What is your favourite chess set and Why ?
As chess sets goes, my eyes where instantly attracted to the 72 Series, that is such a beautiful set and that would have being my pick, if didn't own it already! I really love that set... and finding another one that compete with it will be hard work, but I am sure I can find something on your website that is similarly great.
Then I find the Collectors Series Rosewood Chess Pieces... and I have to admit, as design comes, it does not get more classic than this, It is a design that is as good today as it was 100 years ago, you can't go wrong with a design like that... the word I am looking for is "timeless". And then of course there is the wood combinations of Rosewood and Boxwood... I don't own any rosewood set, yet i don't really own many sets, I think Rosewood is a really sexy looking wood, and on this design it looks it's best.
Pairing this set with a board is a bit tricky, for me, because as I say I never used this wood/color combinations before, I know for my black and white pieces I can't sue a black and white board, as the black pieces will basically disappear, so even though I like black and white boards, and every time someone thinks of a chess board think with with black squares, in reality we can't have it, because the contrast problem... so here I am totally tempted to go for a black and white board, Just because we can!
So I open the boards page and what is the first think I see? a Bobby Fischer Chess board that perfectly match my 72 set that I already own... this is not going to be easy... Guys understand that when I got my set this boards where not available... So as boards comes now I am not sure if I should keep going for a board with Black squares... or just pick the 72 one for the set I have here that I love so much... by the way I use a Drueke boar for 72 set right now.
So lest see the black boards to see if there is the one with black squares I think would look great with Rosewood pieces on it...
And there it is the Large Italian Prestige Anegre Chess Board, I usually don't like inlay boards much, but this one have, in my opinion, the perfect design for the Collectors Series Rosewood set... What I like is that it is a clean and simple design the board does not become a distraction it just want to do it's job, and be the perfect setting for a great set, and for me those are the best kind of boards. Even If I don't win this, I still would like to see a picture of this set and board together... I think the sizes match and I think the colours match too.
Now talking about Boxes.. this is something I don't know the first thing... The sets I get from Official Staunton come in a nice packing and I storage them on the same shipping package... sets I have got on other stores and on eBay, I storage them on Tupperware boxes... So for me a box should be something that keep the set together in my bookcase... and this being a big set... it needs a big box.. lest me see what is on the website...
My first option here is the Beechwood chess box, basically because I like that natural wood colour, my bookcase is the same natural hue... Just imagine you bring over this humble simple looking box and then pull out of it the Rosewood set, that would be a show... my problem now is that I don't know if the set actually can fit inside this box... we are talking about a big set here... and the information on the box says this will fit a set 95mm but the information on the set says it is 4.4 inches... Carl are you going to make me find a calculator here?
OK, calculator says that 95 mm is 3.7 inches. which basically is the size of most of my collection... I don't even know why I am going for such big set... oh yeah.. because it looks great!
Next box on natural hue is the Luxury hand Made Mahogany Chess Box, Now this box looks fancy, if a thief brakes into my house and see that box he will think I have some valuable jewellery inside... and he will be right about it, A jewellery box for a beautiful set... I also appreciate that this box have measurements on inches, I like standards on the same website.
Now I see the the Makassar and the Walnut boxes... this is not going to be easy... So in order to figure this out i did some rough photoshop job really quick to see how the set looks with the boxes... Pieces are not scales and so on... it is just to see the colours:
This is the Mahogany:
This is the Makassar:
And this is the Walnut:
I think color matching... the Makassar and the Walnut are a really close tie... but in this case I think for me the winner is the Luxury Walnut Chess Box.
