wooden chess boards, which one is a better idea...

I recently bought a leather board for carrying to tournaments with my wooden set. I use the wood board at home, where I have played a few "make-up" club tournament games.

I realized at a tournament a few weeks ago that the cost of my set, board, clock, and carrying bag totaled ~ $400.

Originally posted by Wulebgr
I recently bought a leather board for carrying to tournaments with my wooden set. I use the wood board at home, where I have played a few "make-up" club tournament games.

I realized at a tournament a few weeks ago that the cost of my set, board, clock, and carrying bag totaled ~ $400.

Times sure have changed. My old tournament accoutrements cost me less than $40 (No bag. As you know back in the old days we just toted everything under our arm.)

Originally posted by masscat
Times sure have changed. My old tournament accoutrements cost me less than $40 (No bag. As you know back in the old days we just toted everything under our arm.)

You can still get a Plastic set, vinyl board, clock, and bag for under $70 if you are frugal enough. My roll up set was about $12.00 for the board and pieces (many years ago) and another $50 for the bag and clock. Wulebgr has more invested in his travel set than I have in my "at home" set (which is very nice in my opinion).

Originally posted by BLReid
You can still get a Plastic set, vinyl board, clock, and bag for under $70 if you are frugal enough. My roll up set was about $12.00 for the board and pieces (many years ago) and another $50 for the bag and clock. Wulebgr has more invested in his travel set than I have in my "at home" set (which is very nice in my opinion).

My at home & travel set are one and the same. I did buy one of those inlaid chess tables years ago for $180…they cost about $600 today. The problem is it’s setting in the same room that my wife uses for a sewing/junk room so it now functions as plain old table and not the noble use it once served when I played my correspondence games on it.

Originally posted by masscat
My at home & travel set are one and the same. I did buy one of those inlaid chess tables years ago for $180…they cost about $600 today. The problem is it’s setting in the same room that my wife uses for a sewing/junk room so it now functions as plain old table and not the noble use it once served when I played my correspondence games on it.

I know the feeling. Lucky for me I thought ahead enough to keep the box that my Dreuke Board came in...It keeps the dust off of it while it waits patiently under the couch for usnsuspecting victims to wander by... (My wife didn't think that the nice wooden set she bought me for Christmas a few years back was nearly as good a table decoration as I did 😳 )

Originally posted by masscat
Times sure have changed. My old tournament accoutrements cost me less than $40 (No bag. As you know back in the old days we just toted everything under our arm.)

I have another set (board, bag, and pieces) that cost me ~$15, add a $25 and we're at $40. Prices have come down since I bought my first tournament set. All that has changed is my preference for playing on a finer set.

The story goes that Capablanca didn't even keep a chess set in his home (from the foreword of his Last Lectures book), and the first time I saw a couple of GMs play at a tournament, they were using a cheap rollup board and cheap USCF plastic set. (Who knows, maybe they borrowed the set at the tournament location.)

I sometimes wonder whether there's a tendency to care less about the physical attributes of chess equipment as one's chess skill increases. I hope that's not true, but I can't really remember hearing any GM talk about fine chess sets, etc. Of course, I'm sure I'll never get the chance to prove or disprove this idea through direct experience. 🙂

Originally posted by Wulebgr
I have another set (board, bag, and pieces) that cost me ~$15, add a $25 and we're at $40. Prices have come down since I bought my first tournament set. All that has changed is my preference for playing on a finer set.

During one of the last tmts I played in I used my early 60’s Windsor Castle set and when I got home 4 or 5 White pieces were missing but it was so old I wasn’t too upset. A while back I saw one go for over $100 on e-Bay.🙁

i like wooden magnetic. you can use it anywhere.

For tournaments....a roll up vinyl board with plastic WEIGHTED pieces, that's a universal standard in all tournaments. I used to take a nice wooden board/pieces to tournaments, a lot of people asked not to use it and I looked like a shnook for bringing it.

Originally posted by Sam The Sham
For tournaments....a roll up vinyl board with plastic WEIGHTED pieces, that's a universal standard in all tournaments. I used to take a nice wooden board/pieces to tournaments, a lot of people asked not to use it and I looked like a shnook for bringing it.

That's strange - Why did they not want to play on a nice wooden board? While I don't go to the trouble to carry a wooden board to tournaments, I never turn down an opportunity to play on a wooden board. And, at least in my club, people who bring wooden boards to tournaments are probably given a tad more respect because of it. 🙂

Edit - The only logical reason I can think of for their reluctance would be because the wooden boards lack notation. When I first started playing tournaments, I also faced this problem when playing on wooden boards, but I used those occasions as motivation to get good enough to not depend on the board notation.

Originally posted by Mad Rook
That's strange - Why did they not want to play on a nice wooden board? While I don't go to the trouble to carry a wooden board to tournaments, I never turn down an opportunity to play on a wooden board. And, at least in my club, people who bring wooden boards to tournaments are probably given a tad more respect because of it. 🙂

Edit - The only logical r ...[text shortened]... t I used those occasions as motivation to get good enough to not depend on the board notation.

Yes, no notation is a good reason, also, my wooden board was not the same size as the roll up vinyl boards. Standardization in tourny play is a good thing.
Plus I looked like a rube. EVERYBODY has a nice roll-up set, they are de riguer, have anything else and you're a n00b.

Originally posted by Sam The Sham
Yes, no notation is a good reason, also, my wooden board was not the same size as the roll up vinyl boards. Standardization in tourny play is a good thing.
Plus I looked like a shnook for bringing it. EVERYBODY has a nice roll-up set, they are de riguer, have anything else and you're a n00b.

Well, yes, if your board wasn't regulation size, that would be a problem. Here in the U.S., the squares have to be between 2 inches and 2.5 inches on a side, I think. All the wooden boards brought to the tournaments I've attended have been regulation size.

And as I said before, nobody in our club or the tournaments I've been to would consider someone a noob for bringing a regulation wooden board. At least in my circles, a rollup board, while definitely convenient, is considered a Chevy, while a regulation wooden board is considered a Cadillac.

Originally posted by Mad Rook
Well, yes, if your board wasn't regulation size, that would be a problem. Here in the U.S., the squares have to be between 2 inches and 2.5 inches on a side, I think. All the wooden boards brought to the tournaments I've attended have been regulation size.

And as I said before, nobody in our club or the tournaments I've been to would consider someone a n ...[text shortened]... convenient, is considered a Chevy, while a regulation wooden board is considered a Cadillac.

Go to a big tournament with 100 + players, your cadillac will look like a Yugo.Bring a standard sized roll up board and pieces.

Originally posted by Sam The Sham
Go to a big tournament with 100 + players, your cadillac will look like a Yugo.Bring a standard sized roll up board and pieces.

HaHa, I saw a Yugo on the highway once with about 5 BIG people in it. It looked like a can of sardines on wheels.

Well, I guess we'll just have to agree to disagree. But it was a good discussion, I thought.