Review of Chessbazaar Sinquefield Cup 2017

HA! If I showed my wife all these discussions about the relative minutiae of piece differences, she'd believe I was nuts!

Wait a minute....She already does!

Yeah,but I am a bit too OCD....You saw my Chess Room. Proof(if I posted photos more...which may come pretty soon) that I'm a bit too fanatical....Just the way I'm wired.-

Yeah I'm afraid so. I like my horsies to be chubby, wide hips and flat feet :bigeyes:

Like this!

I just noticed the black horsie is drooling. I think she's saying she agrees with me.

After 48 years of marriage, my wife has developed a loving (ish) tolerance to my foibles.

that's a nice saying of she gave up on your weird traits.

No argument there.

Powderdigit---Chessbazar shipped 2 of my replacements  yesterday. They did not say when the other  chesspieces would be shipped.   Thank you four concern   regarding my problem.----Edward  Dubin

I think we saw a small speck of dust and one of the knights was a wee bit off the center of it’s square. I think you really should address these issues and then post more pictures for us. 😄

Being semi-serious for a moment - at least from  my point of view - the ‘why’ is about connection to community (even if largely faceless); having an interest and keeping the mind active (I’m fortunate to have a few interests); appreciating art and craftsmanship- -all the better that it is practical art! Then there’s a simple joy garnered from collecting … way back in the day - I collected Smurfs … they are long gone unfortunately but… chess pieces are my adult Smurf’s. 😉

There is a definite benefit to collecting(so long as it's affordable) and certainly,as Powderdigit says...Joy!

I inherited my collecting bug(used to collect jazz and classical LP's....long since sold) from my dad.

He was a classic guy and over his lifetime collected almost anything one could imagine.From coins to stamps to Charles Lindbergh sheet music and anything related to the space industry.He ultimately donated some of his stuff to The Smithsonian Institute.

Much more even...but....I remember him always bringing me to his collector friends' homes over the years and talk about "joy".The enthusiasm was so great that even though I was a little kid,I appreciated it.

The only time I didn't was when he began collecting rub out lottery tickets.I mean,there is a huge field of collectors for even this stuff.....I'd go through the trash cans at supermarkets and quick food stores getting him the used ones from all the losers....Found a 100 dollar winner once.It was a Twilight Zone Ticket.......Hand to God the truth.....HA!

I ordered Chessbazaar's version of the Sinquefield Cup set in ebony and boxwood for 240$ shipped and received it 11 days later. Shipping from India to Italy took 10 days.

As @TheOneCalledMichael said, the package is a simple box, but each piece has its own foam wrap:

This is the extra protection for king's finial:

Well, I cannot see any cracks or imperfections. All pieces are gorgeous, especially the knights, which are almost identical to the original HoS ones (CB says the carver is the same). Also, they fit perfectly on my cheap 55mm square board.

My set weights 1301 grams without extra queens: 600 gr boxwood pcs, 701 gr ebony pcs. Chessbazaar should rectify the advertised weight as the actual one is well below the 10% tolerance range, although it is perfect to me.

This Indian ebony has a slight brownish tint, I pulled the shadows slider all the way up to show that:

I can hardly see grain or streaks, maybe they are hidden by a thin layer of stain/dye but I don’t mind. Pieces look pitch black under normal light and are slightly heavier than boxwood ones, but you won't notice this in actual play. I can distinguish them in blind tests by their surfaces: ebony pieces feel harder and colder.

This is how the set looks under normal light:

All pieces are beautifully carved, refined and detailed, and perfectly balanced in weight and size. If I had to be overcritical, and that’s just my personal taste, perhaps I’d have preferred a shorter and thinner cut on bishop's mitre, like the original HoS set (the piece on the right in the comparative picture):

However, considering the sensible price gap and negligible differences between the two sets, without even talking about ebonized vs ebony wood, the CB’s version is a bargain in my opinion.

Nice review! For ebony I prefer not to be dyed to be honestly as I love seeing the grains in certain angle and light. I think the original HoS set is the 3.625 version which is not available anymore on HoS website. It seems it's now discontinued? 

Thanks for conforming it's the same carver, I already have the feeling they're both from the same supplier. I agree the price difference is too big, basically you just pay for the brand and the markings on some pieces which I personally don't really care for it that much so I gladly take the price difference 😉 

Yeah the cut is huge eh? I agree a little less wider would be good for my anxiousness haha

I see a Nikon lens cap, that explains the nice pictures

It could easily be natural....Btw,that is a wonderful looking set.

I hope you get much pleasure from it.

They made it public in a recent video on their youtube channel:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SBNo22x7ofc&t=48s

Re the Nikon cap, you caught me ahah 

Unfortunately, owning a valued camera does not make me a great photographer any more than owning this beautiful set makes me a better player!

True true, but we also have a saying having a good tool is half the work btw this is for the pictures. As for the pieces, there is nothing wrong playing with a nice set. It won't make one a better player but it will enhanced the experience playing a game

@nicolatc… what a wonderful present you’ve received! As well as all of us out here in “ooh, ahh” land. I truly appreciate a set that exhibits a uniform height taper as this one does. (king to rook) The lines seem to be of high like-ability to me eyes. The brown hue is interesting, but can be either natural or imposed from a wood working and perhaps stain/finish application. The wood’s natural tenons can be both surprising and maddening at times. All in all, i hope you find a life time of enjoyment from your new set. And thank you for sharing the picture with us. 

@nicolatc That looks awesome, thanks for the pictures! For me, the 55 mm square size looks even better than the 57 mm (2-1/4") in the OP. Just a tad more snug and coherent. I like that these pieces are a bit thicker than the House of Staunton Sinquefield set, which also contributes to the snugness.