Hand Carved, Wooden Analysis Board

It is hard to play a 9 round, 9 day chess tournament without.... uh.... inadvertantly walking into the onsite chess store. This is exactly what happened to me at the recent U.S. Open in Orlando.

I was surprised at how much merchandise they had. Kudo's to the organizers for putting together such a nice selection. Besides the usual books and videos, they had an array of different chess boards and sets.

Since one of the things that NM Dan Heisman credits for him eventually becoming a strong player is how he reviewed 1000's of master games over a short period of time when he started out, I've had it on my list to do the same.

Often I use one of the chess apps on my Android phone. This works well and allows me to fire up the chess engine when I want to explore some lines. But looking at a small 2d display is not that satisfying, right? Isn't it much more fun to use a nice wooden set? Wouldn't I review many hundreds more games with a nice wooded, portable chess set?

Well, I didn't know I needed it until I saw it sitting there at the chess store, the perfect analysis board for reviewing master games while on the go! It is hand carved wood with magnetic pieces. The king height is about 1 1/2" and the squares are about 3/4". It included a sturdy carrying case. (Looks like there is even a better price online, daggumit!)

Now it's time break out those master game anthologies and get to work.