Jaques Style Chess Board

Back in the late 1990's Frank Camarratta came out with what he called his Superior Traditional Chess board.  It featured a frame that was slightly elevated to the Chess board.  The board and pieces were then in a bit of a playing pit or area.  It was nice for tournament play because I could pick up the board and pieces to go to the skittle area and the pieces were not likely to slide off the board because of the outer frame.

I ended up buying a Green dyed Sycamore and Bird's Eye Maple version of this board in 2.375" squares as a Signature Traditional board.  However my original one had a flaw and the one they replaced it with was a much lower quality than the original as they had changed manufacturers.

A few years ago, I bought a beta version of this design in Padauk from HoS with 2.5" squares, to use with my larger sets.

So, in the early 2000 decade, I got my neighbor, at the time, that was an engineer and had serious woodworking equipment in his garage to help me make a chess board.  I used solid Bubinga and Curly Maple for the board.  And my friend, Wayne, did framing for a living so we ended up actually framing the board with a Cherry frame that was elevated to the board.  I gave that board to my first Chess mentor and will be getting it back this weekend as he called me saying he doesn't play with it anymore and I should take it back.  Pictures of this board and a HoS Professional Series Rosewood set will follow next week.

Recently I have seen people say that this type board design was a Jaques board design, which makes sense to me.

Well, the buying "curse" of this forum bit me once again.  In that very long thread on Jaques type sets, Carl posted a picture of his 1850 set on a very nice board.  Here are pictures of the board (and set):

As you can see, the frame is elevated to the board, just the way I like it.

I messaged Carl last night asking about that board, specifically the size and then the price.

Sure enough, his answer sunk me.  The square size is 2.28", just the size I don't have and can use with the majority of sets I own, darn it

And he offered me a good price, so I bought it just a short time ago.

cgrau, this is the color and type of board I plan on using with my Rosewood pieces.  The Sheesham might be a bit too brown for the coloring of the board, but you never really know until you put the set on the board in good lighting.

Of course, black pieces will always work on a board like this as well.

My HoS Players Rosewood Series, OS Leuchars, OS Broadbent Series, HoS Professional Rosewood Series, Rochester Chess Center Rosewood Ultimate set, HoS Fischer-Spassky Ebonized set, my BCE black set, and some I can't remember just now will all work very well on this board.

pics! pics! pics!

The Jaques 2.5" with the OS 1851...

The HOS Superior Traditional 2.25" with the OS Leuchars...

The HOS Superior Traditional 2.375" with HOS Mechanics' Institute Repro...

Jaques 2.5" with Probably Ayres...

Gentlemen...

we have these antique look boards under production, available in 6 weeks..

WOODEN CHESS BOARD 56X56 - BLACK
FRAME CM, 2,5 - YELLOW ORANGE AND
DARKWALNUT CHESSBOARD - -
SQ. 63MM

Shweeeeeet!

O.S. Delivering. Booyah baby!

gorgeous. Is this veneer? What's the underside look like?

Thanks Frank

the underside same as our other boards.... if anyone can post the reverse of Fischer board?

yes its treated timber veneer inlays... will look awesome hosting some of the repro 4 inch and above sets. . 

Fischer Board, love it!

Chuck, 

the boards u posted on #5 are really classy😉

loved the borders, looks raised🤔

I guess the first two are rosewood and mahogany respectively? 

[too much glare on my screen now to note the difference in the colors of the dark squares] 

Thank you so much, Mike. Appreciated.

You're welcome Frank!

Thanks, Lofina! The borders of all three are mahogany. The dark squares of the first two are rosewood.  Those of the third are walnut.

Wow!

I've been making those kind of traditional boards, both veneered and painted, with elevated trim if anyone is interested. Reasonable prices, too.

Would be more interested in a solid wooden chess board with elevated trim ,  Very nice chess set on show with the board

Hi all, I've been looking at a similar Jacques style chessboard on Chess Empire. Here's the link - https://www.thechessempire.com/ref-1408-jaques-chess-board-circa-1860-1880-reproduction-golden-grain-sheesho-ebony.html

Was wondering if anyone owns this and wanted to know your thoughts on it.

P.S. - I've been loitering on these forums for a while now, and I must extend my gratitude to many of the members here. There is so much I've learnt about the design and history of chess sets from you all. Thank you!

@DeccanQueen 

I like TCE and have bought from them in past but this board doesn't look like Jaques Chess board at all. The frame needs to be thinner and the wood used is not similar to 19th century Jaques boards. In fact the board has a more Soviet vibe to it rather than Jaques. 

Ideally frame should have been Mahogany and board could have been maple and sheesham or maybe maple and rosewood. Some Jaques boards were made of boxwood and rosewood with mahogany frame. 

You can still contact them and see if they can customize for you. 

This is nice example of an actual Jaques board, 

https://www.antiquechessshop.com/product/ref1681-jaques-chess-board/

Carl Miceli of Official Staunton has done two versions of Jaques Board reproductions and both are very authentic. This is the current version on his website,

https://www.officialstaunton.com/collections/chess-boards/products/22-acacia-and-maple-solid-wood-chess-board

Previous version based on 1890's Jaques is Post no 5 in this thread.

Can someone tell me why I have 7 chess sets?  Glad to see others are into collecting/owning!  Those pictured are beautiful.  My favorite is rosewood pieces on an erable board.