my switch from Wilsons to Titleists
Both are good clubs. Do you feel better playing with the Titleists? Useing the same tools the high profile players use makes us feel like winners too.
A long time ago golf equiptment was only sold in pro shops, There the club pro could fit the clubs to you. If the US champion used a House of Staunton set wouldn’t you want one?
Yes, I castle so much better on my House of Staunton set than on my cheap plastic one.
I know that’s a joke; but the funny thing is, you probably do! The kings and rooks on good wooden (and good quality plastic) sets (and HoS does not have a monopoly on quality here) are decently weighted. Your typical cheap plastic sets are not. So yes, even castling will be a nicer tactile experience for you! 
If you shop carefully, you can get a nice wooden set for about the same price as a really nice plastic set. Personally, I think the inexpensive ebonized classic set (from HoS) is a better choice for a tournament than one of the more expensive sets.
The best tournament board I’ve found is a smooth leather board from House of Aragon. I like it as well as a wooden board and they’re as easy to use (transport) as a vinyl board. (and, IMO, they get better with age) I prefer the Oxblood color, but you can get a fairly standard green/buff if you want (though why get a leather board if all you want is a board that looks like a vinyl board?).
Mike put it well. Golf technology enhances physical ability. Rosewood, etc., doesn’t enhance mental ability.
This weekend I took a 3rd-repetition draw against a master in a dead-won position on his plastic set. The next round I lost quickly to another master on my golden rosewood set (probably still annoyed at myself from the previous round, ha). Obviously…the scores have no causal link to the piece materials.
I disagree, though I think the difference is very subtle. It’s not so much about whether you’re playing on a NICER set, it’s about playing on a set you’re comfortable with and are used to.
If it’s a wooden set (yours) then you’re probable going to be much more comfortable with the set than an opponent that usually plays on a cheap plastic set.
No, it won’t make a big difference. But it might make a small but measurable difference.
To take things to an extreme, I’ve known players that are much better using a computer board than real pieces (and vice versa). It all comes down to what you’re comfortable with (and if what YOU’RE comfortable with is something that your opponent ISN’T used to then you might have a small advantage).
Well now hold it a minute…I have found that I seem to “see” better (probably focus better), on a chess board that has a more “comfortable” differentiation of shading/color of the white and black squares. As a result, I prefer the brown/white vinyl boards over the green/white ones. For some reason, the green squares on green/white boards just seem to “bleed” over the whole board. Hey Ron, as our resident eye specialist, what do you make of this? 
Actually the green seems to be easier on the eyes, in general. Of course I agree with the contrast considerations of the board itself and the board with the chess pieces.
The best situation I have seen is the Green and Bird’s Eye Maple combination coloring of my House of Staunton Signature Traditional Board. When I put a Rosewood and Boxwood set on it, the combination of colors and contrasts, is very pleasing to play chess on, visually. My friend Wayne and I spent a couple of hours playing on this setup just a week ago and we agreed it was very nice.
I also have a Mahogany and Maple board that works very well with a dark Rosewood and Boxwood set. Now, the Mahogany (dark) squares are light enough that a dark Rosewood piece contrasts well and does not melt into the square, color-wise. I had a set on it where the Rosewood was a little more red than dark, and the melting phenomenon definitely was there. Consequently, it was not fun to play with that setup.
I think the standard green and buff vinyl boards have a bit too bright of a green color and the white squares are also a bit bright. I finally found a board with a darker green color for the squares. I use this board with my Rosewood blitz set. It’s ok, but if I were going to use that setup for a slower time control, I would want the squares to be more of a muted ivory or even a beige color.
I understand your preference for the brown/white boards. I bet you use a set with black dark pieces on it. That would give a very pleasant contrast.
Understand, contrast is the whole thing here. We want good contrast between the light and dark squares and good contrast between both the colors of pieces with both colors of squares.
Also the colors of the squares themselves must not be too bright and have too much contrast, otherwise you will experience that bleeding of the colors you speak of. And yes the lighting of the playing area matters also.
To resurrect an off-topic divergence from another thread, is this still true if the player is colorblind?
Bill Smythe
Well, the color blind actually have a better appreciation of the contrast differences. Yes, they have trouble differentiating the different shades of certain colors, but with this deficiency of color differentiation comes an enhanced appreciation of contrast differences.
I imagine the person with a red/green deficiency, which is the most common, might not have the problem with the green squares being too bright and have the same bleeding effect that Tim Sawmiller describes.
Not all US organizers are cheap. Some go out of their way to to make players feel like winners with drawings and perks. Can you come up with an example?
Every National Open!! Thanks Fred Gruenberg!!!
US Amateur West uses drawings and round upset prizes for the players.
- Enrique
It is great to see that other players notice the same things that bother me, too! When I go to a tournament, I never know what the lighting will be like. So in my bag, I carry a HoS buff and green linen board (my preferred board; it’s nice to movethe pieces on, looks good, is not too bright, and you don’t have to worry about which side the pieces go on because it has no notation on the sides), a roll-up buff and green board (which I use when my opponent doesn’t know how to figure out algebraic notation on his own and I take pity on him), as well as a buff and brown roll-up board. The lighting affects the color contrasts. I always prefer to use a boxwood and rosewood combo in a tournament, because I’ve noticed that black pieces tend to melt into green squares in a way that rosewood pieces do not.
At home, I use the HoS wooden green and maple board with my favorite set, under an Ott Light clipped to my table and the contrast is perfect.
Leather boards are very nice, but I’ve seen too many spilled cups of water (if you’re lucky, coffee, soda, etc. At least with vinyl boards there easy to clean up. I several wood sets that I take to tournaments. I like the feel and weight of wood. If I play a make up game at my house I use my nice Drueke wood board. At the club and tournaments, a vinyl board works just fine.
One of my pet peeves with plastic sets provided by a club is the co-mingling of different colors of white. I find it really annoying seeing a mixture of several shades of ivory and bright white in one set.
Bill Goichberg told me that in the early day’s of running CCA tournaments he provided sets, boards and clocks. Unfortunately they had a tendancy to grow feet and walk away. How many organizers can afford to be replacing clocks that disappear every tournament?
Some leather boards (especially suede) might be a problem, but those with a smooth finish shouldn’t be any more susceptable to spills than a pair of leather shoes. They’re not as common as the suede boards, but I HIGHLY recommend the House of Aragon boards (great customer service, in my experience).
Since the beginning of the chess festival, one of the goal was to provide the same very good playing conditions to amateurs and GMs. Individual table, nice wood chess set, electronic clock…
The above is a caption to a picture on the Chessbase website: chessbase.com/
Harikrishna wins category 13 in Nancy, France
28.02.2009 – 200 players in 19 different tournaments took part in the 7th International Chess Festival in Nancy from 16 to 22 of February 2009. This town is located in the east of France, between Paris and Strasbourg. The tournament system is unusual: the players are divided into groups of ten and play round robins. You will get to know a lot of new players in this giant pictorial report by IM Christophe Philippe.