The low center of gravity of the B.H. Wood set with the wide bases makes it fun to play blitz games. Very easy on the eyes and hands. I have this same set as you do in the ebonized boxwood/Bowood version with the matching storage box. An ideal setup.
That board you have purchased is from a manufacturer in Spain called Rachapados Ferrer maker of fine wood veneer boards. I have my eye on a 60mm mahogany diagonal board from a distributor in Germany. The Rachapados Ferrer Company makes fine boards, I have one, a black and maple high gloss 60mm board and looking to obtain this one I just spoke about. Here's a photo of the Mahogany diagonal one from a chess.com member's post of these types of boards. As you can well see the beauty of the way the diagonal wood grains in the veneer work well with the playing squares. A pleasant view while playing a chess match.
***EDIT*** Some of the images posted upside down. It's getting late and I need to get to sleep. I apologize for this inconvenience. I may or may not fix it at a later date. Honestly though, I'm not really sure how to fix it. Tips would be appreciated.
When I shared some images of my Chess Bazaar Knubbel chess pieces I mentioned the HoS BH Wood chess pieces as well. I was asked if I could share some pictures of my BH Wood chess pieces as well. So, I will happily oblige. I'm not sure when the last time this set was reviewed on here, but I've seen some posts of it in the past.
When I bought the chess pieces I also decided to get a board. My other HoS board didn't live up to my expectations. Mostly because it had that ridiculous HoS logo printed on one of the corner squares. I don't know why, but that really bothered me. The squares were also a little too dark for my tastes. The board I got with the BH Wood chess pieces is a HoS teak and maple "standard" chess board. Dimensions can be found on the HoS website product code: BRDWSTD-TM. I have the 2.25" variant. It came in a box that said "made in Spain". It's not solid wood, it is veneer. Looks and plays very nice though.
A huge plus with these chessmen is that it comes with one of HoS's slide top boxes for free. It's a nice little box and holds all the pieces quite well. I also like that it's black and has kind of a cool looking Frank Camaratta logo on the top.
The rooks are also not too crazy either. Just a standard rook with four cuts along the parapet. I did notice some slight imperfections in the staining process on the ebonized wood. There's some weird discoloration on the top of the rooks. Here's a picture, maybe you can see what I'm talking about. It's like the stain just could get into the grooves all the way. I don't really mind. It reminds you that it was hand made, and also just adds to the character in my opinion. If I were buying a more expensive set (like the 1849 Jaques reproduction) I'd probably be annoyed, but for these pieces it's not a big deal.
The queen is very robust. The ball on her crown is the only point of weakness where the wood could break. Some queens from other sets I've noticed have extremely pointy crowns where it seems easy for the crown to break. That's why I prefer this style of queen. Looks nice, and it's very durable. Kind of like the Dubrovnik queens.
The king is 3.75" and has a nice wide base and the standard finial on top. This is probably the most fragile point of the whole set. Kind of hard to avoid getting a Staunton design without this type of finial though.
I don't have any close-ups of the bishops, but looking at the other pictures you can see the bishop's mitre is a little more tall and slender versus being round and bulbous. I enjoy the way these bishops look for that very reason. It's just a little bit different from the usual and that makes me happy.
Nothing much to say about the pawns. They look like pawns and they're very stable. They're also not too tall.
Here's a few more pictures of everything from different angles.
There's an easy little mate in two for black if you feel like looking for it...
I think this is an outstanding chess set. The pieces are simple yet elegant. It also looks like it can take a beating as well. The chessmen have an almost rugged look to them because of the wide bases and chunkier design. I think it would look right at home on a more rustic looking board as well. I'm not a club player so I don't know what you guys like to bring to the chess clubs, but if you're not squeamish about bringing your $170 wood chessmen out into the wild I imagine they'd be excellent pieces for tournament play. They're also robust enough for blitz play as well. They're extremely stable.
My next acquisition from HoS might be the Mechanics Institute reproduction. That thing is the grand daddy of chonky knights. Honestly the knights in that set are kinda goofy looking, but it's still such a unique looking set of chessmen. I'll probably need 2.5" squares for that behemoth as well.
but I digress...
After everything was said and done I bought this set at a 15% discount. The price came to $291.38. I had about $160 in cash back rewards from my credit card. I ended up paying around $131 out of pocket. Not a bad deal at all. These pieces bring me great joy to use. They're ergonomic enough, extremely stable, very durable and very robust. If you're looking for chessmen that are different from the standard generic "championship style" or "grandmaster series" type chessmen then this will be a nice step up for you. Also, you can't beat the free box that comes with it. It's like the icing on the cake.
Hope you enjoyed my little review.