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Best Tournament Chess Set

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Before getting into which chess set you choose, let’s clarify the actual need for Tournament Chess Sets.

“The need for a chess set that is easy to use and universally recognizable by every chess player motivated a sports and games manufacturer from London to develop a standardized chess set – commonly known now as Tournament Chess Sets.”

Important Thing: There are hundreds’ of designs and sizes for a chess set, not every set is ideal for tournament play. According to FIDE, the organization which conducts chess tournaments, have set the standard for the chess pieces and chessboards. The material of the chess set should be of plastic or wooden with the pieces should be proportionate to their height and form.

Related: Plastic Chess Pieces

The recommended height of a chess king is 9.5 cm, Queen 8.5 cm, Bishop 7cm, Knight 6 cm, Rook 5.5cm, and Pawn 5 cm. The diameter of the pieces should be 40-50% of the height. FIDE recommend Staunton style pieces for the competitions. The color of the pieces should be black or brown or of other darker shades like Sheesham. The light color of the set should be of the natural color like boxwood, maple, etc. FIDE recommend buff polish instead of glossy finish.

For the chessboards, only wooden boards are used for world level or continental top-level competitions. For other FIDE registered tournaments, boards made of wood or mouse-pad are recommended. In all cases, the boards should be rigid. The size of the square should measure 5 cm to 6 cm. The board squares must be according to the diameter of the pieces and four pieces can able to adjust in a single square.

Related: The Top 5 Iconic Chess Sets every Chess Collector Must Possess

For the chess clocks, FIDE recommends only electronic clocks for world level and continental competitions. Mechanical clocks may be used for other FIDE registered chess tournaments.

Chessbazaar offers some of the best tournament chess sets, which not only helps you in practicing in a real-time environment but also is light on your pocket. The following are our recommendations

1. German Knight Chess Pieces with Walnut maple chessboard

These are the actual tournament pieces, which are FIDE approved and mostly are used in world level chess competitions. The Spanish veneer wooden board may not be the DGT one as used in actual tournaments, has the same feel and finish and has coordinates along its borders, which help most of the novice players in recording their moves. The set comes with standard 2 extra queens for effortless pawn promotion. The king height is tournament standard 3.75” and the base is 1.4”. The square of the board is 50mm or 2.0”.

2. Modern Staunton Chess Pieces with Walnut maple chessboard

If you’re interested in playing with actual wooden Staunton style chess pieces, this is the combo for you. The chess pieces are made up of genuine boxwood and ebony wood. The knight is the main attraction of this set and with 1500 gms of total weight, this is the best chessmen to play with. The king height is 3.97” and the base is 1.69”. The board is the same Spanish walnut veneer wooden board with a square size of 2.12” or 54mm. The total weight of this combo is around 2300 gms.

3. 1950 Reproduced Dubrovnik Bobby Fischer Chessmen Version 3.0

If you’re a Bobby Fisher fan, then this chess pieces might ignite the interest in you. Reproduced Dubrovnik weighted chess pieces with a 3.7″ King and base diameter of 1.5″. This set is Double Weighted and the chess pieces have thick green felt on their bases. The dark chess pieces are made in Stained Crimson Boxwood and the lighter chess pieces are made in Boxwood.

Reproduced Dubrovnik weighted chess pieces

We have received great reviews from our happy customer for the 1950 Reproduced Dubrovnik Bobby Fischer Chessmen Version 3.0. See the attached image below:

Bobby Fischer Chessman

4. The Sinquefield Cup 2017 Reproduced Original Chess Pieces

The reproduced Sinquefield Cup 2017 chess set, popularly known as The Craftsman Staunton series is weighted chess pieces with a 3.75″ King and base diameter of 1.7″. Dark chess pieces are exquisitely crafted in bud rosewood aka Padauk wood. Because of its rarity, bud rosewood chess pieces are the primary choice of many chess enthusiasts. Bud rosewood is an alluring wood and probably the most admired wood for most high-end chess sets..

Sinquefield Cup 2017

We have received great reviews from our happy customer for the The Sinquefield Cup 2017 Reproduced Original Chess Pieces In Bud Rosewood & Boxwood. See the attached image below:

SINQUEFIELD CUP 2017

5. Repro 90’s French Chavet Chess Pieces with Sheesham Wooden Board

The most popular and FIDE approved design used in 90’s, the Chavet chessmen in Sheesham and boxwood. These chessmen are designed and developed in France by famous French maker Chavet. The set was used during the iconic World Chess Championship in 1990(Lyon). The height of the chess king is 3.66” and the base is 1.57”. The board is a solid wood board made of Sheesham and maple. The square size of this board is 2.2” or 55mm. The total weight of these chessmen is 5600 gms.

Chavet chessmen in Sheesham and boxwood

Since there are many other chess combos that are perfect for tournament plays, you might want to look at our tournament chess set category. Making these combos are our ongoing effort and you might see many other great combinations coming up in due time. Not to mention, for the students, we are coming up with more affordable combos. We recommend you to kindly subscribe to our newsletter for upcoming deals and new launches.

Related: 5 Reasons Why Collecting Chess Sets is a Good Idea?

According to Gallup Global Emotions Report people around the world are becoming angrier, anxious and stressed. According to the report, some 150,000 people were interviewed in 140 countries, one-third said they feel stressed, one-fifth said they experienced anger and sadness.

Since many people are getting more stressed due to busy schedule or home/office chores, we recommend deviating your mind from the problem you are facing for a little while and get yourself busy in any activity which relieves stress.

Recreational activities such as trekking, indoor/ outdoor games help relieve stress. For a problem to be solved a mind should be relaxed, focused & creative.

Knight - Luxurious Chess Pieces
Beautiful Pieces of Chess surely create a beautiful view

Stress doesn’t solve the problem but adds to the problem. The vision becomes blurry and the thinking starts to be negative. This might be due to excessive use of Audio/Video devices such as mobiles, TV or Play stations.

Guess what! We have a game that is scientifically proven to be helpful in developing analytical skills and developing the brain to be more focused, creative and also help you in reducing anxiety levels.

The game is Chess, which is known for the many beneficial effects it has on a human brain. Chess is actually considered a total brain workout. May it be reading, listening or concentration skills, chess definitely improves them when one plays it regularly.

Chess has many positive effects when played regularly. Some of them are mentioned below:

  • Anxiety management.
  • Chess improves decision-making skills.
  • Chess improves memory.
  • Chess enhances IQ.
  • Chess helps you socialize and make new friends.

We at chessbazaar offer wooden handcrafted chess sets suiting to amateurs and professionals. From plastic chess sets and tournament chess pieces, people who are new to this game or people who are just trying this game for leisure purposes or some serious club chess players. We also offer some amazing chess boards to choose from. We have luxury chess sets and antique chess sets for chess collectors and enthusiasts.

Collection of handcrafted chess pieces
Our in-Trending Products

We are in love with chess and after reading this blog we are waiting for you to join us :).

Related: Chess Tournament Rules & Regulations – Fide Approved

Not just chess but other strategy wooden games such as Backgammon and Checkers are also in the same league, though not as popular as chess, but is as addictive as chess.

Another scientific fact is that there is no radiation emission from pieces of wood (chess pieces & chess boards) unlike modern devices such as mobiles, Tabs, Laptops which only increase the stress and put a strain on your eyes.

Many students & teachers use chess as an extra-curricular activity for the development of the brain.

Benefits of Playing Chess to Kids/Students

If young kids are introduced to chess in early age they can be future leaders one day as persistence, faith, patience, foresight, analyzing and decision-making skills can easily be grasped by them which they will experience in the game-play and will definitely help them have a clear focused mind to choose what they want to be in life.

Benefits of Playing Chess to Senior citizens

A Story: An old man decides to learn chess at the age of 76 after his wife’s death. He was very lonely and depressed and was having no purpose in life. So, after he learned chess he became an active member of the local chess club. He felt the change, he became positive by looking at this new phase of life with just adapting to an activity, in this case, its chess. He became friends with many through chess and is no longer feeling low. So, it is obvious that playing chess is a great activity for retired people.

Chess is an exciting, challenging, and thrilling game for people of all ages to play with one another.

New scientific research came out which shows that chess is so much more than just a game and states that it even changes the basic structure of our brains!

Related: Video Games Addict? Here’s How to Quit

Readers must know that when a person is confused and having trouble finding a solution to their problem he or she becomes stressed. Here comes cognitive behavior theory which states that playing a strategy game actually develops a brain to solve problems with focus and precision.

We recommend you should give chess and other wooden strategy games a try and see the change yourself.

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