Best Chess Defense For Black (2024 Updated)

Amazing!!! This seller sells the absolute best products I would 100% recommended purchasing. It does take a while to receive it but its totally worth it.

My son loved his chess set, the figures are plastic but feel nice and heavy and are quite a good larger size. They have fabric drawstring bags for each colour and a good quality box.

A lovely set, I’m really happy with it, shipping was quick too

What ever type of plastic the pieces are made out of feel kinda light and cheep. The “white” pieces are actually ivory, and the “board” is really thin. The case seems nice but overall, I was unimpressed with the quality of the rest.

Good quality. The board looks professional and it comes with two extra queen pieces. The pieces are magnetic and well designed but they are not heavy enough for my taste. The bag has different cool and handy compartments.

Overall great product.

This is a good value & great quality chess set. The pieces are heavy, durable, & well cut. The carry bag also has a spot to fasten in your chess clock & has a spot for pens & pad. I highly recommend this set.

The weight of the pieces is so cool. Love the flat silicone playing board and algebraic notation. Never had the extra queens before. Recommended

I was in awe when I unboxed it and seeing it, feeling the weight it had and the silicone board, all this is top notch quality and it was really worth the money

looks great – nice heft to the pieces

Board arrive well packed, which was necessary as it is truly glass. The board is well crafted and etched. and about 3/8″ thick. I would not recommend it where small children may have access to it and I deem it easily broken.

But my teen nephew to whom the gift was given approving labeled it as cool. The pieces are all glass. About 10% of them had some rough edges that required a little sandpaper to smooth out. As the prior reviews indicated the felt “pads” for the base of the pieces were nearly useless.

They were so thin and the adhesive so weak as to have no chance of working. Before gifting the set, we cut and glued some real felt pads to the bottom of all the pieces. The felt is necessary as the bottom of the pieces are not rounded and they would scrape and potentially scratch the glass board if they were not used.

After we finished our modifications, we were very happy with the result. We accepted when we bought the product that we would probably have to do this and for the price it was worth it. The cost of similar products was much more.

If you are not prepared or able to add the felt pads on your own, then I suggest you look elsewhere as you are guaranteed to be disappointed with what they provide.

Just as expected! Lovely product. They wrapped the ****** out of it to make sure it is not broken. Ugly wrapping, but everything is sound and safe lol.

Bottom of pieces are open. Included stick felt to keep pieces from scratching glass board but the one I tried lost the felt almost immediately and this a big potential problem.

The game pieces and board is well made and very pretty, giving it extra appeal. The game itself is so fun! Awesome Harry Potter game and very book like (just uses movie pictures and stuff) and the playing of the game very interesting and entertaining! We’re not 100% sure we play the game completely correct since some instructions were harder to follow and some rules never really defined.

But we tried our best and learned along the way. I do agree with one reviewer who said some house rules would make it more fun. And another reviewer who said that the first game can be played by younger kids.

We had a 7 year old play and they did great. As the game progresses it does get harder but if they can read, they can be helped and still play. We got it on sale and with an additional circle deal. Not sure I would pay $50 for a game but it’s about 7 in 1.

So there’s that.

This game is currently my favorite game to play solo. While it’s not labeled to play solo, the game is simple enough to keep track of 2 characters easily enough to still be enjoyable. It beats out other games I play solo that are either: borderline too hard to keep track of two characters, games with an automa feature, or solo variants that are essentially a puzzle/beat your high score.

I have played this with my wife as well and this is her favorite game of mine (which is saying a lot since she’s tried a lot and she’s not a gamer). What this game lacks in complexity (compared to other hit designer board games on the market) it makes up for in theme and nostalgia.

If you don’t like Harry Potter this game probably won’t resonate as much with you. I really enjoyed playing through each year. My biggest issue with the game is its balance issues. Out of the dozen games or so I’ve played with it I’ve found that you either win or lose in the first quarter of the game.

Essentially, you either get overpowered and don’t have a chance very quickly or your characters get powerful enough that nothing will phase you and there is no real danger in losing. That being said if you enjoy the game as much as me you can initiate some house rules to help keep the tension up fairly easily.

The other con I’d mention is that once you start playing year 7 (the full game) the game can go upwards of 2 hrs (maybe even more if you are playing at a higher player count). Again I think there are house rules you can do for setup that can help alleviate the time and balance problems.

Overall out of my collection this is the game I’ve been reaching for lately!.

This might be something for a family that’s very into overly complicated board games but as players of things like Ticket to Ride, Settlers of Caton etc I find this game just terrible. There are far too many types of cards and pieces, the game comes with several sets of “games” that require certain sets of cards to be laid out in very specific ways.

Our kids were excited to look at the game so they opened up several sets of cards to look through them and now trying to get them back into their original required starting points to play the game is all but impossible.

I am not normally one to post up a review rant but I am just extremely disappointed.

My daughter has been using the RIP IT face mask for a few years. The chin cup doesn’t stick to the mask any more and I was going to buy a new mask until I realize I can just buy the chin cup. She will graduate from high school in one year and does not plan to play competitive softball in college, so I don’t want to spend $60+ to get a new face mask.

So glad I am able to get a replacement chin cup. It works so well. Now she can continue to use the face mask she has. And she is happy and my pocket book is happy.

Easy to replace. Good quality product from a good company that produces replacement parts.

Product wasn’t in store, so ordered online. Chin pad received as expected and on time.

like that the board is easily portable by rolling it. The pieces are good size. The board has labeled positions which is a great tool in my learning process.

Its good. But I would have preferred the triple weighted set. But other than that, its a good set

I got this for my son. For the price it is very good. The pieces are heavy and the chess mat is nicely constructed.

This thing is really cool. So far, no technical problems, the LEDs light up as they should, piece recognition seems solid. It lays perfectly flat if you give it some time to settle down after unfolding.

The app (which runs off your phone/tablet) has a good number of features, including ways of earning points that you can spend on actual things like gift cards, books and chess site/app subscriptions–though the amount needed is very high, of course.

The online features could be better, it’s all preset time limits, no custom times, and no friend lists for directly challenging specific people–except the Square Off account, which allows direct challenges, but only with other Square Off device users, I believe.

Hopefully more features will be added over time. You can play A. I. too, or play head-to-head over the board and have it record the game to a PGN that you can download later. It only works with the official app, and not with other software, to my knowledge.

Decent price for everything you get, and compared to other e-boards. Recommended.

I have had the Square Off Pro for a month now and have enjoyed using it. The board looks good and although flimsy soon flattens out. The pieces are attractive but a bit on the light side. Using the app connection is quick using Bluetooth.

Once connected you get the choice of Chess. com, Lichess, Square Off, and Chess Moves (never heard of this one). Of these I find Chess. com and Lichess the best. Have not tried AI so cannot comment. The only downside is the battery.

Square Off claim 12 hours of use but I only get 5 hours of play before recharge. Overall I give it 4 stars. Compared to more expensive computers it is good value. (Sort out the battery for 5 stars!).

I bought the Square Off Pro mostly to practice endgames against the AI (without having to stare at a screen all the time). So far it has worked very well for me, you can set up the pieces for different game situations and play against AI.

I think there is a lot that the app could improve on such as the interface, getting rid of the coins/points system, and making it easier to save a position to play it many times without having to copy/paste the FEN every time.

You have to be careful about how you move the pieces because if you make a different move from what the board indicates the game freezes and you cannot keep playing, but if you are careful you can even promote pawns without a problem.

This chess set is ok. The pieces are made of cheap plastic and a couple of them are not completely flat on the bottom. The board itself is ok. The box it all came in with is to be thrown away after. But you can play a decent game, no all bad.

You get what you pay for.

box was bent and damaged so the lid never feels secure. the actual board is very nice and seems durable and the pieces are a great size and nice for the price. made of plastic. this is definitely the perfect starter set for anyone!.

Comfortable size and durable. My son and I have played a dozen games on this and both really enjoy the quality. Doesn’t have a strong magnetic feel, but can actually hold the pieces if the board is tilted upside down.

I like being able to ditch the electronics/screens and enjoy two things I love (outdoors and chess) where previously we would play digitally and lost the enchantment of the outdoors in having emails and texts a little too close Great gift for the outdoorsman/chess player.

I bought this for my preteen when he started going Boy Scout camping. It was a hit, and he has since decided that this is something he always wants in his daypack for hikes, camping trips, and track events.

The magnetic pieces stay put so you can play almost everywhere and it’s easy to pack. At the last camping trip he organized a chess tournament, and managed to finally lose a pawn. Luckily, GSI customer service is amazing and a replacement piece is on its way!.

I bought this item as an impulse buy but I am 100% satisfied with this purchase. I just recently started playing chess in the last year and being able to carry this around on any occasion. If I’m floating on the river or if I’m just playing at home or the bar with a friend.

I get my fix.

Great D-pole. From my research this is the lightest STX D-pole they currently make. Even compared to the composit Hammer which I was surprised from. I was also surprised to find that although this is lightest compared to what is in STX’s current lineup, this one is still noticeably heavier than my all Ti STX pole from the late 90’s that they no longer make.

Its not a lot heavier, but enough to easily notice when picking up back to back with the exact same head and mesh in each. What this newer Sc-Ti pole has over my older all Ti pole is it has much nicer shaping and a really nice semi grippy texture.

The texture is just right. Not too grippy and makes for nice hand transition with gloves on from right hand to left etc. Good shaft. I recommend!.

This shaft has the same grip profile as the metal Sci-Ti. I wanted a carbon shaft to use in winter, because carbon doesn’t transfer the cold to your hands the way metal does. The carbon Sci-Ti is only slightly heavier than the metal Sci-Ti, but not really noticeable in game use.

If you love the metal Sci-Ti, I think you will really like this carbon version also.

Bought this for my high school freshman son who has bent way too many shafts while FOGOing. Decided to try this shaft because it is so highly recommended as a d-pole shaft. So far so good! My son loves it!.

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So easy to use – makes practicing positions fun and easy. Added aluminum tape to nice wood pieces and now it is even more enjoyable. Recommend to anyone who enjoys chess. I also own dgt Bluetooth board with Pi clock and enjoy that as well.

But the light guided computer moves are even easier than voice guided of Pi clock.

THE BEST CHESS COMPUTER I EVER HAD. PLAYS LIKE A HUMAN. ONLY 3 STRENGTH LEVELS BUT IN THE SAME CHESSGAME IF YOU PLAY A GOOD MOVE IT BEGINS TO PLAY BETTER AND IF YOU LATER PLAYS A BAD MOVE IT ALSO BEGINS TO MAKE SOME MISTAKES LIKE A HUMAN PLAYER.

ONLY THE ANALYSIS FUNKTION IS NOT SO GOOD AS OTHERS CHESS COMPUTERS. IT IS NOT AGRESSIVE ENOUGH IN ITS PLAYING STYLE.

Fun chess computer, ready to play straightaway. Tends to beat me (I’m an advanced beginner) but usually games reach the endgame. Board is lightweight – would have been nice to have a heavier board. Expensive too.

But if you have the spare cash, good fun!.

super mario chess is a great addition to our collection. my daughter is 6 and wated to get into chess but is also a huge super mario fan so i thought this would be a fun gift for her. its a great spin on the classic game and the pieces are very well made she has used them for more than just the game at this point and theyve held up to her antics.

my only complaint is i find it hard to remember which character is acting in which roll for set up and which side is black and which side is white. I wish the pieces represented their rolls a little better ie crowns, horses, towers worked in some how like if the character was riding the horse, in the tower, had a crown stuff to make it easier to remember where they all go.

but the over all quality of the pieces and the game are a solid 5/5.

super mario chess is a great addition to our collection. my daughter is 6 and wated to get into chess but is also a huge super mario fan so i thought this would be a fun gift for her. its a great spin on the classic game and the pieces are very well made she has used them for more than just the game at this point and theyve held up to her antics.

my only complaint is i find it hard to remember which character is acting in which roll for set up and which side is black and which side is white. I wish the pieces represented their rolls a little better ie crowns, horses, towers worked in some how like if the character was riding the horse, in the tower, had a crown stuff to make it easier to remember where they all go.

but the over all quality of the pieces and the game are a solid 5/5.

My 7 year old is a chess and Nintendo die hard, and he absolutely loves this set. The pieces are solid and well made, the tin is okay for carrying everything around in, but I do wish there were moulds/holes to securely fasten them in, rather than have them rattling around in the tin and potentially damaging the paint on the pieces.

If they are meant to go back in to the plastic packaging moulds then these are really fiddly, not labelled, and don’t seem very well suited for re-use. The last thing is I wish the board was maybe slightly bigger, as pieces like Bowser (maybe intentionally?) take up more than their own space, making him awkward to move around other pieces on the board.

All in all though, we really like the set, and the price isn’t too bad either.

Clutch derailleurs and narrow wide rings just don’t cut it, especially as the drivetrain wears out. I’ve dropped chains even when running top guides, so the lower guide is necessary. The SxG series provides top and bottom security, without sanding drag.

Installation takes a bit of fiddling to get the spacing correct, but by no means is it a pain. Highly recommend. Shipping from Jenson was painless and quick as well.

I’ve been running this on my bike since last year and have had absolutely ZERO chain issues. It keeps everything in line and managed so that you don’t have to worry about dropping your chain during critical maneuvers.

Plus, you get the added benefit of having a bash buard to protect the BB shell when the trail gets gnarly! I already have a second one ready to go for the new build that I’m working on now.

I race Downhill in the NW Cup and this is one of the best chain guides I have ever ran. I love that it only goes up to a 36T sprocket as that is the most common size for a downhill bike so it makes the bash guard nice and short just long enough to stick down past the chain how it should.

This gives you great ground clearance. This chain guide also comes with a slider block so you can remove the pulley and just run a plastic slider. This is a great feature for riding in the mud or just anytime really.

I run it all the time. I have had E13 chain guides in the past but love the one piece design on the bottom. This makes it both stronger and easier to put the chain on and off. I used to break at least 2 pullley bodies on the E13 ever year.

Overall a great guide and I would buy it again.

My adult son has been using this for a couple of weeks, already i can see that his skin is clearer he seems less tired and is generally well. During winter months its important that we boost our immune systems as we receive less sunlight and are generally making our bodies work harder – going against the natural flow – at this time of year we should naturally be conserving energy! The help we need in this little bottle is there with important vitamins, used with a balanced diet.

It tastes ok too with a black current sort of flavour, i would recommend once a day for a few weeks, i have used it in the past and never got any sniffles.

I have been using this for the last 3 years nearly and I havent had a cough cold flu or any illness in that time. And with covid around I honestly thought Id get it. But I havent as of yet so thats fantastic! I take 5ml twice at night before bed it tastes really nice to.

It is a bit pricy but you can put a price on your health so its worth every penny. I highly recommend it 5*.

Started taking this in October to boost my immune system. Every year I usually get flu/cold/chest infections for about 2-3 weeks, needing antibiotics or steroids to clear. So far, since taking this I haven’t had cold or flu progress to more than a sniffle.

If I sometimes forget to take it for a couple of days, then feel a sniffle coming on and remember to take it and it seems to be keeping anything at bay. Highly recommend this product. Delivery is prompt and well packaged.

I have eyed one of these pens for years, but didn’t see the need for it — until I lost a couple of much more expensive pens from out of my pockets. When I lost my new Custom 74 Pilot, that did it — the pen was eventually found, but I had bought one of these as my daily carry and have decided my beloved pens have to stay home or at least only come out dressed in a briefcase or sling bag.

But I often don’t carry a bag, so needed something *this small. * And it is small — if you have one of the tiny Apica notebooks, this pen, when capped, is about 1/4″ taller than the notebook. For me, this is perfect.

I did buy the converter, though I think now it was a complete waste of money — it’s far too small to bother with when making the pen into an eyedropper has been perfect for me — good silicone grease on the threads and nary a leak.

I did not buy the clip as I think that just makes me more likely to put the pen somewhere it is again likely to separate itself from me, and without a clip, there’s less bulk in my pocket. And by pocket, I mean the front indentation that Levi’s considers a pocket on women’s jeans.

The Kaweco lays flat in that indentation and doesn’t pop out at all. I bought the M nib and am sorry — should have watched Brian’s video before I chose — the medium really is fatter than I bargained for but that’s on me.

The nib is very smooth. I have used several inks in it: Burma Road Brown is great, El Lawrence seemed a little too dry, Zhivago was good and it always flows well for me, and Eel Black was good. I like this so much and the ink capacity is so generous that in fact I am going to buy a second one and fill it with either Carbon Black or Document Black to use as a sketching/cartooning/doodling pen, and just keep this green one as my notes-on-the-fly EDC pen.

For a functional, useful tool, $25 is a fair price — and, if I lose it, I may be able to replace it without too much pain. I have fairly small hands, and the pen works for me posted or unposted, which is how I usually use it.

If I need to write anything of length, the lightness of the pen makes it less comfortable, but your results may vary. I have had zero trouble with leaking; the nib is smooth; the cap does seem to tend to unscrew itself a little, but that may be because it’s in that front pocket; it works with a couple of my crankier Noodler’s inks.

What’s not to love?.

When I purchased the Perkeo, I got both the fine and the medium (Jungle Green for the fine, and All Clear for the medium). I’ll be referencing between them a little, but I’ll focus on the All Clear for the most part.

I haven’t seen many demonstrator pens that also feature feeds that ALSO are clear! It’s so much fun being able to see the ink color you are using in your pen from the converter, through the grip section in the feed, and the whole way to the nib.

The build of the pen is phenomenal. It’s made of a solid resin, and the simplicity of it is quite nice. Nice lines and rounding in all the right areas. The triangular grip section is rounded, and not super forced like a LAMY Safari.

Quite comfortable to hold, and posted it doesn’t feel unbalanced. Cap liner keeps the pens pretty juicy for when you need to use them, but I haven’t tested for how long. When taking the barrel section off of the grip section of the pen, it has a little “clunk resistance” that helps hold it in place and let’s you know that everything is “locked and loaded” if you will.

Only thing I had an issue with was the nib feeling a bit scratchy on the medium All Clear in one direction. It was probably a tine alignment issue, but I hadn’t gotten it under a loupe to check it out.

The fine Jungle Green had no issues with scratchiness whatsoever. So, take that as you will. Highly recommend you check this fountain pen out as a starter pen or otherwise. It’s quite remarkable.

I got this pen in M in the light blueberry colorway and love it visually. Even with bigger hands, the size once posted is very nice. The translucence is a little hard to see from the photos, but you can ever so slightly see through on the blueberry.

“Frosted” may not be the best adjective, but I also expect some texture or cloudiness at least, but that may just be me. It’s very nice looking and writes well. A tad stiff, but that’s to be expected in the league it plays in.

I had to get the deluxe clip (I got silver) because I carry a pen daily in my pocket and need it to stay in place. The clip was a tight fit and I had to pull it back off and bend it just a tiny bit in order to get it to clip to my pocket without shooting off.

It looks and feels great. Major complaint: Kaweco converters. They ****. I bought one and hated it, so I am sticking to cartridges and/or filling my own used cartridges for now, and that seems to work well except that whether new or refilled cartridge, or converter mine likes to lose its grip on the cartridge and I have to open it and reseat it, and then wait for it to feed.

The body is supposedly very well sealed, so this SHOULD only really be a problem when it happens and you have to clean it up. That’s what sinks are for.

As a club and tournament player for 45 years, I have quite a collection of sets. Some are pretty nice for tournament play, although I have always shied away from spending hundreds of dollars for that “perfect” one.

When I was browsing among different sets for a friend recently, though, this one especially caught my eye with its graceful form and proportions, so I ordered it. While I can tell, with slightly close examination, that the pieces are not wood, I keep staring at them in amazement at how similar to wood they look.

Their excellent grain and their feel could probably fool a lot of people about that. But beyond this nice appearance, the set is pleasantly but not overly large. It is very comfortable to use, with about as luxurious a look and feel as I could want, short of spending maybe $500 on up.

The weighting makes the piece placement firm and stable, so that the pieces hold their place quite well if the board gets bumped. Tournament play demands instant, effortless discernment of the pieces, the colors, and the location of the pieces on the board, and these pieces, on their properly proportioned walnut and maple board, fit that bill well.

Also, storage of the pieces in their individual compartments provides nice protection for them, and the sturdy package box protects the board well. While these pieces seem durable, they are a hard plastic, surely not Kevlar.

When I received my set, I found that one piece had a crack in its base, quite unexpected due to the quality of the set and the location of the defect; surely it was due to an unusually high leverage moment during manufacture.

The seller was very helpful and immediately sent a replacement piece, so now my set seems top notch. As with any fine set, I surely will choose less elegant equipment for frequent blitz chess (this set may get that use from time to time), so as to normally treat this set with the care and dignity that it deserves and avoid any possible marring of the pieces or the board.

I will be very pleased to use this set for serious games.

First of all, it was well packaged to insure against breakage, just in case FedEx decided to kick it off the back of their truck. Next, it was delivered early, imagine that! Thirdly, the board size and chess pieces are awesome.

Chessmen are weighted and Wood grain finished to perfection. This does not feel like plastic. Quality board inlay work, and shape molded compartment where the chess pieces are stored. THE PIECES ACTUALLY LOOK BETTER THAN REAL WOOD.

Would I buy this again. ABSOLUTELY, and I looked far and wide for this kind of quality.

At the fold the squares do not align by approximately 1/8 of an inch which is a little off putting. Otherwise a very beautiful set. the pieces are heavy and large. The set almost seems like it should be on exhibition.

The compartment for the individual pieces is well made and will protect their glossy finish.