Saurabh Sharma, Author at chessbazaar Blog

Monthly Review June 6, 2015

Monthly Round-up – May 2015

Chessbazaar_Monthly_Roundup
Another busy month has gone by and once again, we attempt to sum up the most exciting announcements took place in May 15. The season for major offers and deals has passed, so now it’s time for some exciting new flagships which we have announced last month. We have introduced one of the affordable yet elegant luxury chess set which made the biggest splash in our chess pieces category. The ‘Abaco Barb’ Staunton chess set lived up to its name and shot up to second place in our weekly Top 10 best sellers with only the Dragon Series staying on top. If you somehow missed the commotion, here what the big deal is – the Abaco Barb Staunton chess set is hand crafted in ebony & box wood with a 4.4″ King, comes with hand-selected thick green felt. Interestingly the knight design look more like a rehash of 1849 Jaques chess set. Abaco Barb Staunton series chess set is available for just $249.99/€227.87/£167.42, yes, Free Shipping!

Moving on to new announcements, we are very close to release a new flagship with rumours that it can give a strong competition to the 1849 Staunton chess set and 1950 Dubrovnik series. This hand crafted super luxurious chess set will be a true flagship, dressed in ebony and box wood, boasting the same impressive specs as we have seen earlier in 1849 Staunton chess set. So, this is the chess set you might have look forward to. Some new chess sets did get announced during the month and if you think you might have missed something from the busy month, here is a list of what you.

The Abaco Barb Staunton Series

The Antique Circa 1880 Harwitz Staunton Series

The Indian Chetak series in new avatar

The Abaco Barb Staunton series chess set is hand crafted in ebony & box wood with the king height of 4.4″ King. All chess pieces are triple weighted by adding a stud of iron within the base. Each of the chess piece has thick green felt on their base.

Affordable Staunton Chess Set, chess pieces — The Abaco Barb Staunton Series Chess Set in Ebony & Box wood

This complete package is amazingly priced at just $249.99

The Antique Circa 1880 Harwitz Staunton Series Chess Set is hand carved in Bud Rose & Box Wood. King is 4.6″ high with a base of diameter 2.0″. The set includes a complete set of 34 pieces with extra queens, all chess pieces are triple weighted and have thick green felt on their base.

Bud Rose Wood Chess Set, Box Wood Luxury Chess Set, Antique Jaques Chess Set — The Antique Circa 1880 Harwitz Staunton Series Chess Set in Bud Rose / Box Wood – 4.6″ King

We have introduced new wood on one of our best luxury chess set – The Indian Chetak chess set is now available in ebony and box wood. This designer chess set is favourite among many chess enthusiasts.

Staunton Luxury Chess Set, Ebony Chess Set, Box Wood Chess Set — The Indian Chetak Series Staunton Luxury Chess Pieces in Ebony Wood & Box Wood – 4.6″ King

The Indian Chetak chess set is now available in two different woods. Ebony and bud rose wood with the combination of box wood. The design of this set remains unchanged.

Last but not least we are going to launch our next major flagship very soon; pre-bookings for this chess set will start soon on chessbazaar.com! Though there is no official word on pricing for this chess set yet, you’re strongly advised to stay tuned for an update.

Happy Chess Playing!!

New Launch, chess set

That’s all for now, Follow us on Twitter & Facebook to stay up-to-date with the latest releases, offers & promotions. We’d glad to know your views and experiences of the chess sets which you have purchased from us.

Monthly Review May 13, 2015

Monthly Round-up – April 2015

Chessbazaar_Monthly_Roundup

Another month has passed and so it’s time to give you a quick recap of the most-interesting announcements for the last month. As most of you surely know, a couple of weeks back we have received a complaint from our esteemed customers that our stained crimson Dubrovnik chess set had some issues with the stain in which the crimson stain was coming off on touching the set with wet hands and the good news is that our R&D team is finally figured out the solution and the best selling crimson chess set is back on sale. Furthermore, we have announced 3 new chess sets last month alongside with the new storage box.

Here is a short list of the most interesting announcements

The Miniature Staunton Series
CB Trends2 copy These wooden chess pieces crafted in ebony & boxwood with the king height of 4″ king and a base diameter of 1.7″. The green felt precisely envelops the base of each chess men and priced at $149.99

Antique series new wooden chess pieces

CB Trends copy New Antique wooden chess set At first look most of us thought that it would be nothing more than a expensive version of the Zagreb series, but the set has gone way beyond that and offers formidable specs and quite impressive design in a budget-friendly package of only $159.99 for sheesham version and $179.99 for rosewood version. King height is 4.5″ with a base diameter of 1.77″. Each of the chess piece has thick green felt on their bases.

Chess Set Storage Box with Double Tray Fixed Slots for 4″ – 4.5″ Pieces

Leather Storage Chess Box This new chess set storage box is identical to s1210 box but it has been lined with green velvet instead of beige used in s1210. This box is best suited for Staunton chess pieces with height 4″ – 4.5″. There are two trays in the box to keep two sides of the set. The upper tray can be pulled out as it comes with little leatherette handles on either side. The lower tray is fixed inside the box. There is provision to put 17 pieces in either tray as most of high end sets come with extra queens. This storage box is up for sale on or before Independence Day so keep your eye on facebook page for the latest updates.
The biggest chess shopping carnival (99 Store) has also had a major presence in the news last month.

That’s all for now, Follow us on Twitter & Facebook to stay up-to-date with the latest releases, offers & promotions. We’d glad to know your views and experiences of the chess sets which you have purchased from us.

Monthly Review April 10, 2015

Monthly Round-up – March 2015

Another month passed and it’s time to sum-up the most important stories of the past few weeks. Our live customer support has been overflowing from the last month and almost everything has been about 1849 chess set. A lot of new chess sets, boards & combos were announced last month, but there is no doubt that the spotlights were only on 1849 Staunton chess set. If you were busy, or did not manage to catch something from the last month announcements, we have covered you with a recap, as well as an overview of the popular chess sets that has made an appearance in March 2015.

Most beautiful chess set we have ever launched!! Yes you heard it right Ferocious elite series has been generating a lot of buzz & spreading it’s attention like wildfire in every chess enthusiast mind. Its attractive radical design is marvellous. There is always something new about chess that make them never go out of fashion no matter what the current trend is! From 2007 to till date, we have launched different kind of chess sets ranging from magnetic series to giant series, but this chess set is specially designed for die hard chess fans out there.

As the name suggests elite series is superior in terms of craftsmanship, design or qualities. This chess set is triple-weighted chessmen featuring a 4.37″ king with green felt base pads. This chess set comes with two extra queens (used for a pawn promotion). The Dark side is made with bud rose wood and lighter side is made with box wood.

All eyes were set on 1849 Staunton chess set from Dec 2014 & things have really been getting heated during the last month when we re-launched it with a bang. This triple-weighted chessmen features a 4.4″ King with green felt bases & king side stamping. This chess set also comes with two extra queens (used for a pawn promotion). The chess pieces are made in antiqued box wood and ebony wood.

Moving ahead to another much anticipated chess sets French lardy & Liberty Pinney Club Size finally made an appearance last month. Reproduced 1941 Liberty Chess Set by W.T. Pinney No. 101 Small Club Size is now available at $79.99 & French lardy at $74.99. Both chess sets are priced at ultra-low pricing so that every chess collector can easily afford them. These chess sets bring back the good times for our chess collectors who are looking for quality reproduced chess sets at low prices.

Last but not least, a couple of weeks back we received a complaint from one of our esteemed customer that our stained crimson Dubrovnik chess set had some issues with the stain in which the crimson stain was coming off on touching the set with wet hands and the good news is that Our R&D team is finally figured out the solution and best selling crimson chess set is back on sale once again…Read More

That’s all for now, Follow us on Twitter & Facebook to stay up-to-date with the latest releases, offers & promotions. We’d glad to know your views and experiences of the chess sets which you have purchased from us.

Chess April 4, 2015

A Letter from Vik on Stained Crimson Dubrovnik Issue

To our consumers,

A couple of weeks back we received a complaint from one of our esteemed customer that our stained crimson Dubrovnik chess set had some issues with the stain in which the crimson stain was coming off on touching the set with wet hands. I on behalf of our whole team of chessbazaar would like to offer our sincere apologies for this problem. I want to assure everyone that this is just a stray incident and this is not the usual quality of our products. We have taken this issue very seriously and I am glad to inform you that we have been able to resolve this issue finally. Our future lots of crimson Dubrovnik chess sets will come coated with PU wood sealer with satin finish. There won’t be any noticeable effect of this application on the color or shine of the crimson pieces. Also this application will not let the crimson color to come off on touching with wet hands.

We have been notified that some of our competitors have been trying to blow this problem out of proportion in social media so as to gain some mileage but I am sure our esteemed customers who are intelligent chess players will very well see what these guys are upto. I would also like to thank here some of our patrons who stood besides us in the hour of need. I will like to add here an extract from one of the emails from one of our buyer (name withheld for privacy reasons)

“The hue and cry created at ****.com forums is all artificial to pull you guys down. I love your sets and designs and I will keep on buying from chessbazaar in future too. I purchased my Crimson Dubrovnik Chess Set from you in September 2014 and I have played numerous games with this set till now without any issues of color bleeding. I think it is a matter of common sense not to use wet hands on a wooden chess set and that is the reason you did not receive any complaints of this sort earlier or from any other buyers. Carry on with your good work”

In the end I once again want to apologize to our patrons and buyers for this issue with our Dubrovnik sets and I hope that you will understand that mistakes sometimes do happen despite our best efforts and we are no exception to that. We are very sorry that this happened with one of our chess sets but rest assured it won’t ever happen again. We are very serious when it comes to our customers satisfaction and we have a zero tolerance policy in this regard. Please note consumer satisfaction is the most important criterion for chessbazaar to measure its own success. To make up for this shortcoming in the crimson Dubrovnik set we are offering a 30% discount to the customers who have brought crimson Dubrovnik earlier from us and now want to buy this design again in any other wood or size.

Vikramjit Singh

vik@chessbazaar.com

Founder Director, chessbazaar

Guide for buying the right chess set March 31, 2015

A quick guide for buying the right chess set

There are so many options of buying chess sets in market today. So it becomes really hard deciding which one to go with. However a good rule is to buy the best quality set that you can afford because a good chess set lasts ages and will bring memories for the years to come. You will always feel proud when you beautifully lay your game in front of the opponent.

There are few important things which must be considered before buying a right chess set.

1. Purpose: Playing or for decoration?

2. Budget?

3. Match with chess board

4. Determining the quality of chess set?

After you have considered all the above points it becomes a lot easier to choose a chess set.

Purpose: Playing or for decoration?

If you are buying a chess set for regular use like carrying it to tournaments and clubs then you must opt for a sturdy double or triple weighted chess set.
If you want to buy chess set which is convenient to carry to office or trips or to friends place or some café then you should prefer magnetic travelling chess set. They are small and compact and also named as pocket chess sets. They are beautiful handcrafted wooden sets ready for immediate use.

If you are planning to buy a chess set for decoration then you have a wide range to choose from like practical chess sets which are used often for play, to simply for show as a decoration piece or a collectible quality.

Budget?

Before buying a chess set you should fix your budget and depending on that you can proceed further. If you love playing chess then you should buy the best chess that you can afford. A good quality chess set lasts longer which can be passed on to generations with memories.

Match the Chess Pieces to the Board

It is always considered to have a look at the descriptions of chess pieces like the height and base diameter of each King. It helps you find a good match board for your chess pieces. The proper square size for a set of good Staunton chess pieces is such that the width of the base of the King should be 78% of the width of a square. So, divide the King’s base diameter by 0.78 and you get the proper square size. You can increase the square size by 1/8″, but the square size should not be any smaller.

Also consider about the color and wood type of the dark pieces in your chess set and the dark playing squares of your chess board. Choose a board accordingly which looks elegant and gives you good feel of chess game.

Determining the quality of chess set?

The quality of the chess set can be determined in few ways. One way is by the weight of the pieces. Many wooden pieces are double or triple weighted, giving them a sturdy and more solid feel. By looking at the carving of the knight, one can make out the quality of the chess set. A set of finely carved knights and king’s decorative crown can represent up to 50% of the total cost of the chessmen.

The higher the quality, finer will be the carving of the pieces. Don’t forget to look at the quality of uniformity, turnings and finishing touch. The type of wood used in chess sets and boards is also a determine factor in the quality. Example: Ebony wood is more expensive than rosewood and then comes boxwood etc.

Aftercare March 31, 2015

How to care of your chess set

If you have just purchased a chess set or if you have inherited a heirloom chess set, proper maintenance of this set is must so that you can enjoy this set for years and pass on the legacy to the rightful owner when the time comes.

One may store the chess pieces in a storage box or at other safe and clean place where there is no direct sunlight. But whatever may be the case, in case of any trouble like manufacturing defect please let us know, we are always here for assistance and provide you with replacement as well. We take much pride in satisfying our customers as we provide lifelong service. We serve you with high quality products and if you ever have trouble with maintenance of our products, we will readily guide you.

Clean chess board with soft cloth

You should never use or try stuff on your own e.g. polish or wax etc on wooden chess, if not mentioned in the manufacturer’s instructions as it may spoil the chess pieces or chess board and those defects may not be fixed or replaced.

Most of the chess sets come with buff polish and board with lacquered surface so they are very easy to care for. The following precautions will give your wooden chess sets a long life and years of enjoyment.

1.) Please avoid direct heat and humidity to the chess pieces and board at all costs. Direct heat and humidity are the biggest enemies of a wooden chess set and even slight exposure of chess set to these will lead to discoloration, cracking and warping of the chess set.

2.) Do not play chess with damp/wet hands. It is a good idea to keep a hand towel to dry your hands after going to washroom or to wipe dry sweaty hands when you play chess.

Gently Wipe the Chess Pieces

3.) Gently wipe the chess men and the chess board with a cotton cloth which is slightly damp with a very light solution of water and vinegar. It will disinfect, clean or help remove any kind of present odor from the chess board and pieces. There is no need to use any additional waxes or polishes as the original polish is quite hard and it does not wear off easily.

4.) Incase if any of the chess piece breaks or dislodges use a drop of any wood glue to fix it back and leave it to dry for a couple of hours, preferably overnight.

Note: It is advisable to place a newspaper underneath before beginning with any step of after care to protect the surface. Also make sure, these things are done in an airy and well-lit room. Also avoid direct sunlight.

Monthly Review March 3, 2015

Monthly Round-up – Feb 2015

The past month has been a real busy one, with working on new chessboards. If you were busy, or did not manage to catch something from the last month announcements, we have covered you with a recap, as well as an overview of the popular chess sets that has made an appearance in Feb 2015
Chessbazaar_Monthly_Roundup

February is celebrated as a month of Love all over the world. During this past month, we introduced new range of chessboards which is also one of the most important product launches for us this year. These chessboards bring back the good times for our chess buyers who are looking for quality and long lasting chess boards.

A few other chess sets made an appearance last month, so if you think you might have missed any update, the following list shows what you, our loyal customers, found most interest in the new arrival section over the course of last month.

. Announced Dubrovnik stained crimson in 4″

. Our humble tribute to the faithful and courageous horse Chetak!!

. Giant chess packages for wholesale buyers

Things have really been getting heated during the last week when we launched our new veneer chess boards and now all eyes are on eagerly-anticipated Ferocious Elite series which we will launch in the first week of March. We got some issues with Crimson stained chess set. Our R&D team is working on this issue and we’re sure to get it resolved very soon and bring the much awaited and best selling Crimson back on sale.

Dubrovnik copy

Moving ahead with another much anticipated French lardy chess set and Pinney chess set which was due to get launched in last week of February and we have almost hundreds of buyers waiting for its launch. However, due to uncertain heavy rains we have deferred its launch and are expecting to launch in Mid March. If all goes well then the launching of French lardy & Pinney chess set will be on or before St. Patrick’s Day. Our artisans have tweaked some minor changes in the design & weight of French lardy chess set but nothing more is known yet.

Our humble tribute to the faithful and courageous horse Chetak

Giant chess packages for wholesale buyers :
chessbazaar.com offers you wholesale products with Free shipping across globe plus attractive Affiliate Program. There is no MOQ (minimum order quantity) for any of our products, the bigger the order, the better the prices. In case any of our re-sellers does not want to spend in stocking/inventory, we have attractive drop shipping option available too. The best part is just like retail, the items sold on wholesale too are guaranteed for any manufacturing defects or damage in transit.

wholesale copy

That’s all for now, Follow us on Twitter & Facebook to stay up-to-date with the latest releases, offers & promotions. We’d glad to know your views and experiences of the chess sets which you have purchased from us.

Monthly Review February 6, 2015

Monthly Round-up – Jan 2015

The past month has been a real busy one, with working on new designs. If you were busy, or did not manage to catch something from the last month announcements, we have covered you with a recap, as well as an overview of the popular chess sets that has made an appearance in Jan 2015.

Chessbazaar Monthly Roundup Image

Let’s move on to our hot announcements for this month, we have announced 7 new chess sets this month alongside with the new storage box.

The impressively designed American-Indian series has made appearance this month with the array of Apache series design. These weighted chess pieces offers a 4.4″ King with a diameter of 1.8″.

The knight is almost identical to the knight of apache series. Exquisitely crafted in bud rose wood, ebony & box wood with two extra queens included.

Just as scheduled, the coffer chess piece storage box re-launched officially last month. This time, we made extra efforts to improve our quality and used high-quality material to make it look more premium without affecting the retail price. We worked on our customer’s feedback we received from our last batch of S1210 and made the box more detailed, more luxurious and more affordable without compromising on the quality.

Laughing knight series chess pieces hand carved in Rose Wood & Box Wood with the king height of 3.18″ and width of 1.33″

Chessbazaar Laughing Knight Series

19th century classic series Chess Set has made appearance this month availabe in two different variants stained dyed, sheesham & box wood. King height is 4.0″ with free two additional queens for pawn promotion.

Explore our Classic Chess Series from the 19th Century

Empire series wooden chess set exquisitely hand carved in bud rose & ebony wood with the combination of box wood. King is 4.0″ high & base diameter is 1.77″.

Handmade Wooden Chess Pieces from the Royal Empire Series

Another addition to the reproduced series is our new Historic 1929 Barcelona “Joc Catalan” Chess Set with the king height of 4.3″. This beautiful “Joc Catalan chess set” was designed by the famous architect Antonio Gaudi in the 1930s and he introduced it at the Barcelona International Chess Tournament in 1930.

Replica Barcelona Chess Set by Chessbazaar

We at chessbazaar have done our best to reproduce the Catlan Chess Set as per the specifications, design and size of the original chess set.

Valentine is just two weeks away and we are giving our customers the opportunity to buy their favourite chess sets in great prices. This valentine sale will end on 14th Feb. These fabulous deals are time sensitive & will change every 48 hours. So stay tuned daily >> https://www.chessbazaar.com/offers-zone.html

That’s all for now, Follow us on Twitter & Facebook to stay up-to-date with the latest releases, offers & promotions. We’d glad to know your views and experiences of the chess sets which you have purchased from us.

Predicted Announcements February 2, 2015

Feb. Predicted Announcements

4” Dubrovnik Chess Set Launch
Wooden Chess Board in all sizes Launch
1849 Chess Set Launch Date

With Valentine just over two weeks away, everybody is already itching to know what we have in store near Valentine’s Day, and the good news is that we are coming up with our new kind of chessboards this month while there is no official word on the launch of these chessboards. New chessboards features edge to edge flat design with matte finish on the top surface. Matte surface will protect the chessboard from finger smudges & scratches. New chess boards are available in each size and each wood. Full specifications & specialties of these chessboards will be revealed later. Our Previous boards are finger print magnet due to the factor that their top surface has glossy finish.

coming soon all types of chessboards different sizes and wooden

Note : We are going to discontinue the curved edge shaped chess boards soon.

red brightly colored Dubrovnik on 4

Register your e-mail addresses today so that we can send you the notification & you can make a purchase before the stock runs out.That’s all for now, Follow us on Twitter & Facebook to stay up-to-date with the latest releases, offers & promotions. We’d glad to know your views and experiences of the chess sets which you have purchased from us. You can make a purchase before the stock runs out.

chessbazaar infographics January 28, 2015

A Year in Trends – Story Unfolds

In 2014 people searched million of queries. What do these queries say about?

1950 Dubrovnik chess set was the biggest launch for us in 2014 and it’s no surprise that Dubrovnik chess set is one of the best acclaimed historic chess set we have ever launched. It’s the most searched query in 2014.

Chessbazaar Google Plus

Smartphone’s have taken the world by storm & now with our mobile friendly website, shopping is at your fingertips around the clock no matter where you are. You can take advantage of our time-sensitive deals on the go.

Here at chessbazaar we’ve spent a lot of time working on new tools to help you, our readers, pick the right chess set for you. Our improved latest search is meant to improve search results & and provides condensed info. The search widget has an intuitive interface and show product images as well, so it will hopefully make the findings of the desired chess product pretty simple. New search also provides condensed info on a set price, physical dimensions, material used etc. We’ve done our best to optimize the search widget for both wide and narrow layouts.

The notify me feature has an intuitive interface and ask you for your e-mail address, that allows us to send you the notification once the item is back in stock & you can make a purchase before the stock runs out.

Special gift

That’s all for now, Follow us on Twitter & Facebook to stay up-to-date with the latest releases, offers & promotions. We’d glad to know your views and experiences of the chess sets which you have purchased from us.

Saurabh Sharma

4” Dubrovnik Chess Set Launch Wooden Chess Board in all sizes Launch 1849 Chess Set Launch Date

Note : We are going to discontinue the curved edge shaped chess boards soon.

A Year in Trends – Story Unfolds

In 2014 people searched million of queries. What do these queries say about?

1950 Dubrovnik chess set was the biggest launch for us in 2014 and it’s no surprise that Dubrovnik chess set is one of the best acclaimed historic chess set we have ever launched. It’s the most searched query in 2014.

Smartphone’s have taken the world by storm & now with our mobile friendly website, shopping is at your fingertips around the clock no matter where you are. You can take advantage of our time-sensitive deals on the go.

The notify me feature has an intuitive interface and ask you for your e-mail address, that allows us to send you the notification once the item is back in stock & you can make a purchase before the stock runs out.

That’s all for now, Follow us on Twitter & Facebook to stay up-to-date with the latest releases, offers & promotions. We’d glad to know your views and experiences of the chess sets which you have purchased from us.

4” Dubrovnik Chess Set Launch
Wooden Chess Board in all sizes Launch
1849 Chess Set Launch Date