1950s' Fischer Dubrovnik - UNWEIGHTED!? RoyalChessMall - Mohagony Stained and Boxwood 

Weighted chess pieces can crack around the base due to the different expansion and contraction rates between the two different materials. Wood explands and contracts a lot due to temperature and humidity. If the metal weight is tight in the hole, and the wood shrinks due to low humidity, the result is a crack in the wood. The solution is to make the hole slightly larger than the weight, and use an adhesive with some flexibility to it to allow some movement. This technique has been common knowledge for many years, and there is really no excuse for this type of defect.

Interesting review. My first nice set was no name unweighted. Still have it some 45 years later. Better workmanship than many sets made today.

I believe the original Dubrovnik sets were unweighted, and that's why they have a somewhat larger base.

I just don’t like the different colours on the top of the bishops personally

Bobby Fischer wasn't playing in he park. Wind was not a factor. Bobby Fishcher was carrying his pieces around and then moving them quickly indoors while reading from a book. His choice of unweighted pieces was smart.

I've had a club set with single weight pieces for 20 years. Then I set myself up with a tournament setup with triple-weight pieces and my eyes are now open 😁

Excellent review Alex. Thank you.

I got a House of Staunton set and one of the pawns had a similar crack in the base. However they sent me a new one very quickly when I sent them a photo of the damaged one.

I thought it was interesting that the original 50s set (at least as one owner posted on RU-vid) is made of maple and walnut. Out of curiosity, I looked for density of the woods. Boxwood (this set, both white and black pieces) is at least 50% denser than maple and walnut. So, this set may actually be weightier than the original Dubrovnik sets from the 1950s and early 1960s.

Great channel and content! Looking the thorough analysis about weighted and chess pieces balance.

Nice chess talk!

The rook variation is not weighted vs unweighted. They corrected the incorrect variation in all newer versions of the 1950

the crack can be fixed easy, someone who do woodworking "Ex: wood dust + glue" to fill the gap

When you ordered this unweighted Dubrovnik Replica did RCM alter the pricing for the request? At times these Indian chess manufacturers increase the pricing if it has anything to do with “altering” the manufacturing process, albeit that this is only removing one aspect of the process of drilling cavities and putting weighted material into the bases but asking for more money shouldn’t constitute a price hike making an unweighed set to become labeled as a “custom set” which is ridiculous in my point of view. What say you Al on this subject? Thanks, Jorge from NYC.

Can you send me the link for the bord?

Hello Al Can you give me the base dimensions of the Unweighed king and the Weighted King? I had ordered my unweighted Dubrovnik set last month and specifically had mentioned to Mr. Kapoor’s team that I wanted the same base dimensions of the pieces of the weighted version. I am to receive my set in a few days time. The weighted kings dimension is listed as 43mm on their website, but it seems that your unweighted set seems like the base dimensions to be @ 39-40 mm. Please clarify these two dimensions for me it’s critical to my order. Thank you. All the best Jorge from NYC.

Man thats a pretty queen

There is a very easy solution for the cracking of chess pieces; 1) while it is true wood expands and contracts-- the CURING of the wood is VERY, VERY important-- many chess resellers have RUSHED this and take short cuts, because of demand-- this is one BIG reason for MOST of the cracks you get! 2) This next one is a serious way to solve this; The SCALING UP of size AND BASE WIDTH! If the BOTTOM section was even SLIGHTLY wider, they would SOLVE so MANY PROBLEMS! The width of the wood-- and thickness( this solves the THIN WALLS) , scaling up even SLIGHTLY - king from 3.75 to 3.9 AND WIDEN the base, makes ANOTHER massive difference-- all other pieces would need to be scaled up! People get ridiculous about "historical exact scale"-- so they get WHAT THEY WANT in "historical scale size"--- then sacrifice LONGEVITY -- as the THINNER wall of the wood and BASE -- is causing their problems--a lot of problems! 3) I only know of one person who has cared enough to SOLVE the problem- this is Frank Camaratta- the "Camaratta collection" and his chessantique.com site! Frank takes serious pride in what he does; he has-- long ago --changed the metal he puts in your pieces--- he uses TUNGSTON- this is SO MUCH heavier than STEEL and much better than lead( much heavier also)! So- he can NOW put in a SMALLER weight(tungston) that is 200% to 300%(minimum!!!)--- heavier than other metals used by makers of chess sets! This now has a BIG effect on how a piece can now have THICKER AND MORE DENSE WOOD walls ---and the - OVERALL- scaling of size--- he has now created a wider range of SCALE( sizing of pieces) YET -- kept the weight UP where he wants it! This is how you TRULY ENGINEER, CARE about your product and customer! Other maker of chess pieces are so concerned about MORE PROFIT - they lose a lot of quality control! Instead of doing the RIGHT thing, scaling up ( only slightly) giving the customer BETTER, cured wood and MORE THICKNESS in piece construction---ALL of which WILL make the set HEAVIER, add HUGE to longevity, yet almost all, find ways to CUT corners! Your wider base at 20:30 in the video is NO ACCIDENT, it is --THEE RIGHT WAY your piece SHOULD LOOK! It is what SHOULD be the MINIMUM standard in design! Side note- Tungston has been used in golf clubs in the last 10-12 years. it has made a huge difference in distance and how they can change so many design things in a club head! There is ABSOLUTELY ZERO reason -every single chess maker could not use this metal-- they just choose the cheaper route! The royal chess mall has too many sets that are far under weight! They put heavy weight in the kings and FEW other pieces -- but too MANY pieces of the SAME army are NOT in balance to make the WHOLE set in balance and have longevity! They are NOT the only ones guilty of this!

Are new sets still weighted with lead? I've heard horror stories of lead poisoning from even mild exposure.

👍😊

I've never seen a dgt set in general

hello mate what chessboard did u use? looks really good and where i can buy them?

I just ordered the slightly imperfect Bobby Fisher Dubrovnik 1950's