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| Posted by mattdw uskidscompute.com 1/29/2006 10:26:43 Play online chess |  Subject: A decent chess set?Message: Matt | ||||||||
| Posted by bucklehead uskidscompute.com 1/29/2006 10:48:55 Play online chess | Spend a lot or a little Message: A great site to check out if you're looking for good prices and broad selection is -> www.wholesalechess.com . What you'll want to get will depend greatly on how you plan to use the set. I have a bunch of sets, but two in primary rotation: I bring out my heavy House of Staunton ebony/boxwood pieces (4" king) and an old onyx board from Mexico (2" squares) on those rare occasions when I have an actual opponent, but I also have a smaller plastic set with about a 2" king that shoulders most of the load for my analysis. Not that it helps much. I think heavy is important, and I bet most people agree with me. Not so much for stability's sake, but because it's a real good feeling to thunk a solid piece down on a solid board. What we do has at least an element of art, so why should we not focus on the experiential nature of the game? Try to make sure that your board's squares are appropriately proportioned to your pieces. The rule of thumb is that the base of the K should be about 75% the width of the squares. So a set with a 1.5" wide king calls for a board with squares about 2" wide. If you're in a store and lack a ruler, take four pawns and arrange them inside a square. If they fit snugly, you're in business. Whatever you do, don't go out to Wal-Mart or wherever and buy the "Tournament Chess Set" or whatever else is boxed up and wrapped in plastic. Buy something nice. You deserve it. | ||||||||
| Posted by mattdw uskidscompute.com 1/29/2006 15:56:38 Play online chess | Message: I like the look of the staunton pieces with the colours being subdued hues of brown and beige rather than sharp black and white. I think I will also go for a wooden set over plastic too, with weighted pieces being important (like you say). Thought I don't think I've ever seen any shops near by that might sell decent sets, I'll have a look in the phone directory tomorrow morning & have a wander around some of the shopping areas I've never really been to. Thanks again for the help, hopefully I can get a set pretty soon! Matt ——— A poisoned pawn that hasn’t lost its kick — Next time you’re dining in Gibraltar, think twice before ordering the pawns. Two sharp games showcasing the notorious Sicilian Poisoned Pawn Variation top the menu today, served up at the just-concluded Tradewise Gibraltar Chess Festival, held on the British island at the entrance to the Mediterranean. Black found the antidote in the first game, but the poisoned offering — which famously proved indigestible even for Bobby Fischer in his Reykjavik chess match with Boris Spassky - proved highly toxic for French GM Maxime Vachier-Lagrave a round later. Young women’s world chess champion Hou Yifan gave one of the greatest performances ever by a female chess player in an open tournament in Gibraltar, losing in ... Posted by thunker | uskidscompute.com 1/29/2006 19:42:37 Play online chess Checkout a nice magnetic setMessage: -> www.chessexpressstore.com And I'll second bucklehead's vote for -> www.wholesalechess.com as I just placed and received an order with them and got it very promptly with no problems.... Ordered late Sunday, order confirmed and shipped on Monday received on Thursday. Not sure how much longer it would be to ship to the UK without paying higher shipping fees. But both companies are reputable. ——— Carlsen is cool but not complacent — Top chess players certainly aren’t clones. Magnus Carlsen, the world’s highest-rated chess grandmaster, is intense at the chessboard but seems to instinctively sidestep the storm and stress that buffeted chess champions such as Bobby Fischer and Garry Kasparov. When asked whether he or Levon Aronian, the world’s second-ranked grandmaster, was the better chess player, Carlsen said he didn’t know but pointed out — for what it was worth — that his rating was a few points better than Aronian’s. Carlsen doesn’t obsess about such things; he simply goes about playing chess. With strong support from a family that often accompanies him when he plays, an income of more than $1 million a year, and ... Posted by gfweiss | uskidscompute.com 1/29/2006 21:54:46 Play online chess My recommendation Message: I bought it from TheChessStore.com and the people there (small business - just a couple of folks) were teriffic. I couldn't make up my mind which pieces I wanted. I was afraid the one I really wanted would be too big in the base for the board. Well, they sent me the board and all three sets of pieces I was considering. I kept the ones I wanted and shipped the other two back to them without a hitch. They were very friendly. They have a great web site and lots of variety. You can get double and triple weighted 3 3/4" "ebonized" boxwood Staunton pieces with felt bottoms for around $100 and they have some nice $100 boards. Matt - you should get at least double weighted pieces, triple is nicer. Also 3 1/2" to 4" King is nice and a board with at least 1 3/4" squares to 2", depending on the size of the King and Queen base. Some pieces have a champher at the bottom, giving them a narrower appearance to fit better on smaller squares. Enjoy your shopping. george ——— Hou Yifan Defeats Judit Polgar at Gibraltar Chess Festival — There was a changing of the guard at the top of the world chess rankings a few years ago, led by Magnus Carlsen, the current No. 1. But Judit Polgar’s spot at the top of the women’s list has been secure. The best woman chess player in history, Polgar, 35, has been No. 1 for 20 years, and no one had ever come close to challenging her. Until last week, when Hou Yifan, the 17-year-old women’s world chess champion, turned in a spectacular performance at the Tradewise Gibraltar Chess Festival, which ended on Thursday. Hou’s results will put her on the cusp of the top 100 among all chess players, and it seems only a matter of time before she joins Polgar, now No. 32, to become just the second woman in that ... Posted by mattdw | uskidscompute.com 1/31/2006 02:26:15 Play online chess Message: Matt ——— Chess Champ Hou Yifan in the Limelight — Levon Aronian's brilliant victory at the prestigious Tata Steel chess tournament in Wijk aan Zee, the Netherlands, would normally be the topic of our conversation. But it was a young Chinese girl, Hou Yifan, 17, who stole the limelight. The women's world chess champion shared first place at the powerful Tradewise Chess Festival in Gibraltar, one of the world's strongest open chess tournaments. Hou was in the lead going into the last round, but was caught at the last moment by Nigel Short. They both scored 8 points in 10 games and the English grandmaster grabbed the title in a blitz playoff. But Hou faced much tougher opponents. Facing six grandmasters rated above 2700 points - a barrier reserved for the best 40 chess players ... Posted by spugmyers | uskidscompute.com 1/31/2006 03:46:29 Play online chess Message: -> www.chessdirect.co.uk -> www.chesscenter.com -> www.bcmchess.co.uk ——— Levon Aronian shrugs off losses to triumph at Tata Steel Wijk aan Zee — Levon Aronian shrugged off an early loss to the chess world No1 Magnus Carlsen and a late defeat by a tail-ender to win first prize at Tata Steel Wijk aan Zee this week with impressive authority. The Armenian world No2's 9/13 total was a point clear of Carlsen, Teimour Radjabov, and the Italian 19-year-old Fabiano Caruana who shared second prize. The elite chess events which make up the chess equivalent of a Grand Slam include Moscow's Tal Memorial and the London Classic as well as Wijk. Aronian was subdued in London, but he tied first with Carlsen in Moscow and his overall rating is closing in on the Norwegian's. Aged 29 and at the height of his powers, Aronian would have been a good bet to capture ... |