Review of Chessbazaar Sinquefield Cup 2017

I've been admiring the "Camaratta Signature Series Cooke Luxury" from HoS for some time but it seems to be out of stock for ever and no sign when it will be back in stock. Than there is this version from Chessbazaar "The Sinquefield Cup 2017" which also has been out of stock for quite some time. That is, until 2 months ago they're available for backorder. With the 40% discount sale at that moment, I decided to jump on it and placed an order with the padauk (bud rosewood) version.

On Nov 24 I got a mail saying it's been shipped and 6 days later I received it, that's very fast considering this time of year with Black Friday around the corner.

The package is plain simple box, within the pieces are neat and tidy stacked. Every single piece is tightly wrapped with foam wrap. The king's finial have their own foam wrap, that's a nice extra protective layer. A leather pouch is included, that's a nice touch. Still, I'd prefer the way Staunton Castle and House of Staunton secure their pieces which is every piece wrapped in foam wrap and placed in cut out to size cushion foam.

The set comes in 2 flavor, bud rosewood (padauk) in 2 finishes: lacquered or buff (matte finish). The other flavor is ebony and there is only one finish which is buff finish judging from the pictures. I choose for the padauk version in buff finish.

 

Measured specs:

King 3.7" (94mm) / 1.75" (44.6mm) - 74g/77.72g
Queen 3.1" (78.8mm) / 1.59" (40.6mm) - 71.54g/76.77g
Bishop 2.87" (72.9mm) / 1.48" (37.6mm) - 49g/50.37g
Knight 2.46" (62.6mm) / 1.48" (37.8mm) - 49.7g/61g
Rook 2.18" (55.5mm) / 1.5" (38.1mm) - 52.6g/58.3g
Pawn 1.89" (48.1mm) / 1.18" (30mm) - 23g/27.9g

Note: weight is boxwood first then padauk (bud rosewood).

Weight set: 1313g (without extra queens)

 

Impression:

One word: flawless! The pieces are beautifully carved, no flaw or blemishes to be seen. All pieces are symmetrical, even the weights from the same wood are consistent judging by feel.

The Sinquefield set is all about the knights, so I paid carefully attention to the knights. They're astonishing! They look exactly like shown on the website, but until you have them in your hands than you'll realize the amount of effort they put in carving them, so full of details and all 4 of them near perfect identical and this goes for all sides as well. Frank to be told, I paid extra attention to the knights because the last set I bought which was from House of Staunton, the knights were a joke. They don't look like what they advertise, to make it worse all 4 knights are different from each other even both side from the same knight is different. So I'm very pleased with these knights.

As for handling, they feel exquisite and a pleasure to grab them. The pieces are weighted and thankfully not too heavy. This is just right for a weighted set. One of the reason I choose the CB version is the wide bases of the pieces in particular the knights, and they surely are wide! They're almost as wide as Staunton Castle Dubrovnik known for it's wide bases. So this is as stable as you can get for a club sized set.

This Sinquefield 2017 set is a perfect fusion between classical Staunton with the gorgeous contemporary designed knights. Highly recommended  

 

Complementary pictures:

Gorgeous set. Do you mind if I ask the price?

The regular price is 382 USD and I paid 229 USD because of the 40% sale going on back then. That's a steal

Nice price even without the sale.

Great review. Gorgeous set. I am stunned by the low price. Congratulations!

Wow, speechless! Love the padauk. Thank you The One! The attention to a uniform diminishing height is very easy on the eyes.( pics 1, 3, and 4)

@TheOneCalledMichael - as always, thanks for your beautiful photos and your review.

This is a wonderful set you have shown us. Surely this will have pride of place in your collection.

This might seem strange to say but I am also happy for the Chess Bazaar team too… Vik, Mayank and the crew.

I am a customer of theirs and they have always been responsive to me. They really seem to try hard and yet, sometimes things go awry and they get a bad rap. Hence good see that when things go well and they get a good rap. In the end, people will make up their minds on the balance.

On the odd occasion I have had a problem- they have addressed the issue to my satisfaction. And thus, I remain a repeat buyer.

Thanks again, to contributors this forum - I truly believe we try to educate each other and provide something akin to objective advice. 👍

Do you think this set is as good as a HOS Camaratta Signature? 

TheOneCalledMichael This Sinquefield 2017 set is a perfect fusion between classical Staunton with the gorgeous contemporary designed knights. Highly recommended ,

like when taxi driver met Dubrovnik meets Jaques , Was how I felt with my set by TCE .

 

This is my first experience with CB and although I had to wait 2 months, the communications within are quick and clear, so that was good. Like mr Powder I'm impressed by the quality of the pieces as well the communication so I wouldn't hesitate to buy from them again in the future. 

@mr Ogouriev tbh, I have been comparing the pics between HoS Camaratta Signature and CB version countless time before I pulled the trigger. Besides the obvious size difference although not that big, 3.7" vs 3.6" I can't see much differences if any between them which led me to believe they have the same supplier. This is just a speculation from my part but I see that TCE is also selling almost identical Sinquefield set so you can draw your own conclusion

Like mr Light said, it's like when de Niro met Pacino in the truck cafe...fireworks!

Gorgeous set and amazing pictures!!! Thanks so much for posting and I’d say that right now, thats the number 1 set on my wish list. I agree with @lighthouse, ‘a perfect fusion between classical Staunton with gorgeous contemporary designed knights’. Enjoy them!!!!!

Credit is where credit is due, it was mister MCH818 that brought my attention to HoS Cooke Luxury set. It was weird first to look at that mohawk knight but in time I'm starting to see the beauty of it

Can't wait to see pics of yours mister MC! Also we're still waiting for mister Light his TCE set

Great purchase! Very nice looking set. I have the 2014 version and I love it. (Also from CB)
Pretty sure it’s my favorite, well………..maybe………..this week………

Sure will do / when the sun shines on my son's grandmother art deco table  

Will make some grab shot's of my mac /

I got my Sinquefield set from TCE , In padauk & Ebony theres not much different with the HOS set take away all the hos marking etc , if you want custom marking on the kings knight & rook can always ask I guess/ also looks good on a 55mm sq board ,
& way cheaper with real ebony wood than HOS , Sure you do have the 21% vat import fee + fedEX fee of 2.5% for adm ,
I don't know if TCE are still making sets for HOS ?
I got my set for the Knights design & padauk wood is better for teaching my son & the eyes / Or a good excuse to get a new chess set I guess .

On top would be very upset almost heart broken if my 150 year old Jaques was dropped by my 10 year old son in his own playful way

 

 

Thanks for yet another impressive review Michael, as always the high standard of photography and information are a huge help for us all. I do have the Sinquefield set on my wishlist and this version is just gorgeous, love the padauk and I think I would prefer this version over HoS. Now I just have to wait for another 40% sale haha.

 

Powderdiget et all-- Once again I have to repeat my experience  with CB. The replacement piece (s) that Mr. Gupta sent me on May 6, have not arrived.   Mr. Gupta no longer replies to my email (s).  I   had   purchased   4 CB sets and 2 coffers. I was perfectly  satisfied with them.   I had planned to buy another CB set on my birthday  (  11-16) , and again for Christmas.   Because of CB (s) poor response  and faillure to   solve my problem, I have not bought any more CB products.  I will not recommend  CB products to anyone  who is interested in buying  their products.       Edward  Dubin

ZIMBA - good to know and to note. Like someone said on this or another thread … it’s been a bit of a lottery on quality/service over the past 12 months from a range of retailers. I totally understand your position and indeed, would take a similar stance if that was my experience too. Very frustrating and a shame that your and perhaps other’s issues have not been resolved.

Tanks @MCH818 I'm heading there right now.

Sorry to hear that mister Edward! Once one's trust is violated, it's hard to get it back. I think it's safe to say it's stupid to loose one client over 1 or 2 replacement pieces. It's their loss mister.

Regarding the set on display so proudly......I'd like to find something original to compliment that amazing set and the proud owner's tastes,but I can't think of anything other than a word I use to kid around with my grandkids.....So I'll just say "Fabulonious"!