Good products.
I am not a big fan of resin chess pieces. And you deserve real wood in your chess pieces.
They are actually quite awesome in person. And I have a $500 wood set (full ebony black pieces). The point here was to get something fairly inexpensive, robust, better than cheap plastic, and not prone to having parts break off like happens with wooden pieces.
The tops of those kings I could see snapping if dropped. The resin pieces feel like they could survive a nuke. But to each their own. I really like them. The other club members did too.
Good products.
I am not a big fan of resin chess pieces. And you deserve real wood in your chess pieces.
They are actually quite awesome in person. And I have a $500 wood set (full ebony black pieces). The point here was to get something fairly inexpensive, robust, better than cheap plastic, and not prone to having parts break off like happens with wooden pieces.
I got that faux wood set myself. It's nice for what it is, very heavily weighted and well-made, but won't fool anyone for more than 2 seconds.
In Germany, it's marketed as "Philos Aurelius" (11cm king's height) and costs just €45.
Good products.
I am not a big fan of resin chess pieces. And you deserve real wood in your chess pieces.
They are actually quite awesome in person. And I have a $500 wood set (full ebony black pieces). The point here was to get something fairly inexpensive, robust, better than cheap plastic, and not prone to having parts break off like happens with wooden pieces.
I got that faux wood set myself. It's nice for what it is, very heavily weighted and well-made, but won't fool anyone for more than 2 seconds.
It's not meant to. The point is it looks and feels better than cheap plastic.
I see that you like to change your stated standards to meet you new argument.
That's getting a little personal. Any time someone starts resorting to armchair psycho-analysis, it's time to move on from dealing with them. Peace.
So I spent quite some time combing various chess shops and online stores in order to assemble the best low-cost wooden chess board and set that can still be a thrill to play on, as well as wow your friends at the club. My criteria for the board is it must be tournament regulation and have the wood grains going up and down the board as opposed to side-to-side. This pretty much ruled out House of Staunton's cheaper boards as they are all side-to-side-grained (which I cannot stand). Additionally, the pieces must be a decent upgrade over the typical cheap plastic club sets. Here's what I came up with:
Board: GSE Games & Sports 21-inch tournament chess board (Sapele and Maple inlay) = $80 USD
Pieces: Chess Armory weighted high-polymer resin-coated wood grain chess set = $70
Board bag: House of Staunton Deluxe 24-inch board carrying bag = $60
(I went with 24 inches so it can double as a carrying bag for my Drueke board).
Total: $210 ($150 without the carrying bag for the board).
For the price, it is quite fun to play on at my local club! The downside is Chess Armory discontinued the resin set, but you can buy them from other stores at a markup. House of Staunton has them for $100. They look much more impressive in person!