The Legionnaires (Legionarius); 32 medium-sized club chessmen without board, wood, Romanian, unweighted, artistically restored, “Type 1” c.1950s.
Height: King 8cm, weight 18g, base width 3.3cm; Queen 6.8cm, wt 15g, Bishop 6cm 12g, Knight 5.5cm 12g, Rook 4.5cm 12g,Pawns (av.) 4.5cm 10g.
W: Lush Romanian blue felt bases, B: same

Here we are offering a delightful Romanian set fashioned after the more famous German Bundesform pattern that debuted at the Munich Chess Olympiad in 1936. See the set Alekhine’s Army in our Archive Gallery @ thechessschach.com for more info on the German pattern.

The main differences between the two patterns – and personally speaking I actually prefer the Romanian style – are the shape of the Queen, Knight and Rook, as you can see by comparing this to the Alekhine set, the Romanian style swings more toward the old Coffeehouse sets of Austria, Czechoslovakia and Hungary and were primarily used for Blitz play in the chess clubs of Romania.

The set came to me from a collector in Romania and is a mixed club set. That is to say, the pattern is Romanian Bundesform, but the set is made up of slightly differing pieces, mainly the pawns, which I have brought together with a uniform finish. Pictures of the set in its original condition can be seen at our HQ where we have more room – www.thechessschach.com

The Legionnaires are UV resistant and ideal for display as well as casual/blitz play. Both kings carry the hand-painted iridescent bronze ‘Power’ signature of the artist on their bases.

They are also accompanied by our unique, hand-drawn ‘Certificate of Artistry’ which will be posted out separately once we tally up how many ‘Bronze Signature’ sets pass through our galleries in 2021
“… all good things …” as the old saying goes.

Ref Code: LG21