Russian / Soviet Chess sets

[bulkcover]

Soviet Union is known to be the country with most supported chess playing activities for over than half-century, a kind of a chess-paradise. This of cause caused manufacturing a lot of different chess sets by hundreds of factories. Did anybody go deeper into this aspect? Do any catalogs exist for this area?

[corptaxman]

The odd set and, perhaps more frequetly, clock do show up, but not in significant numbers in the West.

Presumably, most of the sets produced were fairly simple playing sets - perhaps mainly made in a few very large factories as occured with other products over there under the Soviets. 

Even the Russian clocks seen are of a lmited number of designs and seemingly made by only a few factories.

As far as I know, nobody has undertaken , or attempted, any systematic study of Russian sets - not in the West, at least.  

Does anyone know if CCI has any Russian members? There are Russian (or satellite) sellers on eBay who seem to 'specialise' in Russian clocks , so there may well collectors there, too. 

[bulkcover]

From my point of vision, I think these Soviet chess factories were not just "chess factoires" but factories of wodden goods and/or factories of toys and games... All Soviet goods where made under Standards of USSR called GOST or TU. So everything made in USSR had the number given by GOST or by TU standards system, chess sets were not an exception. But every factory could have their own variation of design even under the same GOST.

The guys selling Russian/Soviet Chess Clocks do not seem to be bigger specialists than in general, I also sold many of Soviet chess clocks... Those wooden are excellent, thou the design is almost completely copied from earlier British made chess clocks... Practical use in games for many of them is questional, because their mechanism is often "killed" by playing blitz or tempo chess...

It is motre likely worth asking an active chess player who lived in USSR those years and travelled from town to town playing in chess tournaments, such man must have noticed the difference between sets in different places...

[knight_knight_zzz]

Corptaxman and bulkcover,

I think that Yuri Averbakh, (a well known - and still living as far as I know - "end game" specialist) is Russian and is a CCI member.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yuri_Averbakh

I met him once or twice at CCI meetings here in the USA.... He seemed to be a very nice guy. Played a simultaneous tandem game against Lothar Schmidt and him (Yuri). Need I say who won?  

And might I have it wrong.... isn't Karpov and/ or Kasparov (both who are, I THINK, also chess collectors) - at least past - members of CCI?

Floyd (Lichess) would likely be one of the best folks to answer that question.

John, Vt. 

-- Edited by knight_knight_zzz at 07/26/2011 12:46 PM PDT

[bulkcover]

Yuri Averbakh is now 89 years old, I am certain he knows much about this aspect. Anatoly Karpov is the collector of chess (not sure about sets) but of chess memorablia and philately...

[knight_knight_zzz]

Corptaxman and Bulkcover,

For some reason, I am also wondering if Dr. Isaac M. Linder (I think, Russian born) is also (or perhaps at one time was) a member of CCI. (Or was he just a presenter at the Cambridge CCI Convention?)

http://chesscollectorsinternational.club.officelive.com/Documents/Cambridge%20program%20Feb.pdf

As a chess historian, he wrote "The Art of Chess Pieces".

http://products.convekta.com/258/2/

Floyd, are you home from work?

John, Vt.

-- Edited by knight_knight_zzz at 07/26/2011 1:03 PM PDT

-- Edited by knight_knight_zzz at 07/26/2011 1:04 PM PDT

[acf1515]

Hi All,

Both Yuri & Issac are CCI members and regularly attend the CCI meetings.

There are some other lesser known Chess collectors who attended their 1st CCI meeting at Cambridge, UK last year.

Cheers

Jim

[dante12345chess]

Hello

This "thread" is very interesting and, as far as I am aware, the first discussion of Soviet era chess sets online- a much neglected topic as you both say.

As a new CCI member, I have a particular interest in Soviet era sets, not least because these sets were the "vehicle" for many of the best chess players of the 20th century and therefore of all time.  In case this is of interest, my picassa collectors site has an album of Soviet chess sets: see

https://picasaweb.google.com/PRChessAntiqua/SovietChessSets

It would be interesting to write an article on these sets for the CCI magazine.  Michael- if you are attending the next Bonhams sale, we might discuss this?

Philip

[lichess]

, Yuri and Isaac have been CCI members for at least 20 years. CCI had a meeting in Russia in 1994. THere are other Rusian CCI members who are artists who have created wonderful mammoth ivory chess sets which are often available for sale at CCI meetings. THere is also a number of very good porcelain chess sets from Russia. THe so called propaganda set or Capitalists vs communists is very much in demand Originals have sold for as high as $35,000. Copies go from  $ 1,500 to $5,000. Gzhel porcelain company makes a number of different blue and white sets. One is on ebay for sale now.  My collection has about a dozen very good porcelain, wood and mammoth ivory sets from Russia. At the CCI meeting in St Louis (Sept 9 to 11) the new St Louis CHess Museum will have on display the priceless Russian Fabrege set from the Dean collection. Karpov colects chess stamps and has been a attendee at at least three CCI Conventions going back to 1990.  Floyd  (Long Island CHess Museum)

[d-baron]

I find many Russian chess sets have an elegance and beauty to them that rivals, and even perhaps surpasses, many of classics from the 'Western' world.  There are a number of such sets I would like to add to my collection.  I have managed to snag one Russian set - https://picasaweb.google.com/104764872834829988264/InternationalChessSets#5554137837857832482 - but would like to add others, such as the 'kitschy' set Chessantigua showed in his album.

There are others, especially some of the older classic wooden sets, that I would also like to have.  The one thing they all have in common is that very little seems to be known about them.

[d-baron]

One more note: The Chess Museum has some examples of a few good Russian Chess sets.

http://www.chess-museum.com/russian--soviet-chess-sets.html

[bulkcover]

Just a short note to everyone interested in. I allow to copy the images of any chess sets which I have listed, with no limitations for use of any internet web pages or publising in media or any other needs.

[dancing_with_volves]

I just purchased a Soviet set made in Belorussian town of Bobruysk by the Mebel'naya Artel' im. Osipenko (Obllesdrevpromsoyuz, Rabochaya 22). The factory exists today as well under slightly different name. Could anybody help to date the set or has seen another like it? Most probably it dates to 1950-1970 but might have been made in the 2nd part of the 1940s as well.

Bulkcover?

[d-baron]

It may not be of any help, but today on the US ebay there are 5 Russian chess magazines from 1989 that has the same word for a title: WAXMATbl.

I wonder, is that just the Russian word for chess?  I would have thought that except the russian chess set I have has a variation on the word, it is WAXMAMbl, so I don't know what either spelling means.

Anyway, don't know if it is any help, but thought I would put it out here just in case.

[dancing_with_volves]

Yes, it is the Russian word for Chess.