The Hastings Series Plastic Chess Pieces - 3.875" King

As with all of our Chess sets, the Hastings Series exemplifies a perfect combination of distinct beauty and functionality. It has been designed to withstand the rigors of practical play while maintaining an elegance which has become the hallmark of a House of Staunton chess set. The design, quality and craftsmanship of this set is UNMATCHED by any set of Chessmen in its price range. Nothing even comes close! The Chessmen are new and each set consists of 34 Chessmen, including four Queens, a standard that was introduced by The House of Staunton over 10 years ago. The Hastings 1895 Chess Tournament, which took place in Hastings, England from August 5 to September 2, has been described by many Chess historians as one of the greatest tournaments of all time and a milestone in the history of Chess. The tournament featured all of the greatest players of the era, defining it as the first "super-tournament" in modern terms. The participants of the match (in the order in which they finished) were Harry Nelson Pillsbury, Mikhail Chigorin, Emmanuel Lasker, Siegbert Tarrasch, Wilhelm Steinitz, Emanuel Schiffers, Curt von Bardeleben, Richard Teichmann, Carl Schlechter, Joseph Henry Blackburne, Carl Walbrodt, Amos Burn, David Janowski, James Mason, Henry Bird, Isidor Gunsberg, Adolf Albin, Georg Marco, William Pollock, Jacques Mieses, Samuel Tinsley and Beniamino Vergani. Pillsbury, a young American unknown in Europe, was the surprise winner with 16.5/21 points ahead of Chigorin (16) and Lasker (15.5). Following the success of the event, the Hastings tournament would become an annual feature. Today such competitions are conducted annually at various places.