- Small Sandalwood Maharajah -
A while ago I was playing a lot of the elephant gambit (If you play me in blitz I may play it still,) a chess opening in which black gambits a pawn and moves a bishop like its historical predecessor, the Alfil or elephant. That lead me to want a chess set where the bishops really were elephants, so I looked to Indian sets. This small 20th century sandalwood (the smell is wonderful) Rajahstan Maharajah set was the first chess set I ever bought myself. I'm not sure if the tiny bits of white atop the kings and in the elephants' tusks are bone or ivory. I am sure one of the bits is a plastic replacement only because of how it reacts to black light.
The 'elephant gambit' chess opening played with a real elephant. Of course in this set the camels should probably be the bishops. I didn't know that when I took the picture. I don't feel I've set up the set wrong, however. This is an older way to set up the board which was once correct and it would still be set up this way today in some parts of India. By the way, the plastic bit in this picture. If you can tell me which bit it is I'll be impressed.
Here's a picture with bishops and rooks in their contemporary places.
I was very pleasantly surprised when I first combined these elegant sandalwood chessmen with this unlikely marble board.
The white queen and her queenside army.
Light and shadow.
Four elephants.
More shadows.