Post your Travel Chess Sets

The set below was a gift. It's a mid-sized magnetic set, and I particularly like the shape and proportion of the pieces.

nestoc, do you know if they would sell the pieces separately from the board?  That's an amazing looking pairing with the milled leather board, and I know that some sites offer replacement pieces on certain sets, which makes me wonder about the pieces without the board.  Also, how is the magnetism of the pieces you are using as compared to the pieces which came with the milled leather board?

celticduck, I love that Serbian pocket set.  Did you find this on eBay?  It looks to be roughly the size of a Moleskine pocket notebook, which would be super-convenient.

Benjamin: I did ask wholesale chess and they would not sell me these pieces separately, so I ended up ordering the whole set (gave the board to my kids to play with ). As I noted above there were some quality issues with the pieces, but they are sending me 4 additional bishops and 4 additional pawns. I have to try to get to the post office today to pick them up but I hope to be able to make up a uniform looking set using the replacement pieces.

I can not compare these pieces to the ones that come with the milled leather set as I didn't get those, I purchased just the leather board w/o pieces. But the magnetism of the pieces I have is very satisfactory. They seem to be a little weak on the wooden board they come with, but on the milled leather board they are noticeably stronger. I can easily hold the board upside down and the pieces don't move.

Very cool set. Nice acquisition. 

Yes, a nice acquisition, Robert.  Haven't seen many of these Russian peg-in sets.

Very nice set, Robert.

I have been on the lookout for a vintage Soviet travel set for a few months now and finally pulled the trigger this morning on this set from Karkiv, Ukraine. As the board is slightly less than 12" square, it falls within "my" specs for a travel set. King stands 2.75". I'll post more pics when it arrives.

 - Sorry for the size of the second image! I couldn't figure out how to delete it in order to resize...

Oh well, the second image looks OK after posting. Please forgive my noobness!

Thank you, Robert. Yes, I did purchase it from Aleksandr at USSRovskyVintage. I also buy your definition of a travel set more than I buy my own, but couldn't resist posting it while viewing this thread!

really nice sets...thanks y'all

1983

I can't but you have a very nice portable set.   My guess is the maker put the board in wrong and wanted the pieces set up so the empty peg holes were in back of the chess pieces at the start.  Just a guess, Does not take away from he beauty of the set and like you did you can set it up properly anyways. 

Hello 

Nice post. I have two portable set, this is the smaller.

I've always thought about getting a travel set but never got around to it until now. This little Drueke 300 arrived today. I was lucky to get it for fifteen bucks. I like it!

Think I'll put it to use the next time I travel.

Hello UpcountryRain,

Yes, that's a good price for what appears to be an unused set; I paid more, but it came in its original retail box.

This is the most rugged of the Drueke peg-in boards and cases using this piece size and style, which dates back to W.W. II as you can see in my initial post for this thread.  May it provide many years of service.

Best,

Bob

     Thanks, fightingbob. Wow! It was over a year ago when my interest in travel sets was first lit. It quieted down a bit but it was this little set that stoked the fires again. I always wanted a travel set and got this one purely by chance. I am grateful. I will, indeed, enjoy this little set.

     I'm thinking, however, that this will not be my last travel set.

    Here's a pic of the bottom of the set to give one an impression from whence it came.

That's a great Drueke set.  Great find too and in super condition wow. 

I just received what I think is the best travel or portable chess set for me and my use.

I am in an eye exam room 3 - 5 days a week with my laptop and limited counter space.  I need a set that is small enough to fit on the counter and be able to be moved when I need to see patients.  The magnetic pieces being strong really helps me move the set off and then back again.

i have tried a number of sets that usually had either one flaw or another for me.  If the set was the right size the coloring of the board and pieces were not so easy.

Well, I ended up buying from David Weinstock and Chess Mate.  I own and currently use 2 of his folding pocket sets so I know the quality is good.

I bought the Travel Mate Deluxe and find it to be just about perfect if not completely perfect for me.

The set is slim enough to easily fit in my messenger bag with laptop, iPad and a lot of other stuff.

It has a very nice green and cream board so the optics are great.

The pieces are the best quality of workmanship that I have seen on this small a set.

While the pawns are small compared to the rest of the set, this works just fine in application:

As you can see it fits well next to my laptop on the counter of the exam room I am in today.  Behind the set are the pouches the set comes in.

Very nice Ron, I Saw these on his web site but had no idea what the finished product was, thanks for the review.   David makes some nice quality items.  Nice acquisition.

Thanks Mike.  This is the first time I have had the set in an exam room like this.  Now that I have seen and played with it, I am even happier than I was when it arrived.

And look at the details on the pieces like the King and Queen.

No doubt about it, Ron, ChessMate makes the finest magnetic set, at least the best of the non-wooden board variety.  I particularly like the old Drueke linen-like color-coordination of the board and the area for captured pieces not found on other magnetic sets.

The only reason I've never added a ChessMate 3D Staunton or 2D button set to my collection is because of their cost.  $150 is a chunk of change that I could spend on a 6-inch Whittington Pattern peg-in set from the Victorian age, and I did some time ago (Post #89).  However, for practical use around the office yours is best.