Step 1 - Select Wood
Red and Ivory Lacquered
Step 2 - Would you like to Add a Board?
Do not add a board
Tournament
Our Tournament Wood Chess Boards are affordable, ideal for both serious and casual play, and feature House of Staunton Logo.
Savings of $10
When Bundled with Chess Pieces
Standard
Our Standard Wood Chess Boards offer the perfect combination of affordability & luxury, and are available in a variety of woods.
Savings of $20
When Bundled with Chess Pieces
Superior
Our Superior Wood Chess Boards are designed for the discerning player, crafted in Europe from exotic woods.
Savings of $20
When Bundled with Chess Pieces
Signature
Our Signature Wood Chess Boards are handcrafted out of solid woods and are the finest chess boards available.
Savings of $50
When Bundled with Chess Pieces
eBoard
Step 3 - Would you like to Add a Box?
Do not add a box
Tournament
Our Slide-top Chess Boxes are affordable, with two large storage compartments, a slide top lid, and HOS logo silk-screened.
Savings of $10
When Bundled with Chess Pieces
Standard
Our Standard Wood Chess Boxes offer the perfect combination of affordability & luxury, and are available in a variety of woods.
Savings of $50
When Bundled with Chess Pieces
Signature
Our Signature Wood Boxes are the ultimate way to protect your luxury Chess Pieces, with individual storage compartments.
Savings of $100
When Bundled with Chess Pieces
Superior
Our Superior Wood Boxes are a terrific way to protect your luxury Chess Pieces, with die-cut foam storage compartments.
Savings of $100
When Bundled with Chess Pieces
The Grossmeister Series Chess Pieces - 4.4" King
THIS ITEM IS IN STOCK!!
PRICE MATCH GUARANTEE
Found this item at a lower price elsewhere? We'll match it!* Certain restrictions apply.
The House of Staunton is proud to offer the Grossmeister Series Chess set. A full club-sized Chess set, it features a 4.4" King with a 1.7" diameter base. The Chess pieces are hand carved by our master artisans and crafted out of the highest grade woods. The Chess pieces are heavily weighted with luxurious billiard cloth base pads and a beautiful finish. The form, board presence and exquisite craftsmanship of these magnificent chessmen have been recaptured and are offered to you.
As with all of our Chess sets, the Grossmeister Series exemplifies a perfect combination of distinct beauty and functionality. It has been designed to withstand the rigors of practical play while maintaining an elegance which has become the hallmark of a House of Staunton chess set. The design, quality and craftsmanship of this set is UNMATCHED by any set of Chessmen in its price range. Nothing even comes close!
The Chessmen are new and each set consists of 34 Chessmen, including four Queens, a standard that was introduced by The House of Staunton in 1993.
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ISBN
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Does not apply
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King Height
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4.4'' inch / 11.18 cm
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King Base Diameter
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1.7'' inch / 4.32 cm
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Basepad Material
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Billiard Cloth
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Material(s)
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Anjan, Blood Rosewood, Ebonized Boxwood, Genuine Ebony, Golden Rosewood, Indian Rosewood, Natural Boxwood, and Padauk
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Median Set Weight
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60.8 ounces (1.72 kg)
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Total Number of Pieces
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34 Chess Pieces, including 2 Additional Queens (for Pawn Promotion)
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Fitted Coffer Compatible?
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Fits in Fitted Coffer
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Chess Board Included?
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The Chess Board featured is for photographic purposes only and must be purchased separately
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Recommended Chess Board Size
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2.5" inch / 6.4 cm
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Wood Selection(s)
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Anjan and Natural Boxwood, Blood Rosewood and Natural Boxwood, Ebonized Boxwood and Natural Boxwood, Genuine Ebony and Natural Boxwood, and Indian Rosewood and Natural Boxwood
History of the Chess Pieces
Used for decades at the highest levels of Soviet Chess, the Grossmeister chessmen, sometimes called Grandmaster or GM pieces, are perhaps the most iconic Soviet chessmen of all time. Every Soviet world champion played with them—Botvinnik, Smyslov, Tal, Petrosian, Spassky, Karpov and Kasparov. Often were they used for Soviet Championships.
The earliest models appeared in the fifties. They are characterized by superior workmanship, wooden finials and kings' crosses, boldly pointed queens' coronets, slotted bishops' miters, strongly crenelated rooks, robust pawns, and all wooden knights. The crosses and slotted bishops' miters were unusual for Soviet chessmen, which typically avoided religious symbolism.
Over time, the Grossmeister went through many iterations and began to be mass produced for the chess-playing masses. Sadly, workmanship declined. At first, the wooden heads of the black knights were replaced with plastic ones, the finishing degraded, as did the turning of the collars, the carvings of the knights, and the shape and depth of the cuts in the bishops' miters. By the eighties, wooden finials and crosses were replaced with plastic ones, the points on the queens' coronets disappeared, the knights' heads were all molded from plastic, and the rooks lost their crenelations.
We are proud to reproduce one of the earliest versions of this historic set.
Botvinnik-Bronstein, 1951 World Championship
Botvinnik-Smyslov, 1954 World Championship
Tal-Yusopov
Petrosian
Kasparov
