English Chess Forum

I’ve just inherited what looks like a nice small wooden chess set after the death of my grandma - wondering if anyone’s seen anything similar / has any information about the set? Unfortunately it doesn’t have a board with it.


The king is 6cm tall with a 2cm diameter base. The box is black and says “The Elite - Major Drapkin & Co, London”. My Dad reckons it might be about 80 years old?

EDIT: Richard James on Twitter points out that the box may be a red herring as Major Drapkin were cigarette manufacturers - so could be a cigar box with a chess set in...

It looks a bit like an "English" pattern set, with those concentric rings, but then other parts don't look English at all...

I think this set is a referred to as a design of John Calvert, who worked out of Fleet Street London during 1790-1820 approx. This does not mean the set was made by him or made during that period as his designs were well used and copied with or without modification both in the UK and abroad. Modern reproductions are also advertised currently. This design was mainly superseded by what we know as modern Staunton. You could try looking on the base of the White king, as a maker or period is often shown there. I am not an expert on this sort of thing but know a little more than absolute beginner.

I had thought of this set as a 'st george' design. For example : http://markofwestminster.com/chess/stgeorge.html

I even have a set which I haven't looked at in some years which very closely resembles Matt's picture, though more damaged.

Thanks! St George seems right, I hadn’t seen the style before. The versions I’ve seen on Google have a smooth queen - the spike seems to be a bit unusual.

Next problem will be finding a nice board to put it on - the one I have is proportioned for much larger pieces so would drown it!

Hi Matt - it's a typical example of what is generally referred to as the St George style, because it was preferred by the London club of that name, but it wasn't peculiar to or designed for the club, so "Old English" is probably a more accurate description. There were many makers, and many variations, especially in the design of the king's "crown", spiked or smooth queens and the quality of the carving of the knights - some small compendium sets had crude turned cylinders cut aslope rather than horses' heads. I have an example with 10cm kings with cone rather than globe finials, which like yours has black pieces of time-darkened rosewood with lighter grain showing through in places.
This style was extremely popular over a long period. Staunton took a large St G to Paris for his 1843 match against St Amant (Staunton pattern sets weren't available until 1849), because he preferred them to the Régence sets, with their confusingly similar queens, bishops and pawns, used in France.
There's a photograph somewhere (EGW probably) of Blackburne giving a simul in the early 1900s using these sets, and I'm pretty certain I can remember the odd set still in use in some clubs during the 1960s.

Thanks Mike that’s great extra info! The knights I have are quite detailed so I guess it’s a good quality set. Still not quite sure of the age, sounds like it could be almost anything. As I say, next step is to find a suitable board!

Matt Fletcher wrote: ↑

Tue Mar 30, 2021 4:00 pm

I’ve just inherited what looks like a nice small wooden chess set after the death of my grandma - wondering if anyone’s seen anything similar / has any information about the set? Unfortunately it doesn’t have a board with it.


7485F87A-F116-4B42-A80C-8333245945EF.jpeg


The king is 6cm tall with a 2cm diameter base. The box is black and says “The Elite - Major Drapkin & Co, London”. My Dad reckons it might be about 80 years old?

EDIT: Richard James on Twitter points out that the box may be a red herring as Major Drapkin were cigarette manufacturers - so could be a cigar box with a chess set in...

If you've got Murray's account of a history of chess, there are very many sets on show, that would be a good start to find the origins wouldn't it?