Okay, to those of you who have no clue what I said about the foldable board that came with the chess pieces themselves, I said "oh yay the board has coordinates", which very few boards actually do, so that deserves props, but it's still a foldable board and very few players are willing to play on a foldable board, if any.
Okay. So how did it go in the chess tourney? Welp, I somehow did NOT get caught! O_O Matter of fact, half the people that brought their own chess sets brought travel sets that are so small that they look real funny on the table. o_O Dang, how did so many people get away with using foldable boards? It's beyond me. Other than the chess club's own personnel, I somehow managed to bring the largest set out of all these people! @.@
I'm probably going to do another review in the near future, this time I bought the Russian Poni chess set from Royal Chess Mall. There are plenty of reasons why I genuinely hate the typical Staunton design, it's way too limiting in design constraints and I wanted something fresh; so I bought a chess set that breaks the old trends as to the way they typically make the pieces. Ironic that I complained about the pieces being too short and then I moved on to an even shorter set, but this time the pieces are wood and I've already seen the design and I love how fresh everything looks and they're a genuinely a sight for sore eyes so I still have high hopes for this next set of pieces that are going to be at my door, I'll be sure to ping you when I do the review! Also, for boards, I strongly vouch for the vinyl boards at Wholesale Chess and House of Staunton, I know they're actually quite pricey for one board but the quality you get from it is just, you probably just want to buy 'em in bulk if you really wanna save dough.
This is called unpaid review thank you I was thinking to buy this,I have my change my mind after this. After some I bought this one that I will recommend check that one A&A chess which is amazing.
Although the plastic set is very subpar for what they are, what I WILL vouch for is their wooden sets, but you're going to want to make sure you have the full size set and not the Home or Studio set. Preferably the DGT edition. That's what I'm likely to buy next. Although I'm not a fan of how light the next set of pieces are, I can also vouch for the HexChess 2 set that Matt Carle on Etsy is making. 3D Printed chess sets that he makes on order and size-wise they're much better. You're going to want to weight them yourself though, but once you do so, well worth the buy. Regency Chess Canada has a Modern set that people can also buy that I've been eyeing on too. They're a breath of fresh air from the usual Staunton sets that don't even look like the symbols they're representing and they're right there at FIDE spec. Although they're not actually the "best chess set ever" like the name suggests, the "Best Chess Set Ever 4X" also deserves special note. A little bit closer to the typical Staunton design but people knocking over pieces shouldn't be a problem anymore with those. Again though, the plastic set was a huge let-down, but you DEFINITELY should look into the official wooden full-size wooden sets, definitely a far better set to play for someone with big hands like mine. If you want to be a serious chess player, the DGT version is a must.
Overall, I think you overreacted in this video. I looked into the expensive wood pieces set and saw the plastic ones. With the wooden, first of all it was too dang expensive, and just looking at the shop pictures, the quality looks disappointing, like the dents in the kings crown. There is a video, why those pieces are so expensive, just look at the production, it's no wonder. So I thought those plastic pieces would be an alternative, I looked at reviews. The one thing I really don't like is the smaller size and the lack of weight, as if it would cost much more. But I wouldn't say those pieces are fragile. The geometry is simplistic more so than the wooden ones, the material is ABS, which is high quality plastic like the Lego stones. I considered to test them and if they are too light weight, I could add some more and put a better felt on the bottom. Actually, the main reason why I bought them is the design. XD
Some of my frustrations still stand, especially the smaller size. When the board is smaller you can use that to combat tunnel vision but it only exacerbates tunnel vision when the pieces are smaller. I also still don't like how the board is a foldable and not a rollable and even if I were to get a foldable board I would much rather have something much more substantial than this. I've seen a bunch of smaller wooden chess sets and while I don't think they're a bad idea, the lack of extra queens alone is enough to make them dealbreakers. One day I hope to own the full size set, only because they're the only set I've seen where the shapes of the pieces were self-explanatory (like how the crownpiece of the king is actually round just like in the symbols for once) but gawd, the least they could have done with the plastic set is make them the same size as the official set, not the smaller studio set. While I'm mostly venting over a few details, they are big enough to cost people their games. I would much rather have an oversized set than an undersized one.
Speaking of oversized sets, I finally got a 3D printed set from Matt Carle over at Etsy. They're not weighted yet, but that's not a problem because I know I'm getting the pieces assembled next month with DGT's official regulation sensors. Should be fun! Best part? They're right in line with FIDE's own championship sets, which are also oversized according to FIDE's own specs.
Okay, to those of you who have no clue what I said about the foldable board that came with the chess pieces themselves, I said "oh yay the board has coordinates", which very few boards actually do, so that deserves props, but it's still a foldable board and very few players are willing to play on a foldable board, if any.
Okay. So how did it go in the chess tourney? Welp, I somehow did NOT get caught! O_O Matter of fact, half the people that brought their own chess sets brought travel sets that are so small that they look real funny on the table. o_O Dang, how did so many people get away with using foldable boards? It's beyond me. Other than the chess club's own personnel, I somehow managed to bring the largest set out of all these people! @.@
Now I feel bad that I bought it, now it's underway.
I'm probably going to do another review in the near future, this time I bought the Russian Poni chess set from Royal Chess Mall. There are plenty of reasons why I genuinely hate the typical Staunton design, it's way too limiting in design constraints and I wanted something fresh; so I bought a chess set that breaks the old trends as to the way they typically make the pieces. Ironic that I complained about the pieces being too short and then I moved on to an even shorter set, but this time the pieces are wood and I've already seen the design and I love how fresh everything looks and they're a genuinely a sight for sore eyes so I still have high hopes for this next set of pieces that are going to be at my door, I'll be sure to ping you when I do the review!
Also, for boards, I strongly vouch for the vinyl boards at Wholesale Chess and House of Staunton, I know they're actually quite pricey for one board but the quality you get from it is just, you probably just want to buy 'em in bulk if you really wanna save dough.
This is called unpaid review thank you I was thinking to buy this,I have my change my mind after this. After some I bought this one that I will recommend check that one A&A chess which is amazing.
Although the plastic set is very subpar for what they are, what I WILL vouch for is their wooden sets, but you're going to want to make sure you have the full size set and not the Home or Studio set. Preferably the DGT edition. That's what I'm likely to buy next.
Although I'm not a fan of how light the next set of pieces are, I can also vouch for the HexChess 2 set that Matt Carle on Etsy is making. 3D Printed chess sets that he makes on order and size-wise they're much better. You're going to want to weight them yourself though, but once you do so, well worth the buy.
Regency Chess Canada has a Modern set that people can also buy that I've been eyeing on too. They're a breath of fresh air from the usual Staunton sets that don't even look like the symbols they're representing and they're right there at FIDE spec.
Although they're not actually the "best chess set ever" like the name suggests, the "Best Chess Set Ever 4X" also deserves special note. A little bit closer to the typical Staunton design but people knocking over pieces shouldn't be a problem anymore with those.
Again though, the plastic set was a huge let-down, but you DEFINITELY should look into the official wooden full-size wooden sets, definitely a far better set to play for someone with big hands like mine. If you want to be a serious chess player, the DGT version is a must.
Overall, I think you overreacted in this video. I looked into the expensive wood pieces set and saw the plastic ones. With the wooden, first of all it was too dang expensive, and just looking at the shop pictures, the quality looks disappointing, like the dents in the kings crown. There is a video, why those pieces are so expensive, just look at the production, it's no wonder. So I thought those plastic pieces would be an alternative, I looked at reviews. The one thing I really don't like is the smaller size and the lack of weight, as if it would cost much more. But I wouldn't say those pieces are fragile. The geometry is simplistic more so than the wooden ones, the material is ABS, which is high quality plastic like the Lego stones. I considered to test them and if they are too light weight, I could add some more and put a better felt on the bottom. Actually, the main reason why I bought them is the design. XD
Some of my frustrations still stand, especially the smaller size. When the board is smaller you can use that to combat tunnel vision but it only exacerbates tunnel vision when the pieces are smaller. I also still don't like how the board is a foldable and not a rollable and even if I were to get a foldable board I would much rather have something much more substantial than this.
I've seen a bunch of smaller wooden chess sets and while I don't think they're a bad idea, the lack of extra queens alone is enough to make them dealbreakers.
One day I hope to own the full size set, only because they're the only set I've seen where the shapes of the pieces were self-explanatory (like how the crownpiece of the king is actually round just like in the symbols for once) but gawd, the least they could have done with the plastic set is make them the same size as the official set, not the smaller studio set.
While I'm mostly venting over a few details, they are big enough to cost people their games. I would much rather have an oversized set than an undersized one.
Speaking of oversized sets, I finally got a 3D printed set from Matt Carle over at Etsy. They're not weighted yet, but that's not a problem because I know I'm getting the pieces assembled next month with DGT's official regulation sensors. Should be fun! Best part? They're right in line with FIDE's own championship sets, which are also oversized according to FIDE's own specs.