Good but reasonably priced wooden chess set with detailed pieces?

Hello

First I know very little about chess so bare with me.

I have a person that is coming out of the hospital and talking on the phone, he expressed how he likes chess since 5 and had a beautiful wooden chess set with detailed pieces but lost it.

I thought as a gift getting a chess set. Since it is wooden and the pieces need to be detailed, I'm willing to set the limit to €200ish. Let's try to get it under that.

That budget needs to include some kind of protection/storage/case/etc to store it. 

Also new, nothing second hand.

Thanks

Hi Riahc3. I would consider the following sets:

 

https://www.officialstaunton.com/collections/chess-pieces/products/the-leningrad-boxwood-black-chessmen

Well-balanced classic design. You do have to like the slightly unorthodox knight, but it works in this set. About 100 euro so around 110/120 USD. Box can be gotten separately.

https://www.officialstaunton.com/collections/chess-pieces/products/paul-morphy-sheesham-chessmen

About the same price since it's on sale. Also very well-balanced set. Natural wood colour as opposed to ebonised in the previous set.

https://www.houseofstaunton.com/clearance-the-fischer-spassky-series-commemorative-chess-pieces-3-75-king-series.html

150 USD. Classic design based on the 1972 World chess championship set, and, therefore, based on a Jaques design. I would have gotten that one myself had shipping to the Netherlands not been a killer. The golden rosewood looks fine and is still available.

The Fischer set is, I think, a solid step up from the Morphy set from OS, but it depends on what you want. My advice to you is do not spend a lot on a storage box. That will leave you a bigger margin to get the set you like best. You can't go wrong with either of the three I listed.

p.s. I hope your friend is doing fine and is all better.

 

Thank you for the very well written post.

 

The first link is sold out so....

 

Also, Im seeing that these are only pieces, right? I want to get a complete chess set (table, pieces, etc)....Im sorry if that was not the correct term

 

 

 

From my limited knowledge and research, yes, the Staunton design is what I am looking for. Nothing gimmick like the Lord of the Rings or such you mentioned. 

 

Im looking for well made pieces with a nice looking table to go with it.

If you are in the USA then the Fischer-Spassky set for $150 is the best value in your price range. 

You can also buy a board from The House of Staunton and stay within your budget.

I would call them and see what kind of price they would give you on the combo.  They do have sales and discounts.

I would get the Fischer-Spassky in Golden Rosewood and the Maple and Mahogany board with the Maple border.  I own that exact setup and it is great.

I recommend getting a beginner priced chess set on big sites such as Amazon. To me it wouldn’t make sense to buy an expensive set if you aren’t sure you will have interest in chess to justify spending a lot.

That doesn’t mean you should just get a cheap set that may look decent.

I recommend picking a set that either has traditional black and white colors or brown and “blonde”. Some cheap sets may have unusual color schemes or unusual “fun” pieces. In my opinion those are not good to get for actual play.

I own and recommend this set Chess Set - Tournament Staunton Complete No. 6 Board Game - Hand Made European 21"x 21" Set https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000SOGHQ4/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_naRhDbBWYKCC3
It’s not considered fancy but it is good as normal sets go. The pieces aren’t well sealed but that doesn’t diminish enjoyment of interaction with these pieces.

The provided wood board has very good quality if you want a folding board. Warning. When you get it make sure you check how the two halves align in unfolded position. Make sure that there isn’t a step from one side raising higher. It can be easily fixed but I don’t recommend you try that yourself unless you’re skilled and have experience doing it.

Here is what I recommend NOT to get. Amerous 15 Inches Magnetic Wooden Chess Set - 2 Extra Queens - Folding Board, Handmade Portable Travel Chess Board Game Sets with Game Pieces Storage Slots - Beginner Chess Set for Kids and Adults https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07N5ZS5QP/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_YdRhDbFW43BZ6

It’s a set that has board and pieces which you can find in big stores like Target or Walmart. The board may look ok, but those pieces are horrible. They’re too light, they often have imperfections and they get knocked to the side too easily.

This one is excellent. I bought it and love it:

http://tinyurl.com/y28dgs3j

I would forget the idea of purchasing a table and storage box.  The most important items by far, and which will be most appreciated by your friend, are a quality board and pieces.  Unless money is no object (which it apparently is), spend it on the two items that matter most.  There are so many creative and personal approaches and choices for tables and piece storage - it is probably better to leave the choice of those (not typically inexpensive) items up to your friend.

As an example of pieces I own and like very much, are the Exclusive Staunton and Fierce Knight pieces, in ebonized boxwood, from TheChessStore....my sets have 3.0 inch Kings (which suit me fine for casual play), but the most popular are sets are probably those with 3.5 to 4.0 inch Kings.  "Ebonized" refers to the pieces being stained black to look like ebony which, when well executed (these are), is difficult to tell the difference.

When choosing the appropriate size board to fit the pieces, a good rule of thumb is...

board square size = 1.333 * King base diameter 

or equivalently

King base diameter = 0.75 * board square size

So be sure to select not only the King height but also check its base diameter, along with the square size of the board.

http://blog.chesshouse.com/how-to-select-the-right-size-chessboard-for-pieces/

In the example of the Fierce Knight set with 3.0" King height ($90USD), the base diameter is 1.375 inch.  In this case, the board square size should be approximately 1.333 * 1.375 = 1.71 inch. Anything smaller or larger than that (say +/- 1/8 inch or so) would be a matter of personal preference - my board has 1.75 inch squares which works nicely with these particular sets.

https://thechessstore.com/fierce-knight-staunton-chess-set-with-ebonized-boxwood-pieces-3-king/

My Walnut & Maple board with 1.75 inch squares ($110USD)...

https://thechessstore.com/walnut-maple-deluxe-chess-board-1-75-squares/

P..S.  TheChessStore has free shipping for all orders over $75USD (within USA only I imagine).  And if you ask they will typically give a 10% discount off of the nominal price (when you load the main-home page a 10% discount coupon code will normally pop up).

@ Riahc: There's a lot of good advice here already. As somebody else mentioned, don't look for tables, since they are costly and generally won't fit your budget. With the sets I posted, I think you could manage to add a locking box and basic board and still stay under 200 euro/USD.

Picking up on sound67's advice, unless you are familiar with the specific product/seller on Amazon.com my advice is to avoid them in favor of many of the other sellers recommended here.  The quality of chess sets offered on Amazon are generally hit or miss - sometimes good, sometimes not so good.  Better to stick with reputable chess equipment sellers - i.e., those that are consistently recommended by the knowledgeable folks on Chess.com.

Also the pieces and board I recommended closely fit the budget you indicated in your initial post, and are a very good combo set at their price point.  In fact I think the pieces are exceptionally nice, particularly for the price.  The board, while certainly a good one, and better than average at its price point, is not made of solid wood - it is made of a particle board core, overlaid with laminated exterior.  Quality solid wood boards (no particle board, no laminate) are generally much more expensive.  If you decide you have a preference for a solid wood board, then you will likely have to increase your budget.  If you are purchasing within the USA, I can highly recommend two brands of solid wood boards:

1) JLP solid wood boards - sold exclusively by ChessHouse..

https://www.chesshouse.com/collections/jlp-hardwood-chess-boards

2) Solid wood boards crafted by ColoradoWoodWorker on ETSY...

https://www.etsy.com/shop/ColoradoWoodWorker

Both are high quality boards.  Both sources are reputable and offer superb service.  Of the two, the JLP boards are generally more expensive, but not overpriced for the exceptional quality.  ColoradoWoodWorker boards are excellent quality and value for the money.  You won't go wrong or be disappointed with either choice.

For additional perspective regarding JLP and ColoradoWoodWorker boards check out the discussion in following forum threads...

https://www.chess.com/forum/view/chess-equipment/cb-gm-blitz-set?page=4

https://www.chess.com/forum/view/chess-equipment/4495-house-of-staunton-chessboard?page=1

https://www.chess.com/forum/view/chess-equipment/drueke-vs-jlp-woodworking-solid-wood-chessboards?page=1

https://www.chess.com/forum/view/chess-equipment/my-new-board-from-colorado-woodworker?page=2

Again, the Polgar set is classy, and can be purchased with its own board....

the staunton stuff is so gorgeous, it lasts SUPER well at chess club with all those guys hammering it.

That Polgar set is nice also, and that nice thick board above here somewhere. Great wooden board so satisfying.

Just one thing ... if the castles parapets are too thin, they will break.

First, thanks to everyone that posted. I honestly cannot reply to most of the points because I dont have enough knowledge sorry.

The reason I want to get a set (board and pieces) is because IMO its a lot less complicated for me. Im not a good mix and matcher so I dont know what goes well with what.

 

Im looking at this one for example:

 

With Golden Rosewood and Natural Boxwood:

https://www.houseofstaunton.com/wild-knight-series-chess-set-box-and-board-combo.html

 

194 euros....Its a bit expensive but....

That is a very nice set, which I'm sure your friend would be proud to own (I would be!).  However, one last piece of advice.  Unless you know for certain that your friend has a preference for golden rosewood, I would suggest choosing the ebonized boxwood (black) for the dark pieces.   This because of the two choices, the overwhelming majority of nice wood sets purchased and owned feature the ebonized boxwood much more so than any other color/wood for the dark pieces.  That is, ebonized boxwood would be the more common, and therefore safer choice.

Also in comparison to other wood sets of similar quality and size - 3.75 inch King, board with 2.25 inch squares, etc. - the set is not particularly expensive.  In fact, at the sale price, I would say that it is more than reasonably priced, i.e., a very good deal.

I own a rosewood/boxwood set and rosewood is very nice for the dark pieces. Is ebonised more common in the States? I see various hues of brown for the dark pieces in Europe, more so than ebonised. Might just be my experience. 

Another bit of advice: Don't pick the same woods for the board as the woods of the pieces. You want the pieces to 'pop' on a board, not blend into it.

I believe that if you talk to the folks at a reputable chess retailer (for instance in the USA - HOS, ChessHouse, TheChessStore), they will tell you that for the dark pieces ebonized boxwood outsells any of the other choices - rosewood, golden rosewood, sheesham, real ebony, etc.  Note that golden rosewood is lighter than standard rosewood which would be my second choice after ebonized boxwood.

I do agree with the comment regarding the contrast between the board squares and the pieces.  That is, you want to be able to visually distinguish the color/hue of the pieces from that of the squares they are sitting on.  For example a problematic lack of contrast would be to have black pieces on black squares - in that case they essentially camouflage each other.  So the dark pieces should contrast to a reasonable extent with both the light and dark squares of the board; the same goes for the light pieces.  Generally one can satisfy these requirements simply by avoiding situations where the dark pieces are very close in color/hue as the dark squares. (In the interest of full disclosure, I also own a set of Rosewood pieces - not Golden Rosewood - which I use with one of my Drueke solid wood boards with walnut and maple squares - a combo which I also like).

As an example of the contrast concept, here is one of my sets, the solid wood board (custom crafted by ColoradoWoodWorker on ETSY.com) is made of maple and cherry squares, with walnut apron, and pieces of boxwood and ebonized boxwood.....I think everything contrasts very well......(no camouflaging!)....

Well said, I think he's right!

Very lovely set, the way they do knights always seems to be great.

That's a nice set!

Personally, I think that set is kind of generic, and there is nicer stuff out there for that price.  To the OP, 

browse here:

https://www.etsy.com/shop/RoyalChessMall

I like sets like the Supreme, mogul, stallion, royal, etc

Another seller with good bang for buck

https://www.etsy.com/shop/chessbazaarIndia?ref=search_shop_redirect