BCE Eastern stage 1 is one of my favourite overall sets. I do not own a Berliner but this is something on my wishlist. I really like the knight of the Berliner and have tried to find where it originates.
Best Chessmen Ever-inspired sets & historical source
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chesslover0003 wrote:
BCE Eastern stage 1 is one of my favourite overall sets. I do not own a Berliner but this is something on my wishlist. I really like the knight of the Berliner and have tried to find where it originates.
Yeah I love BCE1. The Berliner set looks nice as well. The knight is possibly on the large side, but the sizes are fairly incremental; I prefer the pieces to become gradually smaller from left to right. The Henke set by contrast looks very inconsistent in the sizes of the pieces.
The Ulbrich Series set looks quite nice as well, although I don’t like how the differences in sizes of the finials have been exaggerated; I would rather have made them more consistent. The knight is too large for my liking as well, although I do find its design quite compelling. All the pieces besides the rook do look quite top-heavy though. In that respect, I think BCE1 is much better. And its design is a lot more refined and elegant. Interesting how dog-like the knight appears though.
What a great analysis! I have a vintage Henke style sets and never made the connection with the BCE design.
I wonder how a BCE styled Berliner knight might look.
I like how the BCE pieces rise like they are a seamless extension of the board. The silhouettes seem timeless. The only piece that seems out of place is the knight.
Perhaps something like the Poni knight or based on Herman Ohme's design below?
chesslover0003 wrote:
I wonder how a BCE styled Berliner knight might look.
I like how the BCE pieces rise like they are a seamless extension of the board. The silhouettes seem timeless. The only piece that seems out of place is the knight.
Perhaps something like the Poni knight or based on Herman Ohme's design below?
Yeah the Poni knight has a smoother transition with the base at least. I was actually going to add it to the list, as I realized the Henke set may itself have been inspired by Alexey Poni’s set. And I just discovered some modern interpretations…
Poni Minimalist set (1920s) by Alexey Poni.
The set below seems to be more or less a reproduction of the Poni set.
Classic Art Series chess set by The Chess Empire.
The set below is more or less the same, but with some added ball finials, a pupil in the knight’s eye, and a rook with crenellations.
Classic Series Cone Shapes chess set by Chezzbazaar.
And below is another set by The Chess Empire. The shapes are definitely more defined and less abstract except for the knight. It’s pretty much a combination of the Poni set and the German Bundesform.
Northern Art chess set by The Chess Empire.
They are nice, but I do like me a fancy hoss.
I was adding images and information to one of the tabs of my stylesheet of (historical) chess sets—specifically the tab of artistic/minimalist chess sets—when I suddenly realized an interesting pattern of inspiration and similarities between several sets.
I had already declared that two of the modern chess sets were more or less rip-offs of Best Chessmen Ever Stage 1, Western and Eastern respectively. But then I noticed that BCE1 is itself based on an earlier historical design! Although in this case, more inspired than a blatant rip-off. Let me show you.
Based on this Henke chess set, there is this uncredited reproduction or modern interpretation:
The bishop clearly takes on a different form, and the queen is more slender and refined. The knight is of a similar design, but a bit more refined and legible, with a chest rather than a sloped neck. Maybe this set is a reproduction of a set other than the Henke set, but it seems doubtful. But then, I’m not sure what the ‘19th-century’ in the name refers to. Maybe a mistake, and it’s meant to reference a mid-20th-century chess set such as the Henke set? I don’t know.
Either way, here is Best Chessmen Ever Stage 1 (Western) which clearly has some Henke lineage:
What I find interesting is that BCE1 Western seems to be more inspired by the Minimalist Berliner reproduction above than the original Henke set. The bishop is loosely based on the reproduction but brings the design back to a slightly more traditional bishop design, and the bottom of the pieces are now tapered rather than featuring a plateau. But the rook has approximately the same thickness as the reproduction (more slender than the Henke set), and the king, queen, and bishop take inspiration from the tapered middle of the Berliner queen, but even more tapered. The knight is clearly of a new design, but it somewhat unexpectedly references the plateau base of the Minimalist Berliner.
I thought the set above was just a rip-off of BCE1 Western, but it actually seems like everyone is more or less stealing ideas from each other. BCE evolved the Henke design quite radically but you can still see its lineage, and The Chess Empire developed the BCE1 design further, with more slender tops in the king and queen, more refined finials, and a much more slender rook. And of course, a completely new knight design.
Before I show the final set, let me show you the Eastern version of BCE1.
It’s funny that Taj Chess Store comes up again, as they’re one of the manufacturers of the 1950 Berliner reproduction which is based on the Henke set. But rather than basing the set below on that reproduction, they based the Ulbrich Series on BCE1 Eastern!
The tops of the pieces are wider, the king and bishop finials larger while the queen finial has shrunk, and the rook is approximately as slender as The Chess Empire’s Ulbrich set. The bases have a sharp edge just like the TCE Ulbrich set, which suggests that Taj Chess Store took inspiration from both Ulbrich as well as BCE1 Eastern (or The Chess Store took inspiration from Taj Chess Store and BCE1 Eastern). And of course, just like the TCE Ulbrich set, there is a completely new knight design. Although in this case, you can clearly see inspiration was taken from the BCE1 set. Maybe the fact that this Ulbrich Series knight is closer to BCE1 suggests that the TCE Ulbrich set is actually the latest development.
I have no idea where the name Ulbrich comes from and why The Chess Empire and Taj Chess Store use that same name. But what an interesting development of the Henke set! I wonder if everyone mentioned above was aware of the Henke set, or if they were all only inspired by the latest incarnation of the Henke evolution.
I actually love the idea of most of them not being aware of the original source, and incrementally and unknowingly evolving the Henke set. Also interesting how everyone has kept the two-tiered design in the knight.
Which are your favorites?