Hey you made us think of something, wouldn't it be cool if one could buy various colored matching pieces sold separately in the future for a make your own staunton chess set of your own design.
I don't think that's a bad idea. How many times have we heard someone say that they like a particular set except for the knight? Or the bishop? Or the pawns are too big? Or this, or that?
Of course you could always custom order a set.
Hey you made us think of something, wouldn't it be cool if one could buy various colored matching pieces sold separately in the future for a make your own staunton chess set of your own design.
D2,
I've had the same thought, and mentioned it to one of the vendors.
You'd begin by establishing a common base design for the entire series. That way, you could design shorter, taller, or wider versions of the various pieces, including different knight designs, and they would share those common design elements.
Exactly Lou our thoughts. When we saw that good looking Red & White Windsor in another friends post we loved it, except for the size of the knight. Essentially with another staunton matching knight of a larger and bolder design it would be a total killer set with it's strong appearance. But of course to each his own, no wrongs or rights, just what one likes.
Hey you made us think of something, wouldn't it be cool if one could buy various colored matching pieces sold separately in the future for a make your own staunton chess set of your own design.
I don't think that's a bad idea. How many times have we heard someone say that they like a particular set except for the knight? Or the bishop? Or the pawns are too big? Or this, or that?
Of course you could always custom order a set.
True, but custom orders aren't cheap. I once asked a vendor to make a couple of small changes to a one of his chess sets. He quoted me a price that was twice the price of the original set!
If the various pieces were massed produced all at the same time (that's why we call it a set), it would cost a lot less to mix and match pieces, just like Garanimals.
A standard chess set has six different pieces. How big a deal would it be to design a set with eight or ten different pieces? Say, a couple of different knight designs, large and small pawns, etc. Your set would still contain 34 pieces (with two extra queens), but now you could select the pieces you like from the options available. And they'll all play nicely together, unlike many children.
Yep Lou lol, we have a few of those rug rats floating around too. I think your idea is spot on to limit the various number of pieces that could be exchanged among one another. In that way the cost of manufacturing and ultimately the cost being passed on to the consumer would be viable.
If you deal directly with Amritsar in India, custom orders are cheaper. Not without risk though - I mean, it seems it's hard to get exactly what you want out of India even for a vendor!
I seem to remember someone on the site getting a pretty good deal on custom orders from CB too.
Luft, that quote I mentioned was from an Indian vendor, who shall remain nameless.
Yep Lou lol, we have a few of those rug rats floating around too. I think your idea is spot on to limit the various number of pieces that could be exchanged among one another. In that way the cost of manufacturing and ultimately the cost being passed on to the consumer would be viable.
Here's an interesting SURVEY QUESTION. Have you ever seen a set that you really liked, even considered purchasing, but was put off the design/size, etc. of one or more of the pieces?
Yes, it is more costly to make up all those extra pieces, but if the mix 'n match system enables them to sell MORE chess sets, then maybe it ain't such a bad idea at that!
Yes, to that survey times (X) 12 
. Many of our chess community suggestions and ideas from all of us in the past have been surely noticed and went to manufacturing. Prime examples of course would be the 1849 Staunton and Dubrovnik manias that continue to this day. Don't be surprised if we see a pick your own new set design as previously discussed come along in pretty short order and yet another new mania developes in our chess community. 
Hello,
May I please have a set in rosewood / boxwood with no. 3 knights, no. 2 rooks, no. 3 pawns, no. 4 bishops, standard kings with finials, and no. 2 queens (with extra queens to go), please.
Thank you!
(Could be fun!)
Hello,
May I please have a set in rosewood / boxwood with no. 3 knights, no. 2 rooks, no. 3 pawns, no. 4 bishops, standard kings with finials, and no. 2 queens (with extra queens to go), please.
Thank you!
(Could be fun!)
Please enclose with your order $$$.00 and mail to:
Wishful Thinking, Number 1 Dream Land Road, At The North Pole LOL !
Hello,
May I please have a set in rosewood / boxwood with no. 3 knights, no. 2 rooks, no. 3 pawns, no. 4 bishops, standard kings with finials, and no. 2 queens (with extra queens to go), please.
Thank you!
(Could be fun!)
Or, if you're being whimsical, "I'll take the Excalibur set with the Biggie Knights, the Shorty Pawns, and the Tower of Babel Rooks."
Just don't show off that set at the next tournament.
I think once we all started compiling sets from the a la carte menu, we'd learn just how developed our sense of design was.
Thats a good idea D2. I thought of this where a site like HoS could introduce an option where you select pieces from different sets. Something like a drop-down menu. Maybe even two sets of knights or other pieces.
The only issue is if this was mass produced' base and height of pieces would have to constant, maybe tournament size.
D2_To_D8 wrote:
Hey you made us think of something, wouldn't it be cool if one could buy various colored matching pieces sold separately in the future for a make your own staunton chess set of your own design.
I have purchased one set from AIW, which is a regular Zagreb, but I asked him for king/queen/bishop to be more drubovnik than Zagreb. Basically same color on king/queen and opposite color on the bishop. Add to that, the knight is from the Leningrad chess set.
Slight mistake he made was to have some spear like filial for the king. Otherwise I was happy with the result.
There was a "New Staunton" design made for the 2013 Candidates Tournament, designed by Daniel Weil. It got a certain amount of publicity at the time, but I was not surprised that it didn't make a splash.
There was a "New Staunton" design made for the 2013 Candidates Tournament, designed by Daniel Weil. It got a certain amount of publicity at the time, but I was not surprised that it didn't make a splash.
Quad, the FIDE Championship set has a few positives going for it. First, I like the overall dimensions when used on the 55mm DGT electronic board (see table below). Second, I like the scaling between the pieces. And third, I like the clean and simple design of the pieces, except for the knights, which look decidedly malnourished (in profile).
On the other hand, the shafts on the king, queen, and bishop are a bit too stout for my tastes. I prefer a more slender, tapered line, which would give the set a more classical appeal. I do like the knight full face, but the profile is another story. It looks like a great white took a huge chunk out of his chest. Also, would like to see the set in something other than black stain. Sheeham would be nice.
I've seen this set selling for between $200-$300. At this price, you're paying a lot for the FIDE endorsement and the Daniel Weil design. Comparatively, the set is worth about $125-$150.
Yes, I should have noted that he had designed two chess sets for FIDE, the one for the 2013 Candidates, and that different one for the 2013 World Championship.
Leaving aside that expensive set, though, lots of different styles of chess set still based on the Staunton pattern, but not imitations of the original 1849 Staunton Chessmen from Jaques, are in existence.
Here is one random example I encountered, I'm not trying to recommend it, but it seems entirely acceptable to me:
http://thechessempire.com/product-new-staunton-4-king-boxwood-rosewood.html
Many of the toy chess sets had decent designs that were independent variations on the Staunton. The one by Kingsway Plastics that went on to be either imitated or licensed by multiple toy and game makers in the '60s and '70s is another example.
Yes, I should have noted that he had designed two chess sets for FIDE, the one for the 2013 Candidates, and that different one for the 2013 World Championship.
AFAIK, there's only one set, used at both the Candidates and the WC
AFAIK, there's only one set, used at both the Candidates and the WC
The post by loubalch shows the two different sets. However, except for the Knights, there isn't really much difference between them; all the other pieces are identical.
In the Candidates set, the Knight consists of a realistic sculpture of a horse's head, atop an intermediate base. In the World Championship set, the Knight is instead almost two-dimensional, resting directly on the base of the piece.
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Lou.. I prefer short stocky Rooks myself. They just seem better than the tall ones to me.