Confessions of a chess set addict (A review, long, many photos)

Hi.  My name is Scott.  And I am a chess set addict.

The internet has been a boon for playing chess for sure.  Chess.com coupled with my iPhone app has allowed me to play more chess than ever before and I'm loving it.  The only thing I don't love is the lack of using real chess sets.  For as long as I can remember I have loved the look and feel of a great chess set.  I have way too many for sure.

Starting back over late last summer I went looking online for a good folding magnetic chess set that I could use for travel and analyzing.  I wanted something nice, wood with Staunton style pieces, algebraic notation (AN) if possible, and high quality.  After much looking I stumbled upon Houseofchess.com. 

They are a company in India and they have a great line of folding wood boards.  What caught my eye with this company was that the knights had a more detailed look than most other offerings with this type of board.  Not HOS detailed, but still pretty good.  So I ordered one, a 10" folding magnetic in rosewood/maple (pieces are rosewood/boxwood) with green foam insert interior that holds the pieces.  No AN was offered on any of their boards but that wasn't a big deal since I had not seen a single board with this offering anyway.  It was nice but a little too small. 

So I ordered a 12" rosewood/maple 'exclusive' set (2.5" king).  The 'exclusive' line includes extra queens, an extra pawn, and an extra set of knights.  The extra knights are different than the regular knights and not as nice.  I don't know why you would need an extra set of knights but more is better than less so I didn't question it.  The set was beautiful.  The interior color is a dark red.  The magnets were strong enough to hold pieces in place even when holding the board upside down. 

I was so impressed I ordered another one, this time a 16" board, also in rosewood/maple (3" king).  This set really impressed me! The size of board and pieces was perfect.  I prefer short, squat pieces over tall and slender and these fit the bill.  The only thing missing on this board was the extra queens and beautiful red interior - this one came in green.

I sent an email to the company to let them know that I thought their boards were beautiful and to suggest that they make a line with AN, as 'real' chess players might like that.  I also mentioned they should offer larger sets with the red interior and extra queens.  To my surprise they emailed back and said they would be more than happy to make me a custom set with AN engraving, red interior and extra queens for a nominal fee. 

This began several months of ordering different sets in different sizes, wood types, interior colors, and piece styles.  I now have 8 of their boards!  As I said, an addict!  But I think I'm all done.  I finally have everything I want and a few extras that I'm selling off here.  So if you are looking for a nice folding magnetic set and want to save a few bucks see my ad in the classified sections.  I'm going to post some photos below and will also say which ones are for sale.  You can email me at scottmartinnra@hotmail.com if you are interested in anything I have below.  Enjoy the photos - they are not great, just camera phone photos.

Here's a couple photos with 7 of the 8 boards all set up.  The 10" board is the only one not pictured:

All boards have foam inserts that hold the pieces securely in place.  They also all have a faux leather case to protect the board when stored.  Here's a photo of the boards in their cases - minus the one already set up with a game going!

Here is my favorite 16" set, in golden rosewood/maple.  It has a blue interior, extra queens, AN engraving.  The AN engraving shows up best on this color board.

This is my second favorite set, the 12" exclusive rosewood/maple, no AN, red interior with extra queens, knights and pawns:

This is my newest set, and third favorite.  It is a 20", non-magnetic set with what they call 'globe' style pieces.  The interior is blue, extra queens, tall pieces with weighted bases and AN engraving.  This one is also a keeper!

The remaining sets are all considered 'extras' that are for sale.  All are basically brand new having only been set up once to check them out and take photos.

First up, the original 16" rosewood/maple board, green interior, no AN.

Next up was the first custom ordered board, basically the same as the one above (16" rosewood/maple) but with red interior, AN engraving, and extra queens: (SOLD)

Next up, the second custom board ordered, a 12" exclusive set in golden rosewood/maple with red interior, extra queens, pawns and knights, and AN engraving.  The AN shows up very well in these color set:

Last is the first 'fancy' non-magnetic set I ordered.  Its what they call their 'Magic Ball' set.  It's an 18" rosewood/maple board with AN engraving.  The pieces are hand carved ebony/boxwood and weighted.  The carving is the style of having a ball-within-a-ball - a neat trick and very time consuming to make.  I'm not sure if I'm going to sell this one yet.  I might hang on to it for a while to see if it grows on me.  Or I might donate it to a charity auction.

I also have the 10" set which I don't have photos of.  It's a rosewood/maple set, no AN and no extra queens, with a green interior.

That's pretty much it.  Thanks for coming along for the ride.  And if you know of any 12-step programs for chess set addicts, please let me know!  Check out Houseofchess.com and don't be afraid to email them with special requests.  I dealt with a guy named Aiden - very helpful, pretty good english.  Tell them Scott sent you.  Please note that I have no affiliation with this company other than the sets I have already purchased!

I own about 40 different chess sets.  You've inspired me to take a photo of all of them, and post them.

Yes, Ed, please do!  I have probably another 20 myself but they are mostly tournament sets (vinyl boards with plastic pieces) of different variations so not much to see.  But please do post your story and boards.  It's good to know I'm not alone with my 'disease'!

Beautiful!

Well if you have to be an addict I'd have to say being addicted to chess sets is a vast improvement over being addicted to alcohol, nicotine, crack, crank, coke etc. Well, maybe not a vast improvement...  (hic)

Great sets & photos, thanks for posting this!

It's funny but I own one nice set & bd sitting on a chess table custom-built for me by a wood-working friend but I only use it to play OTB, I much prefer analyzing my own games or reading chess books by using Chess Base or Fritz which does away with the necessity of always having to reset the pieces manually after going thru analysis lines and also all your analysis is instantly recorded as you move the pieces. And Fritz can be used to "infinitely analyze" games (not ones that i'm currently playing of course!) or positions as you play them out to check for analysis errors and typos.

What a great idea!!!

Thank you for sharing!!!  

My dream set!

The notation is interesting: Piglet takes Roo

Fell off the wagon - just ordered my 9th set from them.  I have become very enamoured of the 20" set I have with the 'Globe' style Staughnton picese that I ordered another custom set, this time a 16" Golden Rosewood board, AN engraved, red velvet interior and Globe pieces but in Ebony/Boxwood.  And magnetic vs. weighted.  I'll post photos when I get it.  I'm out of control.  Which one of you is supposed to be my sponsor anyway?

Thanks for posting the pictures of the sets and the history in your ordering them.  I can see how you got "hooked".  I'm always looking at sets too but fortunately, I found that using the computer has superseded using a real set.  Again, very nice sets.

I noted this chess set, its almost like the smaller one I have and doesn't cost too much. http://www.chesscentral.com/chess_set_p/han-101029-a.htm

You have nothing on me.  I have about $60,000 worth of chess pieces.  I own only 3 boards but one of them is a 2.5" square job from Somerville.  Best ever and American made.  On it I have set (in a KIA against a French defense) a set hand carved by Jim Arnold.  The pieces are black walnut and pear.  The rooks are carved like stone pieces and are larger than either the knights or bishops.  My other sets are mostly HOS, but I have some from the Chess Store and some fromt he House of Chess and some from The Chess Piece.  I sold one set (a duplicate) and have had regrets ever since.  Most of them are in display cases, but way too many are in simple cloth bags.  When people ask me about this, I always say, "That's what money is for."

Brian

  What....no metal chess sets? Oops, I didn't mean to start anything. I can't play on the ornate chess sets. My little brain needs to use all it's power planning my game, and not trying to figure out what piece is what.

    But those are really nice wood sets.

That's what is nice about the Staunton style sets - the pieces are instantly recognizable.  These truly are beautiful sets.  I also like the Mark of Westminster sets - beautiful wood and excellent carving.

This post makes me feel very good. Before I saw it I was afraid that I was being excessive by having three wood sets, one marble set, and a couple of plastic tournament sets.

Not really an addict, but....

This is a start of a nice collection. I suggest brushing up on history of the pieces & tradition and a little research on what is a good chessman. You have some hideous sets there. :-)

Being selective adds value to any collection.

-Izmet,

wow just came across this thread while looking for another and i too am a 'recovering chess set-aholic' ... i haven't bought one for a while and so i should be getting like a 300-day chip or something ;) but you all have beautiful sets pictured ... and there is nothing like a deep warm wooden set to make you want to play all day long ...would love to see more of the same :)

I discovered houseofchess.com, too, and initially thought I'd found a source for lifelong collecting of wood-pieced sets. They are absolutely fabulous pieces for the money and the boards are excellently made (except maybe the joinery on the sides seems to be rough-cut and filled with wood dough of a matching color). For the price, really hard to beat.

Recently, I thought I'd try one of their magnetic, travel 2" pieces-only in bloodwood/boxwood to replace the pieces on my Novag Obsidian (dull black Obsidian pieces on dull black squares surrounded by dull black boarder are sometimes difficult to readily distinguish in lowish light). I was justified in my gamble: the pieces are beautiful and the reddish-brown color contrasts nicely with the black squares.

But the downside to houseofchess.com is warranty/service after purchase. One of my sets is a 10" travel set wherein one of the white pawns has a dead magnet. I tried to get them the replace it and got cherry, upbeat responses, but no replacement pawn. I even asked they include the replacement pawn in the bloodwood set I just mentioned and they said they would. They didn't. Recent email follow-ups in the past couple of weeks yield no reply from them.

Lesson: houseofchess.com makes a quality product and is a great source for starting a "user" collection of wood sets. But if you get dinged by a problem in your set, apparently you're going to have to live with it.

I'm not sure I've stopped ordering from them because I really do like their offerings, but if they won't send a measly replacement pawn, in their generic boxwood white no less, to a repeat customer....

Oh, I forgot to mention, AN is a standing option on all boards now. Allow an extra few days for the laser carving to be done. But note: it's only the carving, no filler at all. If you want the AN to be white, for example, you'll need to fill the letters/numbers yourself. I think the cost was $10.00 on my last set.

I've only got four chess sets, and to the relief of my wife am not planning on buying any more.  My prize set is the marble/onyx board & set in my avatar.

My 3-year-old son already has two chess sets, a cheap folding wooden set I bought at Walmart for his 2nd birthday (since he always wanted to play with my set and I was afraid he would lose the pieces) and an old plastic Duncan-style set his uncle gave him.

I must say, though, that when it comes to chess sets, I prefer wooden sets without the alphanumerics marked on the board.

Far left, main line Ruy Lopez, bottom, King's Indian Defense: Classical Variation, faright, can't tell, can't really see it and top the good ole standard starting position!