Staunton Chessmen in Eastern Europe

In 1849 a publisher, Nathaniel Cooke, and a games manufacturer, John Jaques, created a set of chessmen which combined and simplified the traits of the then popular Edinburgh Upright and St. George chess sets. Leading chess master Howard Staunton endorsed this new set, and it gained popularity and became a standard for chessmen.

The core of the "Staunton" design, a crown for the king, a cornet for the queen, a liturgical hat for the bishop, a horse-head for the knight, a tower for the rook, and a helmet for pawns, each on shanks and bases of decreasing size, would be adopted throughout the chess-playing world, each region fitting it to local traditions and tastes. Here are half-a-dozen Staunton chessmen from Eastern Europe.

Soviet Upright, late 19th century to mid 20th century:

Baltic, early 20th century:

Baku/Voronezh, early 20th century to mid 20th century:

Valdai, early 20th century to mid 20th century:

Latvian/Mordovian, mid 20th century to late 20th century:

Minsk, late 20th century: