Moving Down In Board Size From 22" to 17" For Home Study

Last year I purchased my first Tournament-Sized board - 2.25" Squares, 22.5" x 22.5", basic Mahogany & Walnut, non-folder. I love playing on this board; and, it let's me use my heaviest Chessmen - being, the 48 oz. HoS Zurich Series Chessmen, with the 3.875" King, on a 1.7" base. Again, I love PLAYING on this set;

However,

I have found I do not like STUDYING on this board - at all.

I didn't realize until just this week that since I got my 'big board' last year, I was studying less, setting-up problems less, and, working through examples of games in books much less. In fact, I began to avoid this thing which I used to love doing - and I didn't even realize this otherwise wonderful board was negatively affecting my study habits and practice sessions.

I finally realized that the thing which makes the so-called Tournament-sized board wonderful for play, also makes it miserable for me to study on alone at home.

I realized the extended arm-reach required, the bulkier heavy pieces, having to clear a space on the table to put this large board on, AND, storage is a bit of a drag (being a non-folder) to pull-out and put-away behind the couch everyday.

So, I slowly began to understand the complete dynamics surrounding my Love/Hate relationship with my 22" Tournament Board and heavy-weight Chessmen;

Therefore,

I have decided to treat myself, and made myself a holiday present of a no-frills 17" x 17" Mahogany & Maple board with Notation and 1.75" squares, for analysis and study at home. I also will be using my 32oz. HoS Master Series Triple Weighted Chessmen, with the 3.75" King, with a 1.75" base - which is going to be a bit of a tight fit visually for the major pieces; but, I absolutely detest light-weight Chessmen, so these are the heaviest men - in my price range - which will fit the board, that I have in my collection.

I am curious if others have found they cannot study comfortably on the larger Tournament  boards - like I suffer from - and what other people's preferred set-up size is for their home-study board and size/weight Chessmen they use with that sized board.

I'd be very interested to learn what your most comfortable home-study set-up is.

Thanks.

I haven't noticed that problem but I have found that it's hard to set up a computer next to the board on my small tables. My chess books are photographed or on Kindle next to a chess interface. A two by four foot table is good for board and computer. When I go to the coffee shop I take a smaller board if I have my laptop. Lately I have been taking a twenty inch mat with my cell phone on a little stand for cell phones. That way I have a big board if somebody wants to play. I like the seventeen inch mat very much. I wish I had that board size. Ironically I have wooden pieces that would fit it perfectly because I don't mind putting wooden pieces on mats at home. I never play with wooden pieces in public because they get dropped. You could buy plastic HOS Marshall pieces to better fit your squares until you find some wooden pieces. The king base on those is a little bit too small but the pawns fit alright almost four to a square. I can check to see what size my wooden pieces are later. I think they're king base 1.3" king height 3" but may not be as heavy as you would like.

I would say whatever is comfortable for you is what you should use. If you find a large board is not a good fit for you then definitely change it to something smaller. My only suggestion is to get a 14” borderless chess board. You will have a smaller footprint than if you bought one with a border. I bought mine from the Colorado Woodworker on Etsy. I think it is the perfect size if I wanted to have a board, a book and a notepad all in front of me for studying. Perhaps this might be a good fit for you.

Here is my CWW 14” board with an HoS 3.25” Grandmaster set on it.

I don’t study like that so my setup is a little different. I have a large table that can accommodate a study area and a large chess board. The chess board is always present on my table. I have my book and notepad on the left side of the table and a chess board on the right side of the table. I sit on the left and take notes while I read. When I need to play out the position as stated in the book I will just move the pieces on the board. Sometimes I will actually move to right to sit in front of the chess board to move the pieces. I can still take notes with the notepad to my left.

Here is a photo of my table with a Drueke 64 board. You can see my green notepad and Pandolfini’s Endgame Course to the left of my board.

Thanks for your input, but 17"x 17" 1.75" squares is the lowest I can reasonably go and still use my men which have some heft to them, smaller than that, and the squares are simply too small for the major piece bases and the board looks like the parking lot at Disneyland.

Hey, loved the pics of your boards - Thanks for posting them!

No problem. But my 14” board has 1.75” squares which I believe is what you are looking for. It of course does not have any notation which would not be appropriate if that is something you are looking to have.

Exactly, Analysis board for detailed study and solo practice.

A fourteen inch board should have 1 1/2 inch squares. I like that size but the bigger the better. I use two inch squares. But the 1 3/4 inch square boards are a good size.

[EDIT: Oh, I see. It's borderless. That's nice. Bigger squares in a smaller form. I like how you can see the grain of the wood on the sides of the squares on the edge of the board.]

12x12" split-magnet board for compact storage on a shelf or desk drawer. When set up, it's a perfect fit on the desk next to my computer. 

Agreed. I think the Rechapados Ferrer board with the narrow borders is a nice middle point between the two:

http://rechapadosferrer.com/en/tableros-de-ajedrez/rechapados_ferrer_31.html

I have a few of these and the 40mm square suits my study sets nicely to my tastes but it sounds like the OP might be happier with 45mm.

Enjoy!

https://www.chess.com/forum/view/chess-equipment/1930s-horn-mccrillis-c-430-american-chess-set-photoshoot-time

Yeah I agree with your suggestion as well. It is a good middle point. 

Yes, this is a problem, as tournament chess boards are designated to be used by two players. For studying purposes is therefore better  to use a much smaller board. The other thing is space - for a book, for paper, for the IPad, and for a second board to go through variations if you have problems to set up the position after moving the pieces around.

Whole-heatedly agreed; and, also easily observed at a respectable distance by Officials who generally are not spending the game hovering right over the shoulder of one of the players... hence, larger boards and larger pieces.

The other thing which I treated myself to purely for study purposes, is one of those 6.5" flat envelope-style pocket mini portable chess boards with the flat magnetic chits for the pieces.

While this has nothing to do with the '17" Study-sized Wooden Chessboard' I am hoping will be the correct 'fit' for me and my favorite Chessmen; however, I plan on keeping this flat little magnetic guy in the arm-pocket of my reclining chair - for quick and easy access when a novel idea comes to me - not often enough! - or I am reading comfortable in my chair, and want to follow along with the example of play; but, do not want to move my exceedingly comfortable rear-end out of the good old La-Z-Boy recliner.

Not using much these boards, as I have two cats who love to play chess too, so I have to put the boards away when I am finished studying.

EXCELLENT Study set-up!

Looks very comfortable and totally functional.

I hear you about your "Chess-playing Cats" !

During many years I was using a lot a magnetic travel set when I went to a restaurant with a chess book. In digital times this went more and more obsolete.