Am I crazy or am I crazy?

I own far more chessboards than I have any hope of use up in my remaining lifetime. So what did I do today? Of course I ordered a chesstable...

Please, someone, just shoot me!

Yes, welcome to the club of over buyers. We recently moved and I had to pack up and move my sets and boards, wow. I still own more stuff than I will ever need.

One thing I have done and will continue is to have one set and board that I use at a time. Understand the set I am using now is not my favorite or even the nicest. It works.

I guess I should start changing out the sets and that weekly. Then take pictures and post them here. A few years ago this forum was very busy with pictures and descriptions.

CB&E?

Chess Books & Equipment

Duh...

Herman, you're a collector, not a consumer. You're not a heretic, you're a saint. You love the experience of playing plastic on mouse pad because nothing distracts one (what could happen to the pieces or the board).

In case I miss, I take a second shot: Plastic pieces on mouse pads is heresy: You don't build churches out of Kunststoff, either, do you.. For the game to be human it must be a game in time, pieces and boards should not deny being part of the process to die. Chess as such may be timeless but our chess is not. We must move before we die. That's in the wooden boards and pieces. Looking at them, not playing them is a paradox. You cannot freeze life. We can live, and we can reproduce.

Now, it takes a third shot at you, hermanjohnell You're a player, and collecting takes time. You cannot fill with life all the sets you find that embody the promises of chess. So you return to the uniform plastic abstraction of one accidental playable set in a Tron-like virtual reality, the grid on the mouse pad, to play the matters free from the incredible time pressure exerted by wood.

When the fear wanes go back with your new chess and move your favourite pieces, even unfelted, unweighted, skreeching, dropping, cracking over your good old boards. They were not made to be played only by grandmasters. Or, let's say, chess mastery for humans is so much more mastery of time than of chess.

Looking forward to the day when your table arrives and how you will tell us what pieces you used, what clock, how it felt to relax in concentration at this new piece of furniture, how the sun cast light on the drama of a position. Or you can take a photograph for us, too. You can always wear beards and glasses

Niice!! @herman what table did you order?

No my friend, you are not crazy, you have found something that brings joy to your life. I was thinking the same about myself recently, but was playing a game of chess with my daughter the other day and said to myself; how bad can collecting chessmen be if you use them, enjoy them and they give you the chance to spend quality time with your 16 year old daughter? The game is amazing, timeless. There are much worse things to be addicted to. I for one am counting my blessings, and maybe I am savings some money for my next set that is hiding at the next antique shop my wife and I just may visit a couple weeks from now, sitting on a dark, musty shelf still hiding in its antique dove-tailed box, waiting for me to find it and give it a warm loving home.

We don’t shoot crazy people! Actually, I’m the most sane person here. I purchased only one set and made the only two boards I own. There, aren’t I a saint? Now on the other hand, guitars and woodworking tools….. lol. Hey, it’s one of your passions, go for it!

Chess sets are a form of pollution in my house.

Oh how I love this thread …
Welcome to the circus … enjoy!

Hi, my name is Herman and I´m a chess collector.

I don´t really know. It looked nice on the picture but since it was the last one (and I suspect it´s a one off) the picture on the sellers websize was taken down when I bought it. But i´ll take som pics once it´s in place.

sounds good congrats! looking forward to seeing some pictures.

Is that a chess table the boards are stacked on?

With woodworking tools and some skill I guess one doesn´t have to buy boards and/or pieces...

Indeed it is - an amazing local find. Made in NZ around 60+ years ago. The marquetry can make the viewing complex but I think it is beautiful. Matched here with a vintage Chavet No.3.

Yes

Grandious, Powder. Fantastic photo. I have no daylight, but an Escher notion