Fire on Board (Ignem Intabuka); 32 chess pieces without board, wood, weighted, rosewood vs black and tan, artistically reimagined, recreated from a replica manufactured in India by Imperial Chess Mart.
Height: King 9cm, weight 45g, base width 4cm; Queen 8.5cm wt. 42g, Bishop 7.3cm 33g, Knight 7cm 42g, Rook 6cm 35g, Pawns 5cm 20g.
W: Lush black felt bases; B: same
I basically used the rough Indian manufactured version of this classic chess set as blanks. The knights are almost unrecognizable from the Imperial set. The mane, ears, eyes, nostrils and mouth have all been meticulously reworked and are more in tune with the Dubrovnik and Leningrad sets that are a tad more elegant and pleasing on the eye. The bishops have gained a stockier appearance and the rooks have had their merlons reduced which were prone to chipping. The royals, too, have had some minor alterations giving the set in general a feel of a vintage tournament set from the 1950s.
This set was purchased before I had the chance to take a full catalogue of photographs of them for the archives, which gives me the chance to display a few ‘work in progress’ shots from start to completion.
The Imperial Chess Mart version of this classic chess set were basically used as blanks. The knights have been completely reworked and are almost unrecognizable from the ICM set. The mane, ears, eyes, nostrils and mouth have all been meticulously re-carved and are more in tune with the Dubrovnik and Leningrad sets that are slightly more elegant and pleasing on the eye. The bishops have gained a stockier appearance and the rooks’ merlons have been reduced also lending the set a stockier appearance. The royals, too, have had some minor alterations (finials and crown) giving the set in general a feel of a vintage, naturally aged tournament set from the 1950s – and a damned fine one at that!
Ref Code: II22