Well, I finally want to get a nice wooden chess set that is also appropriate for tournaments. Which of these do you like the most:

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

If you find any of the pieces in these sets too difficult to identify or have other complaints that might make them less than ideal for OTB tournaments, please tell me. Also, I would appreciate if you could tell me which colors you find acceptable or prefer. The choices are:

A. Boxwood and Ebony (traditional White and Black):

B. Boxwood and Rosewood (White and Brown):

If you'd have trouble playing with any of these colors, again, I need to know. I don't want to have issues if using these in a tournament. I need to know that all the practical play will work out alright. However, after playing on a wooden set in one of my local tournaments, I know I want one. I'm just not sure what would be the best choice for my price range.

Thanks in advance!

BTW: Sorry for the pictures being so big, I expected chess.com to take care of the dimensions.

Set #4 for sure, but I prefer ebony to rosewood.

I have the first set, and I absolutely love it. I would recommend that set.

I would like #4 myself:)

Yeah, I actually like #4 the most myself. The Knight's eyes/eye patches look better and it is the most standard so no one can complain that they don't know what piece X is.

I'm just not sure if to pick Ebony or go for Rosewood. Since everything else is shades of brown, I'm guessing Rosewood will be more pleasing to the eye. On the other hand, Ebony is more traditional. I hope there is no one that can say that they aren't able to play with brown pieces instead of black. Which wood do you guys prefer?

#4 actually looks quite a bit like my set, which is boxwood/rosewood.  Ebony looks nice too.

Soooooooooo is the quality of a chess set dependent on how happy the knight looks?

I'd get set number 1, particularly because of hte queen, I like how it's "crown" isn't spike up. And none of the other sets' knights appeal to me, like set 5's knight, it looks like the knight is having a heart attack, and set 4, the knight doesn't really have pupils. But, I wouldn't bring an expensive wooden chess set to a tournament, probably a plastic one with a roll-up board. More convenient and less chance of it being stolen.

Number 4 looks the best

What about the board? Which of these do you think would go best with the Ebony? Also is it a FIDE or USCF requirement to have notation on the sides of boards? What if the opponent complains if there is no notation?

I have #4 but with different Knights in rosewood. Very nice  and  any board will do.

A board without coordinates is USCF compliant.

I'd hesitate to bring a nice wooden set to a tournament, if that is your intention. People can be careless jerks and might ding and chip your pieces. You can get a cheap but very nice wooden set suitable for tournament play though.

set #4 B

On number 5 the knight has the most hilarious look on its face. lol

You know, I see these "Help me pick a chess set" posts all the time and it just baffles me. How can someone/anyone help you pick a chess set? To me this is like posting 3 different color swaths and asking "help me pick one". I just don't get it. I can understand asking "Have you ever heard of this vendor" or " is this a good price for this set" or "where can I buy a set for <$100 bucks" or "which set is the best value for the money" etc etc....; but why post images and ask which one others like? Is this really going to 'help' me decide? Geeeesh

i would choose num 1

the Queen on number 3 looks weird

Set number 4 is the exact picture I'm using as a reference for the set I'm making on the lathe.  Maple white and rosewood black with a birdseye maple and burl walnut board.  Making the ball perfectly round on top of all those pawns is driving me nuts.  Haven't attempted to carve any of the knights yet.