We have a “Toys for Tots” collection bin at my office, where they are collecting donations of toys to give as Christmas presents to underpriviledged children. I usually throw in a chess set every year, so I figured I’d post here to encourage everyone else to do the same. Most toy stores have donation bins this time of year for this sort of thing, so you should be able to find one.
You can get a cheap chess set for $3 at most stores. Or if you want to make sure the kid who receives it has an easy time learning the game and really learns the rules correctly (including stuff like castling and en pessant, which are often left out of basic instructions), you can spend a little more to donate this product:
No Stress Chess | Rules | Pieces | Set | Game | How to Play | Classic Board Game | Chess for Kids
My nephews learned the game from that No Stress Chess game last year at 5 and 7 years old, and they love it. The cards make it easy for them to remember how to move each piece, and the board is labeled on one side with the starting locations of the pieces. The other side of the board is unlabeled, and the instructions with the game go over ALL the rules for normal chess, including some basic strategy tips. There are even transition type games, where instead of picking one card every turn, you get a hand of 3 or 5 cards, so they work their way up to choosing which piece to move by themselves. I highly recommend this product as a great way to teach new players of any age. And no, I don’t work for the company or anything like that.
Personally I’ve never thought giving a kid one of those cheap boxed sets with the 2" king and no bottoms on the pieces was doing him much of a favor.
You can get a good tournament-quality set and vinyl board for somewhere around $15, and they’ll both last forever!
Back in the days when the USCF ran its own catalog store, there was a package deal that included a set, a board, a book and a one-year membership. (Unfortunately at least part of the time I think it was a paper board, see my comments above regarding giving someone poor quality equipment.)
If USCF Sales doesn’t have a package deal like this (preferably including some kind of a bag for the pieces), the USCF should encourage them to offer one.
You don’t think that a lousy chess set is better than no chess set at all?
I don’t have a store locally to go to for a decent tournament set, and I didn’t think to buy one for Toys for Tots at my last big tournament that had a vendor. So I went with what was available locally. It’s better than nothing.
For less than $5, in quantity, you can get a decent “club special” set that’s virtually indestructable with a vinyl board. If you’ve got a large local club, consider ordering a 10 or 20 sets from a big supplier that offers decent discounts. Then you get the best of both worlds.
