http://www.chesscentral.com/Chess_Setd_Pieces_Wood_a/267.htm
Hope that helps
Bud Rosewood and Red Sandalwood
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Thanks for that link, Benonidoni, it was one I hadn't seen before ... but it doesn't fully answer my question.
I've been browsing the online retailers, looking at their better wooden sets. Many of these, of course, use ebony for the dark pieces, but some of the most stunning sets use a red wood -- which is often more expensive than ebony. And they have different names for this wood:
Chess Central (to which you pointed me), The Chess Store, and Regency Chess all call it red sandalwood;
The London Chess Centre calls it bud rosewood;
The House of Staunton calls it blood rosewood; and
Chess USA calls it crimson rosewood.
The last three could easily all be the same wood -- different descriptions of the best wood from Dalbergia Latifolia, the Rosewood tree. But, botanically speaking, the first should come from a different tree, Pterocarpus Santalinus, the Red Sandalwood tree.
So, why does Chess Central not sell blood rosewood sets, and why does the House of Staunton not sell red sandalwood sets? And why do Chess Baron and the Chess Piece say that bud rosewood and red sandalwood are the same thing?
Later,
John
Aside from chess sites, bud rosewood doesn't appear to exist.
Such a nice wood, seemingly in plentiful supply, would surely be used for other items.
My guess is that RS and BR are the same thing, with RS being the true name.
Thank you, Goldendog. That's a good point you make: if nobody outside the chess marketplace uses the phrase "bud rosewood", that is evidence that the phrase is chess marketplace jargon for some other wood.
After all botanical precision is not a key concern in the chess marketplace.
But it is a little surprising: "red sandalwood" is a prestigious name ... I'd have thought retailers would want to use it, if it were true.
Perhaps one can get export licences more easily if one uses the synonym "bud rosewood".
John
Touché! 
Though don't forget that a rose is a rose is a rose is a rose.
In a sense it doesn't matter. When people spend several hundred dollars (or pounds) on a top-flight Staunton-pattern chess set, they want something that is enjoyable to play with and enjoyable to look at. Its residual value in fifty years' time is of interest only to their heirs.
But the retailers do assure us that these sets are made of rare and expensive wood. And Indian rosewood is substantially less rare than red sandalwood.
Besides which, I have a passion for precise detail! 
John
I wonder if a chess set made out of yellow Osage Orange wood would look cool? Those trees are plentiful here (we call them hedge trees).
Thank you for the Owl photograph, Echecs06.
Osage Orange as a wood for chess sets, eh, N2UHC? It could certainly look good in a chess board ... though you'd have to match it with discreet colours: bright orange-yellow light squares with purpleheart dark squares would be somewhat disconcerting. 
Probably not chess pieces though. Partly because Osage Orange trees are most common in Texas, while chess-piece craftsmen are most common in the Punjab. Partly because the most successful chess pieces are made from very dense woods ... neither boxwood nor ebony floats in water.
Later,
John Owlett
I thought maybe some yellow pieces made from the Osage Orange, with either white pine or boxwood pieces or some dark wood, like ebony. I just think it would make a unique chess set because you always see boxwood & ebony, or boxwood and rosewood. But you never see yellow wooden chess pieces. I'm just not talented enough nor do I have the time to carve chess pieces.
As a chess collector, I would say that golden rosewood (=sheesham=dalbergia sisso), rosewood (=palissandre in French=dalbergia latifolia) are in the same family. And bud rosewood (racine de palissandre) is a better quality than rosewood for chess pieces. It seems that some chess retailers call it red sandalwood because they are in the same family (fabaceae) but it 's not sandalwood (genus=santalum, family=santalaceae).
boucan wrote:
And bud rosewood (racine de palissandre) is a better quality than rosewood for chess pieces. It seems that some chess retailers call it red sandalwood because they are in the same family (fabaceae) but it 's not sandalwood (genus=santalum, family=santalaceae).
Unless there's an accepted scientific designation for what is called bud rosewood, it looks to be a made-up term for use among chess players.
Assigning br a true name looks like guesswork to me.
You all seem to be wrong about what rosewood means. The original name is Aniba Rosaedora wich is original from southamerica and africa, and almost extinct being extremely expensive and hard to foind this days. So any retailer anouncing they sell aniba rosaedora wood is lying. The only sell wood from a similar tree.
i would get ROSEBUD!!!!
i think we all own that to citizen kane!
man i would love to win that lottery. i would buy the lot.
andresestica77 wrote:
You all seem to be wrong about what rosewood means. The original name is Aniba Rosaedora wich is original from southamerica and africa, and almost extinct being extremely expensive and hard to foind this days. So any retailer anouncing they sell aniba rosaedora wood is lying. The only sell wood from a similar tree.
There seems to be disagreement over what qualifies as rosewood and what doesn't. Not to mention that retailers are marketing similar woods under the rosewood label.
Here's a good breakdown:
http://hobbithouseinc.com/personal/woodpics/_discussion_rosewoods.htm
Frank... your experience is right on the mark & Thanks for posting the info..!!
Great post, Frank. Thanks!
I dont understand, did we get to clear the point or not? I need to know if im going to buty what is sold as Red Sandalwood, is fully and in fact Red Sandalwood. Does anyone know if thats what you get for real? As far as i know it is prohibited by international laws to trade Red Sandalwood. Any information will be apreciated. Thanks
"As far as i know it is prohibited by international laws to trade Red Sandalwood"
Yes You are right andresestica77! Sandalwood is a rare wood. But also ebony!
Here in Portugal, I could have Costums problems with these woods!
As a chess colector I have a certain ethic in the purchase of chess pieces : Today, I don't buy Sandalwood, ebony and much less ivory! I like ebonized! and other no noble woods.
Well...
I can not confirm, but more serious than wood, is that many chess pieces is being made by child labor in Punjab, but I sin by omission. But it is sad!
What is the difference between bud rosewood and red sandalwood?
Several online retailers seem to use these terms as synonyms, decribing the same high quality wood for dark chess pieces. But surely rosewood and sandalwood are different species of tree?