ChessByIndia 3.75" ebony/boxwood Old English

I just unpacked the Old English series in ebony/boxwood from ChessByIndia. I can't say it's 'spectacular' as it looks to be directly influenced by the more conventional Jaques London Staunton pieces:

https://www.jaqueslondon.co.uk/products/1853-edition-3-5-chess-set-in-oak-box

Nothing flashy, just classic mid/late 19th century Staunton

The ebony itself and ebony pieces are flawless. Absolute jet black, not a hint of grain or brown in any piece.

The color/tone of the boxwood is also consistent. No lighter/darker pieces, not even slightly off color. The only flaw I can find is the mane on the forehead on one boxwood knight is a bit off center

I'm sure a more discerning, picky eye might find more than I can see but for $150 (on sale from $200) with free FedEx shipping (!) I'm happy as a clam

I really like how the bases of the pieces are slanted inward (like NoJ stage 1) to make the pieces appear to be barely floating over the board. I also like the slightly taller crenellation on the rooks than I see in some sets. No crouching down behind the battlements to loose arrows from theses rooks. Knights are broad chested & beefy warhorses, ready to plow into a line of pawns. Kings base diameter is 1.75" and the set fits perfectly on a 2.25" square board

Weighing in at 1 kilo the pieces are nicely 'triple' weighted (king 58 gm, pawn 25 gm).

The pieces were adequately packed, each piece wrapped in foam and each color placed in a separate plastic bag. Both bags were then wrapped in foam inside a foam wrapped shoebox sized box inside the 'external' shrink wrapped shipping box. Upon arrival the outside box looked a little worse for wear but all was intact inside

Nitish Seth, owner of ChessByIndia, was responsive to my questions answering my emails within a day. Upon ordering, the pieces were shipped the following day.

Here is a link to the Etsy product page

https://www.etsy.com/listing/906356662/old-english-375-ebony-wood-chess-pieces?show_sold_out_detail=1

Should I ever look to buy another wood set I am sure to look to ChessByIndia first as, compared to other retailers, all his sets are very reasonably priced.

I have pics of the actual pieces I received and can post them if you like

That Jacques website, £750 and only 1 photo to base your purchase on. Insane !

It's a good looking set. Enjoy!

You could get a Jaques of London chess set with matching folding board for mere £19.99. That's a bargain!

https://www.jaqueslondon.co.uk/products/chess-set-12-inch

I hope no one was thinking I was comparing it to the quality of the Jacques London pieces, just the very close similarity to the mid/late 19th Staunton design.

Dear Westsailor32,

As this is a set that has also come and went from my short-list, I would be very interested in some pictures of the set you received! Especially including your chess board (and please mention the square size).

Thanks in advance.

If I were a photographer I would have at least centered the pieces in the square

The board is the 2.25” Flex Pad mousepad board from Chess House. Very nice playing surface. 

Dear Westsailer32,

Thank you for sharing these pictures! I always enjoy seeing other peoples chess sets.

The pieces look very nice, congratulations! In fact, I feel that the knights (and the general color of the white pieces) look even better in your pictures than those on the maker's Etsy store.

And I'm happy don't have any quality complaints, as I understood that would be complicated in your situation.

I hope you will enjoy your set a lot!

They look fine and looks more natural. Even felt like I was sitting in front of the board, on your boat, about to make my first move. Thanks for sharing.

Thank you. Except via FedEx or DHL (which is outrageously expensive here) there is no outgoing mail from Guatemala. Unless a seller wants to just replace a wrong/damaged/defective item without me having to return the item I'm stuck with it. Thus I spend a lot of time researching what I order is what I want/need. Fortunately in this case, when it's more than just a few dollars, I am definitely happy to have no complaints whatsoever.

Yes, aside from the knight there are also a couple subtle but distinct differences from that shown on Etsy. Most notably the crenelation on the rooks is taller (I like). Another slight difference is the ball on the top of the bishop is 'sliced' and not whole as on Etsy. Nothing to get my panties in a wad over though, not for $150

I just played the first two games with it today. Got lucky and won both, erasing the jinx I would have felt had I lost the 1st game ever played with the set

Thanks to your post @westsailor32 I visited the etsy store and just bought the Official FIDE World Chess set.  I had my eye on this set but just couldn't justify the official $300 price plus shipping.  I'm hoping this will be similar enough.

@sound67 I see you bought the FIDE set.  How do you like it?

Lovely set Westsailor32. Reminds me of the GM Blitz set I picked up on special last year and  noted here in the Post your chess sets thread. I really like the one pice knights in both sets.

Most all of the CIB sets are (relatively speaking) very reasonably priced and often on sale at that. Certainly considering he offers free FedEx shipping worldwide. For a cost reaching half that by other sellers for ebony/boxwood I couldn't expect flawless workmanship. Interestingly, one of my knights 'wink' at me as well. I wonder if they're by the same carver

Please post a review with pics of your newest, 'more elaborate' set by CIB.

FYI, I also stumbled across his own online web store. More/different sets, different pricing

https://chessbyindia.com/index.php?route=common/home

I totally agree with Westsailor32.  I recently purchased a Dubrovnik 3.6" set in Boxwood/Ebony  along with the Budrose 21" chess board which is quite beautiful.  Fortunately I found them on sale  as well and got great prices.