Indecision Choosing a First Set

I'm feeling ready to invest in my first nice, at-home set for playing through books, analyzing, and playing with friends. 

I found the Hungarian set on HoS and loved the opposite mitered bishops. At $150 (for the Anjan and Boxwood) it was a bit more than I wanted to spend, but I thought I could swing it. 

Then I did a bit more last-minute browsing to look for other sets with opposite mitered bishops and I found the HoS Dubrovnik Set and the '59 Zagreb--both stunning! The same opposite mitered look, but each with a more interesting knight than the Hungarian set, I think. 

The downside is that both the 3.75" King Dubrovnik and the 3.875" King Zagreb are over $200, which would be quite a lot for me right now.

A smaller Zagreb with a 2.875" King, suited for 1.75" squares according to HoS, is available for $150.

I'm feeling total indecision here. I love the Zagreb and the Dubrovnik, but they might be a bit too costly for me at the moment. And I'm unsure how small the smaller Zagreb and a 1.75" square board would feel since I don't already have a set to compared it to.

Any advice? 

And, for those with experience, will a smaller set/board (1.75" square) feel too small? I do live in a small space, but I think this will be the only set I invest in for quite some time. I don't want to get one that feels too small.  

Hey @MCH818,

Thanks very much for the insight and personal experience. Seriously, that's good to know. Like I said, this will probably be my main set for a long time to come, so if 1.75" squares might start to feel too small, then I should probably avoid it. That said, WOW is that set on that board beautiful. I imagine that was hard to part ways with. I love the simplicity of the board, where'd you get that if you don't mind me asking?

Thank you for the recommendation for the Fischer Dubrovnik set too. I'll definitely look into that. I see that the price point is a bit lower, which is nice.

Buy what you think you need at the moment. We all expect you to buy the other set eventually; otherwise, you wouldn't be conflicted with the indecision and turn to a forum of collectors for advice.

Keep in mind that most sets with a king 3.5" or taller will seem cramped on a 1.75" sq. board.  

However, you really don't have to guess how a certain set is going to look on your 1.75" board, since usually chess sellers have listed specs which gives at least the diameter of the King's base, if not actually the base diameters of all the pieces. 

@chessroboto You're probably right, but it really won't be for a long while at these prices!

@DrChesspain Just to be clear, I don't have a 1.75" board. I would buy whatever size was appropriate for the pieces, as you mentioned. My concern was that, if I buy the 2.875 King Zagred set (which I would buy a 1.75" board for), will that size set/board start to feel too small to be the main board I use for analyzing and playing every day? And apparently it was for MCH818. Sorry for the confusion!

I agree that a 1.75" board will be too small for most sets, although a 2" board would likely be fine for the small Zagreb in addition to most 3.5" sets and some 3.75" sets.

My concern is only if a 1.75” board would feel a bit small for daily analyzing and playing. I’m not concerned with how it’ll work with other sets. 

Anyway, it sounds like that may be the case (that it’ll feel a bit small for constant use), so maybe I should stick to considering the 3.75” and 3.875” sets.

I’d welcome more input though!

I have boards with 1.875" squares, 2" and 2.25".  For at home use, 2" seems perfect.  Big enough where there is plenty of room but not so big where it is awkward for sitting and analyzing by yourself.

Quality woods are becoming restrictive commodities as materials for chess components. First it was ivory. Soon it will be rosewood. Boxwood and laminates should continue to be cheap, but quality solid woods will only become more expensive over time. 

Chess Set Sizing - Pieces vs Board...

The primary sizing criteria for the set and board is that of square size vs King base diameter...
A good rule of thumb is...
King base diameter = 0.75 * square size
or equivalently....
Square size = 1.33 * King base diameter
Any variation from these ratios, or the size of individual pieces and pawns is a matter of personal preference...

http://blog.chesshouse.com/how-to-select-the-right-size-chessboard-for-pieces/

Hmm, I seem to have expressed myself poorly here. I didn't mean to ask about piece size/board size ratio. I meant to ask, what size board (let's just assume that the piece/board ratio is comfortable and good) is good for home analysis and daily playing? Is 1.75" too small to be a daily use board? 

I'm also asking about people's preferences regarding the aesthetics and feels of the specific sets I posted.

A few dealers that I have purchase from.....good products, good value, good service...

https://thechessstore.com/wood-chess-set-with-boards/

pieces from Chessbazaar and a custom solid wood board from ColoradoWoodWorker (Brad Borkowski)...

https://www.chessbazaar.com/chess-pieces.html

https://www.etsy.com/shop/ColoradoWoodWorker?ref=search_shop_redirect

Those boards from Colorado WoodWorker are gorgeous. 

Thanks for the recommendations!

I have several sets of standard tournament size (2.25 in. squares & 3.75-4.0 in. King) and several with 1.75 inch squares and 3 in. King.  I am happy with all of them because of their quality, style and craftsmanship.  So based on your comments I think you would not necessarily be unhappy with the 1.75 in. squares, just so long as you are pleased with the quality, style and craftsmanship of the pieces and the board - that is the most important thing.  Size is secondary.

Brad Borkowski does good work with very reasonable prices.  Many on chess.com have purchased from him, including myself - all have been pleased...

https://www.chess.com/forum/view/chess-equipment/cb-gm-blitz-set?page=4

https://www.chess.com/forum/view/chess-equipment/colorado-woodworker-custom-chess-board

https://www.chess.com/forum/view/chess-equipment/coloradowoodworker-solid-wood-chessboard?page=1

https://www.chess.com/forum/view/chess-equipment/colorado-woodworker-tower-series-magnetic-board

https://www.chess.com/forum/view/chess-equipment/my-new-board-from-colorado-woodworker

Thank you, Russ. I appreciate that input. I was wondering the same thing. In the past I've definitely prefered quality and aesthetics over size (for example, when buying a guitar). Maybe the same will apply here. 

Welcome.  I think you have the right perspective.  By the way, I share your point of view about guitars - I own way too many of those as well...

Browse this site you may find all 3 of those sets you had mentioned at a less expensive pricing depending on the type of wood you choose. Browse all 6 pages there may be something that catches your eye. Good luck!

P.S. By the way that Hungarian set on the House of Staunton website is also called a Romanian Tournament set on this Etsy site. FYI

Here's the link to the site on Etsy;

https://www.etsy.com/shop/RoyalChessMall?ref=search_shop_redirect&page=1#items

By the way, the first set you mentioned the Hungarian aka the Romanian Tournament set is one of my favorite for blitz and or analysis. Big enough for chess matches yet small enough to be an analysis type of set at home for studying setting up different game typs problem scenarios to improve your overall game.

I have 7 versions of it from various crafters including the original design which came from Romania. Here's a past photo I shared on a post highlighting the reviews of this great little, durable, and great handling for rapid games set. 6 of the 7 varieties I have are shown on this 2.25" square folding rosewood and maple chessboard. 

I would say to buy a Drueke set for the start. You can choose from the number of woods. For chessboard definitely the colorado wood worker is the better choice, but I'd prefer to buy a combination from a single source.

Link: https://bit.ly/3h5lerM

I appreciate the recommendation, but this is even more expensive than the pieces I'm considering (which are already quite expensive for me), and it doesn't have the opposite colored finials on the bishops miters, which I'd like. 

It's definitely a beautiful set, but not for me at the moment.