Leather roll up chess board 2.25inches

Hi All - Does anyone know good vendors for leather roll-up chess boards, especially if they offer sizes greater than 2 inches?

I can only find chessbazaar but they offer a 2inc one and I would prefer at least 2.25.

Thanks

QK

A few previous threads on this.  They seem hard to come by...

Thanks - I have seen these threads hence why I thought I would start a new one to see if we could get some interest and information going.

I really don't see any advantage in a leather roll up to the best vinyl that The Chess House carries. The leather will never roll flat like this excellent vinyl will.  At one time the leather roll up had more popularity when the vinyl roll ups sucked.  Just my opinion.

hmmm - good to know! Explains why they are hard to come by.

I just got a brown vinyl board that I like a lot. Very unobtrusive and undistracting.

I also have fought the fight of finding the best quality roll up board.

There was a guy by the name of Joel Aragon that made and sold roll up leather boards at www.houseofaragon.com  However he closed his store quite awhile ago.

I still have and use a couple of his boards.  In fact these are the only leather boards I still use.  The finish is smooth and the board does lay very flat on the table, always. 

I did buy a few leather boards from American Chess Equipment.  I bought one when Dewain Barber still was the owner.  The problem with that board was the color of the base material was too dark, for me.

I bought 2 from the new owner, Shelby, a few years back when he had some made.  While the base material wasn't too dark, the printed dark squares were. 

I guess the problem is getting the hide to be light enough to begin with.  Then getting the manufacturer convinced to get the right color for the dark squares.  In this case a shade lighter than a true hunter green would have been perfect.

A lot of the other roll up leather boards out on the market are either too small or they have straps attached at the end to tie it up when rolled up.  That doesn't work for tournament play.

The problem with vinyl is that the ink or printing can and usually does come off.  And yes, I currently own and use only the premium board that wiscmike mentions.  Shelby at American Chess Equipment is actually the producer of that board.  I bought a few from him and actually bought a couple from The Chess House in an order with other stuff.  They are the same.  Plus Raphael, the owner of The Chess House, admitted to me that he buys those boards wholesale from American Chess Equipment.

Now that I am talking about it, I had a good discussion with Raphael 4 or 5 months ago about this very thing.  Except for the American Chess Equipment made ones, all these boards are made in China.  And getting high quality chess boards from them is tough.

It sure seems that there is no one out there willing to produce a good leather chess board.  And for that matter, there aren't any good leather Chess bags available right now either.

Thanks EyeChess - that is very informative. I guess for now chessbazaar are the only main retailers, but then you need a set that fits the 2inch squares...

If you dont like the way pieces slide on a mousepad board, try removing the felt and putting something smoother.  It's the felt that keeps it from sliding easily.  I have a plastic set with no felt and you can slide a piece from one side of the board to the other with a decent push, almost like ice.

Boy, that seems pretty radical.  I certainly don't want any of my pieces, be they plastic or wood, to not have the bottom covering.

I also own a mousepad board and use it a bit.  The silicone boards also so not let the pieces slide on the surface.  And I use a silicone board weekly, not weakly...

Well, I mean you could cover them with something appropriate (what, I don't know).  It's just that felt is one of the worst things for sliding on a mousepad board.

http://www.saddlebackleather.com/leather-chess-set

What a great find.  Thanks.  Wish they offered it without pieces, but nothing's perfect.  Sure, there's more room on the credit card.  Bills are just numbers on pieces of paper, right?

Here is my new one with 2.375 inch squares. It works great for my huge quadruple wt plastic chess set

It is perfectly smooth, not a crinkle on it. Lies nice and flat. It's hard to find vinyl boards in brown and buff, you would think they would be more popular. At least with buff instead of glaring wht.

Raphael also told me two times in the last 6 months the vinyl boards he is getting marked made in USA and selling for $6.95 are no where near the quality they once were.  Go figure.  Glad I got three of the premium vinyl boards off of him when they were actually premium.  Why I like to buy off of Chess House is Raphael will tell you up front if the quality has gone up or down before you buy. The brushed Aluminum board that sells for much more $12.95 weighs a lot more (real premium quality) as was the gold and green board which are not available right now and who knows if they will ever be. Got mine a year ago and glad I did, best looking kick ass vinyl board ever made and also the best quality ever made.

not too shabby

I had one of those American Chess Equipment leather boards.  It was attractive but had some real drawbacks for practical use.  

The playing surface had a suede-like texture that made sliding the pieces difficult.  It also tended to hold dirt and was prone to stains.  I found this out the hard way.

That's completely right.

There must be a finish that is put on leather to smooth the surface.  I know that the boards I have from The House of Aragon are smooth with a semi-gloss finish. 

The boards I got from ACE all were unfinished with that rougher surface.  And I don't like that.

Ohh wow - that is good to know. I slide my pieces and so a smooth surface is a must.