Please anyone add the rest of the pieces if original to the set.
Cambridge Springs 1904 chess set
Interesting set Mike, I,ve seen it offered on Ebay a few times with diiferent size Kings.
Yes it has, made by the same company who made them for the Cambrisge Springs 1904 event, and what an event that was.
rooks are great and knights are simple enough to keep the carving cost down. The rook has to be done properly with all the parapets.
@Frank, in your first picture (white pieces) there are two dictinct knights. Which one is the orihx, Mike
@Frank, in your first picture (white pieces) there are two dictinct knights. Which one is the orihx, Mike
the one on the right is the replacement knight
@Frank, and the 2nd picture of the white pieces is a variation by the same manufacturer? Both look so nice. Love the rooks especially from the 2nd picture.
The set is different to say the least.! It looks playable though. Whomever makes a repro, I hope they stick with a 3 3/4 inch king. Those huge 4.4 inch Kings are not for me.
I like the king and queens very much but the ragged structure on the knight's mane I don't like at all, makes it too square looking I think
Thanks Frank for all the pictures and everyone for the comments. Never have seen pawns so tall and skinney as in the 2nd and 3rd picture. Knights are no great shakes as I can see but many sets made in the USA back then didn't have carved knights so elegant that were coming out of England.
My comment of being the 2017 set of the year in waiting was in haste I am afraid. But we are running out of what makers can reproduce that doesn't already exist (as repro sets).
None of these sets are examples of the sets used during the tournament and the Knights in particular had their uppers swapped with something more traditional of a Staunton style steed. Images in posts #1 and #5 are from Nick Lanier's Chess Museum and in Guy Lyons collection. Mick Deasey purports to have one of the original CS1904 sets in his possession and you can see the difference in chessmen from the others that were marketed through the American Chess Company. Here's a link to his Picasa page and a couple images of his chessmen.
https://picasaweb.google.com/109071933456760886718/NorthAmericanChessSets#5471979457346774050
These other chessmen likely had the same manufacturer and certainly have style similarities. Maker unknown. Here's a representative set of mine with 4" King that closely resembles the CS1904 chessmen from the period. It would be exciting to see someone make a replica!
Personally - A 'link' that's about a '4 pt. 2' on the 'Compelling- interest'.. Ten- scale. .. {impossible to identify, with 'the fascinating' in Everything!} 0:
My good friend has a site dedicated to the tournament and an image of the actual chessmen showing a position from the 11th round Schlechter vs Lasker game.
Here's the link to his site, which IMHO is the definitive reference.
On his site you'll notice the American Chess Company also sold the Waterbury chess clocks that were used in the tournament and the ad and an actual clock are shown. Just for fun, we recreated the position from Walter Penn Shipley's photograph of the game mentioned.
Photo taken 20Feb2016 of my vintage chessmen and Steve's period Waterbury clock.
Does anyone know of any chess maker who has a very good replica of the Cambridge Springs 1904 chess set? I know we have a couple aficionado here of this set.
This set maybe could be Chess Set of the Year for 2017 in waiting.
I did find a very good picture of the K & Q which I will post here.