Looking For A Durable Wood Set

I agree, that's a turn-off to me, too.  Would deal with it for that price, though.

Those are some weird conclusions and some weird things to be bothered by.

So, let me get this straight.  You wander onto a thread about chess equipment, in a forum on chess books and equipment and then you have the nerve to post on said thread and said forum that people who frequent it are, as you so eloquently put it, 'sad'?  If this forum is so 'sad', what are you doing here?  Why bother?  At any point while you were writing your post did you not get the slightest suspicion that your great act of enlightenment would turn out to be a fit of pathetic stupidity wrapped up in a thick layer of ridiculous irony? Because it most definitely has turned out this way.  

If this topic offends you so much, don't read it.  But, before you go, remember this - chess is such a great hobby, passion and obsession precisely because it caters to such a wide variety of people.  It calls to the blitz players as much as the correspondence players, the passionate strivers as much as the kibitzing patzers.  It calls to people who play online and people like us who care about the pieces we play with.  Suggesting that one subsect of chess enthusiasts is somehow lacking because you don't understand them only shows off your lack of imagination.

Don't feed the trolls, for in doing so, you may become a troll.  Sorta like the saying "you are what you eat", but, it becomes more like "you've become what you were feeding" haha  jk 

Until around the 15th-16 centuries, insane people were always run out of town, and they would usually all congregate somewhere alone(can you image all the good times?).  Well, with the birth of what became modern medicine, some Drs decided(obviously) to start 'treating' these outcasts of society.  Which eventually became the more modern 'insane asylum'.

But,(originally) After decades of trying to figure out some kinda way to 'treat' such nutcases, drs actually figured out that you couldn't 'get through' to the crazies.  What was happening instead?  The drs were going insane(literally). Treating the insane is still a HIGHLY inaccurate practice and science.  And, it's like they say, "if you hang out with the devil, he isn't the one who will be changed".

A troll from India is unusual & a first for me. Maybe he is upset that we have better boards & chess sets than he can afford.? He might not even have a computer & is posting from a Cafe with computer access.?

Yeah. Couldn't resist taking a shot at it even if I shouldn't have. Live and learn. :-)

Don't bother going to the Atrium, Frank.  I guess security got tired of the chess playing (or maybe the gambling that also went on) and banned chess. Not sure where the players are going to go next.  Right now, I'm just biding my time until I can play outdoors again.

In the end, I bought the CB Staunton 3.8 and also the Chess Cafe International series.  I just couldn't narrow it down to one choice, especially with the Chess Cafe set being so ridiculously cheap.  I'm really impressed with both sets.   They're pretty much exactly what I wanted - they won't win awards in the looks department but they feel solid and I'm looking forward to playing with them.

Pictures please! :)

Pictures will hopefully be coming soon.  Turns out, taking nice looking pics of chess sets is harder than I originally thought.

They don't need to be pro quality, it's just nice to see some honest real-life pictures of chessmen (preferrably on a board) instead of just the manufacturers publicity photos.

And The Winner Is..... :)

Damn, I already placed my orders before I saw that set, Robb.  Why couldn't I have waited just a little longer.  :-)

LOL ! :) I just can't decide if I want to get the 3.5's or 4.0's. I like the boarders around the chess board too just in case a piece slides off and drops on the hard wood floor. When I finally get the set I'm gonna display them in my living room on the coffee table... LOL ! :)

I've heard that chandalier light is the only good light for playing chess..

Here are some pics of my new sets:

This is the Chess Cafe International ebonized set.

Same set, but an action photo this time. 

The knight on the left is from the Chess Cafe set.  The knight on the right is from the Chess Bazaar Staunton Series 3.8 set (sheesham and boxwood).  The picture really doesn't do a great job of showing how much bigger the CB knight is.

The whites are chess cafe.  The darks are CB.

The CB set.

Congrats! They look very nice and the photos are great!

Why can't the chess cafe site take decent pics of Its products or hire someone to do so?

Jeez chess players over the world can take better pics than these companies

Someone mentioned that CB set earlier in the thread that knight is one tough looking... Awesome really like that set.

Agreed.  The pic they use does nothing to show how truly nice the set is.

As for the CB knight, it's a monster.  It just feels hefty.

That second picture you took of Chesscafe set is on par with HoS quality pics.