When I set up this website my aim was not to feature only rare and/or valuable chess sets but to showcase the wide variety of sets I collect for sheer pleasure. A few weeks ago I purchased this uncommon. plastic set from the USA – not bake lite but hollow plastic and unweighted, yet it is a nice set to play with, and when received I felt this likeable set deserved a welcome upgrade. My method was to fill the hollow pieces with casting plaster and then sand down the top layer as preparation for felting. A thin coat of PVA seals the plaster base, when dry use unthinned PVA as a glue for the felt. This works a treat for these hollow chessmen. After I finished the job I searched Google for any such sets out there, and hey presto I found identical sets for sale in the USA – weighted and inclusive of shipping costing rather more than I paid for this set. The original makers make some rather dubious looking claims Staunton was not a carver (?!), and there appears to be a selling agent for these sets today. For £30 the price was good, and with a 9.5 inch king it’s perfect for playing blitz. Any fussy Jaques collector can judge for themselves re the claims made on the maker’s description holding the board and pieces together – check out Greenboxtrading on Ebay for info and cost. Whilst a bit more costly than a host of mass produced plastic sets, this set has merit with the included board and has playing squares that are rather small. Perhaps having hollow pieces these sets did not become as popular as they deserved to be which sadly has been the result to date.
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