Chess
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. 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
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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. Related: The Staunton Design – Its evolution and a bit of history 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
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Tips for Improving Your Chess Training Session
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.
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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. Related: 10 Greatest Chess Masters of all Time! 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
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Why I collect chess sets, by John Lawson
People typically collect chess sets for many reasons. Wooden chess sets are beautiful. They can be collected economically. There are many, many styles for every taste and décor, and they can be displayed attractively in one’s home or office. Best of all, you can play chess with them! These are all good reasons, but I started collecting chess sets for a different reason: I play chess variants. Chess can be played by other rules than the FIDE rules we are familiar with. In fact, FIDE chess is actually a variant of the form of chess played in Europe in Medieval times. The moves of the Bishop and Queen were once much more limited. Thousands of chess variants have been invented by enthusiasts, many with pieces with novel moves on larger boards, and in order to play them, you have to assemble a larger and more varied set of pieces than normal chess set. I have seven Chessbazaar sets I can use as a source of pieces to assemble sets for playing variants. They are all boxwood and ebonized boxwood so that all the colors match. The sets are: M0040 The Classic Series Cone Shaped Chess Pieces M0051 The Wooden Hour Glass Series Chess Pieces R0340 The Championship Series Staunton Chess Set R0342 The Australian War Memorial Reproduced Chess Set by ACF S1273 Minimalist Hermann Ohme Chess Set VJ082 Geometric Minimalist Pattern Seamless Design Chess Pieces R0397B 1940s Art Deco Series Weighted Chess Pieces To demonstrate how I would select the pieces to create a variant set, I’ll set up an array to play “Tamerlane Chess” as an example. Tamerlane Chess was played in the area that is now Iran and Central Asia and is called that because, according to legend, it was a favorite of Tamerlane (Timur), who carved out an empire in that area in the 14th Century. Tamerlane is played on a 10x11 square board. (An Internet search will easily find the complete rules if you interested.) Sadly, the paper-and-cardboard Tamerlane Chessboard I made for myself is not available, so I will lay out the pieces on my chess table with the same spacing and orientation as if they were on the 10x11 Tamerlane board. Also Read: Why Handmade Wooden Chess Sets are expensive? My typical process is to start with a Staunton set to represent the pieces in whatever variant I’m playing whose moves are identical to modern FIDE pieces. For this example, I am using R0340, The Championship Series Staunton Chess Set. Tamerlane Chess – Step 1 In the Tamerlane variant: there are three different pieces with diagonal moves reminiscent of the Bishop; Rooks and two pieces whose orthogonal moves resemble the Rook; Knights and two pieces whose moves resemble Knights. There are no Queens, and eleven Pawns are needed. The diagonal-moving pieces have moved of three different ranges, but none move exactly like a Bishop. I will select Bishops of three different designs that suggest, to me, their different ranges. Available Bishops I am choosing the R0342 (Australian War Memorial Reproduced Chess Set), S1273 (Minimalist Hermann Ohme Chess Set), and R0397B (1940s Art Deco Series) Bishops. Tamerlane Chess – Step 2 The orthogonal-moving pieces include a Rook and two pieces of shorter range. Tamerlane Chess – Step 3 The leaping pieces include a Knight and two leaping pieces of longer range. Available Knights I have selected the R0340 (The Championship Series Staunton Chess Set) Knight and the R0342 ( The Australian War Memorial Reproduced Chess Set ) and S1273 ( Hermann Ohme Chess ) Knights. Tamerlane Chess – Step 4 I need eleven Pawns, so I will have to use Pawns from two different sets. The Pawns need to be visually similar, since having two very different designs would be confusing. Available Pawns I will use the pawns (The Championship Series ), plus three similar pawns from the (Hermann Ohme Chess Set) set. As pawns are captured, I will use them to replace the Pawns on the board. Tamerlane Chess – Step 5 And now we have the Tamerlane Chess game set up and ready to play, and because we used sets with similar finishes, and gave some thought to how we selected the other pieces, we should be able to play with little risk of spoiling the game by misidentifying a piece. Tamerlane Chess – Ready to play! More to Read: Chess Board and Pieces Dimensions Also Read: 6 Tips to Choose the Best Chess Board for Your Need
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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 & Antique Boxwood. 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: Why Should You Take a Travel Chess Set While Traveling With Friends or Family? How to Measure a Perfect Chessboard for a Particular King Size? Types of Chess Games
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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. Related: Why do you play chess? By Conrad Conero Some of the Sheehsam products available at chessbazaar: a) New Columbian Staunton Series Chess Pieces in Sheesham & Box wood - 3.8" King with Chess Board 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 Laughing Knight Series Chess Pieces in Ebonized & Boxwood - 3.0" King b) Vintage 1930 German Knubbel Chess Pieces in Ebonized/Boxwood - 3" King with Board 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 5) 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 Budrosewood at chessbazaar: a) The Admiral Series II Staunton Chess Pieces in Bud Rosewood & Box Wood - 4.5" King b) Excalibur Luxury Artisan Series Chess Pieces in Bud Rosewood / Boxwood - 4.6" King with Hi Gloss Finish Borderless Chess Board 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. Related: What Are Triple Weighted/ Double/Non-Weighted Chess Pieces? 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) Standard Walnut Maple Wooden Chess Board Matte Finish 21" - 60 mm 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
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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: Types of Chess Games 10 Best Chess Quotes
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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. 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 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>> 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: Tips for Improving your Chess Training Session, By A. Claudio Marcolino Want to relax? Try Chess The Staunton Design – Its evolution and a bit of history
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