As November quickly approaches, so does the holiday buying season for gifts. We Chess players often want Chess stuff as gifts and we usually need to guide our friends and relatives as to where and what is the best buy for us.
I know that it was at this time of the year that I got my first high quality wood chess board and a matching set soon followed. I got to know Frank Camaratta as he built his House of Staunton company and bought quite a bit of equipment, especially wooden sets and boards since then. So, I am one of a number that knows the quality stuff and what’s out there.
Now, I am not saying that The House of Staunton is the only place to get quality chess equipment, but they are USCF Sales and our contracted seller. In fact my favorite chess set came from Your Moves Chess and Games. I have also purchased equipment from most of the vendors available today.
So, here are my thoughts on equipment and where to get it:
- We can certainly begin at the lowest money end of the spectrum to purchase things. At this level I would suggest at a minimum a weighted chess set, usually plastic. With that though, The House of Staunton/USCF Sales, The Chess House, Your Move Chess and Games, Wholesale Chess, The Chess Store, The Rochester Chess Center, Chess Express and American Chess Equipment all have plastic and wooden sets at lower prices. They also have vinyl boards and cases to go with these sets. Of course chess clocks can be had there as well, but I’ll talk about clocks in its own point, later.
Sure, the wooden sets will be more than the lesser expensive plastic ones, but a good number of these wood sets are quite affordable. The House of Staunton/USCF Sales and Your Move Chess and Games along with The Chess House and American Chess Equipment all have these.
The House of Staunton/USCF Sales also carries a specific plastic set that currently is the only one designed as it is. That set is the Collector Series plastic set. It has an injection molded design where the weights are actually encapsulated within the plastic and hence the weights won’t fall out. Shelby at American Chess Equipment told me of this as the Ultimate Chess Set they offered was of the same design. Unfortunately Shelby lost his supplier in Taiwan and the molds for the pieces when they closed their doors without any warning. Shelby has informed me though that he is looking in another country to retool and produce those sets again. Anyway, I do own a Collector Series Plastic set and one of American Chess Equipment’s Cavalier sets as my only plastic sets.
Oh yes, the vinyl boards also have a premium quality board available and that is certainly worth the extra bit to buy.
I would suggest looking at American Chess Equipment as one of the best valued spots to get lesser expensive equipment. And look at the price on the Excalibur clocks there.
The bottom line at the low price spectrum is that there is quite a bit of availability from all vendors.
- The above point pretty much covers sets under $50. The next step above that brings us to sets that sell up to just a little over $100. Thanks to Frank Camaratta and his work about a decade ago, there are some very nice sets in this price range. In fact, if I were to begin from scratch again and buy 1 or even a few sets for play, I personally see no need to go into the higher ranges. The House of Staunton, Your Move Chess and Games, The Chess House are but 3 that have quite a bit in this price range.
At the lower end of this range is the House of Staunton Championship Series set which is the style and pattern of the DGT sets used at all the elite events, except these sets are weighted and don’t have the electronic chip in them as the DGT set does. These sets start at under $50 and are very well balanced and look nice.
I have to tell you of a couple of “models” that I would not live without. The Proline Series set is a real sleeper and is perfect for slower time control games. The set feels and plays similarly to the Marshall Series set at 4 times less the cost. The Classic Series set in 3.75" plays and feels like the Players Series set, which is a bit more expensive. The Liberty Series set is the exact design of the Pinney set from the 1930’s, as Frank told me. That set wears like iron. It is the perfect set for Blitz and skittle play, and I’m not kidding. The knights are a much more basic design in detail but the curves and cuts on them make playing really nice. Over the years, I have had people laugh at the set at first, until they play chess with it. Then, I have had no one not like the set. One guy who made fun of it at first, still asks me if I will sell it to him.
So, my “basic” wood set arsenal would include the Liberty Series, Proline Series and maybe a Classic Series set.
If you wanted to add some of these sets to your use for fun, the Championship Series is a great buy and the Zagreb '59 set is classic.
I know that Your Move Chess and Games and The Chess House also have some nice sets in this price range. I will say though that Frank Camaratta made sure the pieces he had created were all exceptionally well balanced and play extremely well. I really think the sets I mentioned are real bargains as they are comparable to sets that cost 2 to 4 times more.
For chess boards in this group, I would look at the tournament wooden boards the House of Staunton sells. These are the ones in Mahogany and Maple with the letters and numbers on them. Those boards are actually produced in Europe and are used in the league and known as the Bundesliga boards. They’re all under $100 by quite a bit and a very nice board. I own 2 folding ones and a regular one.
- I’m just going to put all the sets from $150 and up in the same buying category. Now, there are a good number of sets on the market. Your Move Chess and Games sell the Mark of Westminster sets which are nice. Of course The House of Staunton has the most sets available in this range. The Chess House also sells some very nice sets. There’s also a web site called the Chess Piece or something like that with very nice sets. All these sets are pretty much as represented in the pictures on their respective web sites. Keep in mind though that the House of Staunton sets are so well balanced.
Now, I currently own a House of Staunton Morphy Series set and that is my nice set that doesn’t leave the house much. My favorite set is the Dubrovnik 1950 set sold in this country only by Your Move Chess and Games. The manufacturer is in Serbia and they also sell their sets on the internet. But, they will ship you the set. Now, this set is the one that you will see in photographs along with Bobby Fischer. It was his favorite set. They used this set at the Fischer-Spassky match in 1992. The set uses walnut for the dark pieces. The thing about this set is that it was designed by a nationally famous cartoonist in what was Yugoslavia for that 1950 tournament. The knights are really distinctive in their detail. The set is also very well balanced and really nice to play with. Just this past Monday at a rated club event, my opponent commented on how much he liked the set as he sat down to it. I just noticed on the Your Moves Chess and Games website that the set is now at about $500. When I bought mine a year and a half ago, it paid a good amount less. But, it is no cheaper ordering from the manufacturer. The young guy that got me hooked on the set bought his through the manufacturer and it was something like 6 weeks to come and it was the same price or even a bit more than Your Move Chess and Games.
For chess boards in the higher price range, in my opinion there isn’t as much as there used to be available. There is the usual flat design board of different woods. Veneer boards are less expensive than solid wood ones. The House of Staunton also have their Contemporary type of boards that are more like pedestal chess boards with the outer frames tapering from the board to the table. Frank had a sunken board designed and the House of Staunton still sells that is a Superior Traditional Board. It now only comes in the original Rosewood and Sycamore. At one time it came in a lot of other woods, but not anymore.
Your Moves Chess and Games now carry some very nice boards, as does The Chess House. Both sell nicer boards to go along with nicer sets, which they also sell. You really can’t go wrong at this higher price range sticking with The House of Staunton (uscfsales.com or houseofstaunton.com), The Chess House (chesshouse.com), Your Moves Chess and Games (chessusa.com), and The Chess Piece (thechesspiece.com).
- Last but not least I want to mention chess clocks. The least expensive one that is also the biggest bang for the buck is the Excalibur sold by American Chess Equipment (amchesseq.com). The next price level of clocks has the DGT North American and Easy Game Time Plus, Saitek Competition Pro and Zmart Fun II (ZMF-II). These clocks are available from the House of Staunton/USCF Sales, The Chess House, Wholesale Chess, Your Move Chess and Games,…pretty much everywhere.
The higher priced clocks include the DGT 2010 and XL, Chronos, Duel Timer and the Digital Garde Turnier Wood Chess Clock. The Chronos is the usual one people talk about having in this price range, but the problem is their availability. Some times they are not available, anywhere. Once again, these clocks can be found at the above named sellers. Some of the sellers carry some types and not others.
Of course if anyone has experience and likes or dislikes about equipment, this is the thread.
I hope for and wish each and everyone of you a very happy holiday season and a prosperous New Year, and hope you get what you want from Santa.
As a postscript, I don’t want to leave out the other vendors that really sell nice stuff as well. Chess Express, The Rochester Chess Center, The Chess Store and Cajun Chess come to mind. I am sure I have forgotten others and I apologize for that.