The ChessStore.com?

Has anyone heard of magentic chess board? They are quite easy in travelling. Is any store offering that? iLet me know if anyone came across one.

Indianity, here is the one I have, it is excellent! http://www.championshipchess.net/images/popup_BigMagSet.jpg

http://www.championshipchess.net/storeHome.html

I hope you find one!

Sam97 - Has the set come in? 

First impressions?

Any negatives?

Is it as beautiful as it looks in the pictures?

Rsava, I absolutely love it! There are no negatives that I can see, It looks beautiful...

My profile picture will soon be me studying the board, I will also post other pictures.

I highly recommend these people! I feel like I'm playing on board 1 every time I play! :-P

I would love to know a few things then and see a few pics if you could.

How is the weight?

How fragile do you think the Knight is? I love that Knight but the detail scares me as being to fragile.

How difficult is it to discern the Bishop from the Q? Especially on the black pieces?

And now for the big favor - Could you post two pictures:

1. Take four pawns and put them in 1 square so that they fill the square kind of like this:

2. A picture of the King and Queen in adjacent diagonal squares with Bishop moving between them, kind of like this:

I know it is asking a lot. Many, many thanks if you do.

And one other question for you.

The package comes with a nice looking storage box but the description says it holds pieces 3.75. The size of the King for the set is listed as 3.875.

Obviously, that won't fit.

How does it workout?

The Chess Store is good to go.  I live 30 minutes away from them and have been to their showroom.  Staff is very friendly and helpful.

Rsava,

The wieight on the peices is exellent! They shouldn't be any heavier or lighter IMO.

The Knight doesnt seem fragile at all, it seems really sturdy.

The Bishop and Queen are eaisly distingushed, the bishop lacks the litle slot on his head, (hat?) but it's still easy to tell!

As far as the pawns go, 4 dont quite fit on one square, they stick out a little bit.

The King bishop and Queen, all fit like you have them above. And are easy to distingush.

The Box is an intersting case, I dont think you're supposed to put them in the box upright correct? even if the box had like 4.5 I doubt you could fit them all in upright, there is simply not enough ground area.

I can still fit all the pieces in the box laying down quite eaisly.

I hope this helps you make up your mind! I really love the set, and highly recomend it! I will keep this board forever I'm sure, I plan to take it to College a few years down the road, and wanted to get one I really liked.

Let me know if you have any more questions, I'd love to help!

p.s. sorry about not getting pictures...

Excellent info, thank you very much.

I love the look of that board. My board has dark squares that are more "golden." Nice set, congrats!

I do not recommend this business. They sold me a cheaply made wooden magnetic travel set (weak magnets, felt so thin on the bottom that the pieces scratched the board, magnets not fully seated in the pieces) and then they still wanted me to pay to ship it back even though they sold a defective product.

Hmm.... That's a shame, how much did the set cost?

60 bucks.

Wow, that's too bad. It's hard to find a good Magnetic set... Did you see the link i posted above? I love that set, I use it a lot!

I wouldn't mind a plastic set, but I'd prefer a board that didn't fold. I'm looking more for a board I can easily move around the house without fear of pieces falling off.

Then this is your board, I can hold it upside down and shake it and nothing will come off! That's why they made the board becuase they wanted stronger magnets.

Good - that's how it should be. I could almost buy it - except, why is the fold in the middle of the 5th rank? Shouldn't that be right between the 4th and 5th ranks?

Edit: Oh, I see. There's another fold in the middle of the 4th rank.

OK, I will think about it. I really would prefer one that did not fold at all though.

Okay, I like the old feature, it's easy to carry anywhere.

I would *NOT* recommend thechessstore.com for your chess equipment purchases.
 

Recently I ordered their "Conqueror" plastic chess set, expecting to receive pieces that looked like the ones on their web page:
 

http://WWW.thechessstore.com/product/PS08BW/Conqueror-Plastic-Chess-Set-in-Black-Ivory---375-King.html

What I received instead were scratched and scuffed chess pieces (especially noticeable on the black pieces), which were clearly someone else's previous return. The felt on the bottom of the pieces was worn thin—so thin that it resembled the felt on the bottoms of other plastic pieces that I've had since 1996.
 

Now when I go to The Chess Store web page for the "Conqueror" pieces, I see that they are (coincidentally?) out of stock. It's pretty obvious to me that they were down to the bottom of the barrel and shipped me someone else's used leftovers.

This wouldn't bother me so much if they paid for return shipping. But now, in addition to having to *waste my time* on the *phone* (no online chat, and they operate on PST) with them trying to get a Return Authorization, I will have to spend a minimum of $15.00 to ship this crap back to them.

I recently got back into chess (about 3 months ago), and since then have ordered chess equipment from a variety of vendors. One thing I've learned is that, more than any other category of online retailer, with chess equipment the Latin advice of "caveat emptor" (let the buyer beware) is extremely good advice to heed.

Before you buy ANY chess equipment online from ANYBODY, do the following:

1. READ their return policy. Every one of them has significant fine print: restocking fees, requirements on shipping, "new" condition, no free return shipping, and short windows of time for returns.

2. Find and READ reviews about the company and specific products they sell. Make sure the reviews you read, especially if they're positive ones, are NOT on the company's own website, because I've become increasingly convinced that these companies author bogus positive reviews for themselves. Try to find reviews on outside websites like Chess.com.

3. Know that even if you find positive reviews, you're still taking a risk when you buy chess equipment online—from anyone. Having placed about 10 orders in the past three months (from several vendors), I can tell you that about 1/3 of the merchandise I've received has had some problem with it or another. For example, mousepad chess boards with significant color bleeding between the squares (USCFSales.com); chintzy chess piece bags that look like they were made out of a kid's worn corduroys (USCFSales.com); folding chess boards with *just enough* wear on the edges to make you wonder if it was returned, but not enough wear or damage to make you want to go through the hassle of returning it (USCFSales.com).

I realize that my suggestions above are obvious, but I mention them because every time I've rationalized a purchase from a new vendor, thinking that I'd find them to be different, to be a quality vendor of good merchandise, I've been disappointed by at least some portion of what I received.

If at all possible, even if it costs a little more, I strongly suggest you buy your chess equipment from a storefront retailer. Since I live near New York City (one of the centers of the US chess world), I plan on buying only from stores in Greenwich Village from now on. I want to *see* and handle the stuff ahead of time.

One final piece of advice:

I've noticed a distinct correlation between the "store brand" merchandise and poor quality. In other words, if you can, buy the *brand* of equipment with the best reputation.
 

For example, I recently bought a House of Staunton Classic Series chess set (above; black and natural lacquered) and was very impressed with the quality. I bought it through USCFSales.com; however, I discovered later that USCFSales.com is really just a storefront for House of Staunton products.

My point is, *buy the brand*, not the store. Buy the name-brand chess merchandise with the best reputation, and then cross your fingers and hope that the set/item they ship you is in mint condition, because if it isn't, then you have to go through the hassle and expense of shipping it back to them.

I feel your pain. I had to bug them over and over until they agreed to pay the return shipping for a defective product they sold me.