I am a retired University lecturer who has been playing chess for 55 years, both correspondence and OTB. I am an enthusiastic amateur who, besides playing, collects Staunton sets — I have about 60 or so and am always on the lookout for new ones.

I was impressed by the Dubrovnik set after a player produced one his mother gave him over 40 years ago. Bobby Fischer was right in selecting the Dubrovnik as his favourite set. But this version 2.0 — the S1299 — is the best of them from India and the USA so far. It was well received by chess club members the other evening. Keep up the improvements and innovations, such as the Soviet sets you produce.

— Mike, Australia

I consider myself a recurring client of ChessBazaar with more than 10 orders so far. The chess pieces are wonderful and I really appreciate the excellent options for Reproduced Antique sets — many of them not easy to find anywhere else.

I have needed to replace 3 or 4 defective pieces and ChessBazaar has always attended to it promptly. Sapna has always been so kind and immediately provides a resolution. If 5 stars is the maximum, I rate ChessBazaar at 5. Sapna deserves another 5 stars for professionalism. Although I have 30+ different chess sets, each one is very special.

— Sergio, Brazil

I took a chance and ordered a set of luxury chess pieces from Chessbazaar, located far away in Punjab, India. Would the set ever arrive? Would the quality even approximate that shown in the photographs? A mere 3½ days after placing my order, it arrived!

Each piece was double-wrapped in foam. Each one was cut exactingly from very fine boxwood and ebony, and then polished to perfection. This is a stunning set. I am confident I will win more games when my opponents are dazzled and distracted by the beauty of these pieces. Thank you, Chessbazaar.

— James, USA

Many thanks to Vik and ChessBazaar for fueling my passion for quality Staunton style chess sets. I discovered the ChessBazaar website a few years ago and have purchased many of their wonderful sets since. Many of my sets come from ChessBazaar's line of Reproduced Antique Chess Sets.

I was really impressed with their Dubrovnik 1950 Bobby Fischer Series. But recently ChessBazaar released their spectacular 1935 Botvinnik Flohr Soviet 4" set in ebony and boxwood. After getting it in my hands I was blown away — the unique wide-base King, the queen with its large ball finial, the sleek miterless bishop, the captivating long-neck knight with its aggressive appearance and those teeth... The 1935 Botvinnik Flohr set has become my most favourite set of all time.

— Mike Ladzinski, USA

I must admit that I feel a great pleasure to admire these wooden chess pieces that I have received from Chessbazaar. Even if people say "when it's really beautiful it's really expensive" — how wrong they are! Despite my small income, I can often buy a chess set from Chessbazaar.

For now, the gorgeous California Chrome Staunton Series is my favourite chess set. It has a collector's item feel to it. The pieces look glorious on the board — they look like they cost much more than what I paid. Without a doubt, Chessbazaar has the best customer relations on the internet.

— Hervé T., France

I am a chess enthusiast in all of its many facets — not only the game itself, but chess set collecting too. Chess occupies a very relevant place in my life; I devote some time and thinking to it almost every day.

I truly consider my customized set from Chessbazaar the most beautiful and imposing I own, along with the 1849 Staunton designed by Alan Dewey with Chessbazaar. Every time I take a close look at the pieces and feel them, I get amazed and so pleased about the fineness. In terms of carving, turning, weight, balance, stability, and materials — your chessmen aren't matched by any of my other sets. Keep it up, Chessbazaar!

— Xavier Pedregosa García, Spain

I definitely remember my first contact with chess. I was about 13 years old when I saw a chess board for the first time and thought: What game is this? I was excited from the very first moment. I learned to play with my uncle, played many tournaments together — he was a great encourager.

"Chess is more than just a game — it is an intellectual fun that has something of art and science, and is also a means of social and intellectual approach." — J.R. Capablanca

Chess pieces arrived from Chess Bazaar — very beautiful. Customer service with Chess Bazaar is top notch. Thank you very much.

— Peterson, Brazil

I'm 71 years old and resumed playing chess after not having played for 50 years. I was delighted to see my appreciation for the game had improved tremendously. I joined Chess.com and learned about fine chess sets from both House of Staunton and Chessbazaar.

I chose Chessbazaar because of the high quality and realistic pricing. The first set I bought was a 1950 Dubrovnik chess set — mainly because of my love for Bobby Fischer. The set arrived in five days in Georgia, USA, all the way from India. Several months later I bought my Edinburgh Upright in rosewood. This set is by every measure the most elegant set I own. Thank you CB.

— Tom, Georgia, USA

Once upon a time there was an 8-10 year old poor boy who lived in a small European country. He was always very happy when he had summer-vacation because he spent it with his grandfathers and uncles who lived in a tiny dusty village, far from the noisy towns. The summer was hot, so the simple hard working peasants often went to the tavern to “clean the dust from their throat” with 1-2 (or maybe more) mugs of cold beer. His uncle did the same and every time bought the boy some cold soda. Usually the tavern was full of cigarette smoke (and sometimes drunk guys too). One day the boy saw 2 guys who were playing some game at a table. On a black-and-white wooden board there were many strange-looking wood-carved pieces. Some of them looked like Christmas tree, some looked like horse, others like some kind of bastion. The board and the pieces were very old and shabby-looking. This was the first time when the boy saw a chess set. He did not know anything about the rules of the game but he was very amazed of the game and the pieces. One night a fairy appeared in his dream and said: One day you will move to a huge, remote country and you will have your own brand new chess pieces, exactly the same like you saw in the village’s tavern. The chess pieces will come from the opposite side of the world from a seller, called “Chessbazaar”. A nice person will send it to you whose name will be “Sapna”. The time was passing; the boy grew up and never saw any of that old chess set. Everyone was playing with new, different chessmen. But one day everything what the fairy had said came true. Well, this story sounds like an incredible childish fairy tale, but (except for the fairy) everything was true and real. I was that boy in the story! I was born and lived in Hungary, later immigrated to USA and the Chessbazaar really sent me the mentioned chess pieces (December 2013). It is called: Reproduced Antique Series Austrian Coffee House Old Vienna Chess Pieces – M0076 (long time ago Hungary was part of Austria).You can imagine the emotion I felt when I was holding those chessmen in my hands (from my childhood’s memories, after almost a half century)! Incredible (but real!) story isn’t it? My emotion was about the same when I saw the mentioned chessmen in the book of Edward Winter (Chess Explorations). On the picture is the outstanding Austrian grandmaster Rudolf Spielmann (1883-1942), in front of him on the board the same chessmen! Nowadays, I have 13 different kinds of chess sets from Chessbazaar (out of the almost 50 what I have). The pieces always were wrapped thoroughly and arrived very fast (3-4 days) from the “opposite side of the world”! Chessbazaar offers so many kinds of chess sets (from the economy class till the luxury or antique class) that surely everyone can find one (or more) he or she...

Like many people around my age, I learned to play chess in 1972 — a very easy year to remember because it was the year that the Bobby Fischer and Boris Spassky match captured the World. My first chess set was rather like my first car: been through several uncaring owners and pretty clapped-out.

I have reached an age where quality matters and is much appreciated. My car is now a Jaguar; my chess set(s) are now Chess Bazaar. My last purchase was a Folding Travel Set (SKU: D0105). As usual, it turned up in amazingly quick time, was excellently packaged, and a joy to first admire. Sitting in my chess spot surrounded by such quality equipment is a wonderful place to be. Shame my chess isn't the same standard!

— Kevin Gallagher, England

I can still remember seeing my first chess set in a store window some 68 years ago. They were, as I later learned, Staunton design chess pieces. I asked my father to buy it for me — and I still own that set today.

A lifetime has passed since then, but my interest in chess has never waned. I read library books about early chess masters from the mid-19th century Romantic era — Morphy, Anderssen. I even played against Grandmasters Bent Larsen, Tigran Petrosian, and Maxim Dlugy in simultaneous exhibitions.

Learning that master restorer Alan Dewey had worked with Chessbazaar on a reproduction of the first 1849 Jaques set, I decided to buy it. Vik and Sapna were very cooperative and helpful. It really captures the look and feel of the initial 1849 Jaques set, and I'm proud to own this masterpiece. Chess has now come full circle — I've been the director of a chess club at the library in Durham, North Carolina for the past 7 years.

— Conrad Conero, USA

It all started when I was a teenager at junior high school in Long Island, New York. I started to learn chess and it was a lot of fun. I drifted away from chess as I grew up and had more responsibilities in life.

It wasn't till a fellow co-worker brought a chess set out during downtime at the workplace that I realized how much I missed chess. I spent a lot of time researching and quickly realized what beautiful, higher quality products Chess Bazaar offers and how great the value and service is compared to the competition.

Vik and Sapna are great to deal with and so helpful. You earned a loyal customer. I give both the products and service a 10/10 rating.

— Andy, USA

Hello, my name is Santiago and I am a chess addict! Chess has been my passion ever since a young age. Since moving to Thailand 10 years ago, I never had much chance to play until my wife and daughters finally learned. It is impossible to buy a decent set and board of western chess in Thailand. That's when I found Chess Bazaar — who sells chess sets of the same quality as other houses like the House Of Staunton, at a fraction of their prices. Besides the prices, the free shipping and the support are second to none.

So I started buying one set, and another, and another... The worst part is that thanks to Chess Bazaar, I am not the only one addicted to chess in this house anymore! Many thanks.

— Santiago, Thailand

As I start writing this story, it takes me back almost a quarter of a century. I grew up watching amateur people playing chess at a nearby 'Paanwala' shop. As time passed, I leaned towards cricket and chess became a sweet memory — until 2015 when I moved to Bahrain for professional reasons.

With less room for cricket in the year-round heat, I took chess out from the bottom drawer of my memories. After a lot of online search I read about CHESSBAZAAR and decided to order the Staunton series 3.8" king. I was so anxious to feel the pieces in my hand that I left the office a bit early! I was not disappointed at all. This is my first purchase from Chessbazaar, but definitely not the last.

— Hardik, India

I bought several chess sets from Chess Bazaar and they're among the finest in my collection. I only collect sets in the classic Staunton style, which has become the worldwide standard.

My all-time favourite is the Reykjavik set, a reproduction of the pieces used during the legendary 1972 Fischer-Spassky world championship match. I remember that match as if it were yesterday. The service Chess Bazaar provides is wonderful. One time I received a slightly damaged Queen, but just one email was enough to receive a replacement within days. Chess Bazaar also provided three custom-made pieces for an antique 19th century set I own, which is now complete thanks to them.

— Hans Walther, Netherlands