Lot #641. Reproduction Jaques Lasker Style Library Size Staunton Chessmen

Description

Reproduction Jaques Lasker Style Library Chessmen.

Offered here is a set of Reproduction Jaques Lasker Style Library Chessmen. It is an exact rendition of the Lasker Style Library Chessmen as they appeared in 1885 as shown in the comparative image on the left. This is a weighted set of Staunton Chessmen featuring a 2-7/8″ King with a 1-3/8″ diameter base. Each of the chess pieces rests atop green English baize base pads. These Lasker Style Library Chessmen are accurate – right down to the impression of a red king’s crown on the summits of one Knight and Rook from each army to designate the King side piece. The set being offered is crafted from antiqued Boxwood and pure Gabon Ebony. The chessmen are new. Each set consists of 34 Chess pieces, including four Queens to facilitate Pawn Promotion, now a standard that was introduced by Mr. Camaratta over 25 years ago. Note the masterful workmanship of the Knights, which are derived from the noble steeds whose visages are captured in the Parthenon frieze (expropriated between 1801 and 1812 by Thomas Bruce, 7th Lord of Elgin and since referred to as the Elgin Marbles).

The reproduction Jaques Lasker Style Library Chessmen are turned and hand-carved by our master artisans and crafted out of the highest grade woods. The design of the 1885 Lasker Chessmen exemplify a perfect combination of distinct beauty and functionality. A premium storage box and suitable chessboard are also available. These Library-size Staunton Chessmen play and display best one a chessboard with 1-7/8″  to 2″ squares. An image comparing the Reproduction with an original is provided for your comparison. For a selection of our extensive selection on new and antique chessboards, click here.

The design, accuracy, quality and craftsmanship of this set is UNMATCHED by any set of Chessmen at any price.  Here’s your chance to own a set of tournament-sized Reproduction Lasker Style Staunton chessmen exactly as they looked when they first appeared in retail outlets in 1885.

Some History

Emanuel Lasker   was a German Chessplayer, mathematician, and philosopher. He held the World Chess Championship for 27 years (from 1894 to 1921). In his prime, Lasker was one of the most dominant champions, and is still generally regarded as one of the World’s strongest players. Lasker was considered to have a “psychological” method of play in which he considered the subjective qualities of his opponent, in addition to the objective requirements of the position. Lasker was well ahead of his time and used a more flexible approach to the position than his contemporaries.

Emanuel Lasker was born in Berlinchen, Germany on 24th December 1868. As a child Lasker displayed a talent for both chess and mathematics. At age 11, Lasker attended a school in Berlin to develop his mathematical skills and he later went on to study mathematics at Erlangen University.

Lasker’s record in match play was impressive. He won all his matches from 1889 to 1893. By the mid-1890s, Emanuel Lasker was clearly the World’s strongest player. In 1894, Lasker challenged Steinitz for the world championship. Lasker went on to win the match ten wins to five with four draws and, at age 25, Lasker became world champion Lasker was to retain the world champion title for a record 27 years.

Between his 1896–97 World Championship re-match with Steinitz and 1914, Lasker has three successful defenses of his title. In his 1910 match with Carl Schlechter, Lasker was lucky to escape with a 5-5 draw due to a match provision requiring the Challenger to win by a two-point margin. Going into the final game, Lasker was down 4-5. Needing to win by a two-point margin, Schlecter, forced to play the last game for a win, over-pressed in a better position and lost.  Lasker was in his early 50s when he finally lost the world championship to Capablanca and effectively retired from serious chess.

During the war Lasker was forced to flee Germany. He was now penniless. In 1934, at the age of 65, finances forced Lasker to return to chess. In August 1937, Martha and Emanuel Lasker decided to leave the Soviet Union. They moved to the United States in October 1937. While, in the United States Lasker tried to support himself by giving chess and bridge lectures and exhibitions. Lasker died of a kidney infection in New York on January 11, 1941, at the age of 72. By this time, he was a charity patient at the Mount Sinai Hospital. He was buried at Beth Olom Cemetery, Queens, New York.