ay @doppelganger00 just curious if what are those 2 dealers that sent you crappy copies of chess sets cause im planning to purchase one in a matter of weeks from now and im trying to avoid whos need to get avoid when purchasing chess sets. thanks
So many crappy wooden chess sets for sale - any recommendations??
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restinpeace wrote:
ay @doppelganger00 just curious if what are those 2 dealers that sent you crappy copies of chess sets cause im planning to purchase one in a matter of weeks from now and im trying to avoid whos need to get avoid when purchasing chess sets. thanks
Hello, and I would be happy to help! The first is ChessBazaar on eBay. He has the largest chess store on eBay and appears to have some nice sets. While some of them are good, the direct from India quality is definitely suspect and they suffer from uneven weighting, unbalanced finish and other defects.
The other culprit was TheChessStore.com, which was surprising! They are usually reputable, but the problem is that they recently switched manufacturers and have NOT updated the photos on their website or eBay stores. So you see one set you think you're getting, and you receive another one that doesn't quite match. They had good customer service and luckily had the "original manufactuters" set to send me as a replacement, but I shouldn't have had to go through that in the first place.
If I had it to do over again, I may have tried these guys - http://www.regencychess.co.uk/
Some people here recommended them, and they seem to have reasonable prices and quality. I really like the look of their
Antipodean series set available! HouseOfStaunton also looks good, but they're way expensive. Best of luck to you and let me know what you end up getting :)
this is a very nice set (i have one) in the style of Jacques - $85+: http://www.houseofchess.com/tournament-chess-pieces-wooden-monarch-staunton-ebonized-boxwood-4inch.html
but my fav design (Lardy) is ... http://www.uscfsales.com/chess-pieces/wooden-chess-pieces/price/0-145.html -$70+
don't have this one, but a couple older similar ones.
if it's for regular play &/or rough or careless handling, i would recc. a Lardy, as it's a more sturdy design. you can find these with a 4" king too.
I know this is kind of an old thread but check out my site on Etsy. https://www.etsy.com/shop/BnVShop?ref=hdr
I offer quality boards, a wide variety of woods, and a reasonable price.
Teichmann70 wrote:
The chess stores who are trying to sell their junk wooden set to naive customers and rip them off hundreds of dollars for wood that cracks and changes colour keep saying plastic cracks in order to fool people into buying wood as they can hardly make any profit from selling plastic chess which is so cheap. They buy wooden chess from Amristar for $30 to $40 and then sell them in their internet stores for hundred of dollars. I run dozens of chess clubs and we use plastic chess sets. They are almost indestructable and are very cheap. If one piece is lost or broken under foot it is only a few dollars loss. If anyone cannot resist the temptation for wood, then I recommend buying very cheap ones and direct from india so that it won't cost much. Chessbazaar sells cheap wooden sets too. They cost less that half price at any other chess store and shipment is free by Fedex. However, from my wide experience with wooden chess set, it is best to keep away from wood as when your wooden sets start cracking the pain caused might prove too much to bear.
You know, you post this gabage all over the place but the facts do not bear you out. I have a wooden set that is weighted that my wife bought me over 25 years ago. It was setup in my home for 20+ years and used quite a bit by myself and my sons and their friends. No cracks, no broken peices, just 25 years of wear that makes it a nice set. It was not super expensive, but at the time it was a fortune for a young couple just starting out.
I have another set that is 10+ years. Same story, no cracks, no breakage, looks every bit as good as it did when I bought it. And plenty of other users have similar stories.
We get it already, you do not like wood sets. Perhaps some bullies threw wooden chess pieces at you when you were younger. Move on, talk about something else already.
Your posts (especially this one which is exactly the same as you posted here http://www.chess.com/forum/view/chess-equipment/wooden-chess-set in post #19) are starting to border on spam.
nidal wrote:
If someone wants to buy something
different e-mail me at ltrantas@yahoo.com
im selling cuban chess set from
Havana olympiad 1966
only 75 in the whole world.
Interesting post above from two years back. He seems to have the Havana 1966 chess set for sale.
Teichmann70,
You don't get it! We're all masochists here. We enjoy pain --- ooooh, aaaaah, more please, more! That's why we buy wooden chess sets. As chess players we realize that the threat is worse than the execution. Now you know our dirty little secret, we buy wooden sets, then wait around in fear and trepidation for the first cracks to appear (hopefully, one will appear today!). This way, the pain is prefaced with angst-ridden anxiety and heart-pounding suspense! I don't have to watch an Alfred Hitchcook movie to stir the emotions; I just awaken in the morn', grab my magnifying glass, and wait for the cracks to appear! I just can't wait for the pain to begin. Someday, who knows, maybe TODAY! I await the PAIN with blissful anticipation!
May 25, 2015
0
#29
rcmacmillan wrote:
A new low, Teichmann70. Now you cut and paste this crap onto more than one board. Cut it out, give it up, get lost... Go shill your plastic sets somewhere else or I'll start posting pictures of my cracked and broken plastic pieces!
Ditto RC 
Reposting this cracked "plastic" piece here. Proof is in the photos we say.
Yep Reb.. he sounds like a damaged record playing the same song again & again.
D2_To_D8 wrote:
rcmacmillan wrote:
A new low, Teichmann70. Now you cut and paste this crap onto more than one board. Cut it out, give it up, get lost... Go shill your plastic sets somewhere else or I'll start posting pictures of my cracked and broken plastic pieces!
Ditto RC
Reposting this cracked "plastic" piece here. Proof is in the photos we say.
Shouldn't that pawn be in the ICU!!!?
May 25, 2015
0
#33
Is Teichmann70 even a chess player? I've never met a chess player who spoke so badly of wood.
Teichmann I didn't read all your post - way too long - but I for one like the slight imperfections in the wood, the chips that develop during use, and over time that warm golden patina of an old wood set.
All of that adds charm and character to the set. By this stage the set tells a story, it has a history. It's not just a chess set, it's a conversation piece and a trip down memory lane. Aside from variations from the norm, plastic pieces may be geometrically perfect, hard wearing, easily replacable and indeed forever lasting - but in general - they have no charm.
May 26, 2015
0
#37
I'm afraid you are having a one-way communication with a person that acts like a preacher giving a sermon.
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Doppelganger00 wrote:
I have been burned twice in buying chess sets from less than reputable dealers. These "chess experts" claim they are selling the best thing since cream cheese, and then send me a set with uneven weights, miscolored pieces and overall bad workmanship. My biggest and most annoying experience has been with weights 1/2 popping out of the bottom of pieces, so they sit unevenly on the board. In other words, the bottoms are not 100% flat with the weight. Is this common amongst Staunton sets? I am guessing this is just a sign of bad workmanship.
Has anyone had any experience with TheChessStore.com? They do business on their site and eBay. The problem is, I am not a rich man at the moment and can't spend a lot on a set. $100 is really my limit and I need at least a 4" King with decent size base to fit my nice board.
Any recommendations? I have a nice dark rosewood/sheesham wood board and would prefer a woodedn set - not plastic. Thank you very much for your time
Hello Dopp-00 I came across the ancient chess store on Youtube and Ebay and bought this set at a 1/2 price sale this past July. The sale ended July 21st but he still has this set available though it's double in price now. Rick Knowlton is the proprietor and at the time he was trying to lighten his inventory load. When I saw the price dropped to a $117 price tag for a real killer Ebony/Boxwood set @ 4.0" King I immediately made the transaction. Very heavily weighted to boot (4 lbs). Magnificent carvings and beautiful lines on the King, Queen, Bishop, Rooks and especially the Knights (What I look at first when pondering the purchase of a set). The pawns are robust as well. In conclusion the bottom of the pieces have faux leather bottoms not billard type felt giving them a luxury character and feel to the whole set.The attached photos says it all displayed on my new board which just arrived from Russia. Rick has other sets a little over your price range in the Staunton style but not a lot to pick from. Give him a look and see what you like.
I use chess pieces from my gran-granfather the he used it in Gulag(Siberia), if you are intrested i can post some pics.