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Tournament chess sets

DUBROVNIK MINCETA - maple & walnut - chess pieces

WE HAVE LAUNCHED NEW WEB SITE WWW.DUBROVNIKCHESSMEN.COM

Please visit to see detailed photos and descriptions of Dubrovnik sets we are manufacturing.

In 1950 the IX. chess olympiade was held in Dubrovnik (Croatia). Teams from 16 countries participated in it, and after 480 matches the Yugoslav team won the gold medal, Argentina silver, and West Germany bronze.

Especially for this occasion a new set of chessmen was made, under the name "Dubrovnik". It was well accepted by the chess world, due to an elegant and interesting look.

Dubrovnik original design was so revolutionary that is was soon followed by additional editions. Each of them going into it's own way, but still keeping original line well seen. Beside version Dubrovnik II one more design stands out of the average - set named by Dubrovnik's prominent fortress, tower of Minceta.

Minceta Fortress dominates the north-western part of Dubrovnik's walls. Several croatian sources claims that is was the height and impressive apperance of the tower that inspired the look of strong and massive rook which dominates this set. Designer of the pieces is unknown, however many photos of the set being used can be found on internet. Among them also those with legendary Bobby Fischer posing behind the chessboard.

We recreated this set based on several photos and videos. Here you can see some photos with Bobby Fischer himself using this set - pay attention on widher rooks ...

As a reference we also used great video filmed in 1968 when Svetozar Gligoric (best Yugoslavian chess player of that era) played against soviet champion Mikhail Tal. Candidates Quarterfinal was played with this set, which can be seen on below photos, while video can be seen here ...

Compared to the Dubrovnik II pieces Minceta pieces feature a stronger body structure in general (e.g., more robustly made collars).
King, bishop, and pawn tops are slightly different (especially the bishop, which was taken back towards the 1950 style).
The biggest difference between the Minceta and Dubrovnik II. versions can be seen between the queen and rook shapes. The Minceta rook was given a much sturdier body appearance and shallow cut on its upper side, and the queen was downsized a bit (its base reduced by 2 mm).

The Dubrovnik Minceta set looks like it was designed for even harder and quicker play than the Dubrovnik II version, however, its elegance was not diminished as a result.