Isle Of Lewis Chessmen - Official Set - National Museum of Scotland - Chess Set Review
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- čas přidán 22. 08. 2024
- I am thrilled to show you this unique chess set, the Isle of Lewis Chessmen Chess Set, an Official Set from the National Museum of Scotland. Made out of some kind of composite resin, this set is heavy, durable, and made to look and feel like stone. Let me know what you think about this chess set and also how you like this chess set compared to some other Isle of Lewis designs out there. Chess set best theme set I have owned so far.
As always, by watching, commenting and subscribing, you are helping my channel grow so thank you everyone for the continued participation and interest in my small channel.
This chess set can be purchased on my different websites, I purchase mine from Amazon for about 190 USD.
Chess
#chess
Hope you guys have enjoyed the video! I wanted to point out a couple of things including something my good friends on here pointed out to me as well. This set I purchased on amazon and it was relatively large set that came with only 2 queens. Seems that online at the regency chess company they offer same set with 4 queens and it also comes in a smaller size that will be more suitable for smaller boards. Also there are several different colors to choose from so check them out if you guys are considering buying this set, just so that you have options to choose from! Hope everyone has a great weekend!
I'm 61years old when I was 10 I was given a Lewis set it's ivory and each piece is different to any other .Made before the ban on ivory .It's my prized possession . A true pleasure to play the game on
Sounds like a wonderful heirloom chess set! Congratulations!!
Hi robert i would like to see a picture of your set, please!
@@maurog6 Hi will do
The Rook is possibly a nod to viking 'berserkers' known to be off their the head from time to time, hence biting the wood of the shield.
Oh yeah absolutely, a little bit insane those rooks! That's why so many people love these sets, for the subtle humor you see in every piece!
It is a Viking set they think it came from Norway. Found in the North of Scotland on Isle of Lewis
The chess rook piece is displaying the Berserker rage, and the Viking sign stone is for the pawn.
Really glad you reviewed this set. I’ve been looking at this set for a while. After this review I know I’ll go ahead and get it.👍😋
Glad you that this video was helpful to you!
Many thanks for the review of this set.
I've recently embarked on a bit of an obsession with the Lewis chessmen (or should we start calling them the Lewis chesspeople?) ... let me consult my spreadsheet...
There were 79 pieces found on Lewis - only 11 are owned by National Museums Scotland, while 67 are owned by the British Museum (in London), with the remaining piece owned by a private collector (it had been rattling around in someone's drawer, without anyone who knew it was there realising what it was, until relatively recently). The pieces would seem to be from at least 4 sets (there 8 kings, 8 queens, 16 bishops, but with 1 knight and 3 warders/rooks missing, and many pawns apparently missing). All the pieces are different.
Most commercially available sets only use one example for each piece (like the one you reviewed), although the 'premium' version (it's £575!) from the British Museum uses different examples for each side (e.g. the white king doesn't have a beard). I think the pieces on the same side are the same though (e.g. there are two white bishops that are the same, and two red bishops that are the same. I kinda want ALL my pieces to be different (I can get a bit fanatical about this sort of thing), so I've ordered some moulds (which seem to be for the same pieces as the British Museum set) and I'm going to set about making my own. Possibly I can use some individual pieces from elsewhere (maybe the NMS ones), with some refinishing. Or I might have to start carving haha (there are some pieces I love that don't seem to be well represented anywhere)... anyway, enough about that. My moulds haven't even turned up yet.
The major pieces in your set are based a selection of those owned by NMS. The pawns are based on one from the British Museum as Scotland didn't get any pawns! I don't think I like the finish on the NMS replicas - l think you said they have a 'stone' look, like the originals - but the originals aren't stone - they're mainly carved from walrus tusks (with a few being carved from whale teeth). So the real ones look quite different. By the way, I'm not meaning to say this set isn't any good - I'm sure it's excellent for anyone who's not as afflicted as I am (i.e. looking at a £575 set and declaring it not good enough...)
On the colours, it's quite likely that one side was red. No colour remains now, but, back closer to their discovery, the British Museum (I think) guy that was writing about them (Madden) observed several of the pieces as being red or very deep red. I've also read there has been some recent research that has found traces of a substance that was used in vermillion paint back then. Vermillion that was made with that method tended to deepen over the years (as is evident in numerous paintings), which might explain why some pieces were 'very deep red' and some just 'red'.
When you were describing slight difficulties with being able to tell what piece was what at a glance during a game, it seemed to me that it would be easier for the white pieces than the black ones, as the detail is more contrasting, which probably holds true to a degree for red also, so that can be another reason I intend for mine to be vermillion. I do wonder if they painted the entire piece or just part of it perhaps. And I guess the other side might not even have been white (could they have been painted with something else that degraded faster, maybe?) - but I guess I'll stick with full white and full red!
Not sure why I've written all that, but hopefully some of it is interesting and not just the diary of a madman (who is exceedingly bad at chess).
Thanks a lot for writing, this is a lot of interesting historical background on the set, I am sure many people will appreciate this information!
I just received the white and red Regency set with 4 queens. It is superb! I highly recommend it. I bought it directly from Regency and got free shipping from England. It was much cheaper than Amazon. It arrived in 5 days.
me gustaría comprarlo directo de la tienda pero no hace envios a México, así que tuve que comprarlo por amazon😔
Just bought this set…Red with 4 queens and can’t wait to get it!! The one thing that I’m surprised that nobody has mentioned is that the Bishops are not sitting in chairs 🤷🏻♂️
I was looking at this set and I'm glad to see a thorough review from you! When you showed us the puzzle, I was thinking, "he should do one puzzle for every video" and then when you said you might do it, I thought "awesome" lol. You know, another game that I got from the same national museum of Scotland is called Hnefatafl. It's an older chess-like game that you might like to at least learn about, if not purchase yourself.
Thanks Chris, I'll be sure to look into that game, see what it's about. By showing an overhead view of the set I wanted to give people an idea of what these peices would look during normal play. I am happy you liked the puzzle addition. Thanks for watching!
They probably used the resin rather than stone because the original sets were carved out of ivory. The resin probably replicates the look and feel of ivory better than stone would.
Oh yeah absolutely, I think resin gives a consistent reliable reproduction every time!
Awesome review, thankyou
Excellent review…definitely going to get this set from Regency (extra queens and…comes in red) one of the original colors.
I remember a learning about this set a little ways back when a single piece was found in UK and sold for like a million dollars. The Rook and Queen are to me a bit funny.
Yeah I agree, especially the rook, looks way too frightened! Good hearing from you friend!
This style of piece made me really question why professional tournaments stick to the traditional Staunton standard. It'd be cool to see if these types of sets were the standard in pro tournaments. The craftsmanship would elevate chess to an art form if variations were accepted in professional play. Having unique sets to actually win would also give players suitable prizes to compete for other than simply money and prestige.
Interesting observation. I think the reason why they have to have some kind of uniform standard during tournament play is because otherwise if players are not used to a certain design they could get confused.
I like the knights. You would never mistake them for any other piece.
Great review! Thank you!
Glad you enjoyed it!
You got it so fast ❤️❤️❤️ thank you so much ❤️❤️ Respect+++++++++++
For sure, I was already thinking about adding this set to my collection for quite some time since it's so different. Thanks for watching!
Good channel! I ike running too! I have runned with -3 celsius grades in winter
Another fellow runner! Running is my favorite past time, I still run when I get a chance! but I don't run as much as I used to! Thanks for watching!
FYI the originals are apparently made out of Walrus Tusk Ivory,
The original pieces where made out of walrus teeth. Ivory. I make the Isle of Lewis chess sets myself and I have many colours mine are lazor copy's of the original. And they are copy's of the original just like yours. My two Lewis sets are different from yours. But there where 79 pieces found and my no. 1 set and no. 2 set are both different from yours.
WOW SPECTACULAR REVIEW
Thanks a lot!
Great review
Great Video!
Thank you!
sucks that its not red but i might get this one
I absolutely love them, because of how much satire and cartoonish personality is in these pieces. This has to be one of the earliest examples we have of cartooning and satire.
👍. :-)
👍🏽👍🏽
Bishop's staff was likely a crozier, imo. /shrug
Materials: Crushed Stone Resin Number of Queens 2
It is a crosier thanks for pointing out! And it's true, only two queens total for this set, and it's not like you can flip the rook upside down due to the conical helmet. Possibly keep an extra regular queen, though I am not sure that this was a set intended to be taken to tournaments and serious play, hard to say.
@@AlSuChess Must add something that I'd discovered after my original post: Check with The Regency Chess Company.
They offer the SAME SET with 2 queens each side for PLAYERS. Same laser-scanned pieces, two different sizes for different boards. AND, multiple color sets, including a reddish set that is more similar to what was actually discovered. At this writing, these chess sets are even more inexpensive due to being on sale!
@@TheSGBrown Excellent observation! I'll be sure to let people know! I see their sets come in different sizes and extra queens and people looking for the sets might be interested to know of choices available.
The originals are made of ivory
You are right, this set does feel very stone like in my opinion too. Thanks for watching!
Walrus tusks