4 ms·

> They are handmade in a factory that only makes 250 sets / year. Yes… but why are they made this way?

usrusr 4y ago
How many championships are there? The video mentions another certification (?) class ("tournament") that's presumably no less official than the "championship" one, just less exclusive. And there you have the answer: exclusivity. Keeping an artificially scarce class of artisanal playpieces around to fill the upper market niche that is still focused on clean line functionality and standards seems like a very clever way to keep the higher priced market segment from losing itself even more than it already does in fancy novelty designs. Strategies that good rarely get invented, usually they are chance discoveries. They should absolutely keep this up, it's good for the game.
- chrisseaton 4y ago
  > And there you have the answer: exclusivity. Fundamental answer then - they don’t need to be this expensive.
  - usrusr 4y ago
    Are they that expensive though? Plenty of sports have more expensive equipment and often that's not even handmade, much less durable and associated with a strong in-group/out-group mechanism that I don't really see in chess. If you made it to the world championships never having touched anything but plastic pieces, would they think less of you? I suspect quite the opposite..
grumple 4y ago
Because the best players in the world and the people watching them want to see them use a nice chess set.
danielbarla 4y ago
It seems very likely that the market cap for high-end wooden sets is not large enough for automation. It makes sense that for this particular niche, they'd be hand made. To fill in some other bits: The pieces need to be rather precisely formed, because the players' pattern matching can be greatly bothered by anomalies in their shapes. I can only speak of the lower ranks of competitive chess, but you'd generally get tons of practice with good quality plastic sets, which are extremely uniform. If you are not used to playing on a variety of different types of sets, the quality of your play could easily be impacted. I recall looking for a new set many years ago with my brother, and having reviewed dozens of hand made sets with a variety of irritating issues, we ended up specifically hunting for a set that wasn't hand made, for this very reason. Another good question is why they need to be made out of wood for high-end competitions. I am guessing it's just a fashion / elitist statement.
- chrisseaton 4y ago
  > Another good question is why they need to be made out of wood for high-end competitions. I am guessing it's just a fashion / elitist statement. Well there we go - turns out no good reason at all.
criddell 4y ago
Because there is a market for it.
- chrisseaton 4y ago
  That still doesn't explain it - you don't have to buy something because there's a market for it.
  - criddell 4y ago
    No, but you might make something as long as there’s a profitable market for it. I’m guessing the ultimate answer you are looking for is mostly “history”. Once upon a time, all chess sets were handmade and expensive. Then mass production techniques came on line and the market moved to cheap, machine-made sets. There’s still some people who would prefer a handmade set and you can get one for only $500. That seems pretty inexpensive to me. If I wanted a nice chess set, it might be what I would buy.
    - chrisseaton 4y ago
      > There’s still some people who would prefer a handmade set Again... question people are trying to answer is why do they need to use these for championships?
      - criddell 4y ago
        I would assume it's to have a uniform and expected experience by the players. Players don't want to think about the pieces themselves, only the position. The fact that you can get a set of pieces for only $500 that can be used for many games means that there's little pressure to change the rules. On top of all that, it's a nice link to the past. If chess players and fans are at all like baseball players and fans, that can matter.

How many championships are there? The video mentions another certification (?) class ("tournament") that's presumably no less official than the "championship" one, just less exclusive. And there you have the answer: exclusivity. Keeping an artificially scarce class of artisanal playpieces around to fill the upper market niche that is still focused on clean line functionality and standards seems like a very clever way to keep the higher priced market segment from losing itself even more than it already does in fancy novelty designs. Strategies that good rarely get invented, usually they are chance discoveries. They should absolutely keep this up, it's good for the game.

chrisseaton 4y ago
> And there you have the answer: exclusivity. Fundamental answer then - they don’t need to be this expensive.
- usrusr 4y ago
  Are they that expensive though? Plenty of sports have more expensive equipment and often that's not even handmade, much less durable and associated with a strong in-group/out-group mechanism that I don't really see in chess. If you made it to the world championships never having touched anything but plastic pieces, would they think less of you? I suspect quite the opposite..

grumple 4y ago

Because the best players in the world and the people watching them want to see them use a nice chess set.

danielbarla 4y ago

It seems very likely that the market cap for high-end wooden sets is not large enough for automation. It makes sense that for this particular niche, they'd be hand made. To fill in some other bits: The pieces need to be rather precisely formed, because the players' pattern matching can be greatly bothered by anomalies in their shapes. I can only speak of the lower ranks of competitive chess, but you'd generally get tons of practice with good quality plastic sets, which are extremely uniform. If you are not used to playing on a variety of different types of sets, the quality of your play could easily be impacted. I recall looking for a new set many years ago with my brother, and having reviewed dozens of hand made sets with a variety of irritating issues, we ended up specifically hunting for a set that wasn't hand made, for this very reason. Another good question is why they need to be made out of wood for high-end competitions. I am guessing it's just a fashion / elitist statement.

chrisseaton 4y ago
> Another good question is why they need to be made out of wood for high-end competitions. I am guessing it's just a fashion / elitist statement. Well there we go - turns out no good reason at all.

criddell 4y ago

Because there is a market for it.

chrisseaton 4y ago
That still doesn't explain it - you don't have to buy something because there's a market for it.
- criddell 4y ago
  No, but you might make something as long as there’s a profitable market for it. I’m guessing the ultimate answer you are looking for is mostly “history”. Once upon a time, all chess sets were handmade and expensive. Then mass production techniques came on line and the market moved to cheap, machine-made sets. There’s still some people who would prefer a handmade set and you can get one for only $500. That seems pretty inexpensive to me. If I wanted a nice chess set, it might be what I would buy.
  - chrisseaton 4y ago
    > There’s still some people who would prefer a handmade set Again... question people are trying to answer is why do they need to use these for championships?
    - criddell 4y ago
      I would assume it's to have a uniform and expected experience by the players. Players don't want to think about the pieces themselves, only the position. The fact that you can get a set of pieces for only $500 that can be used for many games means that there's little pressure to change the rules. On top of all that, it's a nice link to the past. If chess players and fans are at all like baseball players and fans, that can matter.