chess sets where the top of the bishop was the opposite color?”
gabor, that’s the 1959 Zagreb style, here’s the House of Staunton’s ’59 Zagreb in Rosewood and Boxwood:
http://tinyurl.com/yluqzo
I have a set close to this one I paid bout 190 usd Im in love with it. But this yours Susan, is really georgeous, hope you enjoy it much. I collect wooden sets as much as I can afford them. Theyre not many, probably round 30 but I’ve been told I got the best sets round the area. Well this is a chess dry area so not many people have sets. Oh, by the way, I’ve got an Insa clock just like the one in the pic (besides the top o the line electronic ones) and I can asure you something…nothing like the feel o wood.
Polin
nice looking set i collect them is it going to be offered in uscf catalogue? black better do something about the queen lol
No, these will only be sold through 2 companies:
– House of Staunton
– Cajun Chess
Many of these sets have been pre-ordered already as there are only 200.
Best wishes,
Susan Polgar
http://www.PolgarChess.com