Despite a friend’s comment that the knights looked like goats, the Windsor Castle chess set was my favorite back in the day. It was pretty much THE standard tournament set for many years. USCF Sales markets a new version of it, saying, “the design of the Windsor Chess set is an exact reproduction of the Chess set used by the legendary American Grandmaster Bobby Fischer when he won the 1958 United States Chess Championship.”.
But it is definitely NOT an exact reproduction. It would be more accurate to say it was a reinterpretation in wood of the old plastic set.
The old plastic set was, IMO, much more elegant looking. The tops of the bishops differ substantially, the knights look quite different, and the pawns are stubbier on the new version. Here’s what the old set looked like:http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-Windsor-Castle-Red-Natural-Plastic-Staunton-Chess-Set-w-Original-Box-/221623200061?pt=Games_US&hash=item3399c5a93d. And here’s the new: uscfsales.com/the-windsor-se … -king.html.
I suspect the reasons for the design changes in the wood version have to do with manufacturing difficulty. What I don’t understand is why we don’t offer an exact copy, in plastic, of the original Windsor Castle set.