Erectii Rus (Soviet Upright); Small Weighted Averbakh Chess Set, Stalin Era, c.1940-1953

Erectii Rus (Upright Soviet); 32 analysis size Soviet chessmen without board, lightly weighted, wood, caramel vs. black, partially restored, c.1940-1953

Height: King 7.5cm, weight 3g, base width 2.8cm; Queen 6cm, wt 3g; Bishop 5.9cm 3g, Knight 4.5cm 3g, Rook 3.8cm 4g, Pawns 3.3cm 3 g.
W: Aged pink felt pads. B: same

A rare, smaller version of the iconic Soviet set known as an ‘Averbakh’ so-named after the Russian grandmaster and chess historian, Yuri Averbakh, but more properly classed simply as a Soviet ‘Upright’ pattern.

There is photographic evidence of German P.O.W.’s playing with these very same pieces. One of which was posted onto Chuck Grau’s wonderfully informative facebook site, Soviet and Russian Chess Sets.

The set is original apart from one black rook and a black pawn which I have matched to the rest of the set and have a hard time myself figuring out which is which.

The board pictured is not for sale, but I would suggest a playing field of the same size with 1 1/4” (3.5cm) squares.

Both kings carry the hand-painted, iridescent copper ‘Power’ signature of the artist on their bases. Erectii Rus is also accompanied by our hand-drawn ‘Certificate of Artistry’ which will be posted out separately once we tally up how many ‘Copper Signature’ sets pass through our galleries in 2022 “… all good things …” as the old saying goes.

For more info on the certificate see our January 2022 Chessay.

Etsy Set Price: $1200.00
Ref Code: ER22

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