Gambit Prim - Chess set - Beech wood

The Gambit clock is a design from Chronotechna in Czechoslovakia. Chronotechna was founded after the communists had seized power in Czechoslovakia.

Around 1960 Chronotechna produced a clock with a bakelite case (based on the Soviet model). At the same time, that is in 1960, UMF Ruhla introduced the well-known Gardé at the Chess Olympiad in Leipzig, which turned out to be a success story. The development of the Gambit clock was Chronotechna's response to that.

Sometimes it is said that the Gambit is a blatant copy of the Gardé, but this cannot be entirely true, as the two clocks share some design similarities (especially the large rectangular case), but besides that they are quite different from one another. For some reason, however, the Gambit clock was not as readily accepted by players as the East German Gardé.

Production of the Gambit clock began in the early 1960s, when the clock initially appeared under the name Chronotechna, later under the name Prim. After 1962 the name Prim was replaced by Jenger.

The clock came back into fashion after 1970, but by then only a few pieces remained, making it a coveted collectible that was mainly found in museums from the mid-1970s onward.

The clock measures 11 cm high, 21 cm wide, 5.5 cm deep; it functions perfectly.

The proceeds are intended to support the coaching of chess talent at a club.