Post Your Chess Sets

The top one (from birch) is a nice set to play with. If you buy it, just make sure you get a weighted version, otherwish you may find it feels a little flimsy. 

I have had my eye on the BH Wood pieces from HoS for a while. Finally pulled the trigger and I am so glad I did! Stocky pieces in the traditional Staunton style, wide bases - a different look I like. They also came with a free slide-top box and extra queens. I ordered the boxwood and ebonized boxwood set and it turned out to be the last one they had as they showed "Out of Stock" as soon as I hit order. Some photos:

The King is 3.75" tall with a 1.65" base. Really nice and wide, nicely weighted, and a great feel during play. This board has 2.25" squares.

Another point of interest, there's been some discussion in other forums about new pieces cracking, possibly due to lack of proper preparation time for the wood. These pieces had a label that said they had been inspected in 2019. Guess I lucked out as they all arrived in beautiful condition. 

Very fine looking set....You did well and I hope you get much pleasure from them.

Thanks everyone. I hope you liked the pics. I know there was another forum somewhere that discussed the B.H. Wood pieces-they have some history-but this forum seemed more appropriate. It's great to see all the different styles.

Has anyone noticed how carvers are making the eyes on their knights now? Just a circle bit drilled into the appropriate location of the knight's head. Case in point, recently HoS featured their Centurion series as the set of the week. I bought my Centurion set in 2005.

Look at my Knight:

Compared to the current HoS Centurion Knight:

Not only is the eye just a circle (rather than an orb) but the snout is much shorter and the perfectly circular drill hole at the back of the teeth, rather than smoothed out. Short cuts? Modern "style"?

Thoughts?

Short-cuts for mass production. The mane is also better rendered on the original knight. Changes like these mean 1) an increase in productivity by 10--15%, and 2) piece can be worked by a less experienced carver.

From a technical skill standpoint, it's much more difficult and time consuming to sculpt the Knight's eyes like orbs in "high relief" like that. 

Agreed, @Pawnerai, but it doesn't appear their prices have gone down to reflect the less amount of time needed.  I'm usually pretty quiet about such things, I get inflation, etc., but to sell an artistically inferior product for the same cost just seems wrong.

Here is a Allan Troy chess set I picked up at auction a couple of months ago. Not sure of age.

You got that backwards didn't you?  Older version on right?

Looking at the picture, I thought the new one shown was actually plastic.  I went to the HoS site and that is the wood one from the page.  And that set retails for $495 in Ebony, yikes.

I agree the workmanship on the newer version is not as good or nice as the older version.  And that newer Knight looks like it belongs to a set that would be at least $100 less than it is.

I do know that HoS has been using different manufacturers than their previous ones which have since gone direct sales.  As mentioned earlier this shows lower skilled carvers.

I think I like the new version (picture on the right side), because of the rounded eyeball and finer shaping of the ear.  The old version also has some additional carving around the nostril that I don't think really enhances the look, but I'm sure some would make the argument that the nose on the new version is overly simplified.  Besides those details they look roughly equivalent to me.

Edit: looking again, I see the old version has a rounder, nicer jowl, and better detail on the lower jaw.   Now I'm not sure which I prefer but they both move 2 squares forward and one to the side right😊?

Or is that 2 squares to the side and one forward?

Yes I thought that, but could figure out a way to concisely summarize all the possibilities 🤷‍♂️

Here's my chess set.  Custom dual-sided chess board from Mike McCrory (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fVO3zQfVhzE) and the Artisan Staunton Arabian Knight Series from the bazaar.

Beautiful and creative dual-sided board. Mike's wood selection is always top notch. Using figured curly maple for the center river is perfect. Like shimmering waves.

I love seeing Mike's board making technique evolve with wood stability in mind in his videos. Go back to some of his early first board videos and you'll see they are very different. I was watching the video of your board this morning and was almost late for a meeting! Hah! 

@aznbimmer Out of curiosity, how does Mike ship these boards? Cardboard box with tons of bubble wrap? Reinforced box? In a custom wood crate? 

Thanks for posting. 

And now for something a little different.

Here's a 14" silicone board. (12" play area.) Travel/backpack/analysis set for times when you just don't want to worry about damaging a "good" chess set. Hollow plastic pieces in a faux Lardy style. 2.5" King, 1" base. The drawstring bag is surprisingly nice. Ripstop nylon. Mesh. Spring lock. Especially handy during covid to play outside. And wash with soap afterwards if you feel like it to get the crumbs, ketchup and dirt off it. That third pic shows the first "plop" onto the table after it's been unfolded from a tight factory bundle in the package. Not bad. I'll let it rest overnight. No smell either. BONUS!

@Pawnerai Mike shipped out the chess board wrapped in bubble wrap in a cardboard box.

Ahh.. it looks so hefty. I thought it would need the extra protection. Did he post the video after you received it? Or before? The unboxing of a McCrory board is a joy I'm sure. Enjoy!