Chess Blogs Archives - Page 3 of 7

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 August 14, 2019

Monthly Round Up – July 2019

Monthly round-up is our initiative to recap all the major announcements of the past month, which you might have missed. The month of July sees a couple of introductions of our reproductions.

July of 2019 was marked by :

.Introduction of 1865-70 Steinitz Chess Set

.Introduced the Ultimate Chess Set

.Introduction of Shera Series in Ebony and Boxwood

.Christmas in July sale. A CB mega annual event

Introduction of 1865-70 Steinitz Chess Set: Committed to expanding the Jaques family, chessbazaar® proudly presents the reproduction of the 1865-70 Steinitz Staunton pattern chess set. The original 1865-70 Steinitz Staunton pattern chess set in the playable condition is very very hard to find and may cost thousands of dollars if available. Our repro of 1865-70 Steinitz Staunton pattern chess set is a humble try to bring this legendary design to life and to let chess enthusiasts experience the game with this beautiful chess set which was not possible hitherto.

Introduced the Ultimate Chess Set: A very common and sturdy chess set until now was available only in plastic avatar. CB with the inputs of a renowned collector, bring this magnificent chess set in ebonized and boxwood. This is a perfect chess set for blitz, club, and tournaments. The set features a Tournament standard 3.85″ King with a base diameter of 1.65 inches. This is a captivated design featuring the magnificently robust and remarkable knight.

Introduction of Shera Series in Ebony and Boxwood: After successfully re-introducing the Shera series in Bud rosewood and boxwood, we have introduced it in Ebony and Boxwood. Making it more perfect was really difficult for us, that is why we have borrowed its elegant look and most of the design elements from its previous generation. The carving of the knight is quite spectacular, look closely at the details around the mane and nostrils. The design of the other pieces is also highly commended to allow the set to truly stand out. They are meticulously handcrafted from the finest grade ebony and polished by hand to give it a rich and long-lasting shine.

Christmas in July sale. A CB mega annual event: Started back in 2017, this time too, we have received an electrifying response from our dear customers and collectors. The deals in this event are the one which we generally reveal during our Christmas time. We would like to thank our customers for choosing us and put in there trust in us.

That’s all for now, Follow us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram 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.

More to Read:

Chess Blogs July 3, 2019

Monthly Round-Up – June 2019

June of 2019 is now behind us and tradition dictates that once again we take a look at the new arrivals section and round up the most interesting announcements of the last month. Our new range of roll-up chessboards was certainly the hottest in our new arrival section over the past month. A few other notable announcements last month include the BCC bone chess set & the Great Analysis Staunton Camel Bone Chess Set. For the full scoop on all of the above, plus some other launches from the past month, just scroll down and hit ‘em up.

Mouse Pad Chess Boards

Silicone Chess Boards

Vinyl Roll-up Chess Boards

PVC Plastic Chess Boards

The British Chess Company (BCC) Bone Chess Set

The Great Analysis Staunton Camel Bone Chess Set

Last month the spotlights were primarily on our recently introduced new chess boards. Starting from the mouse pad chessboards these boards are made with finest soft rubber mouse pad type material. These boards are lightweight, wipes clean, & fully washable. The underneath surface of the board has been designed cleverly and so that it won’t budge or fly away in the wind while having blitz game or outdoor play. Know More>>

Next on the list is silicone chess boards. These chess boards are made with a stretchy silicone material, these algebraic notation roll-up boards are lightweight, wipes clean, wrinkle-free, fully washable & odorless. Know More>>

Being official for a few weeks now, Vinyl roll-up chess boards have held a tight grip in the chess world. Made with finest vinyl material this algebraic notation folding chess boards is super lightweight. This roll-up board will lay flat yet easily rolled up for storage in the bag. We are offering these chess boards at a very low price with free shipping. Know More>>

Moving on to folding tournament PVC chess boards, these chess boards are easy to transport compared to the flat chess boards, therefore you can carry this folding chess board easily to your tournaments, clubs, or next door. Made with finest PVC plastic material this algebraic notation folding chess board is super lightweight, & wipes clean. Know more>>

The British Chess Company (BCC) reproduced Staunton double collared bone chess set had also made its debut and gathered a lot of fan attention. Featuring the finest aspects of Staunton pattern set ever seen on a bone chess set. The dark chess pieces are made of stained dyed jet black camel bone & bleached white camel bone(Also available in ebony wood). The set features a Tournament standard 3.75″ King with a base diameter of 1.53 inches. These hand carved chess pieces are the perfect gift for any chess or art collector. Know More>>

Another noteworthy announcement was the great analysis Staunton camel bone chess set. This beauty is hand carved with a high level of precision by our master craftsman, all the pieces are naturally weighted and felted with thick green cloth.

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 also get the updates direct to your email by sign-up to our newsletter.

More to Read:

Chess Blogs June 5, 2019

Monthly Round-Up – May 2019

May of 2019 was kicked off with one of the most exciting releases so far this year – Plastic chess pieces. Our plastic series chess pieces category immediately sparked a lot of interest among chess fans due to its low price & high value. And while we’re on the subject of chess pieces, few other announcements also took place last month – 1851 V2.0, Marshal, Pre-Hartson, The Ancient Indian Warrior. We have also launched some new Spanish chess boards along the way. For those of you who didn’t have enough time – you can get more details on each launch below.

Plastic Chess Pieces

Reproduced 1851 Morphy Chess Set V2.0

The Ancient Indian Warrior

Reproduced Antique 1900 Marshal Staunton Pattern Chess Set

1885 Pre-Hartston Staunton Pattern Chess Set

Antique Series French Regency Chess Pieces

The Traditional Indian Hand Carving Chess Pieces

Wooden Deluxe Santos Palisander pr & Sycamore

Wooden Deluxe Black Dyed Poplar & Sycamore

Wooden Deluxe Black Dyed Poplar & Olive

Last month the spotlights were primarily on the plastic series chess pieces. This category is for buyers with a tight budget. These beautiful high-quality plastic chess sets are cheap yet sturdy as they are waterproof and sun resistant up to some extent. So you can enjoy your game wherever you want without the fear of damaging the chess set, unlike the wooden chess pieces. The plastic pieces that we offer come with both non-weighted and Quadruple weighted with the size ranging from 3” to 4.1” king size. Know more>>

Chess Carnival 2018 was jam-packed with the reproductions but none shines brighter than the sequel of 1849 Staunton Chess Set, the reproduction of 1851 Staunton Pattern Chess Set V2.0 with “Morphy” knights. The Morphy knights have pronounced jowls as compared to other designs of knights. The king in the set is 4.4″ high and the set comes with 34 pieces including 2 extra queens. A rook and a knight in each side come with kingside stamping which was a norm with Staunton chess sets at that time. Know More>>

Next on the list is the Ancient Indian warrior Staunton luxury series chess set. This artistic chess set is handcrafted with precision and care in genuine ebony wood and antiqued boxwood. The King proudly stands at 4″ tall with a base diameter of 1.8 inches. The set comes with free extra queens for effortless pawn promotion. Pieces have unique rings and thick green felts, which precisely envelops the base of each chessmen for smooth movement on the chess board. Know More>>

Surely you have seen this chess set before but not in a wooden avatar. chessbazaar® proudly presents the reproduction of the 1900 Marshal Staunton pattern chess set. Reproduced Antique 1900 Marshal Staunton Pattern chess set is handcrafted in genuine ebony wood and antiqued boxwood. The King is 3.75″ high(Tournament Size) with a base diameter of 1.69 inches. Handcrafted in India, by the passionate designers of chessbazaar whose wish is to present you with the most wonderful reproduction of Antique 1900 Marshal Staunton Pattern Chess Set Know More>>

Moving on to the antique 1885 Pre-Hartston Staunton Pattern Chess Set. This chess set is handcrafted in genuine ebony wood and antiqued boxwood. The King proudly stands at 4.5″ tall with a base diameter of 1.92 inches. Our team of expert carvers put their hearts into the smallest little details of this chess set and have closely worked to bring out this revised reproduction as perfect as it can be. The result of this hard work of these master craftsmen is a truly wonderful design and a masterpiece which any connoisseur will admire. Know more>>

Reproduced Antique Series French Regency Chess Pieces also made its debut and gathered a lot of fan attention. The hand carving on each chess piece around the shank is noteworthy, especially the unique collar rings on the king, queen, bishop and marvelous vertical lines on the rooks. The design of the knight is also highly outstanding. They are meticulously handcrafted from the finest grade bud rosewood and polished by hand to give it a rich and long-lasting shine Know More>>

The Traditional Indian Hand Carving Chess Set is an excellent non-Staunton set, mainly for its excellent value and exquisite design. Featuring the finest aspects of Indian hand-carving on each chess piece is noteworthy, especially the unique king & queen and marvelous miter cut on the bishops. ll chess pieces have a taller height which adds another interesting dimension to the set. Pieces are natural weighted and have thick green felts, which precisely envelops the base of each chessmen for smooth movement on the chess board. The carving and turning the quality of the knight are quite spectacular, look closely at the ball, eyes, and craftsmanship below the ball. Know More>>

Last but not the least, our new Spanish chess boards have also been soaking up the spotlight. Veneer chessboards use much less of the deluxe hardwood in their construction and this reliable construction method is much more consistent, so wastage and defects tend to be a lot less making the chessboards less expensive. These chessboards have sharp corners from all edges with a matte finish on the top surface of it, hence matte surface will protect the chessboard from finger smudges & scratches. Know 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. You can also get the updates direct on your email by sign-up to our newsletter.

2. The Staunton Design – Its evolution and a bit of history.

A Quick Guide to the Rules of Tournament Chess May 22, 2019

Chess Pieces Moves – An illustrated guide

In a game of chess, there are six different chess pieces or chessmen used on chessboards. These are King, Queen, Bishop, Knight, Rook, and Pawn. On a chessboard, a chess player starts playing with 16 pieces of chessmen either with white sides of pieces or black(dark) side of pieces. Every rated game contains 1 each extra pair of queen for pawn promotion. Even the chess equipments which are used is a standard tournament chess set approved by FIDE.

King Movement

The king, without any doubt, is the most important piece in chess. The purpose of the game is to capture the opponent’s king so that its escape becomes impossible, which is also called “checkmate” in chess term. If an opponent’s king is threatened with capture, it is said to be in check, and the player must remove the threat of capture on the next move. If this cannot be done, the king is said to be in checkmate. Although the king is the most important piece, it is also one of the weakest pieces in the game.

This must be taken into consideration that white always starts with the king on the first rank to the right of the queen. Black stands directly opposite to the white’s king. With the squares labeled as in algebraic notation, the white king starts on e1 and black on e8. As shown in the diagram below, the king can move only one square in any direction. An interesting point to note about this rule is that two kings can never stand next to each other or capture each other. Though a king may be, and often are, used to help to checkmate the opposing king by guarding squares. The moment of King is generally described by the letter K.

Queen Movement

The Queen is, without a doubt, the most powerful piece on the chessboard. She can move with the combination of both bishop and rook in any direction (barring any obstruction). In the diagram below, the green dots indicate the squares the queen may move. She can cover 27 squares. This is a healthy percentage of the board, 42 percent.

This is a reason that in almost every chess game, the pawn is promoted to a queen. In a chessboard, a white queen sits on a white square and the black queen starts on a black square.

The Queen is described by Q. In algebraic notation, the white Queen starts on d1 and the black queen starts on d8. The queen can be moved in any number of unoccupied squares, expect Knight’s move, in vertically, horizontally and diagonally.

Bishop Movement

The bishop sits next to King and Queen in the chess game. It may move

any number of squares in a diagonal direction (barring any obstruction). Each player begins the game with two bishops, one on White Square and one on Dark Square. Because they move only diagonally, they always remain on the same colored squares.

They may not jump over the pieces like a knight, but together they can cover a large area and can limit the opponent’s movement.

The Bishop is generally described by B. In algebraic notation, the starting squares are c1 and f1 for white bishops and c8 and f8 for black bishops.

Knight Movement

The knight in the game is generally represented by a horse’s torso. Unlike any of the chess pieces in the game, the knight may jump over other pieces. This gives it a degree of flexibility and makes it a powerful piece especially in a game where the board is cluttered with the pieces. Each chess player starts with the two knights each one on the different squares. In the diagram below, the yellow dots are the opponent’s pieces which are being passed over and the green dots are the squares where the knight may move or captures the opponent’s piece)

Letter N generally describes the Knight. Some early Staunton sets come with Kingside Knight stamping as it becomes easy for the players to distinguish between two knights as these pieces can move to any squares, unlike bishops. Though, the value of the Knight is equivalent to the bishop i.e 3. The knight’s movement can also be viewed as “L” laid out at any horizontal or vertical angle. In algebraic notation, the starting squares of Knights are b1 and g1 for white side and b8 and g8 for black knights.

Rook Movement

The rook, mostly shaped like castle or towers, is among the powerful pieces on the board. The value of the rook is 5, more than bishop and knight and only after the Queen. The rook can be worth a bishop/knight and two pawns. The rook can move any number of squares (barring any obstruction) in a straight line along any row or column. As shown in the diagram below, the rook can move or capture in any square that has green dots.

R generally describes the rooks. The rooks also come in Kingside stamping in early pre-Staunton sets so that players can easily distinguish between these two. In algebraic notation, the white rook starts on a1 and h1 and dark rook starts on a8 and h8. The rooks may move horizontally or vertically. The rook also participates, with a king, also known as castling. Know more about castling>

Pawn Movement

In a chess game, players start with eight pawns on either side. These are one of the weakest pieces in the chess game and their value is 1, though they have the potential to become the Queen if a pawn reaches to the opponent’s main squares, i.e. a2 reaches a8. Pawns cannot move diagonally or backward, but they move straight ahead unless they are taking another piece where they can change their column.

The pawns are generally described by P. In algebraic notation, the white pawn starts on a2, b2, c2, …., h2, while dark pawns start on a7, b7, c7, …. , h7. Generally, pawns move only one square, however, the exception is the first time is that when a pawn is moved, it may move two squares forward provided there are no obstruction pieces. All eight pawns can move two squares when sitting on their original positions. In the diagram, the green dots show where the pawn may move, and the red dots show where the pawn may capture the piece.

Chess Blogs May 15, 2019

In conversation with the world’s renowned collector, Mike J Ladzinski

Thanks to Mike John Ladzinski for accepting our request. Being an avid chess collector, we have asked him a certain set of questions to whom he replied candidly.

1. When and from where did you get the inspiration for your chess-collecting journey?
When I started tournament and club play in the 70’s I played on and noticed many nice wood and plastic sets. These included the gorgeous lacquered wood French Lardy sets and the wonderful Windsor Castle and Drueke Player’s Choice plastic sets.

2. Are you a chess player?
I play chess mainly on the internet but play speed/blitz chess with friends.

3. Which was the first set collected by you?

A black/natural 3.75″ Lardy set

4. How many sets you have in total in your collection? What have you decided to do with your collection in the future?

I’ve lost count but probably around 150 sets.

5. Which is your favorite vintage set and why?

Tough question as I have so many vintage favorites. I have 3 sets that I would place at the top of my collection, a 1862 Jaques of London 4.4″ Club Set with original labeled box, an Ayres 4.4 Club Set and a 1890’s Russian Tournament Set.

6. Which is your favorite chessbazaar set?

Now that’s a really tough question as I have so many wonderful ChessBazaar sets and it’s impossible for me to pick one. So here are my favorites: The 1973-1979 Petropolis Interzonal set, The Richard Whitty set, The 1895 Ayres Club set, The 1950’s Bohemia set and the 1950’s Soviet Russian Tal Latvian set.

7. Who is your favorite chess player?

Paul Morphy and Paul Keres

8. How many chess clocks you have in your possession?

About 15 clocks

9. Your advice to the new collectors?

Buy vintage and premium quality reproduction set that fit your budget

10. Your comments regarding chessbazaar

ChessBazaar has become without question the leader in producing premium quality reproduction and collectible Staunton sets at the most affordable prices for collectors and tournament players. They listen to what collectors like myself want. At my suggestion, they have made so many superb historic reproductions in the past. I would be remiss if I did mention and give thanks to Gurpreet Singh Khokhar for his efforts on behalf of ChessBazaar in getting these many historic reproductions made for avid collectors like myself. And many thanks to the ChessBazaar team.

2. All About Woods used in Chessmen and Boards

3. 10 Useful Tips to Take Care of your Chess Board

Chess Blogs May 9, 2019

Monthly Round-Up – April 2019

There’s no doubt that the chess reproductions are always a hot topic in the chess community, regardless of what time of the year it is. To fulfill the aspirations of the chess collector community, we at chessbazaar, introduced several reproductions & some luxury chess sets in our biggest chess carnival 2019. For the full scoop on the launches from the past month, just scroll down and hit ‘em up.

Reproduced 1849 Original Staunton Pattern Chess Set in Ebony / Boxwood with King Side Stamping – 3.75″ King

The Candidates Series Staunton Chess Set in 3.75″ King

Reproduced Antique Circa 1895 Ayres English Made Club Chess Set in Ebony / Antiqued Box Wood – 4.3″ King

Limited Edition Indian-American Luxury Series Chess Set in Bud Rose / Box Wood – 4.3″ King

The Excalibur Luxury Artisan Series Chess Set in Ebony / Box Wood – 4.6″ King

The Shera Series Staunton Chess Set V2.0 in Bud Rose / Box Wood – 4.1″ King

First on the list is the chess set that needs no introduction. Reproduced 1849 original Staunton pattern chess set in ebony/boxwood with king side stamping is now available in standard tournament size. This chess set has been specifically designed for chess tournament/club players. This chess set is expertly weighted from our master artisans and it’s superb size proportioning from a king to pawn make this chess set an excellent choice for fast chess games in tournaments/clubs or regular home and school play. Know More>

“Did you ever starve for a chess design you always wanted? Chessbazaar® is there to help you make your dream chess set a reality. Know More>>

Second, on the list is the candidates series Staunton chess set in tournament standard 3.75″ King. We’ve launched candidates series in tournament size because many of our buyers were asking for it. This is a captivated design featuring the magnificently robust and remarkable knight.

Moving on to the reproduced antique circa 1895 ayres English made club chess set. Legend is handcrafted with precision and care in genuine ebony wood and antiqued boxwood. The original spectacular set was made by the game company F.H Ayres. The turnings and carvings of this chess set were first quality and equal to those of the vintage Jaques sets. Our team of expert carvers put their hearts into the smallest little details of this chess set and have closely worked to bring out this reproduction as perfect as it can be.

The Indian-American luxury series chess set is one of our most popular luxury chess sets, and all the versions of it have been hugely successful, though it was not the first one that made the greatest splash in our best seller category. Following the success of our original Indian-American luxury series chess set, we have introduced the limited Edition Indian-American Luxury Series Chess Set in Bud Rose / Box Wood – 4.3″ King. Borrowed its ferocious look and aggression from its elder sibling Indian-American series, the Limited Edition version doesn’t fail to impress any décor lover. This marvelous beauty is made up of bud rosewood and boxwood. The King proudly stands at 4.3 inches and its base is robust 1.8 inches.

Things have really been getting heated during the last month when we introduced the Excalibur luxury artisan series chess set in ebony & boxwood – 4.6″ king. The knight of this chess set is inspired by the sword of the legendary King Arthur. The sweeping mane and distinctive head shape give the knight aggressive and ready-to-attack look. The King proudly stands at 4.6 inches and its base is robust 1.9 inches. This is a luxury design featuring the magnificently robust and solitary knight. Know More>>

At first look most likely you will think that Shera V2.0 is nothing more than the expensive version of the previous generation Shera series, but 2.0 has gone way beyond that and offers heirloom quality and quite impressive design in a budget-friendly package of only $359.99 for bud rosewood version. King height has been reduced to 4.1″ with a wider base diameter of 1.88″ for better stability. 1st generation Shera series chess pieces were the archetype of perfection in our luxury series. So making it more perfect was really difficult for us, that is why we have borrowed its elegant look and most of the design elements from its previous generation.

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 also get the updates direct to your email by sign-up to our newsletter.

Chess Blogs May 6, 2019

Start your chess collection now – Be a chess collector

Chess collection for some is a passion to preserve the history for the generations to come. Chess as we all know, dated back to 6th century BC, mostly played among the Kings and the idea behind the game was to make a war strategy. It is a 2-player strategy game and since then many modifications and new rules have been added and modified in the game.

Chess collecting like coin collecting has become an interesting hobby. Chess comes in many materials, size, color, and variety. Depending on your budget and your passion, you can choose any of these to start your collection. Most popular among the collectors are the wood chess sets and bone chess sets as these are handcrafted and their value increases by the course of time.

The other popular chess sets among the collectors are the Vintage chess sets, which are very rare and been exorbitantly priced, they are simply out of the reach among many chess enthusiasts. Here comes the concept of Antique reproductions where we create the exact replica of the vintage chess and sell it at the most reasonable prices. The best thing is that these sets do come with rarely used woods like ebony wood and some reproductions do come in bone sets, like 1849 reproduction.

Relate: Reasons Why Collecting Chess Sets is a Good Idea?

To start making the collection, according to famous chess collectors I interviewed, you must start with the reproductions of basic Staunton chess sets like 1849. We offer 1849 reproduction in 4.4” king size(antique) and 3.75” king size(non-antique). You can get a lot of information about the early Staunton chess and its design by a book written by Mr. Alan Fersht https://www.fersht.com/chess/ (highly recommended)

The most popular among the early Staunton chess sets are the J.Jaques 1849 Cook Type2, 1851 Morphy knight, 1852-55 Harrwitz, 1855-60 Anderssen Drop-jaw and later knights are 1875-80 Zukertort, 1880-85 Lasker and 1900-1915 Marshall. As you have started making your collection in Staunton range, then come to the basic French chess sets. We recommend the basic French Lardy and 1990’s Chavet chess sets.

The most popular and loved collection among chess collectors is Russian/Soviet collection. These sets are so rare that we have made a reproduction of almost all the sets, which were used during 19th century Russian and 20th-century Soviet era. You can start with the basic design and as per your choice, you can start collecting them. Here are our top 5 recommendations for Russian/Soviet chess sets.

1. 1966 Lanier Graham Reproduced Minimalist Chess Pieces

2. Reproduced 1924 Bauhaus Geometrical Abstract Chessmen

3. 90s French Chavet Championship Tournament Chess Pieces

The timeless European collection is the one not to be missed. The Dubrovnik and Austrian coffee house are among the most collected chess sets among the top chess collectors. The Hungarian and Romanian sets have also seen a huge demand not only with the collectors but among the players as well. The 1929 historic Barcelona chess set by “Joc Catalan” is also worth collecting.

Chess collectors very rarely collect the Luxury chess pieces, which are actually an art piece, mostly used for the display. They are worth collecting because mostly all luxury chess sets are crafted by very rare ebony wood and padauk wood. Before Padauk a.k.a Bud rosewood, Red sandalwood was used extensively. After it was banned, the Padauk came into existence. The person who possesses any chess set of Red Sandalwood can treasure it throughout his life and can proudly pass to the generations to come. Same for Ivory bone chess sets. With rosewood already getting partially banned and ebony being an expensive and rare wood, it’s worth collecting chess sets made of these two woods. We have some very fine collectible luxury chess sets to choose from. Our 5 picks are:

1. St. Petersburg Chess Set

2. The Indian Chetak II Chess Set

3. The Mustang Series Chess Set

To sum up, though knowledge is very important to start collecting the chess sets, you can start by reading some history about these sets from the Internet and collecting some reproductions, which gradually enhances your interest in this hobby.

More to Read: Why Luxury Chess Sets are Expensive and Why do you Own One?

Chess Blogs April 29, 2019

My Journey as a Chess Collector by Stephen Kong (Chess Praxis)

My interest in chessmen collecting started way back in 1995 on a small scale basis. Not until till June 2017 when Mike John Ladzinski included me into his FB group page “Staunton Chess Set vintage and new post your set” suddenly my interest grows and the collection increased exponentially.

Collecting for me is quite different from hoarding. Collecting means appreciating artifacts as symbols of human activity, as milestones, or mementos of certain cultural trends. It means cataloging, delving into the origins, documenting if possible provenance and former owners, the uses, etc. It also means preserving old things, as we are only temporary holders of them, and somebody will come after us to observe, preserve, use and question our collector’s items. The more time one can devote to the collection the more one learns — about the things themselves, their background — and ultimately about ourselves as well!

It is a good idea to limit one’s scope — for the simplest of reasons like space, time and money. But also because nobody can collect everything, even in a small field. A collection can be nicely rounded without being encompassing or enormous.

As a collector and lifelong chess player with some ambitions I have concentrated on the tools of the game — pieces mainly, with some boards and clocks along. That would be the mainstream in chess collecting. Other collectors might be more interested in chess variants (like Shogi, Turkish chess, Thai or Burmese chess, Mongolian chess, etc.), in chess stamps, in fine literature on chess, in chess books, chess mementos, and so on.

Over the years I have collected numerous chess books and playing in the overseas tournament as well, meeting new friends and visiting new places. I have tried to capture as many as possible of my collection strains on the web, which has become a useful tool for comparing, buying and selling, and congregating collectors on an international scale. My aim as a collector is to understand and learn — and to provide a bit of support for others who are tramping along the same trail.

There are many parts of the above lines, which resonate deeply with me. Just to give one example, when I began collecting chess sets, I liked the Lardy, it was amazing. Then my collection starts to increase exponentially. Thanks to chessbazaar for the fine reproductions, I ended by buying their many sets but here are some of the favorites. The Hungarian set, Romanian set, Blackburne set, 1849 ver 1, Dubrovnik, Austrian, Richard Whitty, Lasker(chess praxis version) Duchamp and many. Recently, I have collaborated with CB to reproduced the antique B&Co set and the Knubbel set which has been applauded by the collector’s community.

To sum up my experiences, as a collector we must begin with an end in mind. What exactly we are collecting. I focus mainly on the FIDE tournament set.

Chess Blogs April 12, 2019

MONTHLY ROUND-UP – MARCH 2019

Another month flew by and the chess world is slowly getting settled back to normal after the huge Easter sale ended at chessbazaar.com. Speaking of launches, only GM Blitz Edition Staunton series chess set made the headlines last month. To fulfill the aspirations of the chess collector community, we at chessbazaar, introduced the Chess Carnival this month. Our chess event gathered a lot of interest among the mighty collectors community & for the full scoop on the launches from the past month, just scroll down and hit ‘em up.

The GM Blitz Edition Staunton Series Chess Set in Ebony Wood & Natural Boxwood
The GM Blitz Edition Staunton Series Chess Set in Bud Rosewood & Box Wood

The exhaustive GM Blitz Edition Staunton Series Chess Set in standard tournament size asserted it’s dominance over the best sellers section once again. We are pleased to announce the GM Blitz Edition Series Chess Set in Ebony Wood or Bud Rosewood & Natural Boxwood. The GM Blitz Edition is expertly weighted from our master artisans and it’s superb size proportioning from a king to pawn make this chess set an excellent choice for the blitz play in chess tournaments/clubs or regular home and school play. What makes this chess set so unique is its knight as it is made from a single piece of wood, there are no joins. Know More>>

“Did you ever starve for a chess design you always wanted? Chessbazaar® is there to help you make your dream chess set a reality. Know More>>

That’s all for now. We have a few surprises lined up for the April as well. Follow us on Twitter & Facebook to stay up-to-date with the latest releases, offers & promotions. We’d glad to know your views and thoughts on the chess sets which you have purchased from us. You can also get the updates directly on your email by sign-up to our newsletter.

Read More: