Chess House: My Custom Mousepad Board

I've been looking for a brown/tan mousepad board without coordinates for some time, and haven't been able to find one; I have the "Flex Pad Club Chess Board (USA) - Without Notation" from Chess House ( https://www.chesshouse.com/collections/club-style-chess-boards/products/flex-pad-club-chess-board-usa-without-notations ), which is great, however, it's green/white (although still good to have, as it's a tournament standard).

Recently, Chess House launched a new product which allows you to customize your own "Flex Pad" mousepad board; "Design Your Own: Flex Pad Club Chess Board" ( https://www.chesshouse.com/products/custom-print-flex-pad-club-chess-board ). The customization tool allows you to create/select any color for dark/light squares, thin border, thick border, and coordinates, and it allows you to add background graphics (etc.), if you wish.

I use the same brown/tan color scheme (which I think provides perfect contrast) for all of my 2D boards across different apps etc., so I sent it to Chess House and asked if they could replicate it for me; Paul Adams from Chess House happily obliged and they were able to match it perfectly; great service as always from Chess House! Paul told me they liked the final product and will be stocking it as a pre-made color scheme to order, if you're interested.

Here are a few pictures:

My request photo:

First proof photo:

Final proof photo:

Final product photo:

It certainly looks great if you like that color theme. For myself, however, I need that separation between the border and squares of the same color.

love it

I added the thin border in photoshop; I think I still prefer no thin border:

This is great. I like using the purple/periwinkle color across all my chess apps. My glasses are also the same color, lol. I love the idea. Thank you.

The tan is nice.

How well does the color hold up to rolling, bending, rubber and more?

You could certainly recreate that color scheme! I've had my green/white "Flex Pad" mousepad board for years and it still looks brand new; it can be folded/rolled/etc.; it's a very solid product and I would guess that it is probably the best mousepad board out there in terms of build quality.

I've been using the standard green vinyl for years when traveling. I've wanted to try the mousepad and silicon boards to compare. Since I can get a custom color that seals the deal. I just want to make sure the colours don't "crack" scratch off after a week.

For tournaments, not having borders *or* legends can be very off-putting to some, and even if you're black (which normally gives you choice of equipment), they can protest over using a non-standard board, and the TD would have to side with them. Keep that in mind.

I think mousepad boards are constructed with cloth bonded to rubber, so I don't think it would be likely (or possible) that their colors could crack; there is certainly quite a bit of difference (pros/cons) between vinyl, silicone, and mousepad-style boards (e.g., how the boards roll up, how they lay flat, how pieces slide across them, etc.), and everyone will have a different preference (there are many threads on this).

Good information to keep in mind

Got one with the thin border: