CB GM Blitz set

I got an email stating they have shipped one (India Post this time so 20-25 days) on March 4.

Got picked up on March 8 so I guess I will start counting from there. So looking at March 28-April 2 or so.

Hey, sorry to have dredged this thread up but just wanted to post some thoughts.

I have been using this set for the past week, I have played perhaps 10-12 games with it now. I am using a slightly undersized board (2 3/16") but the pieces, in my opinion, fit very nicely and to me are not cramped at all.

The set is an absolute joy to play with. The pieces feel luxurious in your hand, especially the Knights. Even with my underweight Rook the Rooks feel great. 

The whole set is just magnificent. The set with the board (here: https://www.wholesalechess.com/shop/chess-boards/wood-chess-boards/deluxe-walnut-folding-wood-chess-board-with-2-squares I know it says 2" but they are 2 3/16") is quickly becoming my favorite setup to play with. 

It is sold out again but if when it comes back in stock it is a great set to pick up for everyday use.

It's sold out in ebonized but you can get it in beautiful sheesham (which has lovely lighter tone for dark pieces vs rosewood).  That set is very tempting for 100 bucks....it has details and finish that don't even seem to belong in its stated "economy" set category on the CB website 

Plus don't they have some deal where if you order out of stock you get a discount?

No, when you order "Backordered".  But for that set it says "Out of stock" and "Notify me when this product is in stock:" and doesn't give you the option to add it to your cart to get the discount.

On the 1950s Soviet Latvian set it says "In Stock" but Backordered. 

Maybe they do not plan on selling the Ebonized Blitz set anymore? Or perhaps it will be quite a while for it to be back so they are not offering the Backordered discount for that set.

Maybe they're gonna move it out of the economy set category, up the price to 160-180 everyday...cuz it's selling so well!   you always gotta feel pressured to buy NOW....just look at that Tal recreation set from the maker in eastern europe.  I thought it was pricey at 500, but then it shot up another hundred bucks!  That one isn't THAT tempting, not because it isn't one of the nicer sets I stumbled across, but simply because it's a clear budget buster lol

Ah, eat-shmeat. What is food on the table when it comes to collecting chess sets!

Yes, maybe you are correct. Demand is high for the Ebonized Blitz set, perhaps a price hike is coming. 

Just wanted to give a final update on this. I just received the replacement Rook, they quoted 20-25 days; the post office tried to deliver it on Tuesday (28-Mar) but I was in Canada for the week. So they over-delivered on that by two days. Even with the delay they hit their low mark. 

The replacement Rook is perfect, the heavier Rook weighs 44g , the new one weighs 43g. The workmanship is just as good, the new one is indistinguishable from the others. 

The set is now complete and it has become my every day set. 

I am impressed with CB, they definitely made good for me. I had to stand up a little bit but they came through in the end. Now to eagerly await my next set from them, the 1950's Soviet Latvian Set in Antiqued Boxwood that Mike (@goodknightmike) forced me to buy that caused my family to go without food.

https://www.chess.com/forum/view/chess-equipment/chessbazaars-1950s-soviet-latvian-set-in-antiqued-boxwood

I am only expecting good things for that set as well.

 Richard - Glad to hear things worked out for you.  As they say... "the squeaky wheel gets the grease"!

Yes, glad things worked out!

Hey Richard you chose wisely ordering the antiqued Latvian set, bread and water ain't so bad for a few days!

*bump

#64-70: looks almost like a Drueke, or just as good 

The Borkowski board is similar to a Drueke.  Read my comments in post #62., and see my Drueke board with the GM Blitz set in posts #33-#36.

Caution, bait and switch chess set. Not the same set as pictured. All the pieces look the same except for the knights. Clearly, the knights I received are not as nice as the knights pictured on their website.

Ask for a replacement and show them this photo. CB usually will give you a replacement. Are all 4 of the knights in the set appear this way? That picture appears as if the knight was left next to a heat source and began to melt as if it were made of plastic. The top of the mane, the ears and the mouth itself look poorly carved as in a hurried attempt to crank out the set. If so take a group picture and send it to them along with their advertisement photo of the knight and be specific where the differences appear. Good luck with your inquires to them and hope for a good result in getting replacements.

All 4 knights appear this way. They first tried to tell me they are handmade and they are different because of that. They sell this set in 3 different wood types and all the pictures on their website show accurate reproduction of the knights. The price dropped while on backorder. I asked for a refund of the difference, they reluctantly agreed after offering store credit but did not actually process the refund. They haven't responded to follow-ups on this. I'll keep trying.

Was thinking of ordering this set... Anybody else have issues with f'd up looking knights like Norge64? Hopefully the production quality issues have been corrected...

I have had a different issue with the set, my W Rook was way off in weight. They fixed it but not without a small fight.

CB had some severe quality issues in the past, I had another set that was unacceptable that took some effort to get it fixed. 

However, there have been posts here that say they have fixed the issues. 

I think with CB you take a bigger chance that something will be wrong and it will be a hassle to get it fixed than with some of the other sellers. 

With that being said, I love the set itself. fantastic to play with, good feel to it, good size. My Knights are nothing like what Norge64 got. 

They've got a 30% off sale right now so I could get this set for just about 160 which is pretty great. Did you get lacquered or buff finish? Most places just have one finish so I'm not sure which way to go...

Also, re: knights... I can see some pics from other people and the knights have the right shape but have slightly less detail in the carving than what is pictured on the site. Fingers crossed it's not an issue!

Not even sure if they offered lacquered when I bought mine. 

The price has gone up significantly since I bought mine (wow, it has been 2 years already). 

Hi Guys, apologies for responding to such an old thread, but reading this with interest.  I’m willing to admit I know very little compared to the rest of you, but to my mind I keep nice wood sets for regular play, and use a good quality plastic set for blitz.  Just seems to make more sense, as I don’t want those wood pieces banged around too much.  (Of course wood sets for blitz was the purpose of the thread...!)  

I buy a lot from HOS and like their heavy Collector series plastic pieces with 1.75” base, but for blitz their Reykjavik plastic pieces have a 1.65” base and are almost a pound lighter (36.8 Oz median weight vs 51 Oz.)  They’re fast but still very stable

I also have a Drueke maple/walnut board with 2.25” squares, but with a couple of exceptions (a 4+” tall King Peter Ganine set from 1966 w/1.5” King base, and a similarly sized Nigri themed set), I typically put 1.75” base wood pieces on it for an almost ideal .778 ratio of piece to square size, but again slow play only on that guy.

This CB wood set posted by the OP from 2017 looked  nice, but this recent version with the funky knight not so much.  Personally I’d go with a similar ebonized set from HOS for probably less $.

Thanks for an interesting discussion!