ChessCafe Special Chess Set in Stock

It looks like the Chess Cafe Special set is back in stock and on sale.  My example, bought maybe 7 or 8 years ago, is fine value for the money spent.  Right now it's less than $40.

Here's mine:

Thats a nice looking set.! I have the International set from them. It really proves that you don't have to spend big bucks for a decent looking set. Thanks for the pics.!

I have that exact same set; I got it for $25 from the USCF store, back when it first came out about 15 years ago. Here's the ad I saw which prompted me to buy them:

Here's a picture of my actual pieces:

As far as I'm concerned, they are the best deal going for basic, utilitarian, tournament-size wooden chess pieces. You can't argue with the design, as it is a copy of the USCF standard tournament plastic pieces ("Club Special"), which itself is pretty much a copy of designs from the old French Lardy company (but better looking than Lardy pieces in my opinion). Most other wooden sets in that price range look horrible, with clunky, out-of-proportion designs and a relatively rough finish.

House of Staunton sells the same pieces, but for $69:

http://www.houseofstaunton.com/club-wooden-chessmen-3-75-king.html

Thanks for the info & pics.! Its a nice basic Staunton with no fancy Knight etc. but, it has simple beauty regardless.

I agree.  

This is a wooden set that you can just throw in your chess bag like a plastic set.  The 1.5 inch base kings are a little small (IMO) for 2.25 inch squares, but still acceptable.

Chess Cafe also has a great deal on a chess table: http://shop.chesscafe.com/Berkshire-Folding-Chess-Table-EQP1173.htm

I bought one of these a while back and it is a nice, practical chess table that is a good value for the money.  And selling for less than 20% of its original price!

No affiliation, etc.

Yeah, and oddly, that's the same combination that has been the de facto standard at USCF chess tournaments for decade; i.e., that exact same design of pieces, commonly known as "Club Special" (except plastic instead of wood, same 1.5" base king), and a 2.25" board. 2.25" squares are too big for a 1.5" base king even by USCF's own guidelines. Their guidelines specify a 78% rule with up to 1/8" larger squares being allowed, which for a 1.5" base king = 1.92 to 2.05" squares, but they've been selling the 1.5" base king "Club Special" pieces along with a 2.25" square rollup board as their basic tournament set for ages.

My Drueke board in the picture above has 2" squares, which is perfect for those pieces.

That looks like a pretty good design in that it has some room on all sides of the checkerboard. Most chess tables have little-to-no room around the checkerboard; you might as well mount legs on an ordinary wooden chessboard. This leaves you no room to set captured pieces, a beverage, a clock, an ashtray if you smoke, etc., and also leaves no room in front to lean down on your arms/elbows for a closer/alternate view of the board. This makes it worse than using a regular board on a regular table, which defeats the purpose of having a chess table. I think most chess tables are designed by people who never played a game of chess in their life.

I plan to make a chess table eventually, with the help of my father who is a cabinet maker. It will have a rectangular top, with 6" of arm/elbow room up front, and 12" of room on both sides of the board.

Yes, it works.  The table part is formica; I have dripped coffee on it, etc., and it wipes right off.  The interior board is wood; nothing fancy but perfectly fine.

The table could be a little higher, but my solution was just to use a lower chair.

It is not a beautiful wooden table collector's piece, of course, but more a practical surface for playing and studying chess.  For those purposes it works very well.

Still, if you have the skills to make your own, that is even better because you can make exactly what you want.