The pros and cons of chess suppliers

All Things Chess
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What do you look for in a chess supplier?

Some musings on chess suppliers I’ve dealt with and why:

The first chess supplier I ever found on the Internet was the Village Chess Shop. It intrigued me enough that I visited the shop on a trip to New York City, and on that trip and one subsequent visit I bought a unique-looking set of pieces, a rosewood-and-maple chessboard and a Rolland Meisterschach analog clock (at that time, the only digital on the market was the costly Chronos). But I haven’t bought anything from that establishment since, because its selection is so limited.

The next one I discovered was Your Move Chess & Games, whose selection is just the opposite – one of the widest I’ve seen. Its prices aren’t the best out there (though they’re not beyond the bounds of reasonableness), but I still feel a degree of loyalty toward it, because of two things: The customer service is superior, and at $6, the Professional Tournament Combination Set (heavy roll-up board and unweighted pieces) is an unbeatable bargain if you need to supply a club on the cheap. It’s also nice that Your Move charges a flat rate for shipping.

Wholesale Chess also charges a flat rate for shipping, and it’s a lower rate than Your Move’s. Lately I find myself giving Wholesale Chess more and more of my business, for one reason: price. On practically anything that’s identical from supplier to supplier – a Saitek clock, say, or a nylon tournament bag – Wholesale Chess always seems to have the lowest price. Its selection of pieces is considerably more limited than I’ve seen elsewhere, but when I was looking for replacement pieces for a little wooden folding board that I’d had since childhood, a set from Wholesale Chess filled the bill perfectly for $25.

When I decided that the funky-looking pieces from the Village Chess Shop didn’t really fit the board from the Village Chess Shop after all, I looked a lot of places for the right replacement, and I finally settled on the Chess Store. Would I get anything other than a beautiful set of pieces from this seller? Probably not, and since I’ve already got the one set, I don’t know when I’ll ever buy from it again. But the Chess Store carries, hands down, the widest selection of beautiful and affordable wooden chess pieces that I’ve seen. On both counts, the Chess Store smokes House of Staunton: I’ve always found most of the latter’s pieces to be ungainly in their shapes and proportions, and as for House of Staunton’s prices, is there any question that a buyer is paying for the brand name? (The aesthetic exception is the Zukertort Series, a beautifully proportioned and detailed set that can be yours for the “everyday price” of $795! From the Chess Store, you can get an equally beautiful set of British Staunton or New Exclusive Stauton pieces, in the same material, made by the same manufacturer, for $280; for under $400, you can get a matching board along with them. Affordable awesomeness: Who’s not a fan? BTW, the British Staunton is the set I got, except in rosewood, and in a slightly smaller size.)

Which brings me around to USCF Sales. I hate to say it, but USCF Sales is rarely my first or even second choice for chess equipment. I’ve used it a few times – when I saw a good deal on a demonstration board, when I wanted a copy of Al Woolum’s tactics workbook (which no one else had), and when our club took advantage of a pair of special offers to go in together on some slightly higher-quality equipment than we already had. Prices are generally not as good as Wholesale Chess’s, though consistently better than Your Move’s. But what stops me, most of the time, from ordering from USCF Sales is the cost of shipping, which is significantly higher than anyone else charges. Moreover, to get a break on it, one has to order at least $100 in merchandise, something I rarely do. As for boards and pieces, everything above the basic tournament special is from House of Staunton, meaning it’s all crazy expensive.

To answer my own question, then: When I want to outfit a new club quickly and cheaply and to buy from a company I know I enjoy dealing with, I look to Your Move. When I’m shopping for myself, buying gear that I can get from anyone, and the only difference from seller to seller is price, I look to Wholesale Chess. When I’m searching for a special gift and want a variety of high-quality options, I look to the Chess Store.

So what market niche does that leave for USCF Sales? Once upon a time, the attraction was that USCF members got a price break. Today, the prices are the same for everyone. USCF members get special offers in the mail from time to time – in April, for instance, I received a coupon code for 10 percent off – but on a $60 order, that discount won’t even cover the difference in shipping costs between USCF Sales and either Wholesale Chess or Your Move. The only real bargains are on orders exceeding $100, which suggests that USCF Sales is positioning itself to supply either bulk buyers or purchasers of House of Staunton chess sets, and other sales are incidental.

Am I missing something?

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Well since you asked.

I will NEVER purchase anything from USCF Sales unless I cannot find it somewhere else. After making that statement I need to add the details.

My birthday is really close to Christmas so I made a list for my wife of what I wanted. This list included a number of books and a new chess set. I was looking for a triple waited set so she bought me one and when it arrived she wrapped it up and gave it to me.

I opened it up and it is what I was looking for (it was an analysis set that will perfectly on the preprinted tables at the coffee shop where I go when I’m practicing). Well, one of the queens was cracked (this set had two of each color). So I immediately called the phone number for them. All my previous dealings with the USCF Sales had great service but in this case they told me that because it was purchased two days before the Christmas shopping season that they would only honor the seven day return policy or whatever it was. Well, I was out side of that and my wife never thought to check the pieces to make sure they weren’t cracked.

They told me that all I could do was to buy a replacement piece because they couldn’t replace it.

So, terrible customer service means I won’t buy there again. Since then I have used chessset.com and they do a great job. Everything comes quickly and they give discounts to USCF members.

~charlie

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I have purchased from all the places mentioned in this thread and from others as well. Here are my thoughts:

  1. There is something about the Frank Cameratta designed weighting systems for his chess sets that is incomparable. Others agree, including another chess supplier that I recently spoke with. While there are cheaper sets than theirs, they are definitely cheaper in a lot more than cost. When comparing other sets that are in the same price range, the HOS sets are all nicer and better than their competitors. I have bought HOS sets for over 12 years and find the latest, lesser expensive sets to be extremely better than any similar priced sets, and this includes those in about the $100 and under range. I also would like to point out that these lesser expensive sets are a better value than some of theirs that are in the more expensive range.

With that I just went to their web site and see that their under $100 sets include the Grandmaster Series (which I have not personally seen), the Royale Series (which is not an original HOS design and is not as well balanced. I know because I bought one and consequently just gave it to my brother-in-law that is not a tournament chess player at all.), the Championship Series (a direct copy of the DGT design set. I did own one and it’s alright but I did sell it.) and the Classic Series (This is the winner of this group. I owned one and it is very similar to the Player Series Set that costs about $100 more. I only sold it when I did a major, personal inventory reduction for my wife :slight_smile: )

The Pro Line series set was remarkable for just about $100 and is comparable in play and usage to the Marshall Series that costs well over $400. I use my Pro Line Rosewood with their folding Mahogany/Maple board that sells quite nicely at about $60. This is my standard time control tournament setup and works nicely. I did sell my Marshall Series set when I got a very nice Blood Rosewood Morphy Series set to replace the Marshall as my nice, stay at home set with their Green and Bird’s Eye Maple Signature Series chess Board. Of course that’s exquisite and very nice to play very slow stuff with. Alas, the Pro Line Series has been discontinued but some nice ones can still be found fairly cheaply on eBay.

I also own 2 Zagreb sets, one in Rosewood and the other in Blood Rosewood. I got both on eBay for a lot less money than they retail for. These sets are very nice. While I could do without the Blood Rosewood Zagreb, I got it for about $125 on their eBay auction and it can’t be beat at that price. It is interesting that of the sets I own and play with, 3 are no longer available/are retired. Nonetheless, all the HOS sets “play” very nicely with good balance and handling during my chess play.

The House of Staunton chess bags are also an exceptional value. The quality is really much better than almost all others out there.

  1. For supplying chess clubs and getting people to buy starter stuff at the best price, I go to Dewain Barber and his American Chess Equipment. I also have purchased from Wholesale Chess and they are alright. Dewain has the best prices on the Excalibur clocks and also is very competitive on sets.

  2. I go to the Chess House for price checks on equipment, especially clocks and DVD’s. Raphael Neff is the owner and is really a good guy to work with. I recently purchased a nice Rosewood, 12" magnetic set from him and am very pleased. Their prices and service are just a bit better then Your Move.

  3. Recently I have found Bob Long who it the Thinker’s Press guy, again. After selling his business, he has come back to the market with his new business. His web site is still under Thinker’s Press. He has a blog with a title like Chess Museum. His prices and service are very competitive. I spoke with him just this past week, and he said he is going to get back to offering equipment as well as his current offerings of books and DVD’s and other stuff.

  4. I have also purchased from Chess Cafe. These guys are chess knowledgeable and their service and quality are good. I have found some of their prices to be a bit high.

  5. Cajun Chess is also there with very competitive prices and offerings. They are worth a look.

  6. USCF chess does seem a bit pricey. On a number of things they are just a bit too high in price, even though they will price match. And as has been mentioned in another thread, their shipping charges are a bit high.

  7. Amazon is also perennially there. I have found their prices on books to be competitive, while their prices on some equipment are too high.

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Something that hasn’t been mentioned yet - buying in person at tournaments. Whenever I attend a major tournament, there’s usually a book/equipment vendor there, and I usually let myself get tempted into buying something. And I’m happy to do it - both to satisfy my urges to buy a book on whatever subject caused my last loss (even though I already own more than I can reasonably find time to read), and also to support the vendor. If they don’t make a profit, they won’t keep showing up!

5

The subject of the USCF chess sales has come up before, so I won’t rehash what was already said, other than this:

USCF sales have never been a discount chess supplier, but some members still like to buy from USCF Sales because a small percentage of the profits goes to the USCF.

Overall, USCF does have a very large inventory, so they will almost always be stocking at least some stuff not available at other places.

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I mean this question in all sincerity. What are some of the things the USCF Sales offers that is not available anywhere else?

7

Well, the Woolum tactics workbook, for one.

8

Does anyone else sell duplicate scoresheets? I’d like to know where else to get them, if they do.

Alex Relyea

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I can’t specifically say what, since inventory changes over time, and stuff that might be unique to the USCF webstore in a particular time frame may or may not be true in another time frame, as is the opposite could also be true.

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The former USCFSales had exclusive U.S. rights to the Informant. They perhaps still do.

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The search term “Informant” on USCF Sales turns up nothing. shop.chesscafe.com, however, says, “ChessCafe.com is the exclusive distributor of Chess Informant publications in the United States.” So that answers that.

13

I completely agree about the quality of the HOS equipment. I have purchased sets, boards, and bags from them and have found them to all be exceptional in quality. I also like the fact that I can replace a broken or lost piece for just a couple of dollars.

Do I think a broken chess piece that was in a Christmas gift should be replaced free of charge? Yes. Would one bad example of customer service make me quit doing business with them? No. But then I’ve purchased a LOT of stuff from them and gotten excellent service on all the rest.

The only exception to their normal quality is in the roll-up boards that they sell. But I’m not aware of ANY of the major retailers selling the boards that I consider to be the best (House of Aragon leather boards).

14

I agree with Rodney. In fact, I would contact Mr. Sullivan the owner of HOS and the USCF Sales contract. I am sure Shawn will make this right.

I also bought a couple of leather boards from the House of Aragon and they are, without a doubt, the best quality roll up board, period.

15

Not to go off topic, but…

A leather roll up board?!? Ewww!

I hope I never have to play you guys in a tournament, because I’d refuse to play using equipment made out of dead animals.

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Most chess players I’ve met are pretty easygoing. If someone had an issue with the equipment, most would gladly use the other opponents equipment. (Unless maybe the round already started and the other player is late.)

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I’d also say no to something like a Simpsons set. I also saw a case where a player wanted to use a wooden set rather than a plastic set, but the wooden set had two colors that were similar enough that, if a piece was by itself in an area of the board, it wouldn’t be immediately obvious which color it was without first looking at other pieces.

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Thanks, Anjiaoshi, for all the suppliers you named in your original post. Whatever equipment I’ve acquired so far as a beginner, I’ve bought from USCF Sales. Although I’ve received good service and been satisfied with the quality of the items, given their relatively high shipping charges, it’s worthwhile to know about these alternatives.

Earlier this week, I placed an order, which I have not yet received, with the Rochester Chess Center (chessset.com) for an analysis set, a chess clock bag and a few other small things. I was attracted by their flat U.S. shipping charge of $6.95, regardless of the amount purchased, as well as their 10% discount for USCF members. If anyone has any feedback to offer about them, it would be much appreciated.

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I’m not sure if you are agreeing or disagreeing with me. The former USCFSales is chesscafe.com and I hope this clarifies for anyone who may be mystified. There was one time I tried to search the chesscafe site from the office but the response was blocked at the firewall, apparently because it contained Foxy Openings.

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Wow! That’s even worse than this forum’s filter.

Alex Relyea