Post your Travel Chess Sets

Excellent idea, Bob, if you want the set to last.

Since I'm trying to photographically document my chess sets, now is a good time to take a few photos of my keychain set and post them here.

Unlike your set, the magnetic one is more novelty than genuine travel set.  The pawns are tiny, a mere 1/4-inch tall with a base of approximately 1/8-inch; the king is 9/16 inch tall.

                                3 x 1.5 x 0.75-inch Closed

            3 x 3 x 0.75-inch Keychain Set with Storage Drawer

               3 x 3 x 0.75-inches Keychain Board with Pieces

Awwww, this would've been an excellent gadget for Valentine's...

Hello fellow posters:

I thought I'd display one more set, a very practical one built like a tank, a tank of thick, impact resistance plastic.  It's called a Shoptaugh, which is named after its inventor, Philip Shoptaugh, a musician with the San Francisco Symphony.  He wanted a tough, reliable set that could be whipped out at a moments notice to play fellow musicians during rehearsal breaks.  For more about Mr. Shoptaugh and his games, click here.

Unfortunately for chess players, Phil has moved on to the invention and manufacture of other games and toys; the chess set is no longer made.  However, don't despair, you can find used and nearly new ones on eBay somewhat regularly.

Here's a brief description of the set.  The case/board measures 5-3/8 x 3-3/4 x 1-1/8 inches with peg-in pieces that fit the holes like a hand fits a glove; the pegs are long and there is no wobble.  The set also comes with extra queens and also one or two extra pawns in case you promote to the former or lose one of the latter.  There is also a little trough for captured pieces.  Lastly, you don't have to worry about misplacing the lid because it fits snugly on the bottom of the set.

Here are a couple photos of the set, one with the lid to the side and the other with the lid slipped under the bottom of the set.

Best,
Bob

Note: Please see Post #344 for an update (May 1, 2018)

This isn't exactly a travel set, but I'm curious to know if you've seen this kind. It's a magnetic set with the bases of the pieces cut at a 45 degree angle. I propped the board up to make the pieces vertical. These pieces should go on a bigger board, but this is my only metal board for a magnetic set. The pieces that actually go with this board are quite a bit smaller.

I've had this set for many years and can't remember where I got it. I've never tried playing a game with it.

Hi Bob,

You really made this set by cutting the bases at 45 degrees, didn't you?  What an illusion, it appears the pieces have melted into the board.  Perhaps your game is too hot to handle.

If you didn't make it, the set must have come from a magic or novelty store.  It belongs in a fun house where water appears to run up hill.  I can see it as part of an Escher print or Dali painting.

And, no, I've never seen a set like this before.  Thanks for your interesting post.

Best,
Bob

Hey guys i have a set i got from a friend he dound cleaning out an old apartment. Its one of the nicest i have seen i actually never seen another like it ,and ive been looking! I love the red and white pieces and the look of them and proportions to the board are perfect

Is it a travel set, Mr. King?  Do you know how old it is?  Is it of Stanton design, pre-Staunton or figurine?  If it's a travel set, perhaps you could snap a few shots and post them in this thread.

Best,
Bob

... or, instead of a picture, a thousand word description.

Are their any high quality travel sets being produced today? Something over $200?

Hello Mr. Billson,

To my knowledge, no current travel set sells for anything close to $200.  You can find a number of brand new magnetic-style, travel chess sets auctioned on eBay or sold on Amazon.  They are made in India and almost all of them have very similar Staunton-style pieces.  Below is an example of a 12 inch square, folding board set.  It sells for $50 on eBay.

A set with a book style case is also available.  My particular model (not shown) is older and came without the foam insert for storing pieces.  The lid can be closed with a game in progress and continued latter; I can't be certain the current model has this accommodation.

The pieces are tuned from Golden Rosewood & Maple, and the one shown measures 9-1/4 x 7-1/4 inches.  You can purchase it from USCFSales (i.e. The House of Staunton) for $70.

Lastly, this attractive set manufactured with French-style pieces and with a Whittington-style, double panel closure case is sold exclusively by USCFSales.  As with vintage French travel sets (mine is shown below), the pieces are oversized for the board.  Unlike the French sets, captured pieces must be stored separately from the set, say in a drawstring bag, during play.

This set is also turned from Golden Rosewood & Maple and measures 7-1/2 x 7-1/2 inches.  It sells for $90, but is currently out of stock.

                            Vintage 1960s-1970s French Travel Set

Regarding contemporary peg-in style wood sets, forget it.  They are also made in India, but the relative piece size and craftsmanship is questionable at best.  You'd be better off looking for an older set on eBay.

I hope this helps.

Best regards,
Bob

This set was on clearance from the USCF maybe 20-25 years ago. Was made in France and very very nice. The vinyl has not dried out or cracked.  I think they sold them out for $7.50 at the time. I enjoy magnetic chess sets.  The pieces are very easy to move.  Came in a few different colors. Magnets are super strong.  Truly a pocket set but pieces plainly visible so easy to see. 

wiscmike: Last year I got a portable magnetic set close to yours for $6 from ChessHouse.

I used to have Drueke magnetic set I inherited from my grandfather which is still being sold from ChessHouse for around $25. Mine had a nicer board/box arrangement which apparently you can't find except on ebay.

The price is right, ipcress12, but these pocket sets don't hold up like the one wiscmike is displaying.  I know, I have several, but I'm not certain my set is the same as yours because the kings are a bit different.

There are two varieties of these sets, one says Magnetic Chess on the closing flap and the other says Ultimate Chess.  Ultimate Chess is more thickly padded, the squares are nearer to a forest green, and I think the images are silk-screened on the magnetic disks.  The pieces for Magnetic Chess are nothing but a thin film attached to the disk.  Have a look how mine are peeling and chipping from use.  Definitely a short-lived throwaway.

Not only that, but the captured pieces slip out of the pouch easily and frequently.  To alleviate that problem, cut and file a strip of tin for the pieces.  Here is an example.

The tin strip can be placed in the pouch or removed.  I'll just move it to the next set after this one gives up the ghost, which should be shortly as the images continue to peel.

Best,
Bob

I don't use my set because I just know I'm going to lose a piece or two as soon as I do.

Though at the price it would be cheap enough to buy another set for spares.

However, I suspect if I really get into portable hand-held chess, I'll start using a chess program on my various Androids.

I got this really nice travel set from ChessHouse. It's a 9 inch, milled leather board, magnetic, with wood pieces. It lives in my backpack and goes everywhere with me. (I added the cell phone -- yes, I still use an old-fashioned flip-phone -- so you can get a sense of scale.)

Thanks, Marsha.

It looks like I haven't kept up with what's available in the market.  This is a nice, attractive set.  I particularly like the "milled leather board."

Those who are interested click here for a direct link to ChessHouse and the set.  Oddly, though, the pieces displayed by ChessHouse are different from the ones displayed here; look at the pawns. Whatever the answer, the set is temporarily backordered.

I got to poking around and apparently I'm wrong about at least one peg-in set.  Most of these, as I have said before, have "near lookalike kings and queens, nondescript knights and macrocephalic pawns," but not this one below.

The Indians upped their game on this one.  It can be purchased from House of Chess (different from ChessHouse) for $37.95.  Click here for the direct link to House of Chess and this set.

A word of caution is in order, however, as the other peg-in style travel sets sold by this company are cheaper and the pieces not nearly as well proportioned.  Though not quite as bad as what I described above, most of these Indian sets are not nearly as nice as this.

Best,
Bob

P.S.  Don't feel bad about the flip phone, I still use one too.

Yours looks nicer than the one that Chess House has at their link which is OOS right now. Although I like their pieces they display the board is way too crowded with those large bases. Your board and pieces look just about right.  I would guess an email to Raf would settle the matter.

That one looked good so I ordered one and it came today. It's very well built but the pawns seem to go with a larger set. The pictures on their web site show normal-sized pawns. I emailed House of Chess and am hoping they will send me some smaller pawns.

Damn, Bob, I was afraid of that.  The photo of the set on the website is not what they sent you.  Yours is the typical Indian set I was talking about with the macrocephalic (i.e. large-headed) pawns.

Not to put too fine a point on it, all your pieces differ in minor ways.  Look at the relative height of the king and queen.  Yours are nearly the same height, but not in the sales photo where the king is markedly taller.  The rooks aren't the same either.  Additionally, the one in the sales photo has the typical triangler shape found in larger sets with the height of the king at the apex and the rook as the shortest piece.  Yours are nealy all the same height, which is common among cheap Indian peg-in sets.  Download the photo in my post and enlarge it for a good look.

Frankly, when I see a photo of a set at House of Chess or House of Staunton or any of these sellers I expect it to be exactly like the photo or it's merely a bait and switch, and that thoroughly pisses me off.  If the set changes, take a new photo and post that one on the website.  The devil is in the details.

I highly recommend you send your photo to them and insist they closely -- and I mean closely -- compare the two.  Make note of the differences you see, and also make sure they sent you the correct set.  There are other sets on their site with pieces that more closely resemble these; take a look at this one, which is $10 less.  If this is the correct set and they can't see the difference between yours and the one shown, I would ask for my money back and never deal with them again.

Good luck.

Bob