It looks just like the Dubrovnik set except for the Knight to me.
House of Chess
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I bought some e-Bay items from House of Chess back when they called themselves "House of Jaques." I no longer have the items - a wooden set and box - but here is the feedback I left:
"great value for the dollar - the wooden pieces are exceptional at this price!"
It was just a knockaround set but very nicely done. I imagine Jaques of London took them to task for using the name Jaques, thus the name change, but I'm speculating...
This was years ago. I have no experience with their current offerings.
Eye & Crappov, I've purchased 4-1/2 sets from House of Chess in the past 15 months and I'm very pleased with all of them (the last set arrived just last week). Each represents an excellent value for the money. I've had some issues with a bad piece here and there, but they've always cheerfully replaced them ASAP.
Here's a run down of the other HOC sets I have in addition to the Zagreb set pictured above (all the light pieces are boxwood).
4" Rio set in sheesham ($100 + free shipping)
4" Monarch in bud rosewood ($150 with a box + free shipping) and a 4" in sheesham ($75 + $13 shipping).
4.5" Encore set in bud rosewood ($300 with a box + free shipping).
I also have a 4" Monarch set in dark rosewood ($100 + $13 shipping) that I'm selling off. If anyone is interested send me a PM.
[I have deleted the section of this posting on the storage boxes (including the pictures), as HOC has altered the design from when I received mine. Since I don't have any experiece with the new boxes, I don't feel qualified to comment one way or the other. Others feel free to chime in.]
BTW, their Zagreb set also comes in Golden Rosewood ($135), Dark Rosewood ($150), and Wenge ($170 see below). Each comes with a box of some sort and free shipping.
I ordered a few boxes from them, recently. They have changed the design of their boxes since I purchased several a couple of years ago, and the ones that I ordered did not resemble the ones shown on their website either in appearance or dimensions, unlike earlier. Two of the boxes were nowhere near the size that I ordered, and The House of Chess has now been ignoring my e-mails to them for three weeks. I will be filing a dispute with PayPal this week if they continue to ignore me.
Jackie, sorry to hear about that. Wiscmike mentioned that they changed the design of their boxes. Guess I was fortunate to get three of the boxes shown above (the set I received last week was just the pieces).
About 15 months ago, I had major issues with a chess set and the vendor would not respond to my repeated emails. I used my AMEX card (via PayPal), and filed complaint with AMEX (not PayPal). The charge was removed immediately and the case was finally settled in my favor 8 weeks later. Good luck!
Apparently, all is not rosy with ordering chess sets directly from India. When everything's fine, or the problems are minor, such as one or two bad pieces, they seem to respond quickly. However, their ability (or willingness) to respond seems to be inversely proportional to the size of the problem. The larger the problem, the less willing they are to respond. Perhaps they think if they ignore us we'll just go away. I've always believed that the sign of a good vendor (regardless of product) is how they perform when "stuff hits the fan."
My dealings with House of Chess have been positive, because my problems were minor and they immediately took steps to resolve the issues. But, as they say, "your mileage may vary."
Previously, a couple of years ago, I had no problems with The House of Chess, but then, they shipped most of the sets and boxes that I purchased, from their New York location, and everything was as ordered and nothing was damaged. This time, however, it took them a week to respond to my initial e-mail to say that they would get back to me within the week, then failed to do so, and have now ignored my subsequent e-mails for over three weeks.
Jackie, that's not the kind of customer service that engenders confidence. You'd think these vendors would be smart enough to peruse the forums, especially this one, to find out how their doing. It makes little sense, a dissatisfied customer costs them a lot more than just that one sale! Get with it, vendors! You snooze you lose!
Thats right Lou. Vendor's need repeat customers if they want to stay in business. A happy customer will be a repeat customer.
loubatch,
How much do your 4" Monarch sets weigh?
JackieMatra wrote:
loubatch,
How much do your 4" Monarch sets weigh?
50 ounces.
That's strange. Aren't they one of their "Premium" sets that are supposed to be "triple weighted"?
I have a discontinued painted white and green 4" "Monarch" that weighs 73.5 oz. without the extra queens, an ebony 3.75" "Regal" weighing 72.4 oz., a rosewood 3.75" "Regal" weighing 70.1 oz., and a discontinued ebony "5"" (really only 4.5" tall) "Splendid" weighing 68.8 oz., all without the extra queens. All except the rosewood "Regal", which was purchased late last year, were bought a few of years ago.
Has The House of Chess severely decreased the weighting of their chess sets recently? I'm thinking that my 3.75" rosewood "Regal" may have been "old stock". When did you get your 4" "Monarch", loubatch?
From the "hinged" boxes that I recently received from The House of Chess, and that I am having the problem with, I can tell you that they are now different from the photographs and descriptions on their website. They have changed the model numbers of the boxes from what they were a few years ago, and the boxes that I received are slightly different in their dimensions and only have a single latch in front instead of the two latches that are pictured and which the boxes formerly had.
Jackie, My 4" rosewood Monarch weighs 48 oz. My 4" Shesham Monarch weighs 45 oz. I'm not sure where the line of demarcation is when it comes to "double" and "triple" weighted chess sets. My guess is they're somewhere between the two, although they seem very stable during over the board play (I don't do rapid or blitz).
The one possible drawback to heavier weighted sets is the danger of over drilling the pieces just to accommodate the extra weight, making them more prone to cracking and breaking. Using lead weights helps as the added density compared to steel allows for a smaller hole to achieve the same weighting.
The House of Chess "Premium" "triple weighted" chess sets were the heaviest chess sets made by anyone. The only ones others that I have that were close were The Chess Piece ebony "Chetak" at 70.3 oz., The Chess Store ebony "Heirloom 1855" at 67.4 oz. (although advertised as weighing 77 oz.), and The House of Staunton stained "Dubrovnik" at 61.8 oz., all for 32 chessmen without the extra queens, and they all cost over $195 with shipping, while none of The House of Chess sets, including the ebony ones, cost more than $115 with free shipping, with the rosewood and shesham sets being much lower priced.
Whatever the merits and demerits of a heavier chess set might be, if one wanted a really heavy chess set, The House of Chess was formerly the place to get it, and at a bargain price as well. It seems that is now no longer the case.
My 3.75" "double weighted" rosewood "Monarch" chess set from The House of Chess, purchased a couple of years ago, weighs 49.3 oz. without the extra queens, which is more than either of your "triple weighted" 4" "Monarch" chess sets, and should give some indication of what The House of Chess' meant by double and triple weighted, earlier, but no longer appears to be the case.
Jackie, I've weighed and measured all of my sets, placing the info into an Excel spreadsheet (Okay, so I'm a bit OCT -- the "T" is for tendency).
Here are the wieghts of some of my heavier sets (60+ ounces), which is what I consider triple weighted (quadruple weighted would start at 80 oz.):
- House of Chess (HOC) 4.5" bud rosewood Encore (74 oz.)
- HOC 4" bud rosewood Zagreb (62 oz.)
- House of Staunton (HOS) 4.25" rosewood Mechanics Institute (72 oz.)
- HOS 3.75" ebonized Dubrovnik (65 oz.)
- HOS 4.25" ebony Nottingham/BCC (75 oz.)
- The Chess Piece 4.25" red sandalwood Fantasy Knight (71 oz.)
- Chess Cafe 4.25" sheesham Olympian Titan (65 oz.)
- Nexus Products 4.25" Woodgrain plastic (68 oz.)
I'm guessing that your weights are for 34 chessmen including extra queens, as I have the CC Titan, 57.4 oz. without extra queens, and the HoS Dubrovnik, 61.8 oz. without extra queens.
JackieMatra wrote:
I'm guessing that your weights are for 34 chessmen including extra queens, as I have the CC Titan, 57.4 oz. without extra queens, and the HoS Dubrovnik, 61.8 oz. without extra queens.
No, those of the weights of the 32-piece sets, without the extra queens. I used a very accurate digital scale, rounding the weights to the nearest ounce.
Has anyone bought any sets or things from The House of Chess?
If you have, how do their sets compare to the other manufacturers?
It seems that a number of people on this forum are Chess Bazaar aficianados. I often read people suggesting them for very good yet inexpensive sets. They also will customize sets to the individual's specifications. Nonetheless I find their designs and quality to be lacking, so much that I do not wish to spend over $100 on any of their products for fear of problems.
The House of Chess appears similar to Chess Bazaar in that it is a company based in India where we all know the vast majority of chess sets are produced. Their prices are also very good and they offer free shipping over $100 and the fees for under $100 certainly seem reasonable.
Loubalch ruined me by posting a picture of their Yugo (Zagreb) set in Blood Rosewood. Here is the picture again.
This set is, in Lou's words, a mish mash of designs. It has the Knights of the Zagreb series set from HOS and the other pieces sure look like a Dubrovnik styling. I like it.
Now, The House of Chess has a web site but a lot of their product is for sale in eBay. In fact this set in Blood Rosewood seems to be only available on eBay. They have it listed at $149.95 with Free Shipping. With 4" Kings this set is comparably and actually better priced than the Chess Bazaar Crimson Dubrovnik II 4" set. Plus I bet the color doesn't run.
I have committed to a Noj red Stained Dubrovnik II which should be here sometime in May. So, I really don't need another set looking like this, but...
What do you all think of this company and their products?