Post your Travel Chess Sets

Win some lose some. I do not want to keep it. I will bring it to the chess club this Thursday and if someone wants to buy it for $10 it's theirs. The pieces are the nicest thing about it. if I do not sell it maybe it will fit on another peg in set I have. I will then throw the case away. The box is NOT inlaid like it was said it was. It may appear like that in the picture but then we would know it would be worth a tidy sum. So you pays your money and takes your chances.  Best I can tell this was made as a tourist item that starts out very high and bargains down to 80% of retail.  

Does anyone know the best way to clean the playing surface and pieces of a Jaques In Statu Quo set and, indeed, the wooden outer case? I am in the UK so materials would need to be available here - we have soap and water!

Just seen fightingbob’s 317 post which is very helpful re In Statu Quo piece cleaning but any further observations  re cleaning the playing and outer surfaces etc would be welcome.

Thanks, Haverumwilltravel. Will give that a try.

I bought the set for £320 at online auction. By the time commission and postage was added I had paid approx £450. It did come alongside a slide top bone  set with rather poor pieces thrown in for the price. The In Statu Quo set has all original brass pegged pieces with the both sides in pretty good condition. The locking mechanism is in working order. On balance I feel that the set was worth it. I intend to try and glue the leather case back together- is this worth doing? The wooden case has some warping which may glue - is this  worth doing also? I will try to add some pics which will show the overall condition including the playing surface. Any observations are welcome.

If it was mine I'd have a go at repairing the wooden case. You'd need to carefully remove any remaining glue first. Then re-glue and clamp. I'd use medium viscosity superglue, but the purists would probably say to use some sort of animal glue as would have been used originally.

I'd also try to repair the leather case. I've got no idea how though, you might be better to ask on some forum site dedicated to antique restoration.

Thanks Matt. Yes, think I’ll have a go with gluing the wooden case using a modern glue in moderation and will also tackle the leather case since there are some good surfaces to take a glue and it will make an appropriate and convenient home for the set. This is the only Jaques leather case I’ve handled and it seems surprisingly cheaply made and not very robust which is probably the reason why so many In Statu Quo sets come up for sale minus the outer case.

I just found this on Etsy for a low price.

This is coming in the mail:

It is a DKNY set and is about 5.75" square.

I’m surprised how many players here prefer the peg-in style travel sets. 

Don’t get me wrong. They are definitely cool kits, and some of the box designs are very elaborate and ornate. But when I think of a “travel set”, I envision something pocketable.

Or at least something that fits in one of the thin compartments of my laptop bag. Some of the travel sets shown here look pretty thick and bulky.

I guess I’m surprised to be one of the few weird ones who prefer the slotted, leather pocket sets of old, which had the celluloid tab pieces. I had high hopes of seeing quite a few of those on this list.

I am currently on the hunt for a truly pocketable leather wallet style chess set. 

I’m making do with the cheap passport, magnetic pocket sets currently available. But I carry mine everywhere inside my pocket, and these don’t hold up for more than a few months. I usually have to buy a new one about every 5 months. They either crack and split, or the images on the magnetic pieces start peeling and falling off, making them unusable. The leather one currently offered by HOS is close to what I’d want, but the slots are so small and tight, that a couple of their brittle plastic pieces broke off within a month of use while plucking them out of their slots. It is just so hard to remove and reinsert the pieces, that it makes ‘on the go analysis’ not so smooth. Not sue why they did that to the design. I remember the ones we had in the 90s were always a breeze to use. 

It also doesn’t fold to a true pocketable size. Hence, why I’m still using the cheap magnetic sets instead.

Man, I should have bought 10 or 20 of the good ones from the 80’s or 90’s. No one seems to be making them these days. The only ones I’ve seen on Etsy or eBay, are overpriced soviet era relics that are either falling apart, or already missing pieces. 

Am I the only one who would buy at least 4 or 5 of these, if they ever became available again?

I guess my taste in pocket sets is too heavily influenced by the golden age of the mid-late 20th century. So many soviet grandmasters had these leather insert pocket sets. Even Fischer had to get himself one. Hopefully these can be revived by someone capable. 

Just found this old thread and thought I'd revive it. There are some beautiful sets in here but I can't help but notice my new arrival was absent. At last...a reason for me to smile came in the mail today from Chicago. A Drueke little jewel for seven bucks shipped. (it cost 7.75 to mail!) It was under "folding travel chess board" buy it now 7. I love this thing already.

The magnets are serious.

Ooook, that pics up side down for some reason, but you get the idea.

Ding Liren approves!

One more.

very nice set, causey!

Thanks mouse! It's interesting that the rooks are the tallest pieces on the board.

I love the gold and black squares. Elegant indeed I must say!

I bought The Little Jewel many years ago,in a Greenwich Village, NYC chess shop.I used to work in that area and one of my fellow coworkers would go with me for a morning breakfast & coffee and we would play a few games.It fit in my attache case perfectly and is still in mint condition.A nice piece of memorabilia and quite a nice little set.....I think I paid about $5.00 at the time.....1981.

Good luck.

Me too! Thanks...I have to say this thing was made a lot better than I was expecting.

Thanks...1981. I was just graduating high school. I learned chess when I was 10 or so (the Fischer boom) but by high school backgammon was all the rage. I wish I'd stuck with chess.

"michaelcausey wrote:

Thanks...1981. I was just graduating high school. I learned chess when I was 10 or so (the Fischer boom) but by high school backgammon was all the rage. I wish I'd stuck with chess."

Consider yourself blessed, I didn't learn chess until my mid 20's and didn't start to truly pick up the game until recently. I understand your sentiment but we can spin for years thinking how it could've been better if this or that happened. What's important is where here now doing what brings us joy.  I hope you don't take what I said as condescending I know tone doesn't always translate well in text. I meant it to be uplifting not negative.          

No, I didn't take it wrong. You're right. Being laid off from work due to covid19 and fighting with RCM have got me a little gloomy, but I need reminding that it could always be worse! I wish my church would open back up. I miss mass. I'm trying to stay busy around the house but being quarantined is a drag.

Hang in there Michael......I wound up with pneumonia and a pulmonary embolism,from being stuck inside  somehow......Perfectly fine now,but I make it my business to stay fit and busy......3 miles daily,walking,yoga,push ups,lots of chess,music,movies......and best of all,my family is safe.......Hope yours(and everyone else here) is safe too.-