Why no love for veneer boards?

I dont have really strong feeling one way or the other, but I notice most people prefer solid wood boards to veneer boards (for veneer I would say any wood under 1/4" thick glued to a substrate).

Its odd because most antique boards I see are veneer not solid wood. 

I like both. The lightness of veneer is good. Easy to retrieve and set up on a table. 

I think I prefer a thick veneer say 1/8". Hard to find a good one though (i.e clean joining, well sealed, veneer thick enough to refinish). The solid ones are very nice, but I seen older ones that were a nightmare (frames pushed apart, squares splitting etc). Not sure I trust them, maybe if they were in a floating frame and sealed with poly?

Depends on the quality of the board and how well it was stored; there are plenty of solid-wood boards out there that are 20 years old more and in great shape (e.g., the famous Drueke boards), and most were probably not even stored well.

The Druekes are funny in that it appears they made some design choices not many other solid wood board makers have been willing to do. Going strictly from pictures, it appears all the grain is in parallel. Even the frame. That should greatly reduce the stress from expansion.

I have both solid and veneered boards. In my opinion it all depends upon the application you intend to use either one of them. If it is going to be used as a showcase display piece. Solid boards tend to be a better option for this application. If you intend to travel with it. Veneered boards in my opinion are better for travel. I have taken a solid board a time or two to club and it sucks to lug it around. Where I have taken a veneered board to club and it is night and day compared to lugging around a solid wood board. So if you love playing on wooden boards and taking it to clubs or tournaments. My suggestion is to use veneered instead of solid. Display purposes go with solid. 

Well, this is pretty much completely wrong.

I have solid boards that either fold or are magnetic in four pieces and they travel great.  The Chess House and Colorado Woodworker provide the ones I own.

Veneer boards are also fine when they are made correctly.  I also own a number of these and they are alright.

Yes, my Ferrer boards are excellent.  And I have some veneer boards from HoS that are also quite nice.k

I just prefer my vintage Drueke boards  

So do I, but veneer boards have come a LONG way. I doubt the new veneer boards coming out of Spain will suffer the cracking and lifting that the old ones do. At least if they're taken care of.

I'm talking about weight reasons. Solid ones are quite heavier and more of a pain to travel. What I was referring to is a one piece board and not folding. I prefer veneer for travel over solid and solid over veneer for displaying. My personal preference. Since it is my preference it isn't wrong for me. Not sure why you need to chime in and say that what I said is wrong. It's my preference and my suggestion. Maybe others may have the same preference as me. So instead of saying it is totally wrong. Say that by your experience you prefer this or that. Quit injecting right and wrong on stuff like this. Chess equipment is subjective to those who handle them. What you like I may not. What I like you may not.  

You seem to be suggesting that Chess House intentionally “hides” the weight of their JLP boards because a solid-wood board being heavy is a bad thing? A solid-wood board being heavy is considered a positive, and is seen by many as a sign of “quality”; anyone who buys a solid-wood board expects it to be heavy, and I don’t think I’ve ever heard anyone say they care how much it weighs. Solid-wood boards are not made for travelling; they are usually at least 21” x 21” to 24” x 24” square.

P.S. Here is Chess House bragging about the heavy weight of their JLP board in wenge:

"This chessboard is 10 1/2 lbs (3 lbs heavier than the walnut style!).": https://www.chesshouse.com/products/21-hardwood-players-chessboard-jlp-usa-in-wenge-and-maple 

I don’t know why anyone would want to travel around with a $500+ CAD, 7 lb, 21”x21” square solid-wood board, hence why the weight really doesn’t matter. Some solid-wood boards with frames can be 15 lbs or more, and over $1000 USD; these are intended for the home, not travelling or tournament use.

I can safely assume that the new DGT Smartboards are veneer. Can also assume  Revelation II boards are also veneer? 

https://youtu.be/Ndye35iab48

A quick search showed me that thicker veneer boards cost as much as the entry level solid wood boards. This now leads me to ask: how can one tell the difference if seller does not disclose or mention the construction?

I know this is a couple years old but as a woodworker I'd like to throw my opinion out there. Much of the finest furniture in the world is veneered. Veneering is a whole skill that most woodworkers are too intimidated to attempt. It allows you to use highly figured or exotic woods that would be obscenely expensive otherwise and not to mention unstable if used in solid form. Add on to that the fact that a veneered peice has a stable, engineered wood core and you have a high quality peice that will last. We're not talking about ikea vinyl here. 

Some of the finest furniture in the world is veneered. Veneering is a very specialized skill and allows for much more in the way of wood options. 

Veneer chess boards are much more widely available in Europe where many are produced. Do Europeans say, "Why no love for solid wood boards?"