Romanian Hungarian Beauty

It's a wonderful set. The golden patina looks great! Truly aged well. The wine red is my favorite. Sandor uses a different stain now. He mentioned it when I bought my pieces. Thanks for sharing and thanks to power digit for posting and keeping this topic!

**edit /w photos

I was looking at Hungarian-Romanian chess set on Chessbazaar but noticed that nowadays chessbazasr charges customs duty after you place an order with them therefore the price we see on their website  is not final and there is a hidden cost (customs) which you see at the point of completing payment. 

So you bought a set from them?

It’s really good to see the original pieces and the history provided by Holger and @dobtom - as requested, I will not delete the thread and hope that people are directed to Biro’s site as noted above. A truly excellent, beautiful, robust and functional design.

No, I did not. I stopped buying from chessbazaar when I had bad experiences with the quality of their products. Besides, they use business gimmicks to sell their products such as not mentioning directly that customs duty is excluded and you find out only when you have almost completed your purchase or putting chess sets with tiny blemishes on clearance sale. 

stumOnner, nice photos, I like your newer version set. Which one do you prefer, the Bíró set or the fide wch set?

Hi dobtom, to me they are both different. As you said the brio is indestructible. However, my wch set had a few broken pieces on arrival which I had to work out. I'm less careful with brio as you can feel how strong each piece is when playing. My only regret is not getting the foldable club style chess mat when I ordered from Sandor. Should have taken advantage of the shipping.

I agree with @stumOnner. 

FIDE World Chess set:
Personally, I wouldn't choose this set if it was my one and only set due to questionable long term durability because of the thin collar carving. I LOVE the bold, modern design though.  299-350ish USD shipped w/extra queens. 

IM Biro Sandor set:
Extremely durable due to the charmingly chunky carving. 190 USD shipped (to US) w/extra queens. Black, dark brown, and red. I have confirmed with IM Biro Sandor that each set he sells direct is still personally made by him at 65 years old. There's no workshop of carvers churning these out for the mass market. It's just him. From answering email inquiries, to sales, to customer service, to manufacture, it's all him. About 2 weeks turnaround time. 

 

Beautiful set @Powderdigit. You're becoming quite the collector! Have you got a case for all of your lovely sets or are they living in chess boxes for the time being? 

@Ibuildchess - thanks 🙏. Weirdly I have a collection of chess sets and yet, I still feel uncomfortable as a ‘collector’ - example in point, a collector would have done enough research to purchase this set from Biro. Alas, I live and learn - and I may yet get pieces from Biro if I can do it without getting a divorce!!

On storage / if you can, check out the 5 knights of lockdown thread … my most treasured box (made of Queensland maple, by my uncle) holds up to four large sets (combined) but I generally only keep two in it with pieces separated and orderly. I also have two blue metal containers which store pieces safely for travel and a leather pouch and a wine box that I use too.

It sounds like a classic case of "imposter syndrome". I understand your feelings on wishing you bought this set from it's creator, you still are in possession of a beautiful set, many beautiful sets in fact. Not all collectors are created equal. Some collect originals or high end sets only, some collect eclectic sets ranging from cheap to moderately expensive, and some collect whatever they can afford. They're all collectors of sorts. You definitely meet the criteria of collector

I did see your awesome storage box from your uncle, it looks magnificent. I think that perhaps a moderate display shelf/case may be in order to showcase some of your more significant sets, as they deserve to be seen at all times

Thanks @Ibuildchess - I appreciate the feedback and yep, in due course, I can imagine a glass display/corner cabinet. 👍

I also love those pieces! Probably the last playing set I will use and think about getting a spare set (just in case, you never know).

The board is a 55mm square size and 45 cm total sized folding board from Ferrer. The table below isn´t totally flat, which affects how flat the board lays down.

It is thanks to this thread that I ordered a set from  Sandor, in black. So no worries, a fantastic outcome

Hi all,

A quick update - I have ordered the Biró pieces…. they are just taking a long time to get here … for what whatever reason deliveries from Germany and now Bucharest, Romania are taking 4-6 weeks. No problem my end and I am in no rush  - just the reality of delivery times in the current environment. I should note that Mr Biró Sándor has been delightful and responsive to purchase from … I look forward to the pieces arriving between the 18th-23rd May on current estimates from delivery company. 🤞

Hmm? Methinks you told me no more new sets for a while...Liar!

Yeah. Guilty as stated Magic!

And … I will soon have two similar sets (but possibly the best ‘playing’ sets I own)… after realising that the designer and carver Mr Biró Sándor was still making pieces, I absolutely feel better for ordering his set directly from him ….rewarding his effort in the design and manufacture of an excellent set.

You also told me no Oleg R. sets will come to Aussie land. Who's gonna' trust you now?

For once - less writing from me. In short, Mr Biró Sándor is a gentleman and professional in his communications, carving and delivery. 
The pieces are a joy to see and hold - lightly weighted, beautifully stained. Some subtle carving marks on the chests of the knights - not errors rather evidence of a hand at work. 

I’ve always wanted a red set and yes, I have have other sets in Paduak but this stain is lovely. 
I am so happy I made this decision to buy this set from the designer and maker. Thanks to Holger for alerting me to the fact that these were available. Highly recommended from this amateur collector. Oops - I still wrote too much - I’ll let the pictures talk now!

👍

….. they came packed as below.