Great review. Thank you.
[Review / Seeking Advice] - HoS Zukertort Library Set
Sort:
Congrats on your new purchase. The pads should be glued. You can do this with Elmers or ask for replacements/fix. As for the king side stamps I think all of my sets with the stamp have red for both white and black pieces. Im not sure why yours is slightly different. I would ask HoS about this.
The issues of quality and inconsistency with pictures seem about par for Indian-made sets in this price range, IME.
Aug 22, 2022
0
#5
It is disappointing because the HoS web site photos clearly show stamping in red for both sides. As Magnus once said, "Do better!"
Very interesting review with great pictures & comments, thank you! I understand you can live with the knights' closed mouths, especially with regards to some heavy use you plan (as a block, the mouth is more robust, so). And the overall quality of the set still looks fair considering the price.
But TMHO there is a significant quality gap between the site pictures and the actual knights you got: in addition to the closed mouth, the teeth are less detailed, the nostrils are omitted, as are the chevron lines from the neck, ears are not hollowed out, the mane carving is much less detailed (26 lines carved instead of 35, that's a fact), the tiny line for the eyelid is lacking, and the nicely rounded back of the original jaw looks somewhat butchered. Some other pattern differences may be due the the slightly different shooting point of view or to different light conditions, thus not able to comment on these. A couple of issues are of course acceptable with regards to manual carving, but that's a lot, and the site pictures should be updated to better reflect what the buyer can expect. I am therefore OK with the set, and wish you are definitely happy to use it; while the site advert is mileading, to my opinion.
Aug 23, 2022
0
#7
Thanks very much all, and kiwimotard in particular. I hadn’t fully realised the difference between the online pictures and the finished product! I understand that companies are always going to select their best examples to show online, but I think this is too wide of a discrepancy. I will get in touch with HoS and let you know what they say.
For whatever its worth, its think its a great set, beautiful as is! Hope you can enjoy it!!
I have the same set, as well as the Anderssen drop jaw set. Both sets came with unfelted kings ( plus 2 felt pads) Al-Su did a review of a HOS set that also came with unfelted kings. He contacted HOS, but was unable to get an answer as to why the kings came without fel. I have had no trouble fitting both library sets into the included boxes. That may be due to all the years that I spent riding the subways in N.Y.C. ! PS all 4 of my Zukertort knights are "unfinished".
Aug 23, 2022
0
#10
Ah interesting! May I ask what colour your stamping is? Strange as it may sound, I'm actually a little more frustrated by that than the difference in the quality of the knights vs the online pictures.
It's a very nice looking set at a great price.I happen to own the board that HOS shows with it,but it's a bit too much to take out and about.
Hope you get a lot of wins with it....Have fun at the pub.
It is a very nice looking set aside from the Knights. But I will say that the deficiencies (especially in the Knights, but the stamping as well) would warrant a discount or replacement for me. If you're buying from HOS and paying their prices, than you should expect HOS quality, otherwise order direct from India and save a lot more money. The Knights are simply unfinished and not carved to advertised quality. This is on par with my experience with The Chess Empire and my final decision was to return the set.
Aug 24, 2022
0
#13
As much as I've loved/stood by/defended HoS over the years I have to agree. What's received in hand should look damn-near exactly like what's shown on the website. Otherwise it dances close to the edge of false advertising or even bait-and-switch, much like my experience with the scumbags at Chess Baron.
You paid the price: demand the quality. Or take what you get, your call.
It's interesting that HoS has two different Zukertort Library sets with 2.875" Kings.
$315 Ebony/Boxwood version is described as an "exact reproduction of the Circa 1860 Zukertort Pattern Chessmen"
$109 Ebonized/Boxwood version (with $50 box) is described as "designed to withstand years of use (and abuse), as it lacks many of the ornate details"
Usually when HoS offers the same set in different woods, they use the same product page. Simply using a drop down menu to specify the wood selection. In this instance they are using a completely different product page and different descriptions for each Zukertort 2.875" King set. I wouldn't have thought much of it if purchasing, but in hindsight, it's deceptive. ESPECIALLY with the photos that don't match.
Whether it's good or bad, HoS should update their website photos to reflect the different "stylized" Knight design that is included with this Zukertort Library set. I hold HoS to a higher standard apart from overseas manufacturers. Accurate online photos of the product for sale is a must.
@RyanEdCo regarding the Rook with the red smudge. Have you tried rubbing it vigorously with a dry towel? or maybe denim jean fabric? Not wet. No soap. I wonder if the red is applied before or after the final finish coat.
Aug 24, 2022
0
#15
HoS have not yet responded to my email, however the photos on the website have now been changed and show pieces in line with what I received.
And thanks for the suggestions on the rook @Pawnerai, I’ll give those a go.
Sneaky of them to change the photos and not respond to you, though if they're aware of this post and the bad PR from the false advertising then they will do the smart thing and offer you some recompense. Best of luck here.
@RyanEdCo
With the new updated correct HoS photos on the product page it looks like a bunch of your Cons have been addressed. Although you didn't know it at the time, the Ebonized/Boxwood version Zukertort Library set you received is "correct" for the most part.
The white pieces do not have red engravings as shown in the updated photos. Your stylized Knight is as it should appear.
The smallish box was addressed in the product listing. "The box will hold the extra Queens if packed carefully." The box was probably something off-the-shelf at this price point and not custom made for the set. Not the best, but it works.
Is the circle of green felt for the King an adhesive sticker? Or do you have to spread your own glue on it? Spreading your own glue would be definitely weird.
The last Con is the black Rook with red smudge. If it does not come off with dry rubbing, maybe a tiny bit of black shoe polish carefully applied with a q-tip cotton swab? There's something about Rook tops that baffles their manufacturers. I don't get it.
As a point of reference, HoS has replaced less than perfect pieces for me. Expensive Knights no less. In my hands in 2-days. Granted, it was a $400 set. And I'm in the US. Whether it should matter or not, I can't speak to that. But I think you can guess where I'm going with that. International shipping would cost 5x what the Rook is worth. Maybe a small price adjustment to make things right is more appropriate and reasonable(?) in your case.
Try not to let this affect your enjoyment of the set. It's a cool library set. It sounds like these pieces will get some serious OTB use. Good luck!
Pawnerai wrote:
@RyanEdCo
With the new updated correct HoS photos on the product page it looks like a bunch of your Cons have been addressed. Although you didn't know it at the time, the Ebonized/Boxwood version Zukertort Library set you received is "correct" for the most part.
The white pieces do not have red engravings as shown in the updated photos. Your stylized Knight is as it should appear.
The smallish box was addressed in the product listing. "The box will hold the extra Queens if packed carefully." The box was probably something off-the-shelf at this price point and not custom made for the set. Not the best, but it works.
Is the circle of green felt for the King an adhesive sticker? Or do you have to spread your own glue on it? Spreading your own glue would be definitely weird.
The last Con is the black Rook with red smudge. If it does not come off with dry rubbing, maybe a tiny bit of black shoe polish carefully applied with a q-tip cotton swab? There's something about Rook tops that baffles their manufacturers. I don't get it.
As a point of reference, HoS has replaced less than perfect pieces for me. Expensive Knights no less. In my hands in 2-days. Granted, it was a $400 set. And I'm in the US. Whether it should matter or not, I can't speak to that. But I think you can guess where I'm going with that. International shipping would cost 5x what the Rook is worth. Maybe a small price adjustment to make things right is more appropriate and reasonable(?) in your case.
Try not to let this affect your enjoyment of the set. It's a cool library set. It sounds like these pieces will get some serious OTB use. Good luck!
You're right that the current page is consistent with his set, now that they've updated it. They were quite fast on the draw with that update, almost like they have an eye on these posts. But despite the changes: what he received is not consistent with what they sold him. It doesn't matter that this is what they intended the set to be if their ad didn't present it that way. I feel that they owe him a partial refund for the misrepresentation, even if he can enjoy the set despite it not living up to his expectations.
@ryanedco what ended up happening here?
This is a review for the Zukertort Series Library Chess Pieces & Slide-Top Box, as seen here: The Zukertort Series Library Chess Set - 2.875" King (houseofstaunton.com)
In purchasing this set I was looking for:
First things first, I really love the design of the pieces in this set - both in the pictures on the website and now in my hands. I was looking for pretty much exactly this style of King and Queen - the knight was somewhat less important to me. Because I'm intending that the set will see quite heavy use, I went with the Ebonized Boxwood/Natural Boxwood version rather than the genuine ebony version. This is also a reason I chose it over the Anderssen Dropjaw library set, because it looked that bit sturdier (and also I prefer the Zukertort knight). The fact that it comes with a slide-top box was also perfect for my desire to travel with it. I intend to pair it with a roll-up wooden board with 1.75" squares (like here but with smaller squares) when out and about, and perhaps get my own 1.75" board for in my study.
Please excuse my terrible photography!
The set arrived quickly (especially considering US -> UK shipping) and the packaging provided plenty of protection to the pieces. All pieces were in good condition, and in terms of the carving they look just like online.
They're the perfect size and weight for a library set, in my opinion.
The box itself is also quite nice looking.
I'm a big fan of the pawn and bishop designs.
The knights in the pictures online all have open mouths, whilst mine are all closed, but I can live with that.
The styles of the King and Queen are exactly what I was after, aside from the branding on the bottom of the King (more below).
All pieces arrived with nice felt bases, except for the Kings for some reason. They came with nothing on the base, but there were two felt pads in the box for them.
This is slightly annoying, but based on this thread that's the norm? I don't quite understand why they do this, is it so people can put leather on if they want? If that's the case I think they should ask when you purchase if you'd like the King felted or unfelted, as it is frustrating to have to now do it myself.
The other peeves of mine relate to the Kingside stamping. Firstly, the stamping on the black rook has left quite noticeable red smudges around the top (I think they're more visible irl than in these pictures).
Secondly, as you can see, the stamping on the white pieces is not red. This was quite disappointing for me as I really love the look of the red stamps on the white pieces, and this is what is shown in the pictures online. Similarly the branding on the bottom of the King is not red in real life, but it is in the pictures online.
The same is true on the knights, see below. I am (perhaps irrationally so!) disappointed by this.
The pieces do all fit into the box, which is great. However to get them all in requires significant patience and planning - if the box were just slightly larger it would be no issue at all.
So it's great that I can bring them all to tournaments etc, but it won't be a quick packing job when it's closing time at the pub!
Summary
Pros:
Cons:
Overall I'm really happy with the set and know I'll be using it for years to come. I'd recommend it to anyone looking for a Staunton library set. I'd love some reaction to my 'cons' - am I being too picky for a fairly cheap (by HoS standards) set? Or do I have genuine cause to be annoyed by some of these / should I get in touch with HoS at all?