What's your ideal chess set?

My Aunt and Uncle have a chess set, but they never use it! Simply because the pieces are made of silver and bronze (I think), and each piece has a crystal inset into each chessman. Each chessman is also unique (every pawn has its own characteristics even), and the board itself has marble tiles!

It's the most amazing chess set I've ever seen, and yet it still doesn't appeal to me as much as one made from wood (or stone) for instance, and using the colours cream and brown respectively. Even more ideal for me would be one like that which I completely hand-crafted! But what are your preferences?

I really like the chess set I asked my spouse to get for me birthday before last.  Wasn't sure why I found it so appealing, and then it was pointed out, the kings don't have crosses but rather fleurs de lys -- guess that's what caught my eye and made them seem so stylish to me.

That sounds pretty amazing 

I'm going with this set I developed. The staunton sets while standard, are actually pretty arbitrary. The ornate collector's sets are way too distracting. My set is more geometrical, speaks more to my subconscious.

Wow! That's almost like what you'd see on a 16-bit console game, very retro! I love it! Although I have to ask, why is the King so small? It should be your biggest piece!

great thread... i am actually sculpting my own set right now. I have a nice tournament set 4" weighted plastic pieces with a roll up board and leather bag but i wanted something more personal... so i scoured the internet and could find nothing that i really would enjoy playing with so i brainstormed what my pieces would look like, what would inspire me, and i came up with a pretty great idea. after i sculpt them i might make a mold to produce multiple sets and sell them online (i really think there is a market for them) or ill just keep them for me... i havent decided yet, we'll see how the sculpt goes and take it from there... if you want to join me in making your own set google cx5 wax or super sculpey firm and get creative!

I really admire you making your own set BhomasTrown it looks cool, i think after a couple games i could get used to something like that.

Totally agree about your chess set being personal, hence building it yourself! The chess set I own right now is pretty great, not flashy but well presented. For me though, a 'personal' chess set wouldn't exist unless I built it myself! 

"The man likes chess. Lets get him some rocks..." - Red, Shawshank Redemption.

My favorite! http://www.chess.com/forum/view/chess-equipment/the-chessstorecom

(see beginning of thread)

phil: ah, let's see. i designed the pieces based mostly on how they move, so the king is a square, it can move to a ring of squares surrounding the square that it's on. now, in a more detailed set, I could engrave four lines (#) on top of the king to enforce that idea more fully, but it's ok for my study purposes to just have a simple square. do you happen to have any photos of the set you're describing above?

205thsq: thanks, i wanted to go further into my research of geometry in chess...all the angles and lines and intersections. so, these are just hobby-wood, painted, and felt on the bottom. might sell some sets if there's interest and if i have time.  hmmm, i hadn't seen cx5 wax before. i'm wondering what designs you have in mind for your pieces. simpler or more detailed, taller or flatter?

That's beautiful! I prefer a fold-away board personally (more practical for me, and somewhere to store the pieces), but that one's gorgeous too. That could be the 'home' set while a fold-away would be for travel 

Bhomas Trown: Mine's nothing special really, cost £25, factory-made and endorsed by Kasparov lol. Suits my purposes though; it's a fold-away which contains the pieces inside when not in use.

Here's an image:

EDIT: The pieces I have are cream and brown (matching the tiles on show) instead of cream and black like the image suggests.

BhomasTrown  yeah that cx5 stuff is amazing! check this out http://youtu.be/8zYkiEOrnKs im not gonna use this stuff though i went with the super sculpey firm because i am just a normal guy with an idea not an actual sculpter, my hope is that my set will weigh and play just like a traditional set, i just havent decided if im gonna build the 5 pieces make a mold and then create the entire set out of something else or just bite the bullet and sculpt all 32... one thing is for sure it is amazing we can buy quality sets as cheap as we considering what goes in to making one.

Sam97 i saw your topic before... that is a gourgeous set

philtheking1981  i think that cream and brown board has a lot of personality

Cheers 205thsq, I think it does too and really enjoy playing with it. It'll certainly last a while and provide entertainment until I get around to building my own!

heres a quick pic of my humble collection, the red a white set is the one  I take to the club or to the beach, the wooden set i bought at a swapmeet in Moscow it mostly just sits in my bedroom but it can be played on... i got in a big argument with the guy at the swapmeet over that, in my opinion a set you cant play with is useless... and the little one is probably my favorite. My wife bought it for me before we got married. She bought it from a bazzar in Bangledesh India, the pieces are like soapstone or something they are really lightweight definetely not marble and i think she got it for like five bucks; it lives on the desk in my office. I paid 500 rubels ($17 bucks) for the wood one, and i bought the red and white one years ago online from new york for $50 including shipping. I think ive already spent more than all of them combined for just the supplies to try to make my own.

That's an ace collection you have there 205thsq! Not suprised about spending more on the one you make yourself, that's exactly how I'd go about achieving it!

thanks phil, i like it... anybody could buy a set, i think a true collection should tell a little story. Out of all the research ive done this one is by far my favorite http://www.behance.net/gallery/Chess-Set-Functional-Art-Piece/4096361 id love to own something like this, its not as recognisable as i would like a chess set to be though.

I like super mario chess, or other themed boards like that.

That's gorgeous! Very ornate as well, I completely agree about it not being as recognisable as is ideal though. It's very similar in style to my aunt and uncles. Shame it's not as 'familiar' as others, considering how beautiful it is. Perhaps we're just too hard to please?