Post your Travel Chess Sets

Those are classic little gems lighthouse.

Great travel sets lighthouse. I love travel sets and collect most of them when I can get a buy.

They are so cool looking and each with its unique attributes makes them fun to collect and play on.

Jacques ICQ Cerca 1900 Ivory
Very cool piece locking system for mid game breaks.
Very cool open locking system and box.

8" Whittiongton

I want them! Especially that Jaques.

Very nice  Bunky777 Love them Jaques travel set's getting harder to find + price you now have to pay !

Finally tired of losing...

Here are two Unicorn brand chess sets made, I estimate, about 10-15 years apart. Unicorn was an English brand that made a line of full size and portable sets from the 1930’s to the early 60’s or so. The two boxes are the same overall size, but the box height of the wooden set is higher than the metal pieced set.

The wooden pieced set has the knights that the 1930’s sets were famous for — they look somewhat like cannons. These types of knights have shown up in Russian sets of that era as well.

The presumably later set has metal pieces, and the knight has a unicorn horn on its head. I estimate this set to be from the 1940’s to early 50’s.

Both sets measure about 7”x6”, and are both status quo sets — . you can save your position and resume the game at another time. Portable sets like these were very common in England, dating from the 1860’s with the introduction of the Whittington sets, and shortly later, Jacques famous In Statu Quo sets, which are the Cadillac of travel sets. What caused this popularity? Primarily railroad and coach travel, coupled by the reputation of Harold Staunton as the putative worlds best chess player in the 1840’s and the explosion of the games popularity in clubs and coffee houses.

This is a one-of-a-kind set that my 16yo son 3D modeled and printed for me to take on campouts with our local scout troop. The camping table came with checkers but I wanted chess pieces and asked if he would be interested in making me some. The design goal was to have big, fat bottoms so they won't tip over on the flexible camp table surface. I'm super-proud of him and how they came out. He also made a couple of boxes to store the pawns and I think was looking to make other boxes for other pieces but got derailed with other projects, other gaming with friends, and other school work. Anyway...

Another from my collection of travel sets is Cantonese. The pieces are white and cochineal stained ivory, and the box with board is made out of Ebony and Ivory. The inside of the box has a backgammon board, and a second set of pieces (dice included) that will allow both backgammon and checkers to be played. Due to the material and the style of the pieces, I estimate its production to between 1885-1900. Overall size is 7"x 7."

That's a really nice set, @RickyReynolds1969. If they were marketed, I would buy one. How tall are the pieces?

King - 2.75", Queen and Bishop - 2.5", Knights - 2.25", Rooks and Pawns - 2". Their bases are all 1.5" in diameter. Squatty, skinny, with fat bases.

Very cool looking set!

Agreed, this is an excellent looking set, and the wide bases are perfect. I have been looking for a camping-type set, and that is the exact requirement due to uneven surfaces and flexible boards. He could sell those!

Would be nice if you could make them even smaller / reminds me of the Knubbel sets

I don't like to travel by plane, because it has become absurd, the cost is generally more than going by car! So I use the car, because I can go everywhere and bring whatever I want.

Last time I went on vacation, this was the set I brought, does it qualify as travel chess set?

I was vacationing in Florida, brought it to play at a local chess club, it was amazing!!

Which set is this? Looks great

I enjoy playing this one at home with my old Novag Sapphire. This pieces seem to be discoloring a lot more than the clean ones I see on the internet.

I have a set of these cards that you can play chess and other games with. Neat concept, but bad on windy days.

Bought this set today fo 9eur. It seems to be very rare as I found only one that is almost the same. Any information on it will be much apreciated! I suspect it may be from 1970s Germany, but not sure.