HOS Players Chess Pieces and Rechapados Ferrer board

After selling all my Lego from my childhood (and adulthood!), I had some money to play with.  I bought the House of Staunton's Players' chess pieces on their clearance special for $99.50 USD.  I must say: I absolutely love them!  I think they're fantastic value for the money.  I am also pleased to say that I received very good service from both Scott and Kevin there.   I pestered them quite a bit, and they were still very good to me--going above and beyond the call of duty.  This is my second consecutive, very positive experience with the House of Staunton.

I didn't like the board I bought from HOS, though.  Normally, I'd have to wait a year to save up for another board, but thanks to my Lego sale, I was able to shell out some more money to replace the board I received with another--a veneer Rechapados Ferrer board that I just bought from Cool Chess Canada.  I have to say that I *LOVE* this new board.  By the way, I want to say that I was very happy with the service I received from Graeme of Cool Chess Canada--my third consecutive very positive experience with them.  With respect to Scott, Kevin, and Graeme: it's always very nice when you like not just the chess sets, but the people who sell them to you.

And now for some pictures.  Kindly excuse the carpet stains and general clutter!

I was having trouble getting decent pictures of my new set because (a) I'm not good at taking pictures, (b) the sun kept going behind the clouds, and (c), the background in my apartment isn't really suitable.  That said, I hope you enjoy these amateur chess photos.

What I like about the HOS Players pieces:

• the very elegant pawns that fit perfectly in my fingers!
• the overall dimensions and proportions of the set (with 3.75" kings, a size I prefer to the 4" kings)
• the high castellations on the rooks
• the simplicity and beauty of the bishops
• the very decent knights (for the price)--and since I own the Grandmaster 4" king set (which is similar in workmanship), I can say that these knights are better proportioned (the Grandmaster sets are a bit too tall, in my opinion)
• the excellent value, now that they are on clearance

What I like about the Rechapados Ferrer board:

• the super smooth finish--this is easily the smoothest board out of any of my boards.  There's so little friction at all when pieces slide on it--it's really a joy to slide them on the board!
• the colours of the walnut and maple squares
• the very beautiful and eye-catching border, which adds a very nice bit of "spice" to the board (and which was a major reason I bought the board)
• the nicely-moulded edge

Hi Nathan. Nice pictures. I own this set in boxwood and rosewood, the latter of which has a deep, rich brown colour approaching deep purple in some light and black/dark brown with little light. I see you got the ebonised, which is also nice because it looks classic and has the highest contrast. My set would work well also on the board you have (I have a maple/walnut borderless from Chess Baron USA). 

I love this set for its value but also for its class. I think that there's no set, even at the original sale price or maybe double that, that I would like more than it, and believe me I've looked around. I love the bishops and their elegant yet "standard Staunton" mitres, as well as the pawns and the rooks. Some things I don't like: The pointy crowns of the queens, which look prone to someday just break in a bad blitz session, the (very!) low relative weight of the pawns, the mohawk of the knights and the significant weight disparity between my boxwood and rosewood rooks.

Having said that, I think you bought the best from HOS up until the 300-400 dollars price point. If you ever feel like diversifying your collection a bit (as we all sometimes do) have a look at Official Staunton as well. They make excellent products also, for instance their Leuchars repro (picture from cgrau on chess.com):

• Nice and handsome chess set  board combination. But above all Great pictures. Congratulations on your purchase.

Congratulations! Great combo and pictures! 

Hi maik1988--thanks for your comment!  I definitely and completely agree with you as regards the classiness of this set--and that's a good word for it, too!  I also agree that--and this is one of the few points on which the set could improve--the pawns are too light.  Fortunately, while it's something I notice, it's not something that detracts from my enjoyment of the set.  I don't think the queens have pointy crowns, though--I have other sets that have much pointier crowns, but I understand that this is a matter of preference.  Actually, the only other thing I would change about the set is the basic structure of the king and queen: I like my pieces to slope nearly straight down, and then "blob" out closer to the bottom.

Your set in rosewood must be really beautiful!  I believe only ebonized boxwood is left, now.  Of course, the rosewood must have cost a fair bit more...

Thanks for the tip regarding Official Staunton.  Their Leuchars set is absolutely gorgeous (as is cgrau's picture of the set!).  Is it a 4.4" king set?  If so, that would be too big for my tiny home.  Even worse, though: it's probably well above what I can spend on a set.  It is very beautiful, though.  

I have two ideal sets, that in a perfect world I would own: the HOS 3.75" Collector series (and I'd love it in either blood rosewood or ebony), and the HOS Camaratta Signature Series Cooke Luxury Chess Pieces (ebony and boxwood).

Thank you, Jackal, and thank you, Chuck--you're both very kind!

I love the rosewood, yes. Mine was E 150.00 plus shipping when I got it. Also, I've contemplated the OS set (3,75") myself but was never 100 percent sold on the knights. To me, they give the impression somehow that they're on a motorcycle I think that that set used to be 250 pounds sterling, but with discounts that were going around, could come down to half of that. Now, it's much more expensive on their website, something I wasn't aware of.

Dude BROOOO, after seeing your pieces, I am beyond excited. I live in Guam so it may take a week and a half to get here. Sucks because by the look of your photos, I am growing more and more impatient lolllll. Thanks for sharing man!

Dude Scott said they are durable and will last a long time even after many blitz games!. How strong do they feel to you??


Regards

I own two of the original versions from the nineties. The points on the queens' crowns are vulnerable.

Hi Nathan and congrats on that set up. I totally agree for $99 the "Players" pieces they have for that clearance price are an excellent value. I think they retail for twice that. The  veneer Rechapados Ferrer board I feel is the best bang also for the money. They make one heck of a board.  I can not see anything wrong with a veneer board, in fact they make boards that look better than many solid wood boards.  Their construction looks like it will hold up forever.  

Congrats again on the set up, one nice heck of a chess set.

Hi maik1988, I just realized a had a few typos in my response to you.  I've cleaned them up.  One of them was asking if the Leuchars reproduction set was a 4" set--I had meant to say 4.4".  That's a size that is too large for me, unfortunately.

Nice to know I have a "broooo" in Guam.  ;-)

Anyway, as a collector of more limited means, I would not play Blitz with my Players pieces.  I'm very happy to own them, and use them for slower games, though!

Hi wiscmike, thanks for your very kind words. I agree with you about the high quality of the RF boards.

A little fall color for the group: Rosewood Players on a Bill Drueke Goncalo Alves Board. (Sorry about my photography skills!) Also, I would like to give a shout out to @Eyechess who turned me on to these wonderful pieces in the first place.

Very nice Ron! Is that an original Drueke or one of the later ones?

That is one of the new ones which I just got in the last month. I also have one of the old Drueke boards I purchased in the 1980s. The quality of the new one is comparable to the old.

good to know, thanks

Nathan001,

What is the size of the boards in your photos? I am contemplating getting the players series as well. I have a 55 mm board, roughly about 2.17 inch squares, and am wondering if the players series would fit well on my board.

 @Nathan001 Nevermind my question. I look at Cool Chess Canada's website and I think your board is the same size as mine.