How Many Chess Sets Do You Need?

Looking at the Official Staunton latest chess set offerings had me appreciating the sets very much.  I have not yet been motivated to buy one, but I still like them very much.

This got me to thinking, and that's dangerous.  How many chess sets does one person need, really?

Of course we have the pure collector that can never have too many sets because of the definition of a collector and what he does.

We also have the type that is a player and really pays no attention to the set he is playing with except, perhaps, when he is buying it.  He only bought the set as a necessity so he would have something to play chess with.  Usually this fellow has one, two at the most, as a number of sets.

Then we have the type that I fall into the category.  This is the player that has a lot of sets, so many that people he knows says he is a collector even though he says he is a chess player and not a collector.  His/my rationalization is that he/I play chess with each and every one of his sets, sort of.

I have found for me, and some others in this category, that there really is a limit to the number of chess sets I need to own.  This limit is defined by the number of set styles and details available to use for play where I live.

For styles we have the Jaques Staunton design(s), the Lardy, the Liberty, the Dubrovnik, the Zagreb and the sets that have their own styling like Jonas' Best Chessmen Ever sets and even the ones made by Noj like the Portoroz, President and Pavasovic sets.  Sure they are of a Staunton design but they are unique.  There are other sets as well coming from Russia, France, England and other countries.

But, my point is that there certainly is a limit of sets to buy then you start seeing redundancy.  And I am not here to say that redundancy is bad because I own a Dubrovnik II in Walnut and have a Red Stained one on order.  What I mean is that there is a limit to the number of sets that will give one a varied enough playing experience.

For example, I currently own 13 wood sets and 2 plastic ones that give me the variation of play styles:

1. For tournament or rated, slow games I have my HoS Morphy, Marshall, Players and York Series sets.  I also have a Noj produced Best Chessmen Ever set.  When my ordered one arrives, I will have 2 Dubrovnik II sets.  That's 8 sets.

2. For faster time controls over G/20 and up to G/60 I have a HoS Championship Series, a Lardy from The Chess Store, and a Best Chessmen ever, Stage 1 from Jonas directly.  That's 3 sets.

3. For what I call my miscellaneous sets I have a HoS Zagreb for Barnes & Noble and coffee house play and a HoS Liberty Series set for blitz and skittles.  That's 2 sets, making the total 13.

I do have 2 plastic sets, but I don't really use them at all except the occasional time with the scholastic club I run.

As I said, I like the Official Staunton sets, but I am not motivated to buy one because I already have 4 HoS Jaques reproductions that I use.

The Lardy set is similar to the Championship Series except the Knight is fuller and not the scooped one of the German Knight design of the Championship.  So it is different and gives a different experience.  That's my excuse and I'm sticking with it.

With the Dubrovnik II's I know I am going to have some redundancy but the red stained one will look very nice on a green and white wood board I have while the walnut one looks good on a walnut board I have from Your Moves Chess and Games.  Once again that's my story and I'm sticking wiht it.

So, how many sets do you folks find you need?  And why do you need each one?

Good post.! I also have too many chess sets. If I had it to do again I would have only 3 plastic & 4 wood sets.!

Strictly speaking, I'd say two, so you can analize games more easily as Nimzowich recommended.

Part of me wants to cite the Velominati, whose answer to the question about the optimal number of bicycles one should own is n+1, where n equals the number of bikes one currently owns. In truth, I've topped out at 12 sets of pieces and 10 boards. I've got everything covered from analysis to pocket to blitz to skittles and tournament. There is some overlap but I've reached a balance of sorts where I just can't justify a new set but I also can't bear to part with any of my current sets.

Moriarty, tell us more about your sets and boards. 

What are the sets and what do you use them for?

For pocket sets, I have the wooden folding set I've played on for years. I also have a Chessmate Travelmate and a cheap pocket set with discs. Then there is my cheap plastic analysis set and vinyl board. Next is my great grandfather's set of small wood pieces that I also use for analysis. I have a vinyl board for them but now tend to use the wood pieces on a cool wood board my wife found at a Thrift Store. Then there are two ChessCafe international sets. I got them cheap so it was worth getting a spare set. These are my big travel set. They're nice to play with, are solid enough to get tossed around a bit but were cheap enough that I don't mind if they take some abuse. I have 3 plastic sets of varying quality, one unweighted. They're for blitz, mostly. I have a CB Staunton 3.8" set for general play. For fancier wood sets, I have an HOS Reykjavik II and a CB Dubrovnik. I have a small variety of vinyl boards. For big wood boards, I have an old HOS 2 1/4" tournament board and an unnamed folding 2" inch board. They're both nothing fancy but they work so I haven't bothered to upgrade. I think that covers them all off the top of my head.

I guess I actually have 13 sets when I count the cheap pocket set with discs. That set is my only truly expendable set. It's just so fiddly to do anything with.

Chess set collecting can certainly become an addiction, that's for sure. Intially we owned many sets in our family, but most ended up sitting in their storage boxes and never getting played or even displayed. That's when we decided to limit our chess sets to those we liked the most both for collecting and or playing. Further, we decided to limit our chess set collection to a more specific era. Hence, we ended up collecting only those sets related to the 1972 Fischer Spassky and R-II era which are our current safe queens, kept mint, and rarely played. We ended up selling off or even donated many of the other cheapies over time. However, we did keep two player sets we use frequently and actually play with. Depending on conditions, where we play at, and who we're playing with determine which one we bring and actually use.

I need 1

I need 4.   One tournament set,  one wooden 'nice' play at home with people who would be scared of the tournament set,  one tiny magnetic set for quick puzzles and analysis when travelling, and one small magnetic set that fits on my desk for playing long time control online games on.

I like the physical pieces in my hands, and my little travel sets don't need chargers or batteries.  :D

1

How many chess sets do you need?

Answer: 54 (1 for each week of the year, plus 2 spares)

If you read my beginning post in this thread, you will see that I mention 3 basic categories of people that buy Chess Sets. 

If you just own one set that you play all your OTB games with and perhaps have a second set as a backup, as you do, then you fall under the category of the Chess Player that really doesn't focus too much on the chess set itself.  Instead you put all your attention on the movement and position of the pieces on the board.  And this is fine.  You are in a group with a lot of strong players including many titled masters.  I knew an IM with a USCF rating of 2580 (he didn't try for the GM title because he was a doctorate student and did not want to take the time to get it).  He had a chess set that was plastic and the pieces were put together from at least 3 differently designed sets.  He didn't have a complete set of one design because many pieces were lost.  Anyway he certainly did not see the need for owning more than one set.

Chess is my adult hobby.  I did not start playing and studying until I was 30, when my daughter was born.  I find that I really enjoy and like playing with nice, wood sets.  I rotate my sets and boards from one tournament to the next.  It's fun.

Of course there are those that collect the sets for collecting purposes.  This would be at the opposite end of the spectrum from you and there is certainly a place for all of us.

I can get by with about 40-45 sets, although I have more. One plastic set is matched to my Seirawan pieces. Other plastic sets take turns being used for casual play and lessons. My Reykjavik II wooden set is my tournament set. Bags in my garage containing 20 and 12 plastic sets are for youth tournaments. I also have another bag with 13 sets plus extra piece for use in classrooms.

I guess 45 is not enough.

I have thirty (30) sets.Twenty are for teaching and the rest are for playing which includes small magnetic travel sets.

I do want to buy one Wooden one but I can't find one that uses a Knight with reins on the head it looks magnificent. The Bishop has a wide slot and it looks great to me.

DENVER

One more. Just one more. I swear.

Did you ask loubalch? Looks like his set.

Thanks I will ask him.

Denver

Hsong1, I frequently travel -to- play chess. LOL. At tournaments I'll often go over the main line on my tournament set and variations on my travel set. And chess problems are a great way to kill time when I'm travelling for non-chess reasons.