A thorough look at the Ajedrez Staunton Europa

I was delighted to find this set, which reminds me a lot of the older Chavet pieces. But what are they really?

I wasn't exactly sure when I ordered. Ajedrez doesn't promise unparalleled quality for "discerning" collectors like for example house House of Staunton or Chess Bazaar et cetera.

It turned out I got gaming pieces, but nice ones!

There are no rattling pawns like in my HoS set, nor really stupid mistakes like ball finials that arent't straight (my CB set). One bishop had a really ugly collar, and Ajedrez replaced it for me, no problems there.

The quality of the wood is not the same as my HoS Players series, nor my CB Zagreb. I think they aren't turned from core wood as there are a number of places where there are "twigs". This is a direct translation from the Swedish, dunno what is the proper word here.

An example, down on the base:

The felting is quite cheap also.

But they are very nicely and precisely turned all of them. Probably machine turned, but I don't mind. It is the design I like so much with this set.

The simple and elegant lines of the Knight, and how the knob on the Bishop follows the contour of its head, with the the thin visor like cut of the mitre:

The King and Queen, simple and distinctive:

The Rooks have the same base diameter of the pawns! But it makes them look more slender and lofty, and they retain their feeling of a power base, maybe like a corporate skyscraper with their mirrored windows that you cannot see through, only look out:

Alright, I got carried away there.

The pawns have thick collars. All of them are slightly flat on the top of the head where they have been separated from the rest of the wood:

And all together. Very nice proportions I think The Queen is taller weren't it for the cross on the King:

All in all, these aren't luxury pieces, but a very nice gaming set meant to be played with.

Here's the felt:

This is the number 6, did I mention that? The squares are 55mm:

Excellent review, Markus. Looks like an great playing set. The blemish you noted would be called a knot.

Oh, thanks. There are a few of them, not on all the piece though.

Very nice set! My only minor criticism, that I wouldn't mind a rook with a broader base, and slightly less slender too.

Here's a couple of more knots. These pretty much sums it up.

I'm not really bothered by these blemishes. The pieces are clearly made of wood. On a really fancy set it would never do.

Yes, I think it is actually quite strange that the Rooks don't have the same base diameter as the minor pieces, but somehow they get away with it.

I find them in my Lardys and Spanish sets.

These pieces are really quite nice and would make a great work horse set for tournaments and all types of play.  The original location to buy them from other posts in chess.com doesn't seem to still be in business, although other places in Spain still carry this design with a wide range of prices from 50  euros up to 100 euros.

I recently bought a Staunton Europa 6 and I see a lot of improvement.

Now they make from a different type of wood, there are no more knots:

Pawns are not flat on top of the head:

Comes with four queens:

The felt is in the colors of the piece:

I read somewhere that these pieces were light. Now the weight is quite appropriate:

That set looks very Chavet-inspired, very nice set.

Just for reference