Review - World Chess Official Academy Chess Set

Hi,

I would like to present you my little review of the World Chess Official Academy Chess Set which I recently have purchased for outdoor gaming.

©World Chess

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Below you can find the table of contents, so you can skip to the point that you are most interested in.

1. Unboxing.
2. The chess set.
3. Final conclusion.

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1. Unboxing.

So the box has been delivered by the courier in fairly good condition.

The box is made from good quality cardboard. Personally, I don’t like the screaming label with „Legalize your skills” with the information about FIDE Arena, especially where this is misleading due to the fact that FIDE Arena ratings are not the same as normal FIDE rankings (and this a physical chess set, not a digital one)…

The box is being open by pulling one of the sides up. It uses quite strong magnets to keep everything inside in place. Although I would probably not risk it in a „let’s really shake that thing - test” .

I was really afraid of the cardboard chessboard but actually, it is done from the quite good quality of cardboard, much better than those really cheap ones on the market. But still, it is cardboard, so it should not be put to extreme tests. 

Personally, I like the colours and that specific grey colour that they used around the squares. Also, the notation is very subtle. Visible enough for the new players and discreet enough for experienced players, to the point, where you really forget that it is there. I think that this should be a standard style for all the current boards which are using notation.

The chess pieces are packed in one big plastic zip-ish bag, which contains two other, smaller bags with white and black pieces.

Unfortunately, the thin cardboard inside the box is very fragile and, as you can see, the chess pieces already have made a few scratches and bumps during the transport, visible in the box.

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2. The chess set.

Let’s talk about the whole chess set now.

As a regular player, playing on the wooden chess board with wooden chess pieces (Timeless German Knight 3,75”), I was very sceptical about this chess set. I mean, those are plastic chess pieces, right? How much you can expect from this kind of chess set. After all, I just wanted to have the possibility to play outdoors and not carry too much about the weather or the environment.

And I am surprised. This is the most comfortable plastic chess set I have ever played.

The pieces are really well-weighted (not that far from the wooden ones - comparison in a second). Very comfortable to hold. I mean ergonomically they are really great. Amazing actually.

Just to be clear - I have never played with the Official World Chess Pieces before. However, since this is a plastic copy of the original wooden OWCP, those who already own or played with the wooden set will probably recognise the same comfort of play with plastic figures. For me, those plastic pieces made me think about buying the wooden ones as well (but currently they are unavailable…).

But let’s talk about the details.

So the chessboard has 435mm x 435mm with a single square size of 48mm. The King’s height is 86mm. The information, which is not given in the official description of the product is that the king has a base diameter of 37mm. So the ratio, of the king to the square is 77%, which is a sweet spot for most recommended ratios, both for a tournament and casual gaming.

Under the chess pieces, you will find a thin layer of paper-ish coating-pad. It actually does its job pretty well, but it would probably easily peel off when playing outdoors in dripping rain.

Let’s compare now those World Chess Official Academy Chess pieces to the Timeless German Knight 3,75” set that I have. I was surprised to see that actually almost all of the pieces from this plastic set match, in height the wooden set. 

The difference, however, is in the width. The wooden set, beside the king (and slightly the queen), has a smaller diameter by 5-10%. Another difference is in weight, which should not surprise, although, from a plastic chess set one would expect a bigger difference - again World Chess Official Academy Chess vs. wooden Timeless German Knight 3,75” chess.

As you can see only the queen and king have a significant difference of nearly half the weight, whereas the other pieces have between 8% and 30%.

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3. Final conclusion.

World Chess Official Academy Chess, in my opinion, has unnecessary information on the box saying: „Starter chess set”. Why? This set is so comfortable to play with that many experienced and very experienced players might really use it in many cases, instead of the wooden sets. I think that this label unnecessarily scares many advanced chess players away just because of those words.

The chess pieces are very ergonomic and well-weighted, taking into the consideration fact, that this is a plastic set. I think this might be one of the best plastic sets right now on the market. 

As for the negatives, I think that there is always a place for improvements when it comes to the chessboard (there are some better cardboard and plastic options on the market if you really want to search for them). I would like to see World Chess experimenting more with vinyl chess boards as well (I would love to see one with the graphical design taken from this cardboard chessboard in the set). Another improvement would be to change the bottom protective pads. I don’t think that it has to be a felt pad, but still, something that could maybe stand slightly rainy weather as well. Last but not least - the chess could be even slightly heavier to really mimic the feeling of moving the wooden chess pieces. But the last sentence needs to be taken with a grain of salt because chess sets always have additional weight added artificially, so one will find the lighter setup more comfortable and other people will be happy with heavier chess pieces.

In conclusion, this is a very good set with a cardboard chess board and box, as well as those iconic (but plastic) World Chess pieces. 

In my opinion, the purchase was absolutely worth those $32.00, if you want to buy a really well-made plastic set. If you play with a not-the-best-in-the-world wooden set, you might find yourself actually switching to this one instead, probably due to the ergonomics and design of the WC pieces. 

However, when it comes to the chess clubs I think that the World Chess offer for clubs is much more interesting due to the fact that you can (or could - currently unavailable) buy, as a club, 10 sets of those for $150.00, so for $15 per set. When taking into the account quality of the World Chess Official Academy Chess, I think it is a bargain.

- Piotr "Zbieraj" Zbierajewski
[Piotr "Spear+ay" Spear+a+yeah+ski]

Thank you @MCH818!

I purchased this set also but I made a few changes. I removed the paper felt, popped out the weights then filled the pieces with hour glass sand. I reinstalled the weights and replaced the paper felt with some proper felt of the same black and white color. The set is much nicer now with a little more weight and are much quieter. I replaced the board with a 2" square board. It was way too cramped on the smaller board. I play very little over the board so it's mainly a library set that's displayed so I'm not sure if it would hold up to blitz play. That could be a disaster with all the sand. Lol. I would maybe epoxy the weights in if I were to be playing alot of blitz. Congrats on your new set. I really like mine

Great review. I never thought a plastic set would be my favourite to play with, but it is.

I have been contemplating buying this set but I am a bit worried about the observation that the squares are a bit too small for the pieces. I don't like a crowded set up. What do others think about the board sizing?

@Bamboo58, I was also worried because the pictures on the World Chess website look like they might be quite crowded. Especially with 48mm squares. But they are not! I am a person who prefers to have slightly more space around the chess pieces and in this case, with mentioned, calculated ratio of 77%, it is great and really comfortable .

Thanks for the review. I've always wondering about their 'budget' line set. Their top of the line set cost $540, what I don't get is why did they put a cardboard for their budget line set? Accidents happen all the time and one can spilt drink on it by accident, or getting bend without knowing and it will leave a mark that stays. Not to mention when heavily used a cardboard will wear out quickly. I'd rather pay a few bucks more for a wooden veneer board version.

This is why I mentioned that I would like World Chess to propose a vinyl chessboard. For example in the same design as the cardboard one they have. The reason being - the vinyl chess boards are amazing for outdoor and club gaming, but for many, many decades they had a really, really boring design...

Yes exactly, it's not like they're known for selling cheap set anyway, so sell that budget set for 50 dollar or more but at least with a proper board. That's my point.

Personally, I find the piece and board combo a bit cramped. A standard 50mm square board would have been perfect for my eyes. Not sure why World Chess went with the oddball 48mm square size. In fact, most if not all of their chess piece and board combos are cramped.

@zbieraj Have you played with the plastic WC set on a standard 50mm square board? Thoughts?

Awesome review otherwise! I especially like the comparison to the standard 3.75" wood chess set. What version of the 3.75" Timeless pieces is that? What manufacturer?

@Pawerai, regardin second question I bought it from a Polish manufacturer and I think it is them who are making it:
German Knight Golden Rosewood 3,75" chess pieces (polishchess.com)

Regarding the first question - I will answer later today and add photos to show how it looks on 50mm squares (my wooden chessboard has 50mm squares).

Not everyone is enamored with this set.

Although this plastic set will not be for everyone's tastes due to material, size, weight, style, etc.. the OP's review is pretty balanced. I appreciate zbieraj taking the time to photograph, write and post original, interesting content to help others decide if this set is right for them. He clearly shows the mold lines in the photos. And has precisely weighed and compared each piece to a common German Knight set. 

@Pawerai, 50mm squares:

Just to be clear - this set is still made out of plastic. It is not likely to replace a really good wooden chess. I wrote that I found myself playing WCOACS more often due to the fact that I can enjoy them outdoors, prepare faster than my wooden chess set and to play the blitz, where I tend to really hit one piece hard by another when beating them.

So if someone, by the default, is searching for a great wooden chess quality within this plastic set then it will be a bad idea. When it comes to the weight, the plastic chess normally have almost no weight at all. WCOACS are pretty decent when it comes to this topic. Again, like I wrote, they could be eaven heavier, but as for plastic chess set, they are really great comparing to the competition.

Again - remember, this chess set should not be taken into consideration as a replacement of professional wooden sets. It should be used as a very good basic chess set to have one at home, or as a additional chess set that you can easily take with you wherever you want without thinking too much if, for example, the weather outside could ruing your chess set .

Ahhhh.... what a difference 2mm makes  

48mm vs 50mm squares.

PS.Recently I have found that the knights in the wooden set have slightly different design by having thinner neck part (and the pictures on the World Chess website confirm it). Again, I did not have the wooden set in my hands yet, but the knight in plastic one has a really good ergonomic body ratio with the thicker neck - you have a lot of comfortable grabing area for making moves.

Yes. Aside from the first World Chess Championship release in 2013, every subsequent World Chess Championship set has used the slightly redesigned stockier Knight with the thicker neck. Personally, I prefer the original thin awkward neck of the 2013 Knight as it was originally conceptualized and designed by Daniel Weil. I LOVE that the Knight stirred up such a swift and visceral reaction from the chess community. Hah!

Speaking of which - soon I will write a review of Official World Chess Board . I have things already on my list which I want to touch upon, but maybe there is something you all would be interested specifically in?

Thanks for bumping this thread, my order for the Club Set is complete! I have been wanting a smaller set and what better timing than the upcoming world championship?