Chess can be great for improving your brainpower, even if you don’t play professionally. It is a great game for both children and adults. To play chess at your home, you need to get a chessboard with all the required chess pieces.
And, we are here with a few suggestions regarding the best chess boards. You can also find various details of these chess boards along with an extensive buying guide.
1. Funskool – 9724000 Chess Classic
Award: Highly Affordable
Tagline: Affordable wooden chess board
Tagline Summary: This product comes with a wooden chess board and large chess pieces that match the board size. This is the best chess board for buyers on a budget.
Product Description: The funskool chess board is quite a popular offering since it offers excellent money value. While the chess pieces are of plastic, they are still reasonably sturdy. The size of the chess pieces, as well as the chess board, is also quite decent. Its chessboard has a size of 27 x 26.6 x 6.2 cm. Despite lacking a foldable design, this chess board’s thin factor makes it ideal for travel if needed.
2. StonKraft 17” x 17” Tournament Chess
Award: Portable Large Chess Board
Tagline Heading: Great chess board for professionals
Tagline Summary: This is a very compact chessboard. This tournament chess board or chess vinyl is quite large for playing professionally.
Product Description: Stonkraft’s tournament chess board can be a great large option. Its 17 x 17-inch size is quite similar to what professionals use. As it uses a vinyl material, you can fold it and take it with you wherever you go. To ensure that you do not lose any chess pieces, it offers a vinyl pouch along with extra queens in the box. Since this chessboard is of international tournament standards, it has a 4-inch king height. Thanks to its excellent build quality, this vinyl chess board is also washable.
3. Shoro Hand Crafted Roman Brass Chess Set
Award: Artistic Chess Board
Tagline Heading: Handmade premium chess board
Tagline Summary: It is a complete handmade chess board made out of wood and chess pieces made out of brass.
Product Description: In comparison with other chess boards, the shoro handcrafted chess board is unique. It includes roman themed chess pieces that are relatively large. These brass chess pieces include 2.3-inch tall soldiers and a 3.5-inch tall king. The handmade wooden chess board is rated at 14 x 14 x 2 inch, making it ideal for display use. Apart from using high-quality Aligarh brass work, it also uses robust Saharanpur Sheesham wood. This chess board closes up, storing the chess pieces inside.
4. Palm Royal Handicrafts 10 inches Chess Set
Award: Premium Construction
Tagline Heading: Wooden handicraft chess set
Tagline Summary: Since it uses wood instead of brass for its compact chess pieces, it is a more durable option.
Product Description: With the Palm Royal Handicraft chessboard, you get an efficient design. Even if you do not use it for playing chess, it can be a great art piece with its wooden handicraft construction. Despite having a fairly small size of 10 x 10 inch, it still folds down for portability. When folded, you can keep the included wooden chess pieces inside to prevent any misplacement. While these are made out of wood, they are still magnetic to prevent them from falling over while playing chess.
5. A N ENTERPRISE™ Magnetic Travel Chess Set
Award: Ideal For Kids
Tagline Heading: Portable and affordable chessboard
Tagline Summary: This compact chessboard can be an excellent option for children. Even though it is quite affordable, it still includes a foldable and portable design for taking it to school.
Product Description: Since most kids would like to get a small and compact chessboard, A N ENTERPRISE™ offers just that. Its chess board is rated at 9.84 x 9.76 inch which is one of the closest options. It supports a foldable design for keeping all the chess pieces inside. Even though the chess pieces are made out of plastic, they will not fall over as they have inbuilt magnets. The king piece has a height of 1.96, and the pawns have a size of 0.94 inches which is excellent for portability.
Things to Consider before Buying Chess Boards
1. Chess Board Size
While buying a chessboard, check its size is quite important. If you play casually, a compact 10 x 10-inch chessboard can be a great option. But if you play in tournaments, getting something extensive like 17 x 17 inches will be the better option.
2. Chess Pieces Size
Similar to the chessboard size, the size of the included chess pieces is also significant. Generally, this is available in terms of the king’s height, like 3 inch or 4 inch and the pawns like 1 inch or 2 inches.
3. Construction Material
The construction of your chessboard is also an essential factor to consider. While plastic ones are ideal for budget buyers, wooden ones are perfect as artistic chess boards. You can also find vinyl chess boards made for using in tournaments.