Chess Set - 12" King

Large chess set. My son loves chess. So I built a large chess board on the floor of a loft / game room I had built. Used checkered vinyl tiles. Pieces are as described. Molded plastic, but very thick. Easily 1/8" thick plastic. Heavier than expected. Good quality.

The best purchase of a giant chess set! 100% worth the $$. You won’t be disappointed at all. Amazing quality, very durable and can get wet & drys quick.

Don't by it. We returned it immediately. Cheap plastic pieces. Also, every piece was dumped inside it. I think the seller was trying to re-pkg and re-sell. Disappointed to say the least.

Met my expectations, the pieces are solid and an be used both indoors and outdoors.

I am a chess teacher and having seen the almost irresistible appeal of a large chess set at 8-1/2 inches for the King, I decided to buy this 12 inch King-sized chess set. The decision was catalyzed by a class of very young students-- kindergarten and first grade, only. Sitting on the floor without shoes and then getting up to walk on the board to move the chessmen is a great way to break up boredom or loss of attention during our hour of class. So, I am only using this chess set indoors. I have tried it outdoors and the chessmen are indeed, too light to stand up in any kind of real wind. Even indoors, they are too light to keep from falling over easily when bumped. The manufacturer should have weighted them just at the base, just as standard tournament sets are weighted, double-weighted or even triple-weighted. Have you ever played with full-size, hollow chess pieces? I think not! The cheap, half-size chessmen may be hollow, but never in tournament size. So, the MegaChess set feels cheap. It's a lot of trouble to fill them with sand, but if you do, go for play sand. It's a lot cheaper than sand for mixing in cement or other construction purposes-- only about three dollars for fifty pounds. I chose not to bother because I wanted to be able to carry the entire set easily. However, I found an excellent hand truck that converts to three modes, so I may do the sand fill over a holiday break, now. Everything can go in one load with that hand truck. There is no bag for the chessmen, but I already had an extra 27-gallon storage container which is just the right size and holds the mat, stakes and a few other needed items for my class. Great! I also find fault with the manufacturer for leaving an obvious seam on these chessmen. It's the mold mark of course, but it should be trimmed away at the factory. It's tedious and irritating to take an X-Acto (tm) knife to 32 chessmen of that size. I also thoroughly resent the omission of extra Queens. You can't turn the Rooks upside down and it's hard to find a substitute object of the right size. I will buy them myself soon, but these disappointments bring my evaluation of this product down to 3-1/2 stars or 4 stars. They could have done better and should have done so. Also, I prefer the cloth mat rather than the plastic, interlocking tiles. It's a memorable visual effect to literally roll up the mat as you push the King toward the edge or the corner during a checkmating example. A little drama when unfurling the mat doesn't hurt, either. ;-) If you buy this set without the mat, you could make your own with a used tablecloth from a Salvation Army store and fabric paint from a sewing goods or art supply store, but be sure to use a clear table cover when playing chess. Fabric paint will lose its sheen and wear off with regular use. (I did this for my 8 inch King set, since the squares on the mat were too small.) Too many manufacturers show that their designers don't know how to play chess, because the squares on the chessboard are too small. USCF regulations specify about 78% coverage by the King, but many sets give squares that are the same size as the base of the King. Bad news, for sure. They only save a few inches off the mat. Shame on them, for it makes things hard to see for beginners. MegaChess does a good job here, though. The price for the size makes this particular chess set a good deal. I would have preferred the 16 inch set, but it was just over twice as expensive (this 12 inch set was thirty-five dollars less six months ago). Easy to settle for 12 inches, then. Be sure to always set up the Array before you pack up. The Knight and the Pawn seem to walk away with older players. ;-0 You can attract new members to a chess club by setting up a chess problem on two tables to the side in a hallway or in your school library. Adding a small sign that challenges onlooker is a bonus. Just rope it off to hold onto the setup and the chessmen themselves. If Amazon allowed half-points, my review would assign 3.5 to this product. I give it four stars, then, but if the price goes up substantially again, take it as three stars for yourself.

This is a really nice chess game, and was used at a family reunion that was a huge hit! Game pieces are nice and the mat was ok I guess, however, the thing I really didn't like was that the game pieces and mat was received in a shipping box. That's it, no storage bag to put everything in, just the shipping box with the pieces dumped in it. Boxes draw roaches so I try never to use cardboard boxes to store anything, so now I have to go out and spend more money on a plastic container to store it in. For the money this thing COST, you would think they'd at least provide a bag for the customer. It's the little things!!

These are fun to use outside and gets the whole family involved.

I would say you need a flat surface for this game, but it came with corner anchors/stakes so we tried it out on the lawn for fun. Very nice set, good quality, pieces and chess board are both made of light weight materials, but all items are well made and look durable.