I'll never be one to recommend Indian sellers and I'd take great joy in complicating your life, hahaha! 
Please check out some of the Chess House possibilities in your price range here. You just might find a gem.
Choosing entry-level wooden set (HoS Liberty vs CB GM Blitz)
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Mar 30, 2022
0
#2
Mar 30, 2022
0
#3
matunos wrote:
Hi all, yet another forum newcomer hoping for some advice on a wooden set to purchase. I'm not looking for anything too fancy, and while I'm not a blitz player, I like the idea of a set that is durable enough for blitz play. With two young kids, one of whom (at 5) is just starting to take an interest in learning about the game, my overall goal is a decent, relatively durable (can survive some bumps and a fall or two), wooden set of reasonable quality at a price point around $150-$200. I'm located in the US, FWIW.
Realizing that probably puts me in the category of the Indian sellers, I'm trying to decide between the House of Staunton Liberty Series (https://www.houseofstaunton.com/the-liberty-series-chess-pieces-4-0-king.html), in either Ebonized/Natural Boxwood or Black/Natural Lacquered (I assume both also boxwood) or the Chess Bazaar GM Blitz set (https://www.chessbazaar.com/chess-pieces/staunton-chess-pieces/the-gm-blitz-edition-staunton-series-chess-set-in-ebony-wood-natural-boxwood-3-75-king.html), in Ebony & Natural Boxwood. (If you'd like to complicate my life, feel free to suggest other options of similar value and durability around this price level.)
Frankly, I was very close to pulling the trigger on the HoS set until I saw the CB set, for which I think prefer the design of the knight.
On the other hand, looking over these forums, I see reports of inconsistent quality and rough customer service from Chess Bazaar over the years, and that gives me pause. I understand that I can't expect perfection at this price point, but I also don't want to have a drawn out process to resolve issues if there are defects that I cannot look past.
At the same time, House of Staunton is not without similar tales of customer service woe, but complaints against them— both in terms of product quality and customer service— seem to be less frequent in these forums than for CB.
I'm curious if anyone has recent experiences (especially post-2021 Indian COVID crisis) to compare between these sellers on general quality and consistency of offerings at this price point as well as customer service that I should take into account. Opinions on the two sets above are more than welcome too!
Thanks in advance for any advice you can offer.
As an addendum, to any sellers reading these forums, please note the importance of good customer service. Your reputation precedes itself, and can lose you a sale of a higher quality product or win you a sale of a lower quality product. Don't just think about the individual customers you interact with, but think about all the customers you may never know about because they read about others' bad experiences and decided to look elsewhere.
The Liberty set knight does not look that nice in pictures. That set plays exceptionally well.
I had a friend make fun of that set’s knights when we sat down to play some friendly blitz.
After 3 or 4 games he asked me if I wanted to sell him my set. Of course I didn’t, so he went ahead and ordered one for himself from HoS.
That set is very durable and holds up very well in blitz. The pieces also fit in the hand quite well for playing.
GrandPatzerDave wrote:
I'll never be one to recommend Indian sellers and I'd take great joy in complicating your life, hahaha!
Please check out some of the Chess House possibilities in your price range here. You just might find a gem.
Now this is an interesting complication because Chess House is in Lyndon, WA, so if I have a problem with them I can drive up there from Seattle and work it out in person. 😉
I'll definitely give them a look-see… thanks!
Apr 11, 2022
0
#5
I have the HOS Liberty set in natural/ebonized. I really love it! The pieces feel & play great! I love the beautiful simplicity of the set and actually like the knight design much better than some of the other less expensive sets that look like a some sort of mutant animal. The pawns are quite small, but still play well. The weight & size of the pieces feel really great and it’s extremely well-made. I recommend it.
re my GM Blitz set from ChessBazaar...
https://www.chess.com/forum/view/chess-equipment/cb-gm-blitz-set?page=2
You might also check out the Fischer-Spassky Commemorative set from HoS....
https://www.houseofstaunton.com/the-fischer-spassky-series-commemorative-chess-pieces-3-75-king.html
Hi all, yet another forum newcomer hoping for some advice on a wooden set to purchase. I'm not looking for anything too fancy, and while I'm not a blitz player, I like the idea of a set that is durable enough for blitz play. With two young kids, one of whom (at 5) is just starting to take an interest in learning about the game, my overall goal is a decent, relatively durable (can survive some bumps and a fall or two), wooden set of reasonable quality at a price point around $150-$200. I'm located in the US, FWIW.
Realizing that probably puts me in the category of the Indian sellers, I'm trying to decide between the House of Staunton Liberty Series (https://www.houseofstaunton.com/the-liberty-series-chess-pieces-4-0-king.html), in either Ebonized/Natural Boxwood or Black/Natural Lacquered (I assume both also boxwood) or the Chess Bazaar GM Blitz set (https://www.chessbazaar.com/chess-pieces/staunton-chess-pieces/the-gm-blitz-edition-staunton-series-chess-set-in-ebony-wood-natural-boxwood-3-75-king.html), in Ebony & Natural Boxwood. (If you'd like to complicate my life, feel free to suggest other options of similar value and durability around this price level.)
Frankly, I was very close to pulling the trigger on the HoS set until I saw the CB set, for which I think prefer the design of the knight.
On the other hand, looking over these forums, I see reports of inconsistent quality and rough customer service from Chess Bazaar over the years, and that gives me pause. I understand that I can't expect perfection at this price point, but I also don't want to have a drawn out process to resolve issues if there are defects that I cannot look past.
At the same time, House of Staunton is not without similar tales of customer service woe, but complaints against them— both in terms of product quality and customer service— seem to be less frequent in these forums than for CB.
I'm curious if anyone has recent experiences (especially post-2021 Indian COVID crisis) to compare between these sellers on general quality and consistency of offerings at this price point as well as customer service that I should take into account. Opinions on the two sets above are more than welcome too!
Thanks in advance for any advice you can offer.
As an addendum, to any sellers reading these forums, please note the importance of good customer service. Your reputation precedes itself, and can lose you a sale of a higher quality product or win you a sale of a lower quality product. Don't just think about the individual customers you interact with, but think about all the customers you may never know about because they read about others' bad experiences and decided to look elsewhere.