Ebonized Pieces Suck...
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I too prefer ebony over ebonized, but you go too far sir. An old ebonized set eventually turns a dark chocolate color that is quite attractive and one that has been used often proudly wears the signs of a thousand battles. We'll probably just have to agree to disagree on this one...
LongIslandMark wrote:
The other issue is, there are supposed sustainable harvest programs (run by the foresty industry), but ebony is scarce and maybe should not be harvested at all - it is considered a threatened species.
So what if you chess pieces are another hardwood?
I agree- even though ebony might be better in chess sets (I haven't had much experience with collecting chess sets, so I don't know for myself) than "ebonized" woods, it's important not to support the endangerment of rare plant species.
Speaking of collecting chess sets, I received the Miniature Isle of Lewis chess set (from National Geographic) for Christmas. It's a very nice collector's item, but nearly impossible to play with- I tried playing with it and the not only were the pieces tiny, but the design of them made it hard to differentiate between pieces, especially the bishop and the rook. I won the game, but it took me a long time. Here is an image of the chess set:
Looks like we are stuck with ebonised in the future. Over harvesting of ebony & other rare woods looks like a dim future for these woods.
I prefer ebonized over natural wood coloring most of the time, personally. Natural ebony is probably going to be out of my price range.
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ROBB_CHESS wrote:
I would never buy a chess set with ebonized pieces for play or collecting. Fake ebony is what they really are cause the word ebonized is just a nicer marketing way of saying the black pieces are not real ebony. IE... They're fake ebony period and cause of cheap cost, cutting corners, higher profit margins, lack of trained craftsman in ebony carving, the growing scarcness of real ebony itself, and lastly, folks buying into that cause they just want black for a cheaper price... All I can say is... best invest in sharpie and magic marker stock in the future. Ho Ho Ho :)
Still needing to tear down the choices of others in order to justify your own purchases. Good grief.
Yeah, this is a weird subject for a thread, and a pretty...aggressive...tone for an opinion.
Dec 28, 2014
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#10
One of my favorite sets is ebonized, it is my everyday go to set to practice. It is a simple club set I bought off of HOS for 1/2 price on a close out. Perfect in size, just enough weight, and rugged enough not to get damaged. Of course I am one of those poor folks who likes to find a bargain now & then. No country club for me, just coffee houses and my chess club.
It's ironic that Bobby Fischer's favorite Dubrovnik pieces had dyed Black pieces, either brown or black.
ROBB_CHESS wrote:
I would never buy a chess set with ebonized pieces for play or collecting. ... They're fake ebony period and cause of cheap cost, cutting corners, higher profit margins, lack of trained craftsman in ebony carving.
This is a difficult position to reconcile with the fact that very few of even the highest end sets have true ebony knights. Instead, horror of all horrors these pieces are made from two pieces of wood, with the top part, the horse, typically carved from Boxwood and then painted, stained, or dyed black. It's definitely enough of a conundrum to drive a purist mad.
Thank God for modern medications!
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Surely it's just the term "ebonised" that causes offence...
Ebony is prone to cracking.
I don't object to playing with black pieces... but the natural grain of a a darker wood is far more atactive (to me) than unrelieved black. 
SteadyRolling wrote:
This is a difficult position to reconcile with the fact that very few of even the highest end sets have true ebony knights. Instead, horror of all horrors these pieces are made from two pieces of wood, with the top part, the horse, typically carved from Boxwood and then painted, stained, or dyed black.
I don't know about that. The first Jaques Staunton sets used boxwood for the top halves, but soon changed to ebony, and I'm not sure of any sets that still use boxwood for the top and ebony for the bottom, though there may well be some.
Dec 28, 2014
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#16
I hate to break this to you Rob, but not everyone has the money to throw at ebony chessmen. It just so happens that this little thing called "income inequality" exists in modern society, and, as it turns out, this theme also transfers over to chessmen selections for some.
Dec 29, 2014
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#17
With his uncompromising attitude and firm believs Robb is applying for the resident chess books and equipment forum troll vacancy. Shall we hire him?
What?? He only started four threads in December. This is less than some people start in one day.
Dec 29, 2014
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#19
On a more serious note, ebonized pieces could just as well be called 'black' instead to rid itself from the feeling of simulacra (if that's an english word).