Help to choose the chess set

Hello everyone,

I am after a new set, but I am not sure what to look out for. So I am looking for some guidelines, such as which figure size, board size, what materials are better.

Basically I want the board to analyse games at home, to be clear and comfortable, fancy but not too decorative as it's gonna be used quite a lot, and even maybe taken out once in a while.

I will probably be buying from this site here: http://www.chessbaron.co.uk/mid-price-staunton-chess-pieces.php

They have many fine sets and all look pretty good, so I am just not sure what to go with. What would be your recommendations?

Also what are your thoughts on magnetic chess and travel sets. What about chess computers?

Many thanks in advance

Just a bunch of factors for you to consider before you purchase:

- Are you going to travel a lot with the chess set? If yes, choose a small, portable magnetic set, which is also okay at home if you don't have much space. Otherwise, it is either a large (wooden board + wooden pieces) OR (vinyl board + plastic pieces)

- The level of detail on the knight. The knights are most labor-intensive of all pieces, and in some cases may "spoil" the playing experience. Avoid "zombie knights" with vampire teeth and bug eyes.

- Size and weight of individual pieces. Crucial for larger sets. I suggest triple weighted, where the weighs at least 52 grams. King size should be between 3.75 and 4 inches.

- Relation of square size to piece height. Goldendog should provide some guidance here.

- Stylistic nuances that may again affect playing experience. Examples: "wimpy rooks", kings without crosses, queen much smaller than the king, "communist" set where all pieces are the same height.

Having the same problem. I have settled on one of the triple-weighted plastic sets from The Chess Store (http://www.thechessstore.com/c=hJSNm69FvI2Atx64idjTaiPi3/category/00020-plastic-chess-sets/), but can't decide which - they're all flawed in one way or another afaik, dammit!

Pro-Tourney set seems closest, just don't like the knight and the way it comes out of its base.

Chess Store Pro-tourney

Others I might consider:

Chess Store Crown Series (knight pointy bits, very dainty...and sucky!)

Chess Store Rogue Knight Series (serious neck grooves in those rogue knights, maybe there's not much food out in the badlands)

Could also go House of Staunton plastic I guess:

House of Staunton Zurich Series (not keen on the squat bishop)

House of Staunton Collector Series

House of Staunton Hastings Series

Dimensions I like are 95-100mm king (3.75-4inch), 44mm dia base (1.75inch), 55mm board squares (2.2inch), which are FIDE standard dimensions. Triple weighted is 1.5kg for the whole set, or there abouts.

I don't know about wood chess sets. They're too nice for playing afaik. I want to play, and have the optimal set for playing, and that means plastic, with its perfect piece contrast, coloured board, bang-around durability, value for money, and so on.

Haunt Ebay.  Check out their new listings every day for a couple of months and you'll figure out where the bargains are.  More importantly you will get a feel for what is out there.  I vote for a folding 16" box/board off Ebay bought used and a nice 3 or 3.25 ebony set from India with the nicest knights you can afford.  Or go plastic if you really are doing tournaments- ebony is just too tempting a target and properly shined is a little distracting in a tournament environment- a matte finish is best.  Of course the HOS folding boards for tournaments are like 80 or 100 bucks and are just so much more fun to play on than vinyl/mousepad/silicon/cardboard.  Stick to something mainstream Staunton type design and you'll do fine.  Have fun.

House of Staunton wooden sets sorted by price low to high:

http://www.houseofstaunton.com/category_s/43.htm?searching=Y&sort=1&cat=43&show=96&page=1

In the House of Staunton wood, the Grandmaster Series looks good to me, standard and not too expensive at US$69, 4 inch king.

House of Staunton plastic sets, sorted by price low to high:

http://www.houseofstaunton.com/category_s/40.htm?searching=Y&sort=1&cat=40&show=24&page=1

... a vampire knight with a mohawk, though.

Well, true, but show me a wooden vampire-knight-free set. The vampires-knights are winning the war, man! It's tough to sculpt a knight out of wood.

This is what I want my knight to look like, check the nice flowing mane. Just not going to get that in wood (modelled from the plastic knight from my old Novag Allegro chess computer):

I was told that if I intended to do long hours of study over the board that I should obtain a good quality wooden set, so i got this puppy: 

Indian boxwood and rosewood double-weighted and felted chessmen (King 3.75"/95.25mm) on a moulded brown nut/maple board with 55mm (2.17") squares plus border (55 x 550 x12)

I have some plastic tournament sized pieces and a cloth board that are great to throw in the backpack and take to the park or to a friend's house. But if I were to travel with a board, I would most likely grab a small magnetic set (the real game then being to see how many pieces i can return with).

I have used a variety of hand-held electronic beasties, but they invariably die on me and I am left with nothing more than an expensive lump of uselessness. Although I recently bought the Novag Carnelian II which is pretty good.

For software, Fritz Twelve (although you might want ti use Rybka engine) was a good investment for me, giving me an opponent to play against at any hour of the day. Also, if you want to better manage/store your games for later analysis, the Chessbase software is great.

All we can really do is get the best we can within our price range. Just be sure to get something you are going to be happy with as you are going to be stuck with it for a long time. C:

Be well

Who can have just one chess set? I have at least 30 and am always looking for the next one.

@b1_

Here is a non-vampire knight from an HOS set (Zagreb '59 style):

If you're going to use it as a study board, I'd suggest getting one with the coordinates printed or painted on the sides of the board.  But what I'd really suggest is to get two boards.  One cheap study board for home, then another decent set which you could either use to play at home or take on the road with you.  Either a good rollup board with weighted plastic pieces or a good folding wooden set for travel works well.

Or, you could get a good decent board for play, and use Chessmaster or some other chess software program which allows you to move the pieces around for study.  This is what I do, and it even has the benefit of giving computer analysis if you wish.  I paste the PGN's of my games into Chessmaster to see where I went wrong and lost the game, or even to see if I made any blunders in a won game.

Some of the wooden sets are lovely, truly lovely.  But are they right for a club player or a tournament player?  In Scotland you can get a standard plastic set of good proportions for £5 and a board for another £5.  I use these for the primary reason that no matter how naff they look set up, they look exactly like the ones I use when I play in clubs in Glasgow and Ayrshire as they are the same set.  Pattern recognition is worth 50-100 points easy.  Pick a set you are likely to be using most wherever you play chess....or pick a pretty one for at home if you don't play elsewhere.

Assuming you're UK based have you looked at the sets from the London Chess Centre? For instance this combination for £85 http://www.ukgamesshop.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=chsecom204&Category_Code=chsecom

I have a cheap 3.75" plastic set. Triple weighted pieces feel right. Standard "tournament issue" but, it takes up a lot of room at home so I am considering a smaller wooden set. Again, London Chess Centre does pieces at 3" and 2.5". They also do what appears to be quality folding sets.

All really tempting...

Yes, they are out there if you look. Vampire-knights can have their benefits, though, like when you're surveying the board and you get a shock of fright from one of them looking back at you with those freaky eyes...then you notice you can fork your opponent's queen with it. All good.

-

This set caught my eye from the Post Your Sets thread (http://www.chess.com/forum/view/chess-equipment/post-your-sets):

It's House of Staunton Collector Series (actually, bottom pick is Collector II slightly different) in Ebony & Boxwood with a 2.5" maple and walnut board. Simple and elegant and clean looking, and a knight that's not too freaky. And if I like this I guess the Collector Series in the plastic would work for me also.

Thank you for all the suggestions and ideas guys, it has been very informative.

I am still debating, however, on which set should I choose. The price is not important, and I definitely want wooden board and pieces.

It seems like I really do want a big full size beautiful board, but problem is, I don't really have room for it in my room, where I spend most of my chess time. And if I was to place it in the living room, I am afraid I might not use it that much after all.

So it looks like travel/magnetic set would suit me better, but I am not sure if it would be comfortable for play/analysis, so I am not sure what to do =(

I am looking at this one here:

more pics: http://www.chessbaron.co.uk/chess-M2023.htm

which is a magnetic, 12 inch board, 2.5 inch king, but would it be comfortable to play on, or would it be rather clumsy?

and the one I won the South Pacific Championship with

http://www.flickr.com/photos/paulscheer/3479161808/

Won't let me hyperlink the photo.