Post Your Chess Sets

Great looking set John. It has the perfect/vintage look.

A current game underway …

I don’t have a display cabinet but my family puts up with (I.e., secretly enjoys) me displaying a few boards like this scattered in different rooms - usually representing games I am losing online - and then, when I’m walking around and the mood strikes… I might push some wood in the hope of finding a fine move. All good fun.

I think that's fine for fun sometimes. There are stylized chess sets I'd love to collect just to play on for giggles.

Here's mine playing vs myself as a way of getting used to physical pieces. I'd love to play in an OTB tournament some day.

And here am I, still trying to get used to play on a screen...

My new NOJ. The light was dying when I took these and I had to be partially in the light too, which didn't help; I may see if I can get some better ones tomorrow.

This is the "original" 1950 set. I've been back and forth multiple times debating whether to go for the v2 or not, but I eventually went with this and think it was the right choice. I'm not as big a fan of the Minceta as some: I like a powerful rook as much as the next man but the Minceta ones are a bit too chubby for my liking.

Not an actual game, just a position set up (winning for white) to make the board more interesting. If my opponents played like black has here more often, my rating would be much higher.

I sprung for the "Slovenian wooden chest" too (visible in background) to store the pieces in since storage is always an issue for me and since it was there...

I debated for a while whether to get the red-stained pieces or the walnut. While I love the colour of the red-stained ones, I am very pleased with the beautiful grain in the walnut, which I'm not sure would be as prominent in red-stained maple.

The kings seem to be a little out of focus, but you can see the chest a bit better here.

Of course, we all know what the star of the show is in these sets: it's all about knights.

OK, OK, here's your Dubrovnik knight porn, you filthy animals.

Was it worth the £1,100 or so it cost (including import duties, thanks Boris)? Ask me again in a couple of years when the hole in my current account isn't quite so visible!

What a set. While I eventually pulled the trigger on the Dubrovnik II in the middle, I love the "original" and the Minceta designs, as well. I suspect I would be just as happy with any of them. You've got timeless knights in classic maple and walnut ... really can't do much better than that IMO. Enjoy the set and play the heck out of it!

PS: What did you go with, weights-wise?

Really gorgeous set & board....You have great taste.

Thanks!

I didn't really discuss weighting so I presume I got whatever the default is; the pieces do seem to be weighted, and it's the one thing I'm not 100% convinced on with the set. While I tend to favour weighted sets, I know Nojs are famous for their balance and some of the pieces feel a little bottom-heavy. I have yet to do more than mess about with it though so I'll have to see how I feel after a game or two.

I'm getting this for Christmas this year. My mom bought it and is saving it up for me for December. Really looking forward - it's so elegant.

https://www.etsy.com/ie/listing/1359723043/handmade-chess-set-resin-chess-pieces?click_key=5f0c3c2f5dd64ba0d01f5160b4a614c60e889207%3A1359723043&click_sum=a31ad2ec&external=1&ref=hp_opfy-1-5&pro=1&sts=1

I like it. Did you have it made for you?

NOJ weights all their pieces with the same standard 20 gram weight… that’s only about 3/4 of an ounce. So the pawns may feel quite heavy as opposed to the major pieces, which seem quite light for their size. If you have a stained set, with both sides European maple, the weights are the same. With the maple and walnut sets, the walnut side seems a little lighter because of the difference in density of the woods used.

Regardless, weighted or unweighted, they are beautiful sets.

Now that is pretty cool. With a color changing remote, no less.

Piedraven, I will have one when they have the mixing technique ro make them translucent and chequered.. always good to have a set your mom would consider playing, I guess 

I love this photo of yours. The subtle differences between generations are fascinating to me.
@MCH818 This sounds like a great reason for a bunch of us to do a get-together some time and compare pieces, boards, weights, etc. Perhaps we should start a planning thread, possibly to meet at or around some tournament in a nice location? 🚙✈️🚎

Love it. This set does *very* well IMO in tight squares. Thanks for sharing. Don't hesitate to post more as an OP.

This is just it. People can get what they want to get. And they will have their opinions as well.

There is a fact in this that all the opinions expressed by those who own a Noj set are very happy with them, in spite of their high cost.

Another fact is that those saying negative things about these sets are from people that do not own one.

Believe it or not, I am trying to be more objective in my descriptions.

I have said, and will continue to say these sets are very high priced. I have also said that pictures of these sets, especially the Knights, from the side view do not look that great, and the best way to evaluate a set and it’s pieces is from the playing position with the pieces on a board and in play.

I am happy that I own 6 sets made by Noj. I bought them over a number of years, 11, and in that they did not break my budget.

I continue to enjoy my sets, and not only the Noj sets either.

The actual set cost €804 (€833 including the extra queens). The rest is for the storage box, shipping and UK tax. The last time I saw a price listed on the Noj site - which was before I joined the waiting list so at least two years ago - the guideline price was about €650 if I remember rightly (excluding extra queens); if that was indeed the figure in 2021, then taking into account inflation, that same set now would cost about €760-770 (depending on whether you look at the UK or Slovenian rate of inflation). So the actual price hike over and above the rate of baseline inflation - the "gouging" if you will - is about 6% over two years.

To put that in perspective, I bought a Staunton Castle set in March of 2021, so probably roughly contemporary with the Noj price above. That set cost £166 at the time and is now on sale for £282 (in both cases, taking only the price payable, which is nominally discounted from the full price). Factoring in inflation (in either the UK or India) the current price would be about £195, so the seller's price hike has been over 50%.

While I haven't retained any data, the latter feels more generally reflective of price rises I've seen in chess sets across the board from all sellers - including the second-hand market - over the same period. If anyone's been taking the mickey with price hikes over the last couple of years, it isn't Noj.

833 euros, not pounds, so about $911 USD.

I don't dispute that Staunton Castle Dubrovnik sets are cheaper than Noj ones, obviously. I can offer no opinion on their relative quality and value as I only have the Noj. I am very happy with the SC set I have (notwithstanding some cracking issues soon after arrival, long since rectified). I am also very happy with the Noj.

My point is that since 2021 SC have increased their prices a lot more than Noj have. That's assuming my recollection of the price in 2021 is accurate, and from what MCH818 says about prices in 2020, if my recollection is off then the adjustment is in Noj's favour.

You were complaining about how a set that used to cost $700 now costs $1400 a couple of years later. Actually, if you strip out all the extras added on to my purchase, the price rise on Noj sets over the relevant period is pretty much in line with inflation, i.e. virtually no price increase at all relative to consumer prices at large. So your problem there is with the global economy, not Noj. Other retailers have jacked up their prices a lot more.

I would have to pay tax on pretty much any set from outside the UK; in fact I think duties on sets from the US are quite a bit higher than from the EU, and shipping is more too.

The goalposts seem to be moving in this discussion. You were complaining about how a set that cost $700 a few years ago now cost $1400, which is what I was responding to. I showed that in fact the set costs pretty much the same as it did then once inflation is factored in (which it should be) and that Noj have in fact increased their prices less than some other retailers.

If your point is actually that it's ridiculous for a set to cost $700 or $900 or whatever in the first place, well, I'm not going to convince you otherwise. And you're not going to convince me or probably any other people who think that that's an acceptable amount of money to spend on a set.

I know that there are Dubrovnik sets available from other retailers for less money. I was aware of them and chose to spend the extra money on this one. I don't think anyone buys a Noj thinking it's the only Dubrovnik on the market. Anyone who buys one will almost certainly be aware of other options and have decided that the extra cost of the Noj is worth it to them. So I'm not sure who you're trying to convince.

To put my comment about the cost into context (which I had mentioned on another thread) I had budgeted for the set to cost what it did on face value but had not been expecting the import duty as I had forgotten that was now chargeable on goods from the EU, and that stung. Notably, that would not have been applicable a couple of years ago, had I bought in say 2020! I could still afford it but had not budgeted for the extra, so I was annoyed. The timing is also a little inconvenient for me as I have an expensive holiday lined up in just over a month, so had the cost landed six months ago (or in six months' time) it would have left much less of an impact on my finances. I have no reason to believe I will regret the purchase, but for reasons largely unconnected to the raw cost of the set, the expenditure is currently prominent in my mind. None of this is anything to do with Noj or whether the set is good value compared to other retailers - it's all about me, my situation, and to some extent poor decisions made by my elected representatives.