- Old Viennese Travel Set -
I acquired this little wooden set from eBay. The seller claimed it was made by a prisoner in a correctional institution. I've seen almost the same set sold recently as Persian. I don't think either story is true. I thtought these were Austrian for a long time because of the design. Nichalas Lainer tells me these are from Romania, however, that the shape fo the King top is endemic. Opposite color bishop finials go a long way to giving this simple set its charm.
Coffeehouse chess anyone?
White pieces.
The dark side.
Representative pieces.
I believe it was Tartakower who said of the Vienna Game chess opening: "The beautiful thing about 2. Nc3 is it threatens nothing!"