What would be the best place to get 8-12 regular-size chess sets? I'm thinking probably either amazon or walgreens, think I saw one of those nice glass sets for cheap there..

(Looking at setting up a middle-school chess club)

Glass sets for a middle school chess club?

I shudder to think how many pieces would have needed replacement after Horrible Hugh threw another tantrum over losing


Can't tell if these are total crap, but:

Cardinal Games * Basic Chess Set Boxed - CR 104

Premier Edition Glass Chess Set

Master Chess

You might want to check out the usual B&M suspects:
Target, Walmart, Kmart, Toys R Us, Walgreen, etc, as well as toy discounters like Big Lots, KB Toy Outlet etc.



You can learn and play as well on a junky set as on an expensive one.

Well, it's a charter school, so I don't have so many discipline problems :-)

BTW thanx for the links :-)

Horrible Hugh ended up scoring perfect 800s on all of his SATs & Achievements tests, earned a PhD, and has his finger much too close to the button at the DOD for my comfort

I have experience with a variety of chess sets, strongly recommend you do NOT buy the glass sets, they're pretty to look at, but completely impractical to play and learn with, just too fragile. The amazon set crimson linked is good but the board is no good (no offense, crimson). You can find much better quality items and more choices at US Chess Federation's site, I have a membership if you need to use it to get a discount. pm me if you need more info.



Good deal here: http://uscfsales.com/item.asp?cID=82&PID=1021

Thanx <O>, I'll check it out...used to belong but I let my membership expire many years back since I only played casually.

BTW, my own contribution: Walgreens offers one of those 8-in-one sets including chess, checkers, backgammon, etc, for $10.

Funny you should mention this... I got a catalog in the mail today from a company I'd never heard of, and it included this:

http://www.lakeside.com/details.asp?ITN=XI...CAT=2&KWD=chess

Not exactly appropriate for middle schoolers, but an interesting idea nonetheless!

heh, saw one of those recently...you're right, that's probably not the best set for middle school students :-)

You might look at yard sales, flea markets, or estate sales...

No offense taken. Now, if you threw your king at me, well that's another story

<O>, I may end up taking you up on that offer, I'm very tempted by those roll-up boards..

hrm...

A couple of links (I have no firsthand knowledge of either of them):

The Chess Store

Wholesale Chess

hmm... <O>, can you tell me the difference between this and 12 of these? The only difference I can see is the second place is much cheaper?

JDMnAR, thanx for the links!

www.cajunchess.com is the CHEAPEST Place around for chess equipment, I spend a few hundred dollars, and the stuff would retail over 1000+!! Check it out. Lowest prices around. Sounds like an Ad, but check it out yourself

Yes, seems like you found a better deal, plus you get a free bag for the pieces while saving ~$50.


Thanks to bobby, this site (cajunchess.com) also offers low prices, and you can take advantage of this great DEAL there, which includes set, board, and bag, for around $65 for 12, but keep in mind this is a somewhat smaller chess set; still playable, and probably good for kids, but I personally prefer standardized set.

Yeah, I think I'm gonna want the full 20" boards.

Always wanted a rollup board myself; had no idea they were so affordable online :-)

hmm...don't like the colors on the www.cajunchess.com boards as much, but for 10+ it'd be $1.85 per board and $2.95 per set, that's $4.80 each or $57.60 for a dozen...no bag to store the pieces, but you get 2 extra queens with each set. Hmm..

(All these prices are plus shipping, of course)

Comparing the full size sets: the total price for the full size boards at wholesalechess.com comes out to $93 + $10 S&H = $103, and at Cajunchess.com $86 + $19 = 105 roughly, plus you get the two queens. I recommend the green color board as it's standard.



Both deals include pieces, board, and bag, but you get the extra two Q's and choice of bag color(black of course) at cajunchess.


Cajunchess deal

hmm.. 12 green roll-up boards + 12 sets = $57.60, plus $14.19 shipping brings it to $71.79 shipped for the dozen sets. I think I can use large ziplock bags to store the pieces rather than pay $35 for chess bags...

Looks like I'll be ordering the chess sets in about a week...thanx to everyone who commented!