Double weighted? Triple weighted?

lol

When I talk to GMs and ask them about their preferences, they seem to never prefer heavy pieces. I'm guessing they became conditioned to the weight of the most standard tournament set of today. In their case, this is usually the DGT Timeless set, used in just about any FIDE rated tournament for last 15 years or so.

As DGT pieces are not weighted (with one custom exception done by Frank Camaratta), the only heft they get is from the electronics inside and their chunky design.

As a side note, one of the most coveted chess sets of all time, the Dubrovnik 1950 was not weighted. Nor was the elusive Bobby Fischer's Dubrovnik II that he explicitly praised as being "very, very light, perfect for traveling with." Reportedly, the Dubrovnik II original pieces from master Jakopović's Zagreb workshop made in the Fifties and Sixties are one of the most playable chess sets ever. Not weighted.

I believe today's GMs feel most at home with very lightly weighted pieces, but they will not mind playing a game with any stable good lookin' set that is at hand.

-Izmet Fekali (http://bestchessmenever.com) 

Ifekali,

Thanks for the info. The DGT Timeless e-pieces, though not weighted, have a very low profile (king is 95mm = 3.75"). And with a 1/2" finial means there's practically no mass above 3.25".

The taller the pieces, the higher their center of mass, requiring more weight for stabilizing. I once had an unweighted wooden set with 5.5" kings. The pieces were so light I was always knocking them over, making the set a pain in the backside to play with. I eventually added weights and refelted before giving them away as a gift. They were a lot more stable once the pieces were weighted.

Depending on the size and design of the set, it may require added weight in order to lower the center of mass.

Personally, in most of the places where I play chess, the playing surfaces more closely resemble an obstacle course than a dedicated chess table. So the pieces need a lot more stabilty to remain upright and not end up swimming in the double mocha latte of the person at the next table.

Technical specifications aside, I really like the triple-weighted versions of the plastic tournament pieces.

So do I. Now that I've been working out, those triple weighted sets don't seem nearly as heavy as they did when I was a wimp!

I read a definition of the weighting once but I can't remember where and I don't think I remember correctly. If I do remember correctly it was that single weighting doubles the weight of a plain wooden piece. Like adding a single piece to the piece. Double weighting adds twice the weight and triple adds three times the weight. That may only have been one vendor's take on weighting and, as I said, I may not remember correctly. Happens sometimes.

Indeed I did.

A slightly old thread, but I’m wondering if preferences have changed in the last few years.

It seems like Americans prefer triple weighted pieces (or heavier), Europeans double weighted, and GMs unweighted (or single weighted). This from the small sample of posts I’ve seen on this forum. Is that a fair generalisation...?

This is the first time I have seen this thread and I want to preface my comment with the fact that I am a rank amateur and have not (yet) played at a club. My over the board games are either replicating the daily games I am playing on line (so I can see what they look like in 3D) - or with a friend, untimed with an ale or glass of Pinot.... I rarely play speedy games - albeit I expect that will change as I get a better understanding of the game. 
The context is important because my thoughts are clearly biased by my limited experience and playing context.

With the caveats above noted.... I have two sets - the GM Blitz (38 ounces) and the 2016 Bridle Knight (81 ounces) _ I love them both! They are both super stable - indeed, the pieces of the Bridle Knight series are quite hard to tip over - they flip back upright from quite an angle. Both sets are well balanced for their respective sizes - probably something to do with the bases as Sound points out above.
I will say - and this will sound odd - there is something about weight that I find 'comforting' or perhaps reassuringly solid (and you can laugh at me if/when my pieces crack and you say "not so solid now 'eh").
So, in my mind, some kind of weight reflects quality too.  I am truly not sure if I would get the same sensation with an unweighted set ....but again - what would I know, having never played with one! 
So @Kohpablanca - from a fellow Aussie - and an amateur and crap player at that - I hope that helps; as a layman, and at this stage of my chess experience, I prefer some weight that is in balance with the size of the pieces.

I have had my share of playing blitz. In the period when I was still playing, we shared the first place of Dutch blitz championship at the youth till 20 years of age category. We won from the champion in the final round but we came up half bord point short total to be first.

So that's the context of my share of playing blitz. I can say in the heat of battle no pieces, weighted or unweighted, stay stable. At one point the pieces will stumble/fly , there is no avoiding that.

As for regular play, I believe weights don't matter much until you get in the last minute of the game then the above mentioned will apply.

Thanks for the response, Powder. Yeh, I figure some weighting is preferred by us mere (non-GM) mortals. I suppose everyone has their preferences, though for some it seems the heavier the better.

Just had a look at the GM Blitz set you mentioned, which is pretty similar to what I have in mind for the chess set I’m working on (95mm King height with 42mm base, total set weight of about 1.1kg / 2.4lbs). Which I guess makes it ‘double weighted’, by most standards.

Sorry, are you saying weights don’t matter during most of a regular or blitz game, and towards the end / in the heat of play they also don’t matter because pieces will fly and topple over anyway...?

@mr K, no I said they don't matter much. It may feel better when holding the pieces but that's about it. Every chess pieces is designed to stand up so if you move them they will keep standing up, weighted or unweighted.

I also believe like what Sound said, broad bases matter more.

Edit: during last seconds of blitz you'll see someone rushed a piece, it toppled but he already slammed on the clock button. Then he will put the piece back straight up but all that on his opponents time

Exactly this! I never had or played with fancy Jaques styled set before and I just received one. I noticed right away I moved the pieces differently especially the bishop with that huge slice and the thin finial cut in half. Less aggressively like mr G said.

It feels chique playing with set like that. I can imagine playing in a library styled room, sitting in oversized leather chair, one hand holding glass of cognac and big fat cigar in the other hand.

I prefer a balance of weight, base diameter, piece design. If your pieces have a I Dream of Jeannie bottle design. You can get away with little to no weight at all.

My Mexican Drueke set has the same slender top with wide bases ratio. 

Even though this set weighs around 42 oz. I can tell that it really wants to stand upright. More so than a set with similar weighing but with slightly more top heavy design. My Drueke 820.40 clone has a similar feel as well.

Weight is as follows:

Club Special Standard Tournament Set is what the weighting is based on , full set = 1 lb

Double Weight (2x) Club Special = 2 lbs

3x Weight Set = 3 lbs (Ultimate Set)

Goes up from there, we carry a 9x metal set, over 9lbs

Though companies claim triple weight set, if the set is lighter than 3lbs, it's not triple weight.

Do you have metric chess sets?

@nyron59 After many years of playing and owning a couple tournament sets, I think for a tournament size chess set 800 - 1000 grams is perfect in my opinion. I do not like unweighted sets with the excepection if it is a vintage set, and I certainly do not like very heavy triple weighted sets either. 

What is also very important for me is how coherent the weights are. I have experienced sets that had heavier minor pieces than the king, or the queen was heavier than the king, which never felt right.