Chess sets made to stay out
The chess set you leave on the table.
Solid timber, weighted pieces, a place for every piece. Eight boards, from £69, delivered free across the UK.
Four ways in
Which board are you?
The collection
Eight boards. One standard.
Every set is chosen against the same question: would you leave it out when the game is over?
Storage & magnets
Nothing rolling under the sofa.
Most chess sets end up in a cupboard because there is nowhere to keep the pieces. Ours keep their own. Integrated drawers with a place for every piece. Magnetic sets that hold the position when you lift the board mid-game. Folding boards that close into their own case.
Storage & travel sets
Materials
Weight you can hear.
Solid oak, walnut, maple and mahogany. Pieces cast in metal or cut in crystal. Materials with weight in the hand and a note when they land on the square. No hollow plastic, no vinyl, nothing that apologises for being in your living room.
Metal & crystal pieces
32
Pieces in every box
A full set, always. The Sovereign adds two spare queens for promotion.
0
Plastic boards
Timber, metal or crystal. Nothing hollow, nothing that peels.
30
Days to change your mind
Free tracked UK delivery, and a month to decide it belongs.
Who it's for
Chosen for three reasons.
For the room
An object first.
You may not play every week. You will look at it every day. Sculptural sets in oak, walnut and crystal that hold a coffee table the way a good vase holds a shelf.
For the gift
The gift that stays out.
Retirements, big birthdays, Christmas. A set that gets kept on the table rather than in the loft, sized and explained so you can buy with confidence for someone who already has opinions.
For the game
Built to be played.
Weighted or magnetic pieces, two camps you can read at a glance, sizes from travel to full-size. The specifications are on every page, in centimetres, because you will check.
Gifting
Wrapped for the occasion. Kept for years.
Leave a gift note at checkout and tell us if the set should travel straight to the recipient. It will still be out on the table next Christmas.
Under 30 cm is a travel board. Between 30 and 39 cm is the living-room size: comfortable to play, composed enough to stay out. From 44 cm you are in full-size territory, the scale of proper games. Our guide puts every board side by side.
Our metal and crystal pieces carry real weight by nature of the material. Our timber sets use magnetic pieces that sit firmly on the square and hold the position when the board is moved.
Timber is a natural material. Grain and tone vary from board to board, and the photographs show representative sets. If yours does not feel right in your room, you have 30 days to send it back.
The Sovereign ships with two spare queens for promotion. Our other sets ship with the standard 32 pieces.
Strong enough to lift the board mid-game, carry it to another room and set it down with the position intact. Folded travel sets keep the pieces secured inside the case.
Write to us with your order number and a photo. We replace damaged or missing pieces; we do not leave a set unplayable.