1970 Dubrovnik chess set

Staunton Castle feels proud to introduce the World’s most famous Chess Set named Dubronvnik Chess Set. 

The Reproduced Dubrovnik chess set 1970 is the original copy of the chess set which was used in the 19^th Chess Olympiad in the city of Siegen, West Germany. The legendry player Bobby Fischer made this popular who photographed this chess set which he was owned. The solid bases of the chess set and the supportive collars the pieces made this chess set use for many years. The Finials of the pieces especially Bishop’s Finials are interchangeable which was the main feature of this Historical chess set.

History of this Chess Set:

The 9th Chess Olympiad was organized by the FIDE and the government of Yugoslavia, supported by Josip Broz Tito.^[2] The Olympiad was held in Dubrovnik, SR Croatia, Yugoslavia (now in Croatia) between August 20 and September 11, 1950.^[1] Chess is a significant part of the culture in Dubrovnik being first documented in 1422.^[2] The Olympiad had 84 chess players representing 16 nations who played a total of 480 games.^[1] The Yugoslav team won the gold medal, Argentina silver and West Germany bronze.^[1]

In 1949 the Olympiad management requisitioned a new style of chessmen. Painter and sculptor P. Poček was contracted to design the Olympiad chessmen.^[3] The pieces were made in an unknown workshop in Subotica, Yugoslavia.

The 1950 Dubrovnik chess set was designed without religious symbols. The pieces were sensibly designed for play with wide bases requiring a minimum of 55 millimetre chessboard squares. They had green felted sliders and were not weighted.^[3] The chess box was felted with a metallic badge on the inside of the box with the inscription "IX. šah olimpijada Dubrovnik, Jugoslavija."^[3] The box was unusually large, featuring 60 mm squares. Approximately 50 chess sets were made with original sets being very rare if not impossible to locate or buy.^[3]

In a radio interview Bobby Fischer stated: "This [1950 Dubrovnik chess set] is the best set I have ever played on. It is marvellous."^[4] Fischer owned a 1950 Dubrovnik chess set that he kept in a safe, which was subsequently sold by a storage company to pay for an outstanding storage bill.^[5][6] A chess collector provided a chess set after Fischer requested it for the 1992 Fischer–Spassky rematch held at Sveti Stefan.^[3][7][8]