How long have you owned your set?

Yes - this is in the trivia category but might be fun to know about.

My chess set just celebrated its 40th anniversary. I was 25, the company I worked for just went bankrupt. Little money, no job, and no prospects. A gloomy situation. After securing a minimum wage job that I hated, I spent $27.50 (a lot back in 1983) on a beautiful wooden set with traditional boxwood and ebony pieces, 3 1/2 (8.9 cm) kings and started playing ICCF chess. It looked like a silly and wasteful idea at the time, but made a positive impact when I needed it most. It's not quite big enough for OTB tournament play, but perfect for study and correspondence chess. 40 years later and it still brings me joy whenever I solve a difficult tactics exercise or get a resignation notice. OK - enough about me.

How long have you owned your set?

@mchill said
Yes - this is in the trivia category but might be fun to know about.

My chess set just celebrated its 40th anniversary. I was 25, the company I worked for just went bankrupt. Little money, no job, and no prospects. A gloomy situation. After securing a minimum wage job that I hated, I spent $27.50 (a lot back in 1983) on a beautiful wooden set with traditional boxwood and e ...[text shortened]... ics exercise or get a resignation notice. OK - enough about me.

How long have you owned your set?

After expressing an interest in chess I was given a wooden set and a solid wooden chip
board (green and white squares) for Christmas 1962. I still have them and occasionally
use the set and board when going over games. They went with me all over Europe
in my 9 years in the army and even on my honeymoon in 1977!
I have re-felted the set about 5 times. The board has worn well (the f7 square has
become a bit faded with all the sacs taking place on there. 🙂 )

At one time I had over 32 chess sets, all roughly Staunton design in wood and plastic.
I have since given a load away, I left a set behind the bar in all the pubs I often frequented.
Now down to 10-12 chess sets and various boards. But I'll always keep my 1962 set.

The oldest one I own Ihave since 1982. It is a Staunton plastic set I got around my 14th birthday.

The oldest one I have is the one in the picture, it was bought in India in 2010 for 250 ruppes. I was later told that I should have paid around 100, the truth is I would have paid 500 and been happy.

Edit: it has since traveled to The UK, Ireland, Peru, Colombia, Thailand, Cambodia, the Philippines, Malaysia and Singapore. Not bad for a little chess set.

I have a wooden set my grandfather hand made after the Second World War, the rooks are different sizes, the knights ears don’t match, the bishops are different widths, none of the pawns match, one king is taller than the other. I don't laugh because the set has been used for billions of games over the years. It’s the set I was taught with.

I play with a set on indefinite loan to me from someone whose grandfather played with it. In the bottom of the box are score sheets of two simultaneous-exhibition games played with those very pieces: one against Harry Golembek (1950), the other against C.H. O'D Alexander (1953).

My dad bought me a set in 1968, wooden 3” king. The original pieces and box is still with me, though the box got defaced with the name or every Chelsea player who helped us win the FA cup against Leeds in 1970.