u/mongoanalyst

Philippine Staunton, KH 4.6 inches, precious woods Kamagong (black) and Narra (white)

Czech Club wooden chess pieces, a classic Czech design with 4" (101 mm) king. The pieces are unweighted but very stable and designed for regular club, tournament or home play. Very common and beloved set in Czechia and Slovakia.

Note: This set of mine is available through an auction on Tradera, with a Buy Now option: https://www.tradera.com/en/item/181806/743910371/new-czech-club-wooden-chess-set-4-king

I personally love them, they are very heavy and playable. Especially the knights have a special place in my heart.

After several weeks of work, my Leuchars reproduction is finally finished.

The project started with research. I spent quite a bit of time collecting reference photos, trying to understand the construction and proportions of the original boards. Huge thanks to some collectors for generously providing detailed photos of their Leuchars boards that made this project possible.

Using those references, I manually recreated the artwork in a graphics editor. Every square, every decorative border and every detail had to be aligned by hand so everything would line up correctly once printed. That turned out to be one of the most time-consuming parts of the whole build.

The design was then printed onto faux leather, which was wrapped around two MDF boards as a single continuous piece. I considered engraving the grid into the MDF to create the relief seen on the originals, but in the end I decided against it. I wanted this board to be played on, and a completely flat surface simply feels better during a game.

The rear Leuchars panels were modeled in 3D using only photographs as references, so they're certainly not an exact 1:1 copy. For a proof of concept, though, I'm happy with how they came out. The most stressful part was definitely the assembly—everything had to line up perfectly, and all the seams on the back had to disappear underneath the panels. I also added small rubber feet to the panels to protect the table, improve stability and prevent the board from sliding.

The pieces are 3D printed in ASA, then smoothed with acetone vapor to achieve a glossy finish seen in original ivory pieces. They are weighted with 2 mm lead shot fixed in place with epoxy, which allowed me to pack a surprising amount of weight into the cavities. The complete set weighs around 1.4 kg. Finally, I added felt matching each side—red under the red pieces and white under the white pieces.

Overall, I'm very happy with the result. More importantly, I now know exactly what I'd change for the next version. I'm planning a green edition, with cleaner corner wrapping, redesigned dimensions so the board edge becomes red while the gold border stays entirely on the playing surface, and one-piece rear panels instead of the current four-piece assembly, assuming I can find access to a larger 3D printer.

Restored this old Jaques-style board that had been sitting unused for years. The frame was coming apart and the playing surface was so dry and rough that pieces barely slid across it. This was something I loved to look at, but hated playing on it.

I disassembled it, repaired the frame, and refinished the board with five coats of PU lacquer, sanding between coats and finishing with 2000 grit wet sanding. The result is honestly better than expected. It's now a smooth satin surface that feels great and still looks appropriate for its age.

To complete the setup, I replaced the worn felts on my 100-year-old club pieces with black felt. Paired with a beaten Gen 2 Garde clock, this has become one of my favorite combinations that is finally playable!

Third generation Ruhla Garde chess clock arrived today in pristine condition. Paired with foldable chessboard and some Czech Club chess pieces from around the same period as the clock (1970s - early 1980s)

I really love this setup. Finally got my first gen Garde clock serviced and it's a pleasure to play with. I can only imagine how tournament halls sounded like back in the day. Also, this DGT non-electronic board satin finish is so smooth. Paired with some Reykjavik pieces.