A new tournament set can wait until you’ve read the entry instructions. Seriously. You could spend a week comparing boards, order a lovely wooden one, and then discover that the organiser supplies every board in the room. In that case you’re buying a practice set, with rather different demands on it.
I’d write three things at the top of the shopping list: where the set will be used, how it will get there, and where it will go afterwards. “On the kitchen table, by bus on Tuesdays, in the hall cupboard” is a perfectly good brief. It rules out quite a few unsuitable purchases before you’ve even opened a shop page. If you can borrow the club’s usual equipment for one evening, so much the better. Take the measurements of the bits you like. The name of the set is less useful at this stage than the width of a square and the size of the bag.
Measure the squares before the table
Suppose two listings both say “50 cm board”. That isn’t enough information. One might have a generous border; another might use nearly all that width for the playing surface. Eight 5 cm squares make a 40 cm playing area. Whatever remains is border, and you still have to find room beside it for a clock.
FIDE’s equipment specifications put the square width at 5–6 centimetres for the relevant non-electronic tournament equipment. They also say that four pawns must fit comfortably on a square. I’d keep those two checks handy, while treating the event organiser’s instructions as a separate matter. A shop calling something a tournament set doesn’t tell you whether it’s the equipment your event requires.
Pick up a knight
The king gets most of the attention in product descriptions. Fair enough; its dimensions are a useful reference. But if there’s a sample set in front of you, pick up the other pieces as well. Can you get a knight out from behind the pawns without brushing two of them? Does the rook come away cleanly when you lift it? Try a capture. Then try it with your other hand.
I’d also turn a few pieces upside down. You can see loose felt or a lopsided base without knowing anything about chess design. A wobbly queen would bother me more than a missing decorative flourish. Check for spare queens while you’re there. Once a pawn promotes, an extra queen is a small convenience you’ll be glad somebody thought to include.
How far does the set have to travel?
For a set that goes to the club every week, I’d start with plastic pieces and look at the bag almost immediately. Can it hold the board, clock and pieces without the zip straining? Does it leave one hand free? These sound like questions about luggage because, for part of the evening, that’s exactly what the equipment is.
Wood has an easier life when the board stays at home. There’s no bus journey and no hurried packing at closing time. A folding wooden board might still make sense for travel, of course. I’d want to see it open on a flat table first. A pronounced ridge at the join, or a board that rocks when you touch a corner, isn’t something I’d hope to fix after buying it.
What to check in a listing
Here is the note I’d keep beside the browser. It takes a minute to fill in, and saves trying to remember whether the cheaper listing included the board or just showed one in the photographs.
- Board: square width, outside dimensions and construction.
- Pieces: king height, base diameter and material.
- Contents: complete set, extra queens and any included board.
- Storage: bag or box dimensions and protection for the pieces.
- Transport: packed size and the weight you will actually carry.
- Replacements: whether matching pieces can be bought later.
You can use that note while browsing the chess sets collection at World Chess Shop. Open a couple of candidates, record the measurements, and close anything that plainly won’t fit. If you love the championship silhouette, keep it on the shortlist. I’d just check that the board and packing suit your Tuesday evening before getting too attached to the photograph.
Missing measurement? Ask. “Full size” is a description, not a number. I’d especially want an answer before buying pieces and a board separately, since returning one half of an unsuitable combination could be a nuisance. Save the reply with the order confirmation so that you have the specification you actually relied on.
Leave space around the board
Cutting out a paper square may feel a bit excessive for a chess purchase. Try it anyway if the table is small. Put your clock beside it and sit opposite someone. Where does the scoresheet go? What happens to captured pieces? A board can fit the tabletop perfectly and still leave the players nowhere comfortable to put their elbows.
Now switch on the lamp. Sit where you’ll be playing, rather than looking down from above. If you get a bright reflection across the centre of the board, a different finish may help; moving the lamp may be enough. Buying online, I’d ask for a picture taken at an angle. The attractive overhead shot doesn’t answer this particular question.
The first evening with a new set
Don’t leave the box sealed until ten minutes before you need to catch the bus. Unpack it, count everything and keep the packaging nearby while you check the return conditions. Set up all the pieces. A defect is much easier to explain to the seller when you can photograph it clearly, before the equipment has been carried around for a month.
After that, give it an ordinary game. No special test routine needed. You’ll find out whether the far rank is awkward to reach and whether the board creeps across the table. Then pack it away. If the whole exercise has been pleasantly uneventful, you’ve probably bought what you needed. The next item on the list can be preparing an opening.
photo by depositphotos
