This is a generously-sized analysis set with a King height of 3.5 inches and a base diameter of 1.5 inches. The set is a faithful reproduction of the original 1930 design, meticulously handcrafted from the finest grade woods then polished and varnished by hand to give a rich shine. The light pieces of the Knubbel set are made of boxwood and the dark pieces available in ebonized boxwood or naturally ebonised Box  wood. Our set also comes in a range of finishes for you to choose from, including vintage, semi-antique and antique.

 Style & Craftsmanship: The lathe work of each chess piece is both precise and minimalist in style, including the lines on the rooks and the deep mitre cut on the bishops. All the chess pieces have wide bases which add great stability to the set. The quality of the hand carving of the knights is impressive, with a divergent style on each side. The design of the other pieces is also quite distinctive and unique to this outstanding set. As with the Soviet-era chess sets, the ball of the king’s finial is of the color of the opposing side. 

 History: The original German Knubbel chess set was produced 90 years ago. This chess set design is distinctive in its modernist functionality and was the favourite analysis set of Bent Larsen (a Danish grandmaster and one of the best Western chess players ever). The chess pieces are sturdy and robust with no finials that may easily break and with broad bases that require little weighting for balance and stability. All the pieces are well-proportioned with a low centre of gravity which makes them very pleasing to move. The rooks are solid castles, the pawns are simplicity itself, the bishops have a unique deep cut, the king is without a cross finial, the queen without a ball, and the king, queen and bishops have pleasingly slender stems.

Our set is a faithful reproduction of the original design; we have increased the height of the chessmen by half an inch to improve handling and playability.