What?!? That is a ridiculous statement, especially coming from the guy that usually only links to sites that show weird and eccentric Chess stuff,, at best.
I really beg to differ with you as well. Both of these leather sets and cases are extremely practical. I kindly suggest you go back to making posts that simply link to odd and totally not practical stuff.
Beautiful boards Eyechess! I might get one myself. Few questions:
1) Does the board lay flat easily?
2) What is the overall size including borders and will it be OK to take to USCF tournaments?
3. Can you show a picture of the back side?
The board measures 22". I certainly would use it in a USCF tournament and plan on doing so. I am a certified TD with the USCF and I don't see why it would not be legal. Of course like a lot of other nicer boards there is no notation letters and numbers in the margins so if you are playing White and your opponent wants that (the person playing Black has his choice of equipment) he may choose to not use it.
Both boards have a bit of memory but not so the edges curl up. The boards both kind of arc up off the table top. When I take the boards out of the case I find that rolling the board in the reverse direction, front inside, and holding it tightly curled for a number of seconds makes the boards lie flat on the table with no problem. I see the same situation with some vinyl boards needing to do this at first. But the leather is quite a bit stiffer than any vinyl.
Your wish is my command...
This is the large board just taken out of its tube/case.
So the black strip is a dyed piece of the leather? I see the smaller board doesn’t have it.
:Yes, the whole board is one piece of leather.
He described dying this board on Facebook saying that he used a small brush to perform the dye. He mentioned that he needed a steady hand so the dye would not go onto the adjacent square.
It also looks like he scored leather to create the squares. You can see the outlines of the squares on the back of the board.
I don't know just what he did to achieve those dark squares but they are not a smooth surface as the light squares are. It really works nicely though.
Yeah, the guy is very detailed and impeccable in his work. Even look at the cases he made from scratch. Look at the stitching and how even and consistent he was with that. The cases alone are quite the work onto themselves.
Well, the dark squares have a bit of texture to them. I wouldn't say they are rough like the back of the board at all.
It looks as if he used some kind of tool to make the surface of those dark squares more irregular in surface smoothness. The light squares are a smooth, almost polished leather as you would expect along with the border leather. I guess you would call what he did with the dark squares more of a pebbling. The top of the squares are smooth enough that the pieces slide on them just fine. It's just that those dark areas are kind of pitted or recessed. I don't know, but the board plays as good or better than any vinyl or wood board I have seen.
It's starting to get dark outside here in Illinois but I used an LED penlight to illuminate the squares for a better perspective of the finish. By the way, I was wrong, the recessed areas are not the dark areas, interesting:
The bottom line is that I was very pleasantly surprised with these boards and cases that Mario made. I have bought leather boards before, always searching for the holy grail of a roll up board. You know, the vinyl boards are all right but I have always felt that there should be better in a medium like leather. The House of Aragon is a guy that is an engineer and he had made a number of leather boards and sold them, but he quit doing that. His boards are all floppy and not stiff like Mario's. And there was not finish work done on those boards, making them look pretty much like the vinyl boards.
Other leather boards did have tooling done but they were usually too dark and brown, very brown.
I feel that Mario has hit upon the perfect combination.
You know, there was a time in my life when I felt the same way. However, I learned and realized that there are many cattle killed for meat, you know steak and hamburger and the like. So, the hides will be "produced" anyway.
At one time I was a vegetarian and refrained from using such animal products for my own conscience. However, I learned that using products, like vinyl which is a truly chemical product and won't degrade naturally, would be harder on the environment than using the animal products.
That is a beautiful chess board. I would love to have it, but I would never use it for practical play unless it was able to lay much more flat than in these images. It's just my pet peeve. Can't stand a wavy board.
No denying the craftsmanship and beauty, though. Thank you for sharing.
That is a beautiful chess board. I would love to have it, but I would never use it for practical play unless it was able to lay much more flat than in these images. It's just my pet peeve. Can't stand a wavy board.
No denying the craftsmanship and beauty, though. Thank you for sharing.
Oh the boards lay flat. The pictures you see I took without furling back the boards. Plus I was using only some lap desks. The pictures of the larger board have 2 lap desks under the board with the edge of one of the lap desks on top of the other. The surface was not flat for the pictures.
I would love to see some pictures with it in action flattened out. It's a beautiful chess board. If you get a chance, I would really appreciate it. Might consider throwing down some cash for one some day if I like the look of it fully flattened out. Also, please let me know how to get it to lay flat if it is any trouble.
A few months ago someone on this forum posted a link to an Etsy page of Mario Sanchez from Australia. Mario does custom leather work and he is a true artist.
Being a Chess player from the USA I asked Mario if he would be able to make a leather board for me with 2.25" squares and with the dark squares being green. You see his standard board size before was with 2.0" squares and he showed more standard leather colors of browns and tans.
Mario hand dyes his leather and I had seen some greens and blues on other pieces he had made and pictured.
Mario was very nice and worked with me quite a bit on getting the right color combination. We agreed on a price and I was then on a waiting list of about 6 weeks. I had a Facebook account at that time and "liked" Mario so I got to see a lot of the things he was creating and offering.
About a week or so after ordering this board, Mario showed a smaller board and case combination that got my attention. I contacted him and he told me he could make this smaller board in the same color as the larger one he would be making for me. I couldn't pass it up so it was added to the order.
Both sets were done and arrived at the same time. Mario did a perfect job on these works. I'm not kidding, there is nothing he could have done better
I had ordered the 2.25" board without pieces as I own a lot of sets that are appropriate for this size and board. The smaller board came with a set that is alright. I found a set at The Chess House that is made in Poland and is a bit nicer than the one provided. As you will see in the following pictures, I added a clock to each of the combinations. The clocks fit in the cases along with the boards and pieces.
Recently cghori messaged me asking if I had received these yet and how I liked them. I thought I had mentioned them on here when they arrived but could not easily find that so, today I took some pictures.
Here are the 2 sets in their cases:
Here are the contents of the smaller set with the opened case. That is a DGT folding 960 clock. And the set is that Polish made one from The Chess House:
Here is the smaller board and set:
And here is the larger set contents with the opened case. Yes, that's a Chronos GX with green buttons from SamTimer. The set is a HoS B H Wood in Golden Rosewood:
Here are some pictures of the set, board and clock:
Notice Mario's attention to detail. The guy is a true artist.
By the way in the pictures with the contents showing you will see he made and included felt sleeves to hold the pieces.
I am more than impressed with these works. I have used both sets quite a bit.
By the way, here is the link for his web page: https://www.sanchezleather.com/
He also is on Etsy and Facebook.
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