It honestly doesn't make that big of a difference to me, but hey, I'm a beginner. Take my opinion with a grain of salt :).
Though distracting boards I don't like. Anything too flashy gets annoying.
Plastic, Wood, or doesn't matter?
Sort:
Wood over plastic pieces, wood over vinyl boards, digital over analog clocks.
Sometimes the cheaper equipment is the right choice though. Playing in the park, around food and drink, clumsy or unknown opponents who like to drop, thump, and smash.
I've got the usual variety of pieces from solid plastic to nice, weighted plastic, to cheapo wood to decent to fine ebony/boxwood pieces. Vinyl rollups and folding vinyl to a good rosewood/sycamore board to a quite expensive black walnut/maple/ebony board.
The thing about each of them is that when they are called upon they work well. Good design and proportions and nothing like weights dropping out of the pieces.
Meadmaker wrote:
Do you care what kind of pieces you play with?
Do you prefer plastic or wood?
What about the board? Is roll up vinyl just fine, or would you prefer a wooden board?
And would using wood pieces with a roll up vinyl board be like putting lipstick on a pig?
Any other thoughts on equipment quality?
For my part, I always play with plastic, but I was thinking about getting wood pieces, just because it seems "cooler", but I'm not sure I would actually like playing with them any better.
When are they going to start making chess pieces out of plastic wood to avoid these tough decisions?
Anything is ok as long as its weighted. I use glass pieces on a marble board, green and white squares.
Estragon wrote:
goldendog wrote:
Wood over plastic pieces, wood over vinyl boards, digital over analog clocks.
Sometimes the cheaper equipment is the right choice though. Playing in the park, around food and drink, clumsy or unknown opponents who like to drop, thump, and smash.
I've got the usual variety of pieces from solid plastic to nice, weighted plastic, to cheapo wood to decent to fine ebony/boxwood pieces. Vinyl rollups and folding vinyl to a good rosewood/sycamore board to a quite expensive black walnut/maple/ebony board.
The thing about each of them is that when they are called upon they work well. Good design and proportions and nothing like weights dropping out of the pieces.
+1
I agree with this. I keep my best pieces at home and dont take them to tournaments and never play blitz with them.
Just joined today and I am cruising the forums after playing a few games. Wood pieces as long as they have a little weight to them. High contrast, low slip board is best, even a magnetic set has its advantages.
That said I also like the "Classic" shape to the pieces. Is it Stranton? It is not, but it is called something like that. Some of these exotic sets are just distracting to play with.
Anyway, just my 2c worth. Hello to all.
I plan on purchasing a nice wooden set this summer for its beauty and it will be my own birthday present to me :) However I practise and play with plastic and vinyl, same as tournament and club play so I am visually prepared.
I have no preference on the board really as long as its not some funky color and for some odd reason i do favor the green and white vinyl boards over other colors, but i love wooden pieces. It's a mindset thing. When i sit down at a tourney and ive got my wooden pieces in front of me, its all business. I guess the biggest thing is I use this set for studying and tournaments only so when ive got it in front of me, it's just a different feel. Anyone else no what im talkin about?
my mum got me a starwars chess set for christmas one year. all the peices were differant haha
Even though I have a number of different sets, the only one I use regularly is the Simpsons set.
I prefer wood pieces with a green and white vynil board for tournaments - great contrast. I like the digital clocks, the the analog are so much easier to set and use. Some day, some one will invent the easy to set digital clock.
I used to use a marble chess set years ago but it broke so ever since then I have been using plastic. I have never tried wood except for my magnetic chess set which is very small.
I haven't played on many wood boards, but when I have, it feels like there's not enough contrast between the square colors and the board colors. The feel is fantastic, though.
May 26, 2011
0
#16
Part of my motivation for the question is that I am a tournament organizer, and I'm thinking of "upgrading" some of my supplied equipment. I have plastic pieces and vinyl boards to use, and I am thinking about getting relatively low end wood pieces for personal use, but if I did that I would probably use them on the "top" board at my tourneys. If so, that would mean most players would be playing with plastic and vinyl, a few players bring their own and insist on using them, but the high end board would be playing with wooden pieces on a vinyl board.
A nice touch, or utterly ridiculous? (FWIW, these are "low end" tourneys. The highest rated player in attendance at my tournaments is usually around 1800.)
I would probably use a forest green vinyl board, with light and "ebonized" wooden pieces.
And on a related note, I also just purchased a "mousepad" board. At first glance, it looks great. I'm thinking about upgrading some or all of my provided vinyl boards to mousepad style. Does anyone have any experience with these boards, and how well they wear, or what happens to them if you store them rolled up? The advertising says they always lie flat.....but that's advertising.
Meadmaker wrote:
Part of my motivation for the question is that I am a tournament organizer, and I'm thinking of "upgrading" some of my supplied equipment. I have plastic pieces and vinyl boards to use, and I am thinking about getting relatively low end wood pieces for personal use, but if I did that I would probably use them on the "top" board at my tourneys. If so, that would mean most players would be playing with plastic and vinyl, a few players bring their own and insist on using them, but the high end board would be playing with wooden pieces on a vinyl board.
A nice touch, or utterly ridiculous? (FWIW, these are "low end" tourneys. The highest rated player in attendance at my tournaments is usually around 1800.)
I would probably use a forest green vinyl board, with light and "ebonized" wooden pieces.
And on a related note, I also just purchased a "mousepad" board. At first glance, it looks great. I'm thinking about upgrading some or all of my provided vinyl boards to mousepad style. Does anyone have any experience with these boards, and how well they wear, or what happens to them if you store them rolled up? The advertising says they always lie flat.....but that's advertising.
The mousepad style from my experience ALWAYS lays flat where as ya know the vinyl depends on how it was stored. I help out with a school chess team, and i think i like the mousepad style best for them. What kind of wood set were you looking at? I love the light and rosewood on a green board. The position just pops. If I was buying a board for me personally, i would go with wood; but if you're looking for one just for tourneys and your club to put on board 1, I would go with a better quadrupal weighted plastic set. Its going to be more durable to a variety of players and its cheaper. (Those that drop pieces will kill a wood set. Just ask my Knight about his missing lower jaw!) Just food for thought bud.
The pieces should be sufficiently weighted as not to wobble when placed on a square. Few things are more frustrating than pieces overturned by the slightest vibration of the board.
wood or plastic doesn't matter to me as long as the board and pieces are significantly large. The roll up vinyl sets work perfectly, and I find I don't calculate as well with smaller sets.
Do you care what kind of pieces you play with?
Do you prefer plastic or wood?
What about the board? Is roll up vinyl just fine, or would you prefer a wooden board?
And would using wood pieces with a roll up vinyl board be like putting lipstick on a pig?
Any other thoughts on equipment quality?
For my part, I always play with plastic, but I was thinking about getting wood pieces, just because it seems "cooler", but I'm not sure I would actually like playing with them any better.