Dubrovnik chess set

The Dubrovnik chess set has chess pieces of a particular type influenced by the Staunton chess set and used to play the game of chess. These chessmen are considered to have significant historical importance and are a timeless design classic. Over the decades the Dubrovnik chessmen were redesigned several times.

The 9th Chess Olympiad was organized by the FIDE and the government of Yugoslavia, supported by Josip Broz Tito. The Olympiad was held in Dubrovnik, SR Croatia, Yugoslavia (now in Croatia) between August 20 and September 11, 1950. Chess is a significant part of the culture in Dubrovnik being first documented in 1422. The Olympiad had 84 chess players representing 16 nations who played a total of 480 games. The Yugoslav team won the gold medal, Argentina silver and West Germany bronze.

In 1949 the Olympiad management requisitioned a new style of chessmen. Painter and sculptor P. Poček was contracted to design the Olympiad chessmen. The pieces were made in an unknown workshop in Subotica, Yugoslavia.

The 1950 Dubrovnik chess set was designed without religious symbols. The pieces were sensibly designed for play with wide bases requiring a minimum of 55 millimetre chessboard squares. They had green felted sliders and were not weighted. The chess box was felted with a metallic badge on the inside of the box with the inscription "IX. šah olimpijada Dubrovnik, Jugoslavija." The box was unusually large, featuring 60 mm squares. Approximately 50 chess sets were made with original sets being very rare if not impossible to locate or buy.

...
Wikipedia