MCH818 wrote:
I love this design!
+1 This is the set that represents Soviet chess for me. Beautiful!
Working the Soviet Design Toolbox: Porat Jacobson’s “Smyslova” Set
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And yet another simple, beautiful set. Thanks for posting the pics. 👍
That's a fascinating article. I'm trying not to fall down a wikihole for the rest of the morning investigating the architectural references. I really like this style, especially after seeing @TheOneCalledMichael's gorgeous set. But that knight design especially speaks to me. I can't help it, though, that to me the knights look like they're happily blepping as they leap about the board.
(For those not conversant in in the internet patois of lolcat, this is a blep.)
I thought I was done looking up all those difficult words in the article, here I go again looking up new words like blepping lol. But this word I surely can remember 
Yes exactly that! Those horsies are happy blepping savages!
MCH818 wrote:
I had to lookup that word. It is so fitting of Porat's knights.
It's a feature of the 15th Century Novgorod Knight Porat used as his reference.
TheOneCalledMichael wrote:
I thought I was done looking up all those difficult words in the article, here I go again looking up new words like blepping lol. But this word I surely can remember
Yes exactly that! Those horsies are happy blepping savages!
There are links to the architectural references in my article on Smyslov pieces here.
cgrau wrote:
Smyslova Chess Pieces. Porat Jacobson photo.
Porat Jacobson photo.
Berlin Artist Porat Jacobson of Jacobson Handmade Chess Sets has designed and produced an original Soviet chess set design melding design concepts spanning six centuries. The pieces are inspired by at least four sets. The knight derives from one found from a Novgorod set of early 15th Century Rus.
Novgorod Knight. Photo from Linder, The Art of Chess Pieces (1994).Porat Jacobson photo.
The Smyslova set manifests Porat’s theory that Soviets had a “toolbox” of ideas from which they drew in different combinations and variations. It also illustrates his corollary that knights in Soviet sets are largely fungible. Different styles of knights can pair equally well with the same set; the same style knight can pair equally well with multiple sets.
Read more about this wonderful set in my article in Sovietchesssets.com.
Any idea since you wrote this article what the bishop is based on? I’ve lately seen several vintage Soviet sets featuring bishops with those droplet terminals. The latest one I came across is this set from the ’50s.
Oh and here is a set from the ’30s that has the droplet finials—this time on the king as well! I love that design. I’m surprised we haven’t seen more of that in modern sets.
Berlin Artist Porat Jacobson of Jacobson Handmade Chess Sets has designed and produced an original Soviet chess set design melding design concepts spanning six centuries. The pieces are inspired by at least four sets. The knight derives from one found from a Novgorod set of early 15th Century Rus.
The Smyslova set manifests Porat’s theory that Soviets had a “toolbox” of ideas from which they drew in different combinations and variations. It also illustrates his corollary that knights in Soviet sets are largely fungible. Different styles of knights can pair equally well with the same set; the same style knight can pair equally well with multiple sets.
Read more about this wonderful set in my article in Sovietchesssets.com.