Don't Overlook Or Forget the Players Series

The first wood set I bought from Frank Camaratta and his House of Staunton was the Collector Series, to match a contemporary board I had my parents and sister get together to buy for me as a Christmas present, circa 1998.

After I bought this when I called to tell him how nice the above combo was, Frank said, "Now you need to get a nice set to play with at tournaments."  He meant this as a real idea and not a salesman's pitch.

So, I sold off a Fidelity Chess stand alone computer and bought my second set, a Players Series in Rosewood.  I played with that set at tournaments until 2004.  By then I owned another 4 HOS sets that I could use at tournaments and I had decided to sell off a number of my sets so, I sold this set to a young college grad from Peoria that was about to become a Master.  And I'm here to tell you that I sold it cheap because we adults in Peoria watched out for this young man as his father, another chess player in our club, had passed away of a heart attack when the boy was only in the 7th grade.

I then went big in my sets for toutnament play with a Marshall Series 4.0" set and others of the same sizing.

Recently, with my Noj Dubrovnik set, I realized I like the smaller proportioned 3.75" sets.  I have the Noj Dubrovnik and the HOS Classic Series 3.75" for my small footprint play.

I just received an email from HOS with a 20% off sale, and I had noticed that the Players Series sets were not increased in the 1998 price of $180, for the Rosewood, but now was $20 cheaper at $160.  Taking the 20% off and adding shipping made it so I got the Players Series in Rosewood, delivered to my door for $137.  I just had to do it.

The set arrived today, and I am certainly satisfied.

Here's a picture from their website:

And here's a brief quote from their descriptive blurb:

"Crafted to replicate the design and proportions of the turn-of-the-century Staunton Pattern Chess sets, a period widely regarded as one of the finest in the history of the Staunton Chessmen."

The House of Staunton is proud to offer the Players Series Chess set. A full tournament-sized Chess set, it features a 3.75" King with a 1.7" diameter base.

This set is a lot nicer than the Classic Series, making me want to now get rid of that set.

The set arrived today, Wednesday and I ordered it on the internet on Saturday, good service.  The set also is in excellent shape and the Rosewood is of a nice quality.  I know this because I have received and seen Rosewood that wasn't so great.  So, I have no complaints at all about The House of Staunton in this deal.

This was obviously a Frank Camaratta created or re-created set and you can tell.  The proportioning between the pieces is excellent making this a very nice set to look at.

A number of their sets have increased in price.  The Zagreb 59', Championship Series, and a few others are real examples.

This Players Series, Liberty Series and the Professional Series sets, which were a few of the first few Frank had made, have come down in price. 

I used to own a Professional Series in Rosewood and still own a Zagreb 59' in Rosewood.  I like this Players Series set better than the Professional Series.

The Zagreb 59' is alright but I find the base diameter on this set's pieces is a bit small for the overall size of each piece.  I use this set as my Barnes and Noble set for cafe play.

So, don't overlook the Players Series set.  It is a real sleeper in my opinion and really a great value as it is currently priced.

I like the Player's set, also.  It's definitely a step up from the Classic series.

Here's mine:

Thats a very nice set.! I would get one if I did't have too many sets already.

Eyechess - I have the same set you discussed in your initial post here. I'm struggling with finding a wood board that I like with the dark rosewood pieces. Can you weigh in with your choice of board? (Not trying to exclude anyone else with a similar set. Please feel free to weigh in with your board choices!)

Ron, (my name is Ron, too), there are a number of different board woods or colors that work well.

This set, as other dark Rosewood sets, works well on woods that have a little red or brown in them or maybe even black, like Palisander.

The board that I am pretty much using all the time with my  Rosewood Players Series is the HoS Rosewood folding board:

I carry the board in a Deluxe Tournament bag from HoS and I keep the set in a flat Plano plastic case or tackle box, which also fits in the bag along with the board and a clock.

I find the dark of the pieces is picked up perfeclty by the dark lines in the board's dark squares.  And the lighter than Rosewood border works very well.

If I don't mind carrying a board that doesn't fold, you can see me use this Montgoy Palisander board from HoS:

But, the folding Rosewood board works so well I use it instead of any solid board.

If you aren't going to transport the board and so do not want a folding board, I am sure you can find a similarly grained, solid board to match and complement the set.

Good Luck.

Thanks for the response Ron. This is very helpful as I was thinking of using a board with black squares to bring out the dark lines in the pieces but I really like your idea of accentuating the red. Time to go look at HOS and see the goods!

Remember the Rosewood gets darker with age.  Trying to put this set on black or completely dark squares might make it so you visually lose the pieces in the squares as there is very little contrast.

Have fun.

I have owned several Player's sets. They were a great design and good value.

Ron - I got one of the HOS folding rosewood boards during the 20% off sale. It's a little more brown than the sample picture you posted but still looks great with the dark rosewood set. Thanks again for your help!

I'm sorry I missed seeing this post before.  Yes, you can call me Ron.

The square size on the folding Rosewood board from The House of Staunton is 2.25" or 5.7cm. 

With the King base diameter of the Players Series Set at 1.7" (4.44 cm) the percentage of the King base to the square size is a touch over 75%, just about perfect.

Ron - I'm glad you got one of these boards to go with your set.  I pretty much only buy when there is a sale. 

That picture I posted is from their web site.  I believe my board is a little more brown and perhaps a touch darker as well.  But as you say, the dark of the Rosewood looks very nice on the board.