Travel Sets
Travel Sets are almost invariably pegged sets - or magnetic sets, which usually are not very old.
Whittington folding box
English traveling set, totally foldable to enclose the red and white bone pieces. Ingenious!
Leather CC board
Very small vestpocket board, to analise positions with - never to play! Quite old, ca. 19th C.
GDR peg set
Well made Staunton pieces, pegs slide smoothly into the holes in the marquetry board - from the former German Democratic Republic, vulgo East Germany.
Drueke pocket set
Simple and efficient: a wooden block, board painted on, holes bored, a cavity in the bottom with a mini-cardboardbox for the pieces, the whole thing held together by a solid wrapper. Drueke made these for other brands as well - I have one with Lowe stamped on it - plastic pieces, very tight fit in the rough holes.
Magnetic pills
Made in Japan in superb quality - an airline present by the looks. The very best set to analyse on a plane...
Hongkong Magnetic
Magnetic set with tall pieces - a type often seen and used - a similar set was very popular in the UdSSR.
Rumanian pockets
Perfectly made peg set in Austrian style - but the king's top proclaims - from Romania or Chechoslovakia - 60ies.
Flat disks
Flat disks, still in the original state - carton covered, faded with age, certainly pre-WW2 - from the US, with an accompanying paper brochure.
Massive board with bone pieces
Travel board with a homemade look: massive wooden blocks, with marquetry board of wooden squares inlaid into the block, hollows and rest places for the minute b/w bone pieces. Devilish to open, fine to play with.
Long pegged pieces
Delicately made hollow box, with patent apertures on both sides to house the superbly made chessmen and draughts stones. The pegs are the longest I have ever seen on chess pieces, finely polished and pointed, the holes are centered and also polished - pegs fit fine. The pegs are separate pieces stuck into and glued to the chessmen! Kings with pegs measure 43 mm!. Made in Japan, superbly finished, certainly over 60 years old.
Large Travel box
Well finished and varnished box, with folding lid, board and pieces inside. The measure of this kind of set - the most practical for me - is that pieces can be left standing when closing. well finished pieces, polished and varnished - great! Size of a large college book!
Homemade travel box
Similar concept in a much rougher homemade version - a plywood box, lots of glue, sliding top on the box which will open on its own...
Old bone
Typical english bone travel set, form vaguely between St. George and Regence, a real torture sticking and removing the pieces into the holes.
Old horn
The same thing, a bit diferent. Horn pieces, better finish, lovely folding marquetry box - but still a drag sticking and unsticking the chessmen.
Wooden British
Finely turned wooden version of the above - who made these sets? Boxwood and ebony, warped marquetry on the board. This set is inscribed on the inside felt with the name of a british navy salt who owned it still in 1940....
19th C pegs
Very small cassette set, british style, with small fast boxwood pieces - well used. Strangely enough, the bishops of each side are different! This tiny set is the best pocket set I have ever seen! Pegs fit well into holes, box is massive wood, with a metal hatch.
US Homemade
Small block, carved and finished by an US enthusiast who must have ruined his eyesight in the act! The solid wood block is inlaid with irregular little squares to form the board - a cavity is hollowed out to keep the pieces in , closed with a patent closure! The miinute pieces are HANDWHITTLED, every one of them, not turned. Each piece measures about 10 mm!
