Chess Sets Guide V4.Docx
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
1 Chess House 2007-2015 Hello :-) ................................................................................................................................................................ 3 Artists .................................................................................................................................................................... 4 Choosing a chess set ........................................................................................................................................ 5 Standards ........................................................................................................................................................ 5 A first chess set ............................................................................................................................................... 6 Size and style .................................................................................................................................................. 7 Travel .............................................................................................................................................................. 10 For blind or visually impaired ..................................................................................................................... 11 Giant Outdoor Yard Chess ........................................................................................................................ 11 Electronic Chess Sets .................................................................................................................................. 13 Unique Chess Sets ........................................................................................................................................ 14 Wooden Chess Sets..................................................................................................................................... 15 Starter sets ................................................................................................................................................. 15 Unique and decorative .......................................................................................................................... 16 Heirloom Collection ................................................................................................................................. 16 Luxury Sets ................................................................................................................................................. 17 How are wood chess sets made? ........................................................................................................ 18 Pairing Chess Pieces and Boards ............................................................................................................. 19 What makes a good fit?......................................................................................................................... 20 Wood chess pieces ................................................................................................................................. 22 Wood Chess Boards ................................................................................................................................ 23 Coordinates .............................................................................................................................................. 25 Ideas for Parents .............................................................................................................................................. 26 School and learning .................................................................................................................................... 26 Kid's chess set ............................................................................................................................................... 26 Ideas for Players ............................................................................................................................................... 27 Tournament chess sets ............................................................................................................................... 27 Upgrading your set ...................................................................................................................................... 27 Ideas for Home ................................................................................................................................................ 30 Theme chess sets ......................................................................................................................................... 32 Answers to common questions ..................................................................................................................... 34 Your turn! ........................................................................................................................................................... 37 2 Chess House 2007-2015 HELLO :-) This guide helps you explore, become reacquainted, and find answers to key questions on chess sets for the home, class, club, business, or nearly any purpose. It's packed with tips to help you understand and clarify your interest in chess sets and offer you advice and assistance along the way. You’ll discover new ideas and concepts, become familiar with key standards and be informed, saving you time and money. In making a concerted effort to rid the marketplace of shabby products, we deepen relationships with artists and manufacturers who take pride in their finished goods. Of course we also offer the inexpensive boards and pieces that are sourced with care. I’m quite confident ChessHouse will be your favorite online store and most valued resource while you find the perfect chess set for your home or wherever you will enjoy the game. If I haven’t answered your questions in a great way as you go through the guide, please do write me at [email protected] And thanks to Josh who has shot many of the photos in this guide! Raphael Neff, co-founder 3 Chess House 2007-2015 ARTISTS Artists such as Carolyn Cavanaugh have created a wonderful product and have been able to reach a wider audience through Chess House. Carolyn’s dream of turning her art into a chess set became a reality with the distinctive, original House of Hauteville chessmen. These chessmen are then paired with the signature chessboard crafted and finished entirely in Pennsylvania by another wonderful artist who makes a living and supports his family with fine wood products. We have an Artists page where you can view the various works featured. 4 Chess House 2007-2015 CHOOSING A CHESS SET STANDARDS Chess is an art and you have the freedom to be creative. However, knowing widely accepted standards can help when playing chess with others. Over the years, these have been developed and published by the US Chess Federation and the worldwide governing body known as FIDE. A “Regulation” size chess set is suitable for many uses - tournaments, clubs, scholastic chess, home-study, and personal use. It is recognized anywhere and saves you from the embarrassing situation of bringing Kmart pieces or a Civil War set to do battle at your first chess club visit. This “club” chess set has a King 3 ¾” tall, a chessboard with a square size of 2 ¼”, and is usually 20” square overall. Most often the pieces will be plastic, with or without extra weight, and the chess board green and white. Although you can choose from an array of board colors, green is relaxing to the mind, enables better concentration, and is most widely used. The club chess set is perfect for families, casual, or series tournament players. This all-purpose set is used in chess instruction, scholastic, club, and high level tournaments including official US Chess Federation rated events. 5 Chess House 2007-2015 Wood sets of similar “Staunton” design also meet regulation standards, but are not as common at events, except of course at the higher levels. Many players like to bring a wooden set to their chess club, provided it is of a standard size and design. The Timeless design has been played on the international scene for decades. Nearly 4” tall, it’s a robust design ideal for chess players seeking a wooden chess set for casual and club chess games. A FIRST CHESS SET While you may own chess sets for a variety of purposes, multi-purpose club chess sets are the primary go-to sets for every day play. These inexpensive, rugged sets are better than most cheap, hollow plastic sets that a local store might offer. You can sometimes find them at board game shops in a mall, however the easiest is online. There are many reasons the club style chess set is the ideal first set for all ages, in particular young players. They fit the hand well with some weight and plenty of arm movement providing the tactile feedback the brain needs to reinforce learning. The basic club chess set is also designed to store easily with a special vinyl rollup board. This saves time and space, and becomes very portable with a specially made chess bag. The great news is that if you ever lose a piece you can easily obtain replacements from Chess House – not really feasible when you buy at Amazon or a store not specializing in chess. Most importantly if you ever plan to take this chess board to a club or event, or just play with someone who is familiar with chess, you’ll be using the standard setup already. I recommend the US printed vinyl board