How Many Chess Sets are Enough? LCCC Monday Night - Come Join Us!

Chess Monday nights between 4pm and 10pm at the Buffalo Wild Wings in the Green Oak Mall in Brighton, MI. 

Stop on by for some friendly chess, good food and 'refreshment'. Everyone is welcome!

The Eternal Queston!

How many chess set are enough for a chess enthusiast to own?

The definition of “chess set” here is:

 A full set of 32 or 34 (2 extra queens sometimes) pieces. The King must be a minimum of 3 inches high and no bigger than 4 inches. We are talking “tournament” size chess sets here.

We will not include chess boards at this time. That is another chess obsession for another day..... like chess books. 

Also not included in this discussion are travel or pocket sets. I have 4 of those but I never purchased them. They have all been thoughtful gifts, but sadly rarely used.

The correct answer for how many tournament size chess sets are enough, as usual is………….”It depends.”

It depends on whether you are you a minimalist (answer is 1) or a collector? Or a hoarder?

Or sane?

For the collector the answer is easy. It is n + 1, where n is equal to the number of sets you currently have. Simple.

For the hoarder it is n + infinity.

For the few that are sane, it may be impossible to answer.

I have been a “collector” of chess sets at times in my life. Confession time – I did hit a peak of 27 sets. To be sure, a huge amount to some, and a mere ‘few’ to others.

When I retired, I was able to spend a lot more time in my little chess room. So naturally, my lovely bride would now wander in there on occasion.

She would come to just "visit", or bring me lunch, or ask me if I wanted something to drink or ask lovingly why I am wasting my time in here? Then after a few more visits, she invariably asked, “What are all these containers, with all these chess pieces in them, doing just sitting around collecting dust? And how much did all this cost?”

When I mentioned the "deals" and "steals" I got on them, and my “perfect rotation schedule of set usage,” she was less than impressed or happy. 

In addition, she began to take a keen interest into the number of chess boards, books and clocks also in my chess room. But as I said earlier – another day for that discussion! 

Hence, with the “incentive” initiated from my better half, the downsizing of my chess set empire commenced.

I tried a counter offensive by mentioning the number of shoes, make up types, hair product types, dresses and knick-knacks around the house, that are in my wife’s collections. But that proved to be an utter disaster.....for me. 

How I lost that battle with so much more firepower I will never know. Maybe others could shed some light on that for me. Or.... maybe not.

I am proud to say (and unhappy to say) that my chess set number is down to EIGHT. Five sets rotate in use at the chess club. Two rotate in my office as study/tournament sets and one is designated for backyard/deck or travel out of town use. 

If anyone takes an interest in any set being used at the club and wants to buy it, I always give a great deal and shrink my inventory further.

I have successfully “removed” 19 sets of my collection by selling on Ebay, selling at the Club, selling to friends, or have given a few to nephews and nieces as gifts. As my grandchildren get older, more sets will be moved to them in the future.

So with my “confession” out of the way, I would like to ask the Peanut Gallery of readers, what is your “correct” number of tournament size chess sets to own? Please comment on the blog!

Here are some answers I have heard over the years in no particular order:

·  > Three. 1 – plastic for travel, 1 – upper scale wood for home study, and 1 – wood for tournaments. And I would add one folding travel set also.

·  > Four wood sets and 3 plastic sets. Seven is a lucky number!

·  > Three. 1 Wood, 1 plastic and 1 analysis.

·  > Forty-five. Any other number is just crazy.

·  > One more. Please, just one more!

·  > Seven. One small magnetic travel set, one pocket set, one tournament plastic, one wooden set for home analysis, one decorative wood set for the living room, one demonstration board set, and one set that costs over $1000 that you keep in a collector’s box and only show it off to guests.

·  > Thirty. All plastic, all different style and/or colors.

·  > Sixteen. Twelve wood and four plastic.

·  > Fifty-four. One for every week in the year and two spares of course. (I can see that logic!)

·  > One cheap plastic set (my wife’s answer).