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I know that there's the Staunton, Zagreb, and Dubrovnik style chess pieces which have seemingly been standardized.

It also seems that there's a common generic style of chess piece that I've seen in plastic, glass, and wood.

I just don't know the name of it.

I've searched and searched for a resource that would list the different piece styles (or at least the most common ones) but I only seem to be able to find short lists.

So is there a resource out there or does anyone know off hand what some of the different piece styles are?

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  • FYI - I looked at the chess set options in the Chessmaster program, but the list is incomplete. It didn't have the Dubrovnik style.
    – user1108
    Sep 5, 2017 at 18:40

1 Answer 1

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The Illustrated Guide to World Chess Sets (Chessmen for Collectors) by Dr Victor Keats

A part from the books webpage:

Country by country each chapter of Chessmen for Collectors systematically charts the development of chess sets in chronological order, giving the collector an instant means of identification. The accompanying mass of illustrations (50 colour and 273 black and white) gives details of the diverse materials used - ivory, wood, porcelain, bronze - precise heights of pawns and pieces, their provenance and date.

Ivory Indian chessmen, chariots and juggernauts, late eighteenth century

Ivory Indian chessmen, chariots and juggernauts, late eighteenth century

Ivory Indian chessmen, chariots and juggernauts, late eighteenth century The text and illustrations together highlight the variation of style in English Staunton sets, Indian ivory sets, Spanish 'pulpit' chessmen and delicate French eighteenth-century sets, as well as highly unusual, 'one-off' sets from Africa and America. The whole amounts to a highly authoritative, wide-ranging reference work for any kind of chess collector.


Other minor sources

This page lists some modern designs: http://inspirationfeed.com/inspiration/industrial-inspiration/20-aesthetic-chess-set-designs/

This online store has a lot of differently themed chess sets: https://www.chesshouse.com/collections/themed-chess-pieces

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