WE Games Bobby Fischer Ultimate Chess Pieces Set, Staunton Plastic Tournament Chess Set - Extra Queens, Triple Weighted

First let me start by saying that as it usually happens; due to the responsibilities of every day life, I took a long hiatus from chess that lasted for more than 12 years. Back in the mid 2000's -as it is common today as well- most serious players had their luxury wooden chess pieces for home use. And invariably, they used the cheap, standard tournament sets we are all familiar with, while away from home at tournaments, at the park, or at the coffee shop.Those cheap sets are nothing to be sneered at. They are still flooding the market today. They are functional, resilient, the pieces are easily recognizable, and being so cheap, you don't have to worry about losing or scraping a piece. However, the weights usually start becoming loose. Making the pieces rattle weirdly, and in some cases, the weights end up falling out through the green, cheap paper with which these are felted.At some point, I started feeling the need for a plastic set that felt more solid, and looked nicer than what a child uses at most scholastic events.Upon a visit to the Chess World hall of fame Back in the mid 2000's, I had purchased a plastic set that used to be named "The Ultimate Plastic Chess Set". It was one of the first -if not THE first- plastic set that was marketed as "Triple Weighted". The plastic was very solid. The finish on the pieces was matte, thus eliminating the ugly, eye straining glare you get when playing with glossy/shiny pieces when under heavy lighting.The weights were secured in place via internal ridges that made the pieces feel hefty, but more importantly prevented the weights from rattling or coming loose. The bottom of the pieces had a thick, green felt that resembled billiard cloth.This set was SO NICE, that it did not feel out of place when used with my nice wooden board at home.After a few years of use and many more of neglect; the pieces were dirty and grimy. My fault totally. I had kept these out and about. They got coffee spilled on them; years of lint and dust; they fell unto hard, roughly finished floors; were thrown haphazardly into a boxes with sharp objects for a couple of house moves. This year, when I recently started coming back to the joy that is Chess, my first thought was to retrieve these from the depths of my cluttered closet.After seeing how dirty they were, I felt like an idiot for not keeping them at least in a zip lock bag.I cleaned them with a little water, and brushed away the lint bunnies from the felt bottoms with a clean tooth brush. They immediately sprung back to life! I thought to myself: "Well, I probably should buy a spare set to keep at home, and throw this old set in my bag for use away from home". To my horror, I could NOT find these anywhere! I bumped into multiple forum posts where people explained that this set had been permanently discontinued, and that even the old molds had been lost to posterity. At first, I was happy to find a host of companies selling their own style of triple weighted plastic sets. I bought the ProTourney and zukert sets from the chess store, and the Reykjavik from the house of staunton. I was sorely dissapointed in how brittle and cheap the plastic on these sets was! The price to quality relationship was horrendous. The ears on the knights and the cross atop the kings broke off in a couple of these upon the first outing inside my chess bag pouches. That is simply unacceptable. I ended up getting the aforementioned cheap, standard, triple weighted tournament sets from the house of staunton. These at least did not break, but were still the common, somewhat ugly, basic set.By pure chance, I found that Wood Expressions had now created their own molds to replicate my old beloved set, and even improve it in some ways!At first I was apprehensive about the new yellowish color. I saw a youtube video where the pieces looked almost yellow/green, like a highlighter marker. Yuck!! Fortunately, it seems the lighting on that video is what caused this weird greenish hue, and the pieces are really a warm, creamy yellow. Kind of like a creamy stick of butter. I would still have preferred the original off white, but this new color looks surprisingly good with the traditional green and buff regulation boards, and even with my walnut and maple board. I'm pleasantly surprised with the new color.Now, the new model has slightly taller pieces, with wider bases. NOT TO WORRY. The previous model was only slightly below tournament specs being a little smaller and narrower. The difference is almost imperceptible. The newer model is simply now the standard regulation size for tournament play, with a 3.75" king. I have compared the weight, design and feel of the pieces side by side with my original set, and I am 100% satisfied with the new version. Other than the color, I would NOT be able to tell the difference between them. The plastic seems to still be the same hardness and consistency, it is still a matte finish with no glare under any type of lighting. Best of all, they feel and look like a quality set.I have a second set on order coming my way. I want to keep my original set put away at home. One of the new model sets will go with me to tournaments, or for playing during my lunch break at work. While the second of the newer sets will stay in my desk for analysis and playing with visitors at home. I can't say enough good things about this set.If you are on the fence about it, just buy one. You will not regret it.2022 Update:Even more pleased now.They have now released this Ultimate set in an off-white color! It's really not as plain white as the web pictures are showing. There is definitely a bit of warmth to the color. Perhaps ivory would be a better description of the new color.Not as cream colored as my original ultimates from the early 2000s, but pretty darn close.The new weighting system is a huge improvement.These weights are not going to loosen up any time soon. No more rattle even after a few drops on hard floors. Very impressed.I bought one of these now and donated one of my yellows to my local high school chess club.It seems now that the yellows are not available any more, the people who actually complained about them BEING yellow, are the same folks who want the yellows back?! Come on, people. These new off-white ones are actually even better than my original ultimates! No more dangerous lead weights AND the internal weights can simply not be loosened up unless you actually break/split the chess piece in half.If you have read this far, trust me. This is the most robust plastic set you can buy.Well worth the asking price.

I used to collect sets, Ive played tournaments, and many games of blitz. This is literally the perfect set. I recommend the mouse pad board with it. Sold separately.

I have many Ebony wood sets that will never be used for tournaments play so its plastic chess sets for tournaments and friendly games. I was looking for a new Ebony Chess set when I found this model, I haven't purchased any plastic sets since Druke stopped selling sets (was my favorite set) and just received it, looks exactly like the pictures, color of the white pieces are like maple wood and perfect, the shape of the pieces are the type I prefer and the weight is heavy, that the weights I have read somewhere is lead free and attached/locked into the plastic is great, I have had a 2350 rated master doing an analysis of my game ruin one of my sets when I was much younger from flopping my pieces on the board so hopefully this will survive any abuse from other players. Best Available Plastic Chess set, the Ebonized set looks good too maybe I will buy it later.

Nice pieces

These pieces simply feel great. The plastic molds are well-done and I love the design of each piece. The queen is the only piece that's a little awkward to hold, but it's big enough to make that a very minor quibble. I wasn't sure how I would like the pawns with their slightly bulky tops, but I love them! The weight of the pieces is also excellent. This set is really a pleasure to play with. I looked into a number of the sets in this "expensive plastic set" category, and I chose this one with no regrets. I believe this is THE premium plastic set for blitz and day-to-day play. Excellent feel in the hand and on the board.I was impressed by the construction. E.g. I noticed that the felt at the base of the pieces is as least as good as, mainly better than, several more expensive wooden sets costing three to four times as much. Actually, I use both a wooden board (see photo) and a silicone mat, and I like the wooden board just a little better since the quality of the bases make the pieces slide and move so nicely. Fyi, I use a 2.25 inch square and it fits nicely. While a 2.0 inch square would likely work, the 2.25 doesn't feel too big at all.I guess the only downside is cost. If buying many sets for a club or school, cost will be prohibitive and cheaper plastic sets fit the need. But if looking for a personal tournament size set for home or travel play, this is a perfect option. Personally, I'd buy this again over any other set in this price range. (I bought well before the price drop to $49.99!)This company is trying to make the premium plastic chess set, and their quality of design and construction and assembly accomplishes this goal.

Nice pieces

Tried a couple of weighted sets, this was the best one, hands down.

Very stable pieces. Make sure you buy a 20" tournament mat to go with the pieces and not the smaller cheaper one. The pieces will be awkwardly close together on the smaller chess mat.