“Austrian Upright”  (Austria)

Austria. The archetype of the "Austrian Upright" is the Schlechter-Lasker (or Lasker-Schlechter!) chess set. The 1st set listed here is almost identical to the one used in the match. It is weighted and may have a slight size deviation. The 2nd set is a nice derivative. It is not known where these derived sets were made. Although they crop up in Austria, some say that they do not originate there. Also that they are not made in Czechia, and unlikely in Hungary. That would leave Russia as origin. However, the original Schlechter-Lasker set was made by a joinery of Hungarian turners in Vienna. And considering the similarity of both sets, it is most likely that they have been made in the same workshop. Also Nicholas Lanier says that the sets originate in Austria, but he means not the minimal Austria of today, but the larger Austria of the days of the Habsburg Empire!

Original Schlechter-Lasker chess set. Georg Marco, organizer of the Rothschild sponsored Wiener Schachclub, ordered a special chess table with good chessmen from a reputable joinery and turnery which seems to have been named Faludy or Kisfaludy, Hungarian names quite current in Vienna then as now. This is the famous Schlechter-Lasker chess set, which has survived two World Wars and provides the best known specimen of the Austrian Uprights. The set was used in Vienna, where the 1st half of the match was played. The 2nd half was played in Berlin with "Staunton" pieces. The table in the picture could be of that event. Table and set are kept by the Lasker Society in Berlin.