Post your Chess Tables

We have seen a lot of nice chess boards in these forums but very few chess tables.  Its really difficult to find a really nice table to one's liking. I got this table aorund 10 years ago. It took me about 10 years to find my desired table.  Please post pics of your table with the story behind  it.

80-90 years old...the table. A cafehouse table.

I'm with rcmacmillan. I don't have a nice table but a number of boards that get put on something in whatever room I'm in. However, I picked up an old folding table at a rummage sale a few years ago. Here it is with my old set.

Mike that is a real beauty of a table.

Thanks Mike

Gorgeous table, Mike! Another great idea for a forum topic!

Most of the pictures I've posted in other forum topics have been on my chess table. I've told the story elsewhere, but here it is again for this topic dedicated to chess tables. I always wanted a chess table, but a table presented two problems. First, it typically comes with one size square, and I have many different sized sets. It wouldn't be good to use with all of them. Second, I have all kinds of boards, and how could I really use them if I had a table to use. So I looked around, but hesitated to pull the trigger. Then one day, I recalled that my wife had bought a chess table from Marshall Fields in the late seventies, before we were married. It had a small board printed on it. Too small to play on with my pieces. The kids had used it for crafts, and it had been sullied with tempra paints and glitter. I had disassembled it and stored it in the basement by the oil tank. Then I got an idea. Perhaps I could sand off the small board and spray on a useable one. Maybe with 2.375" squares. So I dug it out of the basement. To my great surprise, the board was actually an insert, with a reversable plain suede side, and a sunken backgammon board underneath. This is what it looked like.

So I cleaned off the paint and the glitter, and sanded off the board. The walnut finish also came off, revealing a golden oaken veneer onto which I masked and sprayed a 2.5" square board.

It looks particularly good with my Soviet Grandmaster-sized sets with their 4+" kings.

The table remarkably solved my second problem, as I could lay nearly all of my boards into the 24" x 24" hole created by removing the original insert, or by placing them over the suede side of the insert.

Chuck, thanks for the wonderful presentation on your beautiful chess table, boards and fabulous sets! Your nice pictures are much appreciated. On the flip side, I also have many baords, so if one of my  sets is too small for my 2.5" square table, I select the appropriate size board and place it on top of my chess table. 

Mike & Chuck: Both your tables look great. I would also hazard a guess that the dark squares on Mike's table are elm burl. Only a guess, though.

Chuck, I have seen your table in other threads and it has inspired me. I have a smallish, square kitchen table that I don't really like. I intend to cut it down to a reasonable height (it's a tall table) and cut out the center. Then I'll set it up so I can insert whichever board I want to use. I just have to work out the details of allowing for different size boards.

Ahh, the list of things I intend to do gets longer and longer and...

Great post, Chuck. Now we know!

I have a table in the mudroom of our house so I can look at a chess set every time I arrive home. I have not gone so far as to create a permanent board on top of the table itself, but have sanded it down and left it a natural surface with some lemon oil finish (which I occasionally freshen up as needed). I like the texture of it left unfinished and set my inexpensive boards on top of it - my favorite for the setup being my silicone board, which stays on at all times and makes a grippy, ultra-stable platform for my other boards to sit on. 

This table was formerly a round leaf-accommodating kitchen table that I found leaning against the side of a dumpster, which I lopped the sides off of and did some extensive sanding on to round the edges.
 https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/10565586/IMAG0292.jpg

Very nice! I recall that green board from your Russian set video!

Amazing table! How big are the squares? Let me know if you ever want to divest!

Thanks, Gomer! Keep us posted on your progress and bounce any questions you have off us!

Thanks, SirB! Love your set up!

Thanks Gomer, your comments are always appreciated!

I was surprised that the squares are a regulation 2.25 inches. I don't know why you'd want it though. It's just a cheap, cardboard topped folding table that I paid $5 for. The cardboard has sagged some on either side of the center support and it's not quite big enough to have books open for study. I bought it because I thought the colors would go well with my old set. (By old I mean circa early 1980s)

This table I made myself from solid Black Walnut, Maple, White Oak and Purple Heart...2" squares and is here teamed with circa 1860 Jaques 3.75" Ebony/Boxwood pieces. I built it about 25 years ago in a former life as a cabinetmaker (before I went back to school to study Biochem).

Hey John, thanks for the beautiful pic of your chess table and its sidekicks. Question on your Jaques set, is it a 3.5" set as I've never seen a 3.75" Jaques from that period?