How clumsy are we?

I grew up playing with unweighted (wooden) pieces. My fathers set was (is) unweighted and the pieces used at the (swedish) clubs in the late 20th century (Svenska Schackpjäser Tävlingsmodell) were unweighted too. I can´t remember pieces falling over ever beeing an issue.

Now (heavily) weighted pieces seem to be the norm and most (younger) players scoff at unweighted pieces. But, really, why? Of course the pieces must be stable enough not to fall over during normal play but with reasonably well designed unweighted pieces this is no problem.

Are players clumsier nowadays so that triple weighted pieces are needed or is it just a fad?

Here´s an old discussion.

Nope, just spoiled 😄

The reason for the weighted peices these days may be because the fast games like Bullet and Blitz are super popular.

My favorite plastic set to take to club is the unweighted solid club set (tan & black) on vinyl board. But I do not play anything faster than Rapid.

It´s easier and quicker to move well balanced unweighted pieces.

I am just guessing. I do know that low center of gravity weighted pieces slide better without tipping on wood and vinyl. I am hardly good enough for those super fast games.

Herman....Didn't I read in your profile that you too consider yourself heavily weighted?

In our daily chess games, my son and myself prefer balanced, unweighted pieces as well.

Heavily weighted pieces may give a (false) psychological sense of "better quality" maybe?

When I first started collecting - having rarely played - I thought weight equaled quality and balance … I enjoy my heavily weighted pieces but … they are mainly for display now … having played OTB much more with friends in recent times, I now prefer lightly weighted pieces but not so light that they blow over!
To add I also prefer playing in pubs and places where I take a board - so I also enjoy size 4. Chavets as almost the perfect playing piece (from my needs). Sacrilege in these parts where wood is preferred - and that is my preference too - but that plastic set I just posted in the other thread is wonderful - almost perfect for my playing retirements.

I ordered my Noj Mincetta set unweighted. I always thought the weights make pieces less sturdier.

There is little risk for me falling over but I move rather slowly.

Well, that would be rich, but it hasn´t happened yet, not in this thread.

Very nice photograph, bananamoon, what a studio! And cool move to order unweighted. Of course there is a sense in which pieces with weigths are less sturdy than unweighted ones: When you are used to playing unweighted and then you get the sluggish things, they are a drag! They are not a whole but a pastiche, they are not what they seem, they don't behave alright, they tumble and don't fall! In that sense they are not reliable, they betray the hand and the eye and they are shaky. In the end they affect our play with the much sturdier unweighted pieces. Haha

But then again, they will not have weighted pieces with no reason or demand, a certain higher degree of feedback from pieces' mass seems to be what many like, and they find it quite alright to bring it about by weighting.

I'm collecting chess pieces for their beauty and to play, so I will take them as they come. But of course it's a plus if a set is perfectly playable without weights. Your fingers get the different weights and the natural sturdiness (or lack of it) of the pieces to play with, which is a finer and more rewarding experience than natural weight plus put in weights that tend to level differences out.

Almost anything that´s quantifiable tends to be used as a sales argument, be it horse powers, megapixels or number of ball bearings. If there´s such a thing as weighting, of course double weighted beats weighted and triple weighted must be better still. It follows that unweighted must be inferior. This is how most people relates to numbers.

I like both , pending on the set & the style + age of the set . It seems that a lot of newer set are over weighted , may be to heavy !

@bananamoon

By sturdier , do you mean less likely to crack?

B/c i’ve returned a fair amount of replicas that cracked at the base . My guess is insufficiently aged wood expanding and contracting around a big metal weight.

That's exactly what I meant. Just basic physics some people really (!!! ) don't get.

Noj uses light weights like what other makers call single or double weighted. When I bought my Noj set I asked how heavy and they informed me each piece has a 20g weight. I’ve never heard of their sets cracking but I wouldn’t really know.

Similarly my Romanian set made by Biro Sandor also uses a light weight.

I like this. You can feel the weight but it’s not heavy. Triple and quadruple weighted sets is kind of a marketing gimmic.

The plastic Ultimate set is perfect with a heavy weight because those pieces are distinctly beefy and it just works.

How heavy are your Minceta pieces?

Word!

I see and accept your point, well stated. As a woodworker, i do wonder about the availability of aged (dried) woods juxtaposed with the increased demand for quality products. I suppose some makers will rush the process to the detriment of the final product. Also, as end users, if we expose the product to extreme temperatures without proper acclimation, we might expect wood failure as well. Great discussion points and thread by the way.

My unweighted Minceta set with extra queens weights 516 grams.

I have a set made in the Philippines. The pieces are a very light, inexpensive wood, and I often wish they were weighted because they have a narrow base and tend to fall over if I bump the table even slightly when I stand up.