Since we began all those years ago the price of almost everything has shot up and chess sets are no exception. The price of wood has in some cases doubled making the cost of producing the sets much more costly.
We have always tried our best to strike a fair balance between the price of our products and quality. It has always been our aim to sell sets that will stand the test of time and last for decades rather than years.
While we might not sell the very cheapest of chess sets, we always maintain our quality, integrity, ethics, sustainability, and our superb customer service. Over the years we have sold thousands of chess sets to delighted customers and we are proud to know that almost all of these sets are still being used today.
If you are looking for a Staunton chess set and are on a budget, you can save a lot of money by switching out the real ebony chess pieces for ebonised ones. In some cases, they are half the price!
The term 'Ebonised' refers to the process of making boxwood (the wood used for the white pieces) look just like real ebony. This is done by soaking the boxwood in a strong chemical dye which soaks into the wood and stains it a dark black. Once dry the pieces can then be polished and waxed which brings out a very convincing appearance of real ebony. One such example of a budget Staunton Chess set is our Downhead Black championship chess set which features ebonised chessmen. It represents excellent value and is entirely made from top quality components.
While there are no hard and fast rules, generally speaking smaller chess sets are cheaper than larger ones. Certainly, in the case of the wooden sets where the material costs are a large factor, the more material used the more expensive the set.
Most of our cheap chess sets are below sixteen inches in size (board width). In fact our cheapest set is the tiny 7.5 inch travel chess set. If you are looking for a professional standard flat board and pieces and are on a budget but still want the best quality then our lovely Academy small chess set is the best choice. This lovely set features our Downhead knight Staunton chessmen in 2.5 inches and a lovely Spanish walnut chess board.
No, while we focus on ensuring our sets are excellent value we don't compete with the cheapest sets for the following reasons:
No, all of our wooden chess sets come from manufacturers in Europe. Because we aim for the very best quality we no longer source from China.
