ChessBazaar

I am not affiliated with any Chess equipment company except as a customer to many.

In another thread about a problem with a ChessBazaar set, a poster showed in a blog by the founder and president of ChessBazaar the comment that the problem was put on this forum by his/their competitors to discredit and impugn the reputation of ChessBazaar.

Well, I am one of the posters that participated in that thread.  I am not aware of any other posters being competitors to ChessBazaar, but either past, current or future customers.

In my opinion this was an isolated and specific or one time problem with that particular set or color.  Because the problem was found and brought to the company's attention, I expected the company to find a fix to the problem, and they did.

I had not bought one of their sets yet, and I was not and am not put off from buying from that company in the future.  If they have a set that I like and want, I will buy it.

What the problem did for me was to show the character of the company by how they handled the problem.  It also brought my attention to the details of their sets more than before and made me make comparisons from this company's products to those of others.

First, I give them a grade of "B" for how they handled the problem.  They fixed it so the problem would not occur again.  They gave customers that bought the problem sets a 30% discount on another set.  Some that I hear from are satisfied with the 30% discount.  Others are not so completely satisfied, hance the "B" and not an "A".

I find it a bit paranoid that the founder/owner would claim that his competitors were taking shots at them in this forum.  I have spoken or otherwise communicated with their competitors for that design of a set, and they don't seem to care about ChessBazaar and that product, one way or the other.

In that thread, people showed pictures of the three different company set pieces together for comparison.  This was significant for me.  In those comparison pictures it was evident, to me and others, the amount of workmanship difference between the 3 company sets and the 3 prices.

Now, I am here to say that I do like some of the sets on the ChessBazaar site.  I actually like the Lardy set they offer on there.  It looks very similar to The Chess Store Lardy set.  I ended up buying the Chess Store set because it came in Rosewood, which I prefer.  The ChessBazaar set comes in Sheesham which I don't dislike but I don't like as much as Rosewood.

I also like the looks of some of their other sets.  At this time though, they don't push my buttons to make me want to buy them.  Also, I will say that of the vast majority of sets offered by The House of Staunton, The Chess Store, The Chess House and all the others.

Looking at the price range of the sets offered on ChessBazaar I see other, prettier sets being in a higher price range so it's really not fair to ChessBazaar to compare quality for such a price difference.  For instance The House of Staunton Dubrovnik set does objectively look of higher quality than the ChessBazaar Dubrovnik, but The HOS set is quite a bit more expensive.

Companies that have sets in the same price range look similar in quality.  I'm talking about The Chess Store for their Lardy set, Chess Cafe and The Chess House.

I think the ChessBazaar sets do look really nice for their price range.  So, if someone wants a nice set that is inexpensive ChessBazaar is definitely one of 4 or 5 places to look.

Sure, I endorse ChessBazaar as far as it goes.

If someone wants a high quality Chess set, places like The House of Staunton, The Chess House, Noj, Your Move Chess and Games would be the place I would look.  While their prices are significantly higher than ChessBazaar, so is the quality.  And I mean that objectively.  You usually do get what you pay for.

Sure, we need to find competitive prices for similar products.  I also do not pay full retail whenever I can.  And I usually can find some discount or sale.  However, if you want a high quality chess set, you have to understand that it takes higher quality materials and workmanship and more time to produce it.  That means a higher cost.

ChessBazaar is inexpensive for nice sets, but certainly not alone in being inexpensive.  For instance, I just bought a Rosewood, Lardy, 3.75" King set from The Chess Store for $87 shipped.  ChessBazaar has the Lardy, 3.75" King set in Sheesham for $75 shipped.  Now, the Rosewood is a better and pricier wood than the Sheesham.  When you look at sets on sale, the Rosewood sets are usually at least $10 - $15 more expensive.  Well, that puts The Chess Store at the same price point as ChessBazaar.  In fact The Chess Store has that set in Golden Rosewood at $70.  With a discount that a person can easily get along with a flat $7 shipping rate, The Chess Store is actually less expensive than ChessBazaar for a very similar product.

So yes, I endorse ChessBazaar for their good deals.

I do not personally care about Jaques 1849 reproduction sets, but I would consider Allen's design that ChessBazaar makes and sells.

Couple of things:

1.- "Golden Rosewood" is another name for Sheesham.

2.- I am pretty sure CB is not selling any desing from Alan. They just use his name and change the design for whatever else.

3.- You are not just getting less of this from CB "materials and workmanship and more time to produce it"... aparently you are also taking lesss costumer service and no guarantee.

I point this out because rigth now HOS is runing some Clearance section, with prices lower than CB and the only take down from this is a less level of guarantee than the usual HOS offer.

So when the price goes down, it is understood that something have to give. But if there is so much taking away then the lower price just don't justify, then the product is not cheaper comparing to the competitor it is expensive considering what you ended up getting.

Chess Bazaar makes decent sets for the money. I would stay away from the dyed pieces until they are proven to be OK IMO. Alan sent them a real Jaques Knight to be produced by Chess Bazaar for the 1849 set. Somehow something went wrong & the Knight ended up looking like a Hippo. Its still a nice set though as far as looks. I am not a Knight person anyway unless the Knight looks real far out.

By themselves, the ChessBazaar sets look alright.  Many have posted on this forum how happy they are with the set or sets they bought from them.

In the Dubrovnik case, the CB set does not have the details exactly like the "original" Dubrovnik II which it is patterned after.  But at such a low price compared to the other 2 providers, and the fact that the set looks fine on its own, many are satisfied.

Sure, the dye problem was a doozy.  But they have apparently fixed that problem.

Looking at their reproductions compared to what they are patterned after shows consistent alterations or differences in design details.  You noted the Knights in what Alan sent them.  I have noted the differences in the Dubrovnik set.  We can also see differences in the Liberty Series sets.  This is something I feel we must learn to accept.

They do have their Lardy set pretty concise, especially when comparing it to The Chess Store offering.  Sure, the Lardy design is a low priced option from its creation, and reproducing that would be easy at a low price.

Contrast that with the differences in the Dubrovnik sets where the CB Knights have a lot less work and detail to them compared to the original or the very more expensive Noj set.  There also are less collars on the Bishops in the CB set.  But once again if we realize this for the very much lower price, it is acceptable.

There is a poster on here that is a collector and actually sells some sets on eBay, GoodKnightMike.  He has an original Liberty Series set and owns  the Noj produced Dubrovnik sets as well.  Mike has expressed how much he likes the ChessBazaar Dubrovnik set(s).  Mike knows chess sets.  If he likes the ChessBazaar set that says quite a lot for me about them.

If I didn't already own a Noj in Walnut and have one on order in red, I would seriously look at buying a ChessBazaar Dubrovnik.  I don't want to and really can't get it past my wife to duplicate sets.  I am not a collector after all.

I am real satisfied with my Dubrovnik Sheesham set. I am not a real stickler on small details that vary from one manufacturer to another. Some people are though. Its hard to please everyone IMO. As long as the set is close & in the Ballpark whether it be a Lardy, Liberty or Dubrovnik its OK in my book.

I got my 3.75" HOS ebonized Dubrovnik on eBay for a "Make An Offer" price of $150. With added shipping, that brought the cost differntial from the 3.6" CB set down to about $40. When you consider the larger rooks (I like big rooks) and the better overall fit and finish, it was $40 well spent.

I think both CB and HoS has failed to understand what the Dubrovnik knight is about, but while the HoS knight still looks alright the CB version completely lacks sculptural qualities. It's more like a rounded piece of wood where someone has carved a crude two-dimensional drawing upon.

Do you think that a 2 1/4" board is too big for this set?

http://www.chessbazaar.com/tournament-series-staunton-chess-pieces-with-german-knight-in-sheesham-box-wood-3-7-king.html

King's base is 1,4" , pawn base is 1". I don't have smaller board, but I really like this set.

That set sounds like it belongs on a board with 2" squares. I think it would bother me to play it on 2 1/4" squares. However, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. If you really like the set I say go ahead and buy it. It will work on 2 1/4" squares. If you decide you don't like the matchup then you can someday get another board.

I missed out on getting a set I really liked because the price was high. When the set went on clearance I didn't act fast enough and now I'll probably never be able to get that set. I'd had to see a fellow chess enthusiast go through the anguish and suffering I endured. Buy the set.

slaca, I have that tournament series set that I use on a 1.75" board. Some might think that's a bit crowded but I like the snug feeling. Here's a pic. I'm not sure if it'll help you figure out how it would sit on 2 1/4 inch squares.

Thank you guys, I don't know what to do. It would be nice to see those pieces on 2 25" board.

Sorry. I have a board with 2 inch squares but I don't know if that would help. And it's in the middle of a game right now.

slaca, sorry so late but I've been using my wood sets lately and I forgot that I had a folding board stashed away somewhere. This is the set on 2.25 inch squares.

HOS prides themselves DEEPLY on perfectly replicating historical chess sets.  I think this is stupid IMO(or bad for business).  I think most of the older styled chess set's knights look HORRIBLE.  And, most buyers want elaborate, robust, beautiful, well designed knights(especially for their prized set, the one set they are gonna throw big money on, like 400-1500$).  

HOS's best looking knight is the one they carve from Mammoth Ivory.  NO ONE is gonna pay 13,000$ for this chess set though??  Why not just make knights that look this awesome for an affordable price, and just create more AMAZING looking, original knight designs at low prices???(vs making EXACT duplicates of uglier, old school sets, then charging a premium for the accuracy)

I agree. I can see how some players might like sets for their historical accuracy, but I just can't get into some of those ugly horse-faces.

BigKing,

Here's a gallery of horrible looking (with few exceptions) Jaques knights.

In this first group of early knights, only the 1849-50 Leuchars "Cook", the 1851-52 ivory, and the the 1852-55 "Harrwitz" appeal to me at all. In the second grouping below, NONE do!

You'd have to look far and wide to find a collection of UGLIER knights! There's not a horse in the bunch I'd allow in the stable. There are any number of contemporary knights, from HOS and other vendors, that I'd rather have than any of these nags, with the exceptions noted above.

What I'd like to see is a "best of all possible Jaques sets," made up of the best individual pieces from the first 100 years of production. A creative designer should be able to pull off blending all the disparate design elements, without losing each pieces' distinctive styling. It would make for a very interesting set indeed.

I could go for a "dream team". Why not take the best of all worlds?