A Bevy of BCE Stage 1 Eastern & Western style Blitz sets from Ifekali and Noj.

Hello members, I'm back for a brief moment to express my thanks to Mr. Jonas Žnidaršič and Mr. Gregor Novak for providing me with such a beautiful bounty of great sets. Fabulous PLA hues from the 3D printing and of course the craftsmanship of the wood DGT enabled pieces in light brown stain from Mr. Gregor and his dad who's gifted hands provided me with such beautiful pieces. 

A much-appreciated effort. 

Enjoy the photos.

C'est La Vie!

Silky Gold and Jet Black

Copper and Pure White

Ultramarine Blue and Transparent

Vanilla White and Jet Black

Noj BCE Light Brown stained in Western and Eastern Blitz style with DGT elements only Westen with DGT, not Eastern styled pieces.

The set from Noj will arrive next week sometime. I will post more when it arrives.

Did you mean to say Parliament? 

There was a show back in the '70s with Robert Blake called Barretta, his theme song had a lyric that said: "Don't do the crime if you can't do the time". I'd take all my sets to the pokey and play the hell out of the general inmate population. LOL! Thanks for the compliment EG3.

That brown stain is gorgeous, incredible looking BCE set

@ MGT88: I totally agree. The moment I saw it in Jonas's video about this new set when he made the post of the 3D printed sets, I simply fell in love with the chestnut color. It was a must-have for me. I should have it in my hands in about a week.

I think it looks great with the blue base-pads as well; there's just something about this chestnut color and the lines of the BCE, they work really well together.

I've always preferred jet-black for my black pieces, but over the past while I've really begun to like lighter stains (red/brown) because they allow the beauty of the wood-grain to shine through. I wonder how a black-stain that isn't completely opaque would look...something along the lines of ebony I would imagine...

Yes, the blue leather felts was an extra option I wanted on the pieces. I picked up a BCE red and maple magnetic 4 section board included in my order total as well. It will match up well with the new set. I'm putting some coins aside to buy a DGT Bluetooth board in walnut and maple finish. That's the one without the algebraic notation to help me improve my game and have fun with the new set as well. Only the Western pieces are DGT enabled. The Eastern pieces will be played without an electronic hookup because if I wanted them with DGT elements I would have to invest in a whole new set. You just can't buy a single King or queen DGT relay coil it has to be the whole set or nothing at all. FYI

BTW, the idea of a lighter black stain sounds interesting but I wonder if it would give the appearance of a washed-out black hue almost ashen looking in color considering how light the maple wood color Noj uses for their pieces. I guess you can ask Mr. Gregor about that if you're interested in having something new made for yourself and see what he thinks of the idea. I wasn't too enamored with the darkness of the current brown stain they use to tint their pieces present day. They border on being almost black and that's just way too dark for me. This was a custom color request I had spoken to Mr. Gregor about and although he clearly stated that it is quite difficult to achieve the same hue of color that Jonas' set has he expressed that his father would do his best to give me his best effort to attain a color I would be happy with and he came through with a beautiful chestnut brown I'm quite happy with the results. 

Yeah I got the blue-leather pads on my BCE set, I prefer it over felt for its durability; wish it was an option on all the Noj sets.

Do you have a recent or older model BCE set?

It's a standard model BCE Stage-2 with stainless-steel bases and blue leather pads, which I got a few years ago. I like the lines of both the standard version and this new blitz version; the primary design differences are the base tapers and the rook/knight fatness; I like the looks of both sets.

Gold and Brown would be a good combination. I got mine made out of wood fill PLA. I keep meaning to post pics but I get too busy.

I could sort of mimic that with what I have on hand the only difference would be the color of the bishops finals not quite matching, although I'm receiving a half set made of wood PLA for the copper and pure white set with matching cooper bishop wood PLA finials and that set is still under investigation at the JFK Customs Division here in NYC. Tell you how slow they've been with mail (U.S.P.S.) I just got a replacement rook that Jonas sent me that he mailed on January 20th I got this piece just this past Wednesday! Lord knows when they'll clear this remaining half set I have in the delivery pipeline from Slovenia and deliver it to my residence.

My luck turned today I received the other half shipment of PLA wood filament to compliment the copper blitz set as shown below in this photo.

@MGT88: That a nice looking set as well, I had intentions of getting the steel bases but couldn't because they interfere with the DGT relay coils recognition on an electronic sensing board. The knights are more stout with that set but the rooks are a tad slimmer. Great looking set nonetheless it's the reason I kind of went a little much in my purchasing several colors of this great set which is nicely weighted and balanced. Every aspect of Jonas's review I put these pieces through and they passed without a demerit. I even did the spacing test where he glides a bishop between a king and queen if I recall correctly, and the bases clear the diagonal without touching the other pieces. 

Are the leather pads of the BCE set hard or soft? I am interested in a BCE set and I hesitate between felt and leather. Leather pads are more durable, but they can be very hard and less pleasant in actual play.

These sets are very nice indeed.

I like the various color combinations you have chosen.  I know you will also enjoy the BCE board, I have one myself.

And for the record I also have a BCE Stage 2, Eastern with the stainless steel bases and the blue leather pads.  Yes, it’s a very nice set.  Enjoy all this my friend.

To tell you the truth, I was just a smidge torn between obtaining another Dubrovnik (The Minceta) or this new BCE Stage 1 Western/Eastern style blitz version from Noj and asking for the lighter brown staining as per Jonas video of this same set, but since I already own a Noj Dubrovnik II in Red Stain and a Dubrovnik in Tasmanian Blackwood from HOS not to forget and mention the 1950 Dubrovnik antiqued reproduction from Stauton castle in mahogany stained and antiqued boxwood the decision was rather simple.

I never have owned a BCE wood set until now, and it will arrive soon within the coming week.

I couldn't answer the blue leather felt question, perhaps one of you who does own this set BCE set from Noj with the blue leather felts could elaborate on their quality-hard, soft, or medium and whether or not they move smoothly on a quality chessboard and ease of playability? 

Thank Ron for your kind words and compliments, always good to hear from you as well my friend. 

I obtained this other 3D printed set made in copper and wood PLA in a Dubrovnik and Zagreb style but not with the Zagreb knights. I finished the set adding M12 sized Zinc galvanized steel nuts to the base cavities of all the pieces, filled it with two-element epoxy, resin, and hardener, and fill the rest of the cavity gap with a lightweight spackle and felted with beautiful billiard cloth. Some photos of this project for your eye pleasure.

Here are the M12 Zinc galvanized steel nuts in the cavity of the pieces before the epoxy was poured into them.

Here's the pieces inverted right side up after a rinse to knock off the sanding debris which developed when I had leveled the bottom of the bases that had peaks of hardened epoxy, they're just drying on a wire rack. (3 photos)

The spackling putty I used great stuff BTW.

Some of the pieces after spackling putty applied and leveled off.

Felting with quality billiard cloth material.

The finished pieces finished and awaiting a full drying period.

All the pieces from the set on an RCM player's choice board.

My sincerest thanks to Mr. Conor O'Kane for providing me with this beautiful set and tips on how to finish the pieces. 

Much better finish than the BCE pieces, IMHO

Wow, this is quite the job you have done.  And it looks to be excellent to play with now that you have weighted it.

I guess it all depends on the model of printer, rate of printing, infill %, etc, etc. I do like the finish it is sharp and very neatly contoured. 

Thank you Ron for your kind words. The weighting on average for the pieces are as follows;'

Dubrovnik & Zagreb style Kings - 38 to 39 grams

Pawns - 27 to 28 grams

The rest of the pieces both styles - 34-36 grams

The reason the weights fluctuate a little is the amount of the epoxy pour into the cavities.

Some pieces leveled off nicely while others had a bit of a gap left to fill with the spackling putty. 

I didn't want to overfill any of the pieces for the fear of the epoxy overflowing down the sides of the outer shells. This actually occurred with 2 knights because of their profile they were top-heavy when inverted and shifted during the curing period thus causing them to tip over to the heavier side causing the spillage on the outer body of the knight piece. 

The spackling putty used was very lightweight. 

It kind of reminded me of an extremely light cannoli cream filling, light as air so it didn't contribute that much to the overall weighting of the pieces. 

I had started this weighting project this past Friday and wanted to make sure that the epoxy was fully cured before proceeding to the next steps to finish the job, which I did yesterday.

They do handle extremely well and are perfect for blitz type chess matches. 

They were printed at 30% infill so that the pieces could withstand the rigors of rough & fast play handling and any heavy-handed opponents I would encounter. 

That billiard cloth really helps the pieces glide across that wood board shown with extreme ease. I'm very content with the results and it's quite a satisfying experience when you partake in the finishing of a chess set. This set will travel plenty with me throughout the months and years ahead., God willing, for sure. 

@ EG3: Yes that was my initial reaction when I first received the set but more so after I had finished putting in the weights and finishing with the billiard cloth felts. It was a "WOW" moment for me for sure!