Russia  (Europe)

Russia. This "Siberian Souvenir" chess set, with graceful figures in the old Soviet style, was produced in Divnogorsk in Siberia, by a low-voltage equipment plant that opened in 1973, in a limited series as a souvenir gift. This set is probably from the early 80's. The plastic - once wrongly described as noble kind of natural stone! - is often said to be Bakelite, but actually pieces are made of Carbolite (imitation of ivory) and brass, while the board is made of Carbolite and aluminium. The felted pieces, as well as the board, are very heavy, due to the heavy plastic and the metal which holds them together. Carbolite is a phenol formaldehyde resin analogous to Bakelite used in the Russian Empire and the Soviet Union. In Soviet times, the cost was 80 rubles with an average salary of 120 rubles.

Russia. ШАХМАТЫ СУВЕНИРНЬІЕ means CHESS SOUVENIR as far as I can decipher. It is seen on the cover at front printing and backside label. The label, not in very good shape, probably tells much more. Probably is the maker mentioned, at least a styled "63" logo is seen among some other details like Балтийский зав... (Baltic zav...) and part of Ленинград (Leningrad) with postcode 199026. There are a lot of other numbers too. Is 97-34-91 a production date? While not perfect we are happy to have the cover, because it is not present most of the time.

Russia. This Gzhel (or Ghzel/Gshel/Gschel/Schgel/...) porcelain chess set, with its typical blue glaze, is one of at least a dozen known different designs. That is not counting the variations we see as well. Juri Garanin did design these sets of which some bear his name, like this one. If he did all chess sets designs is uncertain: Gzhel refers not to a single village or factory, but to about 30 villages located southeast of Moscow with several porcelain manufacturers. We see different marks on the sets. Maybe there are unmarked copies by others as well. We know small, medium, average and large sets with boards of about 19, 31.5, 37.5 and 45 cm. The set here is medium and it is named "Souvenir". Figures are based on stories from history with Russian and Tatar motifs.

 On top of the board are 2 names (see last 2 pictures in the galley): АВТ. ГарАнин Ю (Автор=Author Garanin Ju.) and расп. Ларин A (расписанный=painted Larin A.). Note that Юрий=Yuri or Juri.

Under the board a "Gzhel" logo and the number 2 (see 3rd picture in the gallery). What the number means is not clear. A lot of suggestions have been made: 2nd choice, 2nd model, 2nd size, sign that it was made for a specific customer, a quality sign, a mark from the painter, etc... If you know, please let me know...
I found another set of different model and size, so those reasons we can rule out.

Russia. This Gardner Verbilky porcelain chess set is very well known. It looks as if the pieces are still in the original packaging and never used. Not sure if the board is in the original packaging, but that could well be the case. The sets come in different colour schemes and I'm not sure this particular set has the right combination of pieces and board.