Amanpreet Singh, Author at chessbazaar Blog

Chess Blogs January 1, 2020

What Are Triple Weighted/ Double/Non-Weighted Chess Pieces?

Most of the time people buy chess pieces and chess boards just for fun and later they realize ( after playing) that they don’t like the weight, the stability of the pieces and sometimes the size of the king. Believe it or not these things matter in the experience and flow of the game-play. That’s why there’s a standard chess set for World chess Championships and tournaments. The Staunton chess pieces.

Now, let’s discuss what differentiates chess pieces. Chess pieces come in different sizes, shapes, colors, and weights. And, one can choose chessmen according to their own needs and specifications.

There are two types:

1) Weighted Pieces

As the name suggests these pieces are left hollow from the bottom and later the weights are added into them.

FYI: there is no industry standard for set “weighting”. It depends on the vendor to differentiate weight categories and also keeping in mind the convenience of the end-user.

To have an approx idea :

Double weighted King Weighs between 2 – 3 oz.

Triple weighted King Weighs between 3 -4 oz.

What’s in weighted chess pieces that make them heavy?

-Usually Iron studs

-Lead is also used in some cases which makes the chess pieces a little more expensive, it is mostly seen in exotic & non-rust wood, it’s also heavier than studs.

Types of Weighted chess pieces.

Double weighted

Two Iron studs are added with keeping in mind the height of each chessman. Chess sets weighing between 1000-2000gms are usually called Double weighted.

We at chessbazaar , deal in all types of chess sets but our best-sellers are weighted chess sets. You can check out the double-weighted chess set below.

Double weighted chess pieces — Double Weighted Chess Pieces

Triple weighted

Chess sets weighing more than 2000gms are usually called Triple weighted. Three Iron studs or lead are added with keeping in mind the height of each chessmen.

Check out chessbazaar’s triple weighted chess sets:

Weight also depends on the type of wood, Boxwood is lighter than Ebony, Padauk, etc.

2) Non- Weighted Pieces

Chess pieces with no weights inside them (mostly pre-staunton, bone, plastic chess sets).

The thing to note while buying chess pieces is the size of the king will increase with weight. In order to maintain the center of gravity and equilibrium, it is mandatory that the size, weight, and height are in proportion.

Weighted v/s non-weighted

Weighted	Non-weighted
Comfortable to move and place.	Comfortable to move
Sturdy	Light weighted
Don’t tip over easily	Tips over easily

We recommend you to kindly subscribe to our newsletter for upcoming deals and new launches.

Bottomline

The chess pieces with the bigger bases and heavier weight give a very pleasant feel to hold and give a nice thud sound when released on the board. Of Course, Such chess sets command better prices and in my opinion the naming of the chess pieces as weighted, double weighted and triple weighted has been done just to simplify the process of selection of the chess set. Even a layman can make out that the Triple Weighted Chess Set is heavier than the Double Weighted Chess Set and the Double Weighted Chess Set is heavier than the Weighted Chess Set. The weighted chess pieces are fixed with a stud of iron in the base while double and triple weighted chess pieces are fixed with lead studs at the base. Lead being more dense, is used for double and triple weighted chess sets. Generally, double weighted chess sets are mostly preferred as they are reasonably heavy and economically priced.

Also Read: Chess Board and Pieces Dimensions

Benefits of Chess December 13, 2019

Want to relax? Try Chess

According to Gallup Global Emotions Report people around the world are becoming angrier, anxious and stressed. According to the report, some 150,000 people were interviewed in 140 countries, one-third said they feel stressed, one-fifth said they experienced anger and sadness.

Since many people are getting more stressed due to busy schedule or home/office chores, we recommend deviating your mind from the problem you are facing for a little while and get yourself busy in any activity which relieves stress.

Recreational activities such as trekking, indoor/ outdoor games help relieve stress. For a problem to be solved a mind should be relaxed, focused & creative.

Knight - Luxurious Chess Pieces — Beautiful Pieces of Chess surely create a beautiful view

Stress doesn’t solve the problem but adds to the problem. The vision becomes blurry and the thinking starts to be negative. This might be due to excessive use of Audio/Video devices such as mobiles, TV or Play stations.

Guess what! We have a game that is scientifically proven to be helpful in developing analytical skills and developing the brain to be more focused, creative and also help you in reducing anxiety levels.

The game is Chess, which is known for the many beneficial effects it has on a human brain. Chess is actually considered a total brain workout. May it be reading, listening or concentration skills, chess definitely improves them when one plays it regularly.

Chess has many positive effects when played regularly. Some of them are mentioned below:

Anxiety management.
Chess improves decision-making skills.
Chess improves memory.
Chess enhances IQ.
Chess helps you socialize and make new friends.

We at chessbazaar offer wooden handcrafted chess sets suiting to amateurs and professionals. From plastic chess sets and tournament chess pieces, people who are new to this game or people who are just trying this game for leisure purposes or some serious club chess players. We also offer some amazing chess boards to choose from. We have luxury chess sets and antique chess sets for chess collectors and enthusiasts.

Collection of handcrafted chess pieces — Our in-Trending Products

We are in love with chess and after reading this blog we are waiting for you to join us :).

Not just chess but other strategy wooden games such as Backgammon and Checkers are also in the same league, though not as popular as chess, but is as addictive as chess.

Another scientific fact is that there is no radiation emission from pieces of wood (chess pieces & chess boards) unlike modern devices such as mobiles, Tabs, Laptops which only increase the stress and put a strain on your eyes.

Many students & teachers use chess as an extra-curricular activity for the development of the brain.

Benefits of Playing Chess to Kids/Students

If young kids are introduced to chess in early age they can be future leaders one day as persistence, faith, patience, foresight, analyzing and decision-making skills can easily be grasped by them which they will experience in the game-play and will definitely help them have a clear focused mind to choose what they want to be in life.

Benefits of Playing Chess to Senior citizens

A Story: An old man decides to learn chess at the age of 76 after his wife’s death. He was very lonely and depressed and was having no purpose in life. So, after he learned chess he became an active member of the local chess club. He felt the change, he became positive by looking at this new phase of life with just adapting to an activity, in this case, its chess. He became friends with many through chess and is no longer feeling low. So, it is obvious that playing chess is a great activity for retired people.

Chess is an exciting, challenging, and thrilling game for people of all ages to play with one another.

Chess player participating in Chessbazaar Chess Challenge — *1849 Original Staunton Chess Pieces* in action

New scientific research came out which shows that chess is so much more than just a game and states that it even changes the basic structure of our brains!

Related: Video Games Addict? Here’s How to Quit

Readers must know that when a person is confused and having trouble finding a solution to their problem he or she becomes stressed. Here comes cognitive behavior theory which states that playing a strategy game actually develops a brain to solve problems with focus and precision.

We recommend you should give chess and other wooden strategy games a try and see the change yourself.

Benefits of Chess November 30, 2019

Why do you play chess? By Conrad Conero

I’d like to take a few minutes to talk about motivation. Why do you play chess? That will most likely be based upon how you view the game – as a sport, a science, an art, or just a game. If you see it as a sport, naturally you’ll put your focus on winning and on improvement as a concomitant part of that.

Probably a majority of players view it that way. But for that to be fulfilling, you have to have the skill and knowledge to keep progressing. Otherwise, you will probably ultimately plateau, become discouraged by your losses and inability to go beyond that level, and lose interest in the game, as has happened to a number of players that I know of from club players to Experts.

From my viewpoint that would be disappointing since you’d then lose out on the pleasure, intellectual satisfaction and other benefits that the game provides.

I personally have evolved through that particular motivation to view the game as more of a science or an art. Then I’m not disappointed if I don’t reach a higher skill level and can focus on the benefits that my viewpoint provides, e.g. the joy that comes from solving a problem on the board, since a game is basically a series of those.

Working on independent chess problems brings the same pleasure as well. I won’t solve them all, but there’ll be intellectual satisfaction from any that I do solve and a continuing challenge to work on more.

I also see the game as an art, and from that viewpoint can view a relatively error-free game or one with a clever tactical coup as aesthetically pleasing. And it doesn’t even have to be in a winning effort. Both players can find satisfaction in contributing to the creation of a work of art. It’s a joint effort.

Conrad Conero with chessbazaar’s 1849 Reproduction

The loser Kieseritzky shares the glory equally with the victor Anderssen in the creation of the “Immortal Game”.

And if one is playing just for fun, since it is a game after all, why that’s perfectly fine as well and can provide more than enough pleasure.

So I see all of this in its totality as another of the joys of chess, that you can choose whatever aspect brings you the most pleasure and focus on that, including collecting its accouterments, such as various chess sets, thereby ensuring that you don’t lose the opportunity to continue participating in this wonderful game.”

More to Read: Play Chess with a Touch of Royalty and Luxury

Greatest Chess Players November 25, 2019

Viswanathan “Vishy” Anand

We at chessbazaar.com admire chess and chess players around the world, and we love to write about them so that one day one might seek motivation and follow them if one wants to pursue a career in chess. Indeed, the life of this player revolves around chess from a very young age.

Born on 11th December 1969, in Mayiladuthurai, Tamil Nadu, India. Mr. Vishwanathan “Vishy” Anand is an Indian chess Grandmaster and former World Chess Champion. He became India’s first grandmaster in 1988.

He first won the FIDE World Chess Championship in 2000 and held it till 2002, thus becoming the first Asian to do so. After that, he won the FIDE Championship in the years 2007, 2008, 2010 and 2012.

(Vishy with his mother)

His first chess mentor was his own mother who also played very good chess & Vishy followed and the interest was created at an early age of 6.

Vishwanathan is also known as “Tiger of Madras” because of his sheer domination in chess over the years. He is a bachelor of commerce which he completed from Loyola College, Chennai, India.

He became the youngest international master at age of 14 by winning the National Sub-Junior Chess Championship in 1983. In 1987, Mr. Anand became the first Indian to win the World Junior Chess Championship.

In 2000, Anand won the FIDE World Chess Championship defeating Alexei Shirov (a Latvian and Spanish) player which also made him the first Indian to do so.

Did you know

Anand wrote a book titled ‘My Best Games of Chess,’ in which he shared his journey of chess (if you want to know more about him, a must-read). In 1998, the British Chess Federation gave the ‘Book of the Year’ award for his book.

Awards are bound to come when one is such a splendid player.

At the age of 18, Anand was awarded the prestigious Padma Shri (the fourth highest civilian award in India). Viswanathan was the first Indian sports player in history to get the Padma Vibhushan award in 2007. He also received the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award in 1991-92(India’s highest sporting honor).

Young Anand playing with Chavet Championship Tournament Chess Pieces

Not only he won the Indian awards but he also got rewarded with many International awards all over the world.

In April 2006, he passed the 2800 Elo mark on the FIDE rating list and became the fourth player to do so; after Garry Kasparov, Vladimir Kramnik and Veselin Topalov.

On November 7, 2010, when the then US President Barack Obama was on a visit to India, Anand was the only sportsperson to be invited for the dinner hosted by the then Indian PM Manmohan Singh.

In the words of Lubomir Kavalek, a Czech-American chess player, Anand is the only player to have won the world chess championship in the tournament, match, and knockout format, as well as rapid time controls.

Anand has endorsed brands such as NIIT and has a net worth of around $3 million.

For his swift and fast way of playing his moves in the game of Chess, he got the nickname “Lightning Kid”.

Anand has a large assortment of hobbies and interests apart from Chess. Apart from Tamil, Hindi and English, he is also fluent in French, German, and Spanish languages. He also has a keen interest in Astronomy and a book on astronomy written by Carl Sagan from the United States is his all-time favorite.

*Playing with white pieces, Viswanathan Anand drew the first game of the 2014 World Chess Championship against 23-year-old defending champion Magnus Carlsen of Norway.

Did you know?

Anand has a minor planet named after him named “(4538) Vishyanand” which was discovered in 1988.

He is a huge history buff too. Nowadays, he is also fascinated by statistics.

Call it intuition, a hunch, or a gut feeling- if we followed it, we just might be happier or a champion in Anand’s case. Vishwanathan Anand has admitted that intuition is his best trait.

In the latest events, Vishy is seen with Carlsen at Tata Steel Chess India Rapid and Blitz, the final leg of the Grand Chess Tour 2019.

We at chessbazaar.com wish Vishy a fruitful career ahead and we wish him more success. He is a living legend in the game of chess.

Also Read: Benefits of Chess!!!

More to Read: HOW TO CASTLE IN CHESS

Chess Blogs November 16, 2019

The Deadly Sins of Chess, By Connor Eickelman

There’s only one reason why you’re not a master, or a grandmaster, or even a world champion: Maybe it’s a lack of chess knowledge, in the opening, or the endgame. Maybe it’s a lack of energy at the board. Or, maybe it’s a psychological flaw. I can’t suddenly teach you all the opening knowledge you need, or give you an energy boost at the board, but I might be able to help your chess psychology. I think that the best way to organize chess psychology mistakes is with some of the deadly sins of antiquity.

Pride

You’ve checked the pairing sheets for this round. You’ve got an easy opponent this round. Look at his rating! You’ll get an easy win this round, and have time for a leisurely lunch. After every move, you get up and stretch. You chat with a buddy at the water cooler. When you get back to your board, around move 15, you start frowning. This position is a little uncomfortable. By move 25, you start sweating. Wasn’t this supposed to be easy? At move 30, you check your clock. Did you really use all that time? At move 37, in a vicious time scramble, you hang a piece. Whoops.

Greed and Gluttony

If the only way to refute a sacrifice is to accept it, you’ve refuted every sacrifice in the book. If you see a hanging queen’s knight pawn, you take it without thinking. If you’re a little bit better, and your opponent sacrifices a pawn, you gobble it up. But, those queen knight pawns have a habit of being poisoned. Accepting those pawn sacrifices gives your opponent just a bit too much counterplay. And all those extra pawns on the queenside? They don’t help you when your opponent mates you on the other side of the board.

Sloth

It’s been a long game. Three hours, at least. You have the great good fortune of being in a winning position. Even a beginner could win this, you say. There’s no harm in relaxing a bit. There’s no need to calculate so hard on each move. You don’t notice your opponent squirming out of his losing position until it’s too late.

Lust and Envy

What’s the best opening in the world? You might be thinking of the Slav, or the French, or maybe the Sicilian Najdorf. All of these answers wrong. Actually, it’s the opening that you’re not currently playing. Maybe you lose a couple of games in a row with your favorite opening. You decide to “move to greener pastures” and find a new favorite opening. You buy a couple of books, study for a few months, and whip it out at a big tournament, and are duly crushed. Find another opening, buy new books, wash, rinse, repeat.

Also Read: Skills to Master Through Chess

So, what can you do if you’re consumed by Pride in your high rating, or by Greed when you see a “free” pawn, or Sloth when you have to win a “won game”, or Envy when your openings just don’t seem to work? It’s not something you can fix overnight, but I do have some advice.

If you’re guilty of Pride, don’t look at your opponent’s rating before the game. Assume that every opponent is stronger than you until you beat him. The solution to Sloth is similar. Don’t let your guard down until your opponent resigns. You’ll have plenty of time to relax after the game.

Greed is a tough sin to beat. I recommend walking away from the board if you think you see a bit of “free” material. Come back to the board with fresh eyes, and check for any silly tactics. You’ll be amazed at how effective this is at preventing those silly mistakes that always seem to come after taking that hanging pawn.

For Envy and Lust, remember that you play your openings for a reason. Why switch away from a perfectly good opening that you’ve played for countless games because of a couple of losses? Unless you’re playing something obviously unsound, consider putting the opening away for a little while, then coming back to it once the negative feelings have subsided.

More than enough books have been written about every phase of the game of chess, but there is a severe lack of books on the psychology of chess. All of the knowledge in the world won’t help you if you don’t apply it, and you have to be in the right frame of mind to apply that knowledge. I hope this article has given you some help identifying your “deadly sin” and given you some ideas on how to overcome them.

More to Read: 10 Best Chess Quotes

Chess Blogs November 11, 2019

Tips for Improving your Chess Training Session, By A. Claudio Marcolino

Every time I start a chess lecture and the subject is related to improving or training, I place the following question to the audience:

– Why don’t you improve in chess?

Answers always refer to lacks… Lack of time, lack of books, lack of money, lack of teachers, lack of computers and software… Of course to own the very best notebook with Chessbase and updated Megabase, to own Dvoretsky books collection, to have several free hours a day and the best instructor around will be great, but…

– But what, teacher?

Well, you need something that is inside yourself… Something that you can’t buy…

I mean METHOD and FOCUS. Even if you have time, money, a good teacher, the best hardware and software, if you don’t have a METHOD and a good FOCUS, your improvement will be severely harmed! Believe me! This happened to me, more than 20 years ago…

A couple of weeks ago, I got a book called “Deep Work”, written by Carl Newport. “Rules for focused success in a distracted world” is the cover quotation. It is not a chess book, but it points, in a clever and clear way, the problems we faced to work or study without METHOD and FOCUS. Newport says that we live in a “distracted world”.

Can you count how many things can interrupt or delay our chess training session? Cell phone, electronic messages, tv news, social media in general, noises, family issues…

Related: Chess Books

I got some ideas from Newport and tried to adapt them to our environment, a chess training session environment. And, stated them in topics. So, let’s go…

Every time you are going to train, with a teacher or alone:

– Define clearly the starting and ending times for your session. I strongly believe that, for chess, less than two hours won’t be that effective.

– Define your goal and schedule for the session. For instance: I’ll study tactics and solve problems for the first 30 minutes, then I’ll spend an hour checking an annotated game, after that, I’ll read an ending book and so on… A major plan can help with that.

– Ask your friends and family to not interrupt your session.

– Stay away from social media!

– Turn off cell phones, radio sets, TV sets…

– Only use your computer as a tool for your chess training session. Sorry, no on-line blitz!

– Always use your chessboard! Even if your material is a computer one. Don’t train or study on your computer screen. Never!

Also Read: History, Openings, and Strategy of Chess by Steven Connolly

– This is not mandatory: Boosters… You can use some boosters if you feel this will improve your focus. Whatever… A cup of coffee, a glass of your preferred juice, a big meal (lol), a prayer, a Day-dream, a couple of minutes of quietude… Up to you! Enjoy your session!

I hope these words will help you with your next chess training session. I’ll be more than happy if you write to me in the comment section below pointing something related to this method. Please, feel free to share the article… friends, blogs, teachers…

A bit about myself: I am a Brazilian player and teacher. 58 years old and an Electronical Engineer. My current FIDE ELO is 2077 and my peak was 2154, as far as I remember, 20 years ago.

Me with my Chessbazaar New Columbian knight! October, 20th, 2019.

Chess Blogs November 4, 2019

My best game of all time, by Maxime Morin

Hi everyone, for this blog, I would like to present to you my best game of all time. Of all the games I played during my life, I still consider this game to be the one where I played the most accurately. Of course, my opponent did help me a little bit during this game but my play was almost flawless.

It happened a little bit over 4 years ago in 2015 at the AIDEF Championships. I had been on a 14 years layoff and I had not played since 2001. There were two sections for this tournament which were the Open section and the U1600.

I was playing in the U1600. I had a good start and if I remember correctly this game was played in round 4 or 5 and before that game, I had a draw and I had won all my other games.

I had the White pieces and my opponent was Black. I opened the game with 1.e4 and my opponent replied with c5.

I decided to go into uncharted territory by playing a Closed Sicilian with 2.Nc3.

I also wanted to get my opponent out of the book as soon as possible. My opponent played Nc6 and then I played 3.Nge2. The next few moves were e6,

4.g3 d5

5.exd5 exd5

6. d4 Be6

7.Bg2 and now we see that d5 is gonna be White’s target. My opponent played c4 which I consider a waste of time.

I played 8.0-0 and my opponent replied g6 which is too slow.

White now stands better and has now the initiative. Also, the Black king was still in the center. Now I played 9.Nf4 threatening to win the pawn on d5 and Black played Nf6 to defend it.

I played 10.Re1 and then followed Ne7

11.Nxe6 fxe6

12.Rxe6 Kf7

13.Qe2.

Now I have control of the e-file. My opponent played Nf5 planning to pick the pawn on d4 and to fork my rook and my queen but the game is over. I played Bg5! and as planned my opponent played Nxd4

but I had the crushing move 15.Rxf6+!. Here Black played Kg7

and I replied with the strong 16.Qe5.

The last move of my opponent was Nc6 and here there is more than one winning move. I did not bother calculating that much. I played the move 17.Rxc6+ and here Black resigned.

I missed a mate in 4 moves. Can you find it? Comment Below.

More to Read: Why I collect chess sets, by John Lawson

– Maxime Morin from Canada

Chess Blogs October 22, 2019

Yet another custom chess set Delivered!

One of our esteemed customers requested to make a custom chess set for us. Though the requirement was quite simple, however, meeting and overcoming the customers’ expectations was a big challenge for us. We deliver in the given time-frame and the customer gets this amazing collection in his arsenal.

The Requirement: The Reproduced 1849 Original Staunton Pattern Chess Set on chessbazaar.com was available in two variants. The customer wants to make 17 pieces in painted green color.

Cost and Delivery Time: Due to the Non-disclosure agreement as per our privacy policy, we won’t be able to share the cost. However, we estimate the time to be in between 6-8 weeks, though we complete the task in 5 weeks straight.

This set brings a vintage experience with King proudly standing at 4.5″ tall with a base diameter of 1.8″. While this set is a complete gold in the industry we paid special attention to its making and our Artisans made it with love and utmost care.

The set as you know came in Ebony & Crimson. Shown below in the picture:

When the customer came up with an idea and contacted us, his idea excited us. The customer wanted to have a different variety of color in his collection. For the reader’s knowledge and information, we at chessbazaar have a persistent long history of making custom chess sets according to the wants & desires of our customers.

Any person who desires to make custom chess sets can contact us anytime with specifications and details. We provide on-call/email services where we understand each and every detail our customer gives us to make his/her fantasy into reality.

A person can just think freely of anything related to chess may it be pieces, boards, paperweights and we try our best to create it and give him the end fruit of his thoughts.

When the final outcome came out of production, we were amazed to see the look of the rich military green color, it looked classy and elegant in gloss finish. We loved it and our customer was delighted & proud to have it. We and our customer is proud of this customized creation.

Check out this amazing outcome:

The reason for writing this blog is to encourage and thank our customers for believing in our products and our creations and we look forward to more challenges and happy customers.

In case your creative side is turned on reading this, and you also want to design with us make sure to share your imagination with us which we are eagerly waiting to turn it into reality.

For more information visit https://www.chessbazaar.com/custom-design/

More Posts to Read:

Chess Blogs October 7, 2019

All About Woods used in Chessmen and Boards

Before 1989, the majority of the chess sets were made of Ivory.

A little bit about Ivory…

Ivory is a hard, white material from the tusks (traditionally elephants’) which is prized for its beauty, durability, and suitability for carving.

The population of African elephants declined from 1.35 million to 750,000. Looking at the humongous decline, the CITES (the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, also known as the Washington Convention) took a land sliding decision to ban international trade in African elephant ivory.

With heavy restrictions imposed on the use of Ivory, Craftsmen bear the toll, as the business was too big to be closed, the businesses decided to move from Ivory to Wood. Hence use of wood in hand-crafted products became the new norm. Like every other hand-crafted item chessmen were starting to be manufactured in wood. Use of wood increased three folds.

Now Unlike Ivory, Woods for chess boards are much more diverse than those for pieces. There are so many types of wood used for chess boards and sets that we won’t be able to list every single one here.

Now you must be wondering does the variety of wood used to make Chess pieces really matter.

Yes, it does. It depends on the finish, durability and flexibility feature of the particular wood.

Types of Wood:

1. Sheesham Wood

Common Names: Sissoo, Sheesham
Scientific Name: Dalbergia sissoo
Distribution: Primarily northern India, Nepal, and Pakistan, as well as Western Asia; also grown on plantations
Heartwood ranges from golden brown to a darker reddish brown.
Sheesham has good decay resistance and is rated as durable to very durable.

Sheesham wood, aka Indian Rosewood, is produced from a deciduous tree which is native to the Middle East. This type of wood neither warps nor splits. Sheesham’s texture has natural grain and marking with chestnut color.

Due to high water percentage, it has a higher flexibility; it’s also very cost-effective which makes it a favourite of chess set makers. Sheesham and Rosewood are very popular among the craftsmen because there are fewer chances of cracking and breakage than ebony and sandalwood. Sheesham wood is strong and beautiful for woodworking.

Mostly it’s distinguished for its wood grains and its double colour tone of light and dark yellow/brown. Another reason why it is popular among craftsmen is that it’s cheap and easily available. Did you know: It is capable of withstanding average annual rainfall of up to 2,100 millimetres and droughts of 2-4 months.

Some of the Sheehsam products available at chessbazaar:

a) Combo of Vintage 1950’s Circa Bohemia Chess Set in Sheesham & Box Wood & Walnut Maple Wooden Chess Board with Notation – 3.89″ King

2. Ebony Wood

Common names: Ceylon Ebony, East Indian Ebony
Scientific Name: Diospyros ebenum
Distribution: Southeast Asia

Ebony is a jet black, sometimes with grey or dark brown streaks, the very best quality ebony looks like black plastic. Common uses involve Inlay, carving, musical instrument parts (piano keys, bridges, nuts, etc.), and turned objects.

Ebony is a luxurious wood, often called as the black wood. The natural state is dark brown but a chemical process can make it jet black.

Did you know: Ebony is used by Gibson Guitars for the fingerboards of some fine and classy guitars. Chess makers revere this wood for making luxurious chess sets.

More to Read: Why I collect chess sets, by John Lawson

Some products in Ebony at chessbazaar:

3. Boxwood

Common names: Boxwood, Common Box, European Box
Scientific Name: Buxus sempervirens
Distribution: Europe, northwest Africa, and southwest Asia

In color Boxwood tends to be a light cream to yellow, which tends to darken slightly with prolonged exposure to light. It is a light coloured wood that is used to make chess pieces and squares on chess boards. It is seldom used to make whole chessboards however Boxwood tends to be somewhat difficult to work in flat dimensions, though it is superbly suited for turning.

Commonly used for carving and turning, and the tree’s minute size halts it to smaller projects. Most common uses are chess pieces, musical instruments (flutes, woodwinds, etc.), rulers, , turned objects, and other specially made small items. It is a dense wood that is robust and ages nicely.

Honest chess set traders refer to this as ebonized boxwood, less honest ones will sell them as ebony pieces.

Some products in Boxwood at chessbazaar:

a) Special Edition Reproduced Vintage 1950’s Circa Bohemia Staunton Series German Chess Set in Stained Crimson Boxwood – 3.89″ King

4. Ebonized(Dyed) Boxwood

In simple words, Ebonised Boxwood is a stained version of Boxwood. It is commonly used to make chess pieces, the black side obviously; a very convincing attempt at producing an Ebony effect.

It’s cheaper than Ebony and is perfect for black chess pieces.

Regular boxwood is light in color and usually used for the white pieces. It’s ebonized for use as black pieces.

Some products in Boxwood at chessbazaar:

a) The Bridle Series Chess Pieces in Ebonized Boxwood & Natural Boxwood – 4.0″ King

b) Combo of 1972 Reproduced Fischer-Spassky Staunton Pattern Chess Set V2.0 in Ebonized Boxwood & Natural Boxwood – 3.75″ King

5. Indian Rosewood

Common names: East Indian Rosewood, Indian Rosewood, sonokeling
Scientific Name: Dalbergia latifolia
Distribution: India, Sri Lanka, and Indonesia

East Indian Rosewood has been used for acoustic guitars since the mid-1960s as a substitute for the now-endangered Brazilian Rosewood.

Rosewood like ebony is also considered as a luxury wood. Different variants of this wood comes from different parts it harvested from. It has a reddish tinge, this wood is dense yet not too hard, which makes it perfect for beautiful fingerboards on the guitars.

It is also used in the production of medium to high-end chess pieces, boards & folding sets.

Did you know: Rosewood was used by Fender guitars for their fingerboards from about 1959 onwards and rosewood was always considered a cheaper alternative to Ebony.

More to Read: Types of Chess Games

Some products in Boxwood at chessbazaar:

a) Wooden Chess Board Dark Brown Rose Wood 21″ – 55 mm

b) The New Columbian Staunton Series Chess Pieces in Rose Wood & Boxwood – 3.8″ King

c) Collectable Smoking pipe Rose Wood briar pipe Hookah 5-in-1.

6) Bud Rosewood aka Padauk Wood

Simply put, Bud Rosewood is wood that has been sourced from the base of the Rosewood tree. Quality-wise it leaves behind the normal Rosewood. Bud-Rosewood is used to make high-quality, high-end chess pieces and sets.

Some products in Boxwood at chessbazaar:

a) The Admiral Series II Staunton Chess Pieces in Bud Rosewood & Box Wood – 4.5″ King

b) Combo of Apache Series Luxury Chess Pieces in Bud Rose / Box Wood with Bud Rosewood Chessboard – 4.5″ King

7) Rubber wood

Common Name(s): Rubberwood, Plantation Hardwood, Para Rubbertree
Scientific Name: Hevea brasiliensis
Distribution: Basically from Brazil, but broadly cultivated in tropical regions, especially in Asia.
Rubber wood is naturally a light blonde to medium tan colour, sometimes with medium brown streaks, a wood used extensively in China for the production of wooden toys and games. Rubberwood is perishable, and has very little resistance to decay.

Ease of use with both hand and machine tools. Rubberwood tends to warp and twist in drying.

8) Maple Wood

Scientific Name: Acer
Distribution: There are approximately 128 species, most are native to Asia, with a presence also in Europe, northern Africa, and North America.

Maple is a fairly dense and heavy wood. Used to produced musical instruments & chess pieces & sets.
Types: Hard Maple & Soft Maple

Hard Maple: refers to one specific type of maple species i.e. Acer saccharum. It is also known as rock maple or sugar maple, (this is the same tree which is tapped to get maple syrup).

Soft Maple: refer to any specific species of maple, but rather, it’s a broad term which includes various species of maple. The term “soft maple” is just used to disassociate these species from hard maple.

Some products in Maple wood at chessbazaar:

a) Walnut Maple Wooden Chessboard Matte Finish 15″ – 45 mm

b) Combo of Vintage 1950’s Circa Bohemia Chess Set in Sheesham & Box Wood & Walnut Maple Wooden Chess Board with Notation – 3.89″ King

9) Pine Wood

Scientific name: Pinus
Distribution: Much of North America, China, South-East Asia, Russia and Europe

Pine wood is widely used in high-value carpentry items such as furniture, window frames, panelling, floors, and roofing, and the resin of some species is an important source of turpentine.
Pines are naturally found almost exclusively in the Northern Hemisphere. They are and have one of the largest distributions of any conifer family.

In regard to chess sets Try to avoid this wood unless you are looking for a very light weight and budget chess set.

Conclusion: According to Botanical Gardens Conservation International (BGCI) there are 60,065 species of trees around the world. BGCI compiled the tree list by using data gathered from its network of 500 member organisations.

Link to research: https://bbc.in/2p1GOZ6

As there are many more types of wood available in different parts of the world with various features, for chess making above described woods are most commonly used.

A manufacturer takes into consideration various factors before choosing the wood like availability, type of wood, Hardness and softness of wood , cost factors etc.

Read More: Skills to Master Through Chess

Chess Blogs April 19, 2017

Chess Tournament Rules & Regulations – Fide Approved

Most of the international chess tournaments follow a set of common rules. These rules do not necessarily be followed when we are playing the game at home or online but these rules must be followed by tournament chess players.

People who are playing at home or for leisure purposes can use economy chess pieces to start with , or if they want to play with fancy chess sets they can try luxury chess pieces. We have put together some of the most important points or rules followed in tournament chess games, which will explain some common misconceptions about tournament play and will clarify some of the rules that pertain especially to chess tournaments.

Below are the FIDE approved rules for tournament chess games:-

1. Touch-move – Touch and Move rule has to be strictly followed. If a player touches one of their own pieces then he must move that piece, if it is a legal move. If a player touches a piece of that of the opponent, then capturing that piece is a must. If you let go of a piece, you have to leave it there.

Players who wish to touch a piece only to adjust it on the chessboard must first announce the intention, usually by saying “adjust”. Chess pieces and chess boards must not be touched except the gameplay.

2. Timings and clocks – The purpose is to keep track of the total time each player takes for his own moves. The players may take more or less time over any individual move, but if one player exceeds their total available time, that player has lost the game. Another important rule is that if a player runs out of time, their opponent must point it out, and if it goes unnoticed, play continues.

A chess clock is really two separate clocks that run independently of each other. For many players, it is their first experience with clocks when they play for the tournament and hence it is of utmost importance that the players should know, how to operate these clocks. When the button on one side is pressed down, that player’s clock stops and the other player’s clock starts. Shop DGT 3000 Digital Chess Clock (Approved by FIDE)

3. Recording the moves – In chess tournaments, it is mandatory for both the chess players to record the moves made by them. Each chess player is required to record the chess moves in algebraic chess notation. For beginners who want to practice chess with tournament rules, we recommend plastic chess pieces with chess boards with notations to make it easy for them to see the co-ordinates and note down their moves.

When the game concludes, both the players are required to sign the scoresheet and hand it over to the organizer, if asked to do so. Recording the moves is avoided in the blitz, rapid or any kind of fast chess games because that would then take away the important thinking time of the players.

Related Blog: How to Make the Best Chess Opening Moves?

4. No interference – When the game is in progress, no third party is allowed to interfere in the game. If you are attending any chess tournament then you are allowed to walk through the playing area but provided you do that quietly. You are not allowed to make any suggestions to the players regarding their game. If you do so, it is regarded as a violation of rules. A player is also not allowed to ask for help from the audience or any other person.

Talking about no interference if someone wants to practice and self study the great chess games played by legends, we at chessbazaar also have Analysis chess sets, which you can use and easily analyze and learn from chess games.

5. Distractions – Chess is a quiet and focus-needing game! and therefore the players need no distractions. All disturbing behaviors like making noises, talking, moving tables or chairs are forbidden. Exceptions are when you want to indicate rules violation, such as an illegal move.

6. Illegal moves – If the chess player makes any illegal move then the Arbiter shall give an extra time of 2 minutes to the opponent player. If the same player makes the second illegal move in the same game then the Arbiter shall announce the game lost by the offending player.

7. Scoring the moves – Players are granted one point (1) for a win, a half (½) point for a draw, and no points (0) for a loss toward their tournament score. Everyone plays the same number of games. The player with the maximum number of points at the end of tournament wins.

8. Conduct of the players – All the players must observe the code of conduct that is common for all the players. Players are not allowed to take any action that will bring the game to disgrace, e.g cheating, sneaking the captured piece back. During a tournament, the use of mobile phones or other electronic means of communication is completely forbidden. If it is evident that a player brought such a device into the playing venue, he shall lose the game. Players should not distract or annoy their competitors in any way.

Finally, we would love to see you practice your first tournament style game with our tournament chess sets. Give them a dekko and we are sure you’ll be amazed to see the elite craftsmanship of our experienced artisans. We recommend you to kindly subscribe to our newsletter for upcoming deals and new launches.

All the best for your first chess tournament!

Amanpreet Singh

There are two types:

1) Weighted Pieces

Types of Weighted chess pieces.

Double weighted

Triple weighted

2) Non- Weighted Pieces

Weighted v/s non-weighted

Bottomline

Many students & teachers use chess as an extra-curricular activity for the development of the brain.

Chess is an exciting, challenging, and thrilling game for people of all ages to play with one another.

Vishwanathan is also known as “Tiger of Madras” because of his sheer domination in chess over the years. He is a bachelor of commerce which he completed from Loyola College, Chennai, India.

Awards are bound to come when one is such a splendid player.

Pride

Greed and Gluttony

Sloth

Lust and Envy

– Why don’t you improve in chess?

Types of Wood:

1. Sheesham Wood

Some of the Sheehsam products available at chessbazaar:

2. Ebony Wood

Some products in Ebony at chessbazaar:

3. Boxwood

Some products in Boxwood at chessbazaar:

a) Special Edition Reproduced Vintage 1950’s Circa Bohemia Staunton Series German Chess Set in Stained Crimson Boxwood – 3.89″ King

4. Ebonized(Dyed) Boxwood

Some products in Boxwood at chessbazaar:

a) The Bridle Series Chess Pieces in Ebonized Boxwood & Natural Boxwood – 4.0″ King

b) Combo of 1972 Reproduced Fischer-Spassky Staunton Pattern Chess Set V2.0 in Ebonized Boxwood & Natural Boxwood – 3.75″ King

5. Indian Rosewood

Some products in Boxwood at chessbazaar:

a) Wooden Chess Board Dark Brown Rose Wood 21″ – 55 mm

b) The New Columbian Staunton Series Chess Pieces in Rose Wood & Boxwood – 3.8″ King

c) Collectable Smoking pipe Rose Wood briar pipe Hookah 5-in-1.

6) Bud Rosewood aka Padauk Wood

Some products in Boxwood at chessbazaar:

a) The Admiral Series II Staunton Chess Pieces in Bud Rosewood & Box Wood – 4.5″ King

b) Combo of Apache Series Luxury Chess Pieces in Bud Rose / Box Wood with Bud Rosewood Chessboard – 4.5″ King

7) Rubber wood

8) Maple Wood

Some products in Maple wood at chessbazaar:

a) Walnut Maple Wooden Chessboard Matte Finish 15″ – 45 mm

b) Combo of Vintage 1950’s Circa Bohemia Chess Set in Sheesham & Box Wood & Walnut Maple Wooden Chess Board with Notation – 3.89″ King

9) Pine Wood