CHESS SETS - Specifically for Club & Tournament Play

Post your recommended CHESS SETS SPECIFICALLY FOR CLUB & TOURNAMENT PLAY....

https://www.chess.com/blog/RussBell/chess-sets-for-club-tournament-play

I guess depending on the kind of club, or tournament... wood sets are also an option, here some I think are good for such settings:

Parker:

https://thechessstore.com/parker-staunton-chess-set-golden-rosewood-boxwood-pieces-with-walnut-chess-box-3-75-king/

For me the Parker is the ideal club wood set, the design is not as pretty as other more ornamental sets, but it is definitely a playable luxury set, it have features that I like to consider... like horse ears that don't break if the piece is dropped... some of your recommended plastic sets actually have this problem. Other consideration is that Queen crown does not have pointing tips... so it is comfortable to pick up form there.

Only problem can be the cost...

My next recommendation will fix that right away... The German Knight design. Considered by many as an ugly design... I did actually learnt my first chess moves on this design, and it was the first set I own. So... it is a pretty design for me... Sometimes I think I am the only fan of this design... 

Anyway, this design is so common that I don't even consider starting posting links... I would go with something like ChessBaazar or the so... They do have cheap deals and I bet buying 10 or more for a club will even grant more discounts, the price tag of this set actually is competitive against plastic sets... so for not other particular reason, Here a link from that store:

https://www.chessbazaar.com/tournament-series-staunton-chess-pieces-with-german-knight-in-stained-dyed-box-wood-3-7-king.html

I have brought up this design before on this forums and the general consensus is that you should go with a Chavet instead... But that is because they don't understand this design LOL. But still the point is somewhat valid the Chavet is a more nicer and step up design than the German Knight for about 2x the cost. Lardy is another classic design that is on the same price range than the Chavet, and also a nice one to consider.

Back to luxury sets, on the same price range than the Parker with a more unique look and definitely a must on every list of candidates for chess Clubs... I bring you... the Mechanical Institute. Look at it as a group of very smart guys make what they consider the perfect club set... and it is hard to argue against it... all the decisions they made on this design are with the sole consideration of making the ultimate chess club set. House Of Staunton is the place to go for this design, and this is the first link that I am giving on actual standard Club size... and that is a lot saying because I think the perfect size for a set is a king 3.75 tall, I do like the idea that there is chess clubs out there fancy enough to do stuff like this:

https://www.houseofstaunton.com/the-mechanics-institute-commemorative-chess-pieces-4-25-king.html

Finally I would like to bring attention to an almost perfect design... The Best Chessmen Ever. Clean minimalist design. Do not go for any of the upgrades to the design they made to make it more "detailed". Stage 1 is the way to go, and Eastern version of it... I find it pleasant that it avoids religious symbols... maybe a consideration to have on this times...

Now the problem with this design... is the cost... You see, the website claims several different origins of manufacturing...

For instance, this link claims they are made in Amritsar: http://www.bestchessmenever.com/special/

But the true is that they are made by Noj on Slovenia: https://www.noj.si/?mod=catalog&action=productDetails&ID=165

And this is really unfortunate... because the difference on locations does represent some $400+ between the 2 locations but also easy and free shipping (I think the shipping to US is like $70)... So being such a great design, it is virtually impossible to justify the cost of it... but if money was not object, this design definitely would look so clean and great on a line of tables such as you can find in a club.

Makes you wonder what happened with the search of a manufacturer in Amritsar? And yes, I have read every single page of the the BCE website and spot this kind of details...

I like this set for club and tournament matches, durable and nicely weighted about 42 ounces total for all pieces. Ebonized boxwood and boxwood. 

How big of a difference is there between the indian and the slovenian one?

I don't know the details of the production, I figure He try someone in india to produce the set, that didn't work so he found someone more local.

The problem I point out is that no all the price difference is justify on quality of product only... part of it have to do with wages, tooling, machinery, size of the shop... and so on... other factors that don't necessarily mean better quality, just more cost... but that is my take on it... you think all the money is efficiently translated into quality?

The sets on the page from india look good to me... the sets on the Noj page look good too, though it is clear that they are woodcarvers... not photographers. No that I am picking on them for this, this is a generalized problem... just recently someone in the forums was pointing out that HOS have pictures of same board and having the colors look very different... ChessBazaar is plastering their pictures with a horrible watermark... I guess other store is stealing their pictures? LOL... anyway...

It is nice to see you too.

For rapid or blitz I use my HoS 4" Collectors in natural and black. If I'm playing a classical time control I'll use any of my sets that are from 3.5" to 4". My 4.4" set was used once but it was cramped on the 2.25" squares. 

I have a fellow club member with whom I've played rapid games on his nice NOJ Minceta set though. 

You have it exactly right. The Amritsar deal was very successful as I ran out of stock in short time. Unfortunately, I was busy with other projects and did not have time to do the deal again. I might do it these days and offer our budget BCE Tournament sets again. Stay tuned.

However, as @macmillan points out, for a true Best Chessmen Ever experience you should buy Slovenian. Only our artisants at Noj do the BCE brand proper service and deliver the Emotion of Chess.

-Izmet Fekali

http://bestchessmenever.com

I am using the Fischer series chess pieces for my group today. I would like to use the Alegria pieces as well if my players would be respectful and never drop them. The Alegria Knight is much more detailed and more likely to break an ear when dropped or mishandled which always happens in blitz club play.

And when I need to host games what demand the nearly unbreakable pieces, I let the children go nuts with the Ultimate Chess Set.

@chessroboto -

The photo you posted above for the Ultimate Chess Set was taken directly from Shelby Lorhman's website....

https://amchesseq.com/collections/tournament-style-chess-pieces/products/we-games-ultimate-tournament-staunton-chessmen-with-3-75-inch-king-triple-weight-over-3-9-lbs?variant=7338016899130#shopify-product-reviews

The color of the light (i.e., "White") pieces in this photo is that of the "original" Ultimate Set, not a photo of the Ultimate Set which is currently being sold today.  That is, the color of the "White" pieces now being sold is a decidedly "butter yellow" color.  In other words, the color of the "White" pieces that you will receive if you order the set today is nowhere close to that depicted in the photo on the website.  For more about this issue, refer to the following forum thread on the topic (peruse the many photos of the pieces of the current sets posted in the thread)....

https://www.chess.com/forum/view/chess-equipment/ultimate-chess-set?page=32

OK I understand they don't want to take the set to the photo-box and get accurate color and nice details for new batch... but at least photoshop the thing a bit so it looks closer to the set?

Sorry to be such a pain... is this picture closer to the real color?

@htdavid -

I don't own the new Ultimate Set.  I am going only on what is posted in the Chess.com forum thread on the topic, which I had referenced.  For me to comment much further on the photo you just posted would not resolve anything for you.  For example, one might plausibly conclude that the color of the "White" pieces in your photo is "closer" to the current yellow color, but not the same color.  The best that I can do to answer your question is to again refer you to the aforementioned Chess.com forum thread relating to the issue, and let you be the judge!

I suppose this is the picture that you'll want people to see. It's a love-hate chess set wherein beauty is in the eyes of the beholder.

Precisely!

@rcmacmillan

I didn't commented more on this after I got that line about the "emotion of chess" I don't know what that is, what that means and why it makes a chess set so expensive. If you ask me, I much rather prefer the no emotions one.

I think anyone that pays a premium of $400 for "the emotion of chess" is a sucker.

It is a fact that the vast majority of wood chess sets are made in India where costs are lower than many other places.  Looking at sites that sell Indian made sets shows many similar designs from one location to the other.

The House of Staunton, Official Staunton Company, Chess Bazaar and Royal Chess Mall have a number of sets that look alike.  I believe this is where you will see similar prices for similar quality, and you do.

There are some sets you see at The House of Staunton that you do not see elsewhere, well at least until recently.  Frank Camaratta has designed and had made some very nice sets that are definitely higher quality than others.  Yes, the quality of the woods all the way to the final finish work take more time and effort resulting in a higher quality and a more valuable product that will cost more money to buy.

Carl of Official Staunton has done the same.

If you do not own or have not actually handled, inspected and played with a Noj set you cannot really know that the quality of their sets is heads and shoulders above any of the Indian produced sets.  And as I own 6 Noj sets, as well as over 35 Indian made sets, I can tell you this is truly so.  And I say this objectively with no emotion.

Well this are real factors I can understand on the price of a product:

"The perfect weight balance, the attention to detail and refusal to ship anything less than perfect, the silky smooth finish of the pieces and the outstanding customer service that NOJ provides are all factors that justify the cost as far as I'm concerned."

I can function on that framework (we maybe value them differently but at least we both agree this things have value)... "emotion of chess"... well... if someone wants to buy that, up to them... I would not pay a dollar for that stuff... All I can do is argue silly points around this claim that I find silly...  but the thing is pointless... The designer have explain to me why the sets worth more, and I don't find the value on it.. so maybe someone else buy the thing, with 10% extra emotions if purchased on Thanks Givings...

I think carvers in India are capable of producing any standard of quality produced anywhere else... but then again quality is not cheap, not even in India..

The problem is people go to India to place orders for cheap stuff, and so ask for lower quality stuff... to match their budget kinda deal...

You have mention some examples of higher quality from India, so we know they can do it. And I am sure that if someone place an order of the best quality sets, they will be able to produce that order.

India is one of the few countries in the world that is placing satellites into space, and we are debating if they can make a chess piece...

Oh, I am sure there are carvers in India that are capable of producing a high quality product.  But I am not talking about potential but actual performance.

I do own a couple of expensive sets made in India.  And they are of nice quality.  However, the Noj sets are better.  And I am talking about sets in the same price range from both places.  I also am telling you that there is a very noticeable difference in the quality that one can see and feel when holding the different pieces in your hand and playing a game or analyzing with them.

The Noj sets are indeed of a higher quality and value than any of the Indian sets in the same price range and even a bit more expensive than the Noj sets.

Also, Noj makes no cheap or lower quality sets.  So they cannot and do not compete with the Indian producers in that area at all.

I own a good number of the lesser expensive not as high of quality chess sets.  The House of Staunton has over 200 wood sets they sell.  And the ones they sell at the lower price range are nice for that.  In fact they offer competitive prices for these cheaper sets to Chess Bazaar.  And yes, they offer more of a variety of sets than Chess Bazaar as well.  Yes, I own both The House of Staunton and  Chess Bazaar chess sets, so I can give an objective opinion on how they compare.

Noj is at the higher price range and still not the highest possible.  When a person actually compares the quality of a Noj set to an Indian made set of the same price, the Noj is better in quality, objectively.

You are getting emotional. I like that.

-Izmet Fekali

I can understand this problem, some qualities of the product can't be capture in the pictures... and their pictures are kinda meh anyway...

You have not idea... for each line I post there is at least 5 that i delete... lol...

But seriously, don't forget the penny-less chess players of the world, give us some affordable run and I make sure to put the emotions of chess myself.