chess

here are some of the many chess patterns i have prototyped and some completed sets too.

 a favorite, my most recent set, an impressive St George British set of the type produced from 1800-1920. the most dramatic, nonlinear skyline of any set. this set is 5.5 inch king by 1-7/8 inch base and very heavily weighted. here seen with contrasting finials and displayed on its own custom cherry shelf. the queens were redesigned with coronets rather than the usual spherical forms. eastern rock sugar maple and black walnut.  (sold)

here is a standard St George pattern set, also in walnut and maple, but in a 3.5 inch tall by 1.5 inch diameter king. this set is available without board for $500 and includes a dovetailed cherry shelf as shown above (with the larger set) for display.

this is a modern spiralled set in cherry and maple. very heavily weighted and suitable for blitz (or speed) playing. this set is available as shown (34 pieces, includes extra queens) for $200.

here is a set of prototypes turned from a pattern in the book Turned Chessmen by and designed by Mike Darlow. Mike notes the knight design was found in a German craft publication. easily weighted to extreme level, and suitable for all sorts of rough and speed play. maple

another Darlow pattern, these are called Claxton. a design from a woodcut and the only illustration from the Claxton printing of The Art and the Playe of the Chesse, published in 1490. A rare look at what columbus’ peers were playing chess with. the practicality of producing the knight and the easy piece recognition and weighting ease are remarkable. walnut/bradford pear.

 these prototypes were turned from a picture in Gareth Williams’ The architectue of Chess. The set is Russian and was discovered along the far east trade routes in the 1950’s. thought to be 15th century. note the sailing ship rook design and the brilliance of the knight in terms of easy manufacture. easily weighted, bradford pear.

another set of prototypes turned from  the Williams book’s pictures. these are unfinished and experimental ebonized bradford pear. a copy of Benjamin Franklin’s French Regency set. Much ado concerning the confusion of the pieces, here you see my solution is to provide alternate knights in a set of 38 (two extra queens and four extra playing knights).  the sawn horse knight forms are the ones i added. Ben’s set has been improved by Ben to include the triangularized discs on the pocket knife redesign as shown here. the thought that Ben worked on it has exaggerated the value of his set far beyind that of the famous George Washington set. Some historical facts may have been improved by age.

again from France, a Directiore Design, from the pages of  Fine Woodworking magazine, turned by author Michael Mode, 1985. My cherry prototypes follow Michael Mode’s highly accurately dimensioned drawings except for the knight, which i immediately abandoned and redesigned after learning of the legendary problematic confusion and the total refusal of chess players to use non- equine knight designs regardless the refusal of the wood turner to carve them. indeed the demise of regency and directiore chess sets was guaranteed as players lost games due to the confusion and refused to play “that set” ever again.  the graduated rings can be delicate in some wood species, but at 5.5 inches by 1-7/8 , I think it is one of the world’s most beautiful designs. the cherry just keeps improving with age, original was turned in cherry / ebony.

 well, it is time for another set of prototypes that i “cheesed from a picture on the internet”. this one never fails to generate interest at art shows. turned from mesquite, i call it Russian because of the onion dome of the bishop. other times i just refer to it as the thin one! a turner’s showpiece, total elegance, and with adequate weighting, very playable. high field visibility, but significantly different from serious players’ visualization to disrupt concentration. definitely NOT for tournament play, while extravagantly displayable.

before the curse of modern “standardization” and the adoption of the Staunton design by the World Chess Federation in 1929, there were separate chess set designs in Dublin, and Edinburgh, as well as Northern England and so forth. so here is a set of Dublin Uprights in bradford pear. as always, i change certain details on a production run, and the bradford pear is free after every ice storm, but these are big and impressive, beautifully designed pieces. the spherical queens are expected in sets of the 1800’s. the Tam O’Shanter design in the hat of the King will be seen in several of these sets. this one is also ready for any amount of weight.

these were turned from internet pictures, an old or antique design from a large group of sets known as Uprights. most are Pre-Staunton offerings from the large manufacturers like Jacques, Calvert, Lund and Whitty. i call these my old scottish uprights in pear and maple. note that i sometimes save the detail carving for later on prototypes.

.another try in ebony and american holly, a miniature set is a long time study topic of mine due to the obvious interest in the finest chess designs in the best and most expensive woods and the confines of the turning budget. keep in mind that very few custom chess sets are produced due to the cost of labor and materials

these are Whitty Upright chessmen in two sizes, maple and mesquite woods. the smaller set is based upon a 3/4 inch common diameter and is just two inches tall. my hope was to develop a high quality miniature set to play on an 8×8 inch board. a classic design, one of the best Scottish upright variants, by the Whitty company. an excellent set in every way.

this is called pre-Staunton, from about 1830-1840 showing just how close the northern upright design had come to being the Staunton design. the spherical queen is retained, but the bases and all other features are nearly exactly the same as the famous Staunton design.  this set is turned in mesquite and maple with a dovetailed pine display shelf (sold). the difficulty in photographing both teams of a chess set in the same lighting and background situation is amply illustrated here.

these are close ups of the prototypes for the Pre-Staunton set. i always keep these for my collection. custom sets have the advantage of being able to get replacement pieces from the maker, who retains the patterns! please try to NOT lose the knights!

this is my version of the Washington set in American Holly and Satine Bloodwood, or Cardinalwood. actually a very fine Calvert Barleycorn design in Ivory, purchased by Mrs Washington for her famous husband. as suggested by Mike Darlow, i have added a second bead to the base, elevating it by about an eighth of an inch and allowing the amount of lead weighting to be doubled. the originals in ivory were turned with very thin bases in order to conserve ivory and were threaded together in as many as four parts, allowing conservative use of the material. the dark team were red-stained ivory, and as with all red/white sets, they were marketed toward the British consumers during the height of the empire’s wealth and expansion.  chess was so popular that sets were being produced in France and India for the British market.

this would be the great dachschund, Buddy. he is the shop dog. he is the proud owner of exactly three legs and one good eye.  after being in an accident, he just could not tolerate his former owners and adopted me. two previous dachschunds were more discriminating and no doubt much smarter, having selected my wife or one of the kids for the “dog’s official human” position. buddy uses all chessmen who do not turn out as chew toys. one small problem occurs when he gets the finish-quality pieces mixed up with the rejects. other than that small character flaw and his total disinterest in sharpening tools, he is an excellent boss for our turning shop. please keep the deal about the three legs confidential as we have not had time to inform Buddy of his condition. each day the fifteen pounds of him tows a two hundred pound human around the block with great enthusiasm. he thinks the curb was made for his exclusive use and walks it all the way as a “Dachschund sidewalk”. He never lets “lack of sensation” in his right rear leg or the lack of its existence slow him down. he knows life is about momentum and solved his challenge by running all the time, everywhere.  on a rare occasion, he slows down to a walk. then you notice. otherwise, no problem.