Tournament Chess Sets – 5 Incredible Chess Sets to Choose from!

Before getting into which chess set you choose, let’s clarify the actual need for Tournament Chess Sets.

“The need for a chess set that is easy to use and universally recognizable by every chess player motivated a sports and games manufacturer from London to develop a standardized chess set – commonly known now as Tournament Chess Sets.”

Important Thing: There are hundreds’ of designs and sizes for a chess set, not every set is ideal for tournament play. According to FIDE, the organization which conducts chess tournaments, have set the standard for the chess pieces and chessboards. The material of the chess set should be of plastic or wooden with the pieces should be proportionate to their height and form.

Related: Plastic Chess Pieces

The recommended height of a chess king is 9.5 cm, Queen 8.5 cm, Bishop 7cm, Knight 6 cm, Rook 5.5cm, and Pawn 5 cm. The diameter of the pieces should be 40-50% of the height. FIDE recommend Staunton style pieces for the competitions. The color of the pieces should be black or brown or of other darker shades like Sheesham. The light color of the set should be of the natural color like boxwood, maple, etc. FIDE recommend buff polish instead of glossy finish.

For the chessboards, only wooden boards are used for world level or continental top-level competitions. For other FIDE registered tournaments, boards made of wood or mouse-pad are recommended. In all cases, the boards should be rigid. The size of the square should measure 5 cm to 6 cm. The board squares must be according to the diameter of the pieces and four pieces can able to adjust in a single square.

Related: The Top 5 Iconic Chess Sets every Chess Collector Must Possess

For the chess clocks, FIDE recommends only electronic clocks for world level and continental competitions. Mechanical clocks may be used for other FIDE registered chess tournaments.

Chessbazaar offers some of the best tournament chess sets, which not only helps you in practicing in a real-time environment but also is light on your pocket. The following are our recommendations

1. German Knight Chess Pieces with Walnut maple chessboard

These are the actual tournament pieces, which are FIDE approved and mostly are used in world level chess competitions. The Spanish veneer wooden board may not be the DGT one as used in actual tournaments, has the same feel and finish and has coordinates along its borders, which help most of the novice players in recording their moves. The set comes with standard 2 extra queens for effortless pawn promotion. The king height is tournament standard 3.75” and the base is 1.4”. The square of the board is 50mm or 2.0”.

2. Modern Staunton Chess Pieces with Walnut maple chessboard

If you’re interested in playing with actual wooden Staunton style chess pieces, this is the combo for you. The chess pieces are made up of genuine boxwood and ebony wood. The knight is the main attraction of this set and with 1500 gms of total weight, this is the best chessmen to play with. The king height is 3.97” and the base is 1.69”. The board is the same Spanish walnut veneer wooden board with a square size of 2.12” or 54mm. The total weight of this combo is around 2300 gms.

3. 1950 Reproduced Dubrovnik Bobby Fischer Chessmen Version 3.0

If you’re a Bobby Fisher fan, then this chess pieces might ignite the interest in you. Reproduced Dubrovnik weighted chess pieces with a 3.7″ King and base diameter of 1.5″. This set is Double Weighted and the chess pieces have thick green felt on their bases. The dark chess pieces are made in Stained Crimson Boxwood and the lighter chess pieces are made in Boxwood.

We have received great reviews from our happy customer for the 1950 Reproduced Dubrovnik Bobby Fischer Chessmen Version 3.0. See the attached image below:

4. The Sinquefield Cup 2017 Reproduced Original Chess Pieces

The reproduced Sinquefield Cup 2017 chess set, popularly known as The Craftsman Staunton series is weighted chess pieces with a 3.75″ King and base diameter of 1.7″. Dark chess pieces are exquisitely crafted in bud rosewood aka Padauk wood. Because of its rarity, bud rosewood chess pieces are the primary choice of many chess enthusiasts. Bud rosewood is an alluring wood and probably the most admired wood for most high-end chess sets..

We have received great reviews from our happy customer for the The Sinquefield Cup 2017 Reproduced Original Chess Pieces In Bud Rosewood & Boxwood. See the attached image below:

5. Repro 90’s French Chavet Chess Pieces with Sheesham Wooden Board

The most popular and FIDE approved design used in 90’s, the Chavet chessmen in Sheesham and boxwood. These chessmen are designed and developed in France by famous French maker Chavet. The set was used during the iconic World Chess Championship in 1990(Lyon). The height of the chess king is 3.66” and the base is 1.57”. The board is a solid wood board made of Sheesham and maple. The square size of this board is 2.2” or 55mm. The total weight of these chessmen is 5600 gms.

Since there are many other chess combos that are perfect for tournament plays, you might want to look at our tournament chess set category. Making these combos are our ongoing effort and you might see many other great combinations coming up in due time. Not to mention, for the students, we are coming up with more affordable combos. We recommend you to kindly subscribe to our newsletter for upcoming deals and new launches.

Related: 5 Reasons Why Collecting Chess Sets is a Good Idea?