There are no shortages of chess sets for you to choose from out there. As a result BraRoe Chess would like to provide you this service to help make you experience the best that it can be.

When you look to purchase a chess set, you two different options in front of you:
• Choose a combination of pieces and a board that has been pre-selected for you
• Individually choose the chess pieces and the chess board for you own chess set

With both options, there are a couple of things that you want to keep in mind. The first is price. Choose chess set that is built to last. You are going to have many memories attached to your set, and one of the best things that you can do is to keep the set around for generation to enjoy. Always buy the highest quality set that you can afford.

Second is quality. The quality is something that you will be able to both see and feel. The pieces should have a good solid feel to them every time you pick one up. Next, pay attention to the crown of the King, the finer the details, then the higher the quality. Lastly, the knight is the most noticeable piece that you will have on your board. Study it curves and details. True quality sets will have a finely, hand-carved knight.

Now keeping this in mind, choosing an existing Chess Set is much simpler. You take the time to choose between the Classic Staunton Chess Set or a theme that you like (i.e. Civil War, Mythology, etc.); purchase the set, and wait for it to arrive.

The second option, takes a little more thought.

Matching wood types:

Wood Chess Sets:
Ebony pieces match well with basic Black and White boards or with Ebony/Madrona Board
Rosewood pieces look great with boards that are also rosewood or those made from Mahogany
Sheesham woods fit best with Walnut boards as well as with Bubinga or Hazelnut Boards

Metal Chess Sets:
Metal Sets match with wood boards, but also go well with brass boards as well as leatherette boards

Matching Size
The size of the chess board square is determined from the diameter of the chess pieces’ King. Take the diameter and multiply it by 1.33 (4/3). If need be, you can go a little bigger, but you really don’t want to go smaller. Example a 1.25 diameter base x 1.33 is 1.66 inch board. Boards with 1.75-inch boards would be perfect.

After that, all you need is to order the chess pieces and board and start creating you own chess memories.

One of the nicest things about putting your own chess set together is that there are no rules. After all, this is one of points in matching a set of chess pieces to the chess board by yourself, instead of looking for a chess set that has already been put together for yourself.

Still, there is a set of guidelines that can be followed to make this process fast and easy for you.

Match the size of the King to the board square:

The first thing that must be considered is the size of the base of the King. The King is the largest chess pieces and will therefore have the largest base diameter. The obvious goal is to make sure that the square of the chess board is larger than the base diameter of the Chess Pieces. It is fine to leave it at that. For those who want better refinement, the rule of thumb is to have a chess board square be 33% larger than the base diameter of the King. So, if your King has a diameter of 1.5 inches, then you should aim for a chess board with 2.0 inch squares (1.5 inches x 1.33 = 2.0). Of course you can select 1.75 inches and it will look great, but you probably don’t want to go too much larger.

Matching the colors of the pieces to the board:

The second thing that you want to be aware of is what material makes the chess pieces. Special attention should be taken for wooded versus metal chess pieces.

Wood chess pieces provide the easiest rules with them. Rosewood chess pieces work best with the rosewood and dark rosewood chess boards. Black and ebony chess pieces match best with the like colored chess boards. Sheesham (a light brown wood) is best with boards that are made from walnut, hazelnut and sheesham woods. Wood pieces match best with boards that have a matte or satin-matte finish to them, but will also look pleasant with glossy boards.

Metal chess pieces match best with three different chess boards. The brass and metal of chess pieces match very well with the brass pressed boards, both traditional brass as well as colored variant; such as blue and red. Also, these pieces will match well with wood boards that have a glossy finish added to them, especially board made from grey briarwood. Finally, metal chess pieces are nicely complimented by chess boards that are made from pressed leather.

While there are no definite rules that apply to a personal chess set, there are the guidelines for those who need the help to match a chess board the chess pieces that you have already selected for your life.

Hey, check out these auctions:

Chess pamphlet Tal: Petrosian vs. Spassky 1966

US $14.99 (0 Bid) End Date: Monday Aug-02-2010 17:05:47 PDT Bid now | Add to watch list

Chess Book: Tal's Winning Chess Combinations

US $20.00 (1 Bid) End Date: Monday Aug-02-2010 19:05:57 PDT Bid now | Add to watch list

Selected Games of Mikhail Tal by J Hajtun - chess

US $10.83 End Date: Wednesday Aug-04-2010 3:13:30 PDT Buy It Now for only: US $10.83 Buy it now | Add to watch list