Chess Sets Styles

Only collectors spend thousands of dollars on a chess set! There are many styles that could overwhelm you. Please consider that there are Standards among sets that are common to tournaments and clubs.

Club Chess Set

Standard size for the King is 3 " tall and the chessboard square size is 2 ", usually 20" square in all. The pieces will be solid plastic and the board color is often green and white.

Sizes

Pocket sets (3-6" chessboard) are flat to fit in your pockets.

Travel sets (5-12" chessboard) are for playing while travelling and are bigger than Pocket Sets to enable you to see the game position more clearly.

Go for strong magnets and a case to store your position when you close it. Choose three dimensional pieces and no flat pieces as they are less confusing and more comfortable to move.

Folding sets (5-20" chessboard) Many pocket and travel sets can be folded to help you to store pieces inside.

Analysis sets (8-14" chessboard) are usually a miniature of the "club" set and help you study and review games when you don't need a full size set.

Tournament chess sets (20-22" chessboard) are usually 20", they give you a comfortable Size to be able to see your game position clearly and uphold your concentration for hours.

Giant chess pieces (12-25" King, 9 ft chessboard) are for outdoors but can be used for indoors as well. They bring life and fun to garden parties, parks and backyards.

Every player should own a solid plastic, basic club chess set. They are all-purpose, durable, inexpensive and ideal for analysis and playing. These club sets are not sold by local game stores or big chain stores.

You have to buy them online. Get a vinyl chessboard as you can roll them up for storage, but buy a good quality vinyl to ensure that after a long time storage it will uncurl and lay flat.

Wooden Chess Pieces

Of course, it is a much better feeling to play chess on a nice set of traditional, correctly sized (3 " or 4") wood chessmen!

Theme Chess Pieces

There are many theme chess sets around. For example the Police set, Alice in Wonderland set or the Firefighter set. Many people enjoy having a theme chess set at home for decorative purposes and to play a casual game with friends.