the STACK Chessboard - Tournament Edition

This chess board oozes quality being a natural product (wood) which is difficult to appreciate just from pictures you see online. The finish and matching the individual square pieces is as good considering the wood grain and tonality of two types of wood. So many pieces come together to make the chess board beautiful, durable and a joy to play on. Raphael personally topped it off with good communication and guaranteeing customer satisfaction ensuring the product is a perfect as it should be when issues were encountered. Shopping from thousands of miles away in UK was reassuring indeed.

Synopsis for the tl;dr folks: I’m very happy with this board.

I have some beautiful wood veneer boards but this is my first solid wood board. I love that it doesn’t have a border so you can see the craftsmanship from above and the sides, it’s striking.

Note: if you are concerned about playing on a board without coordinates, while my FlexPad boards have them I specifically choose wood boards that don’t because I think they look better without the letters & numbers. After notating a few games where you have to count the squares because there are no coordinates you will quickly commit them to memory, although this was much easier back in the P-K4 days (dating myself).

In addition to the looks, the functionality is superb, its 2.25” squares are perfect for tournament or casual play, and the snap as the magnets pull the board together is quite satisfying. After the game it quickly disassembles and stores in a backpack which makes it easy to carry.

I bought the STACK to carry to the weekly tournament games our local club runs and to take with me on roadtrips to play against friends and at other clubs. I use a backpack to carry the board, piece box, clock, pen and clipboard/scoresheets. This is much more comfortable and manageable than a large heavy bag with a full size wooden board that I have to carry with my arm slightly bent so it doesn’t drag on the ground.

As far as care for a wood board/pieces, I don’t know what Chess House suggests but on all my wood sets I use Howard Feed-N-Wax wood polish & conditioner on the boards. It’s a Beeswax/Carnauba/Orange oil product that shines beautifully and the pieces just glide across the board. I also use this on the Sapele wood box I store the pieces in to protect its wood.
I use Renaissance Micro-Crystalline wax polish on the chess pieces, this is the wax used by the British Museum restoration specialists to protect items and it works well on chess pieces. Just apply it with a shoe polish application brush, buff in with a horsehair shoe brush, and polish with a microfiber cloth.
Overkill, maybe, but the wood sets are beautiful and expensive and I’m letting strangers touch them ;).

Pictured is my STACK paired with the 4” Grandmaster Series Chess Pieces & the Sapele storage box I carry the pieces in.

I would make one suggestion for the product: while the included leather wrap is artsy and beautiful for displaying & storing the board at home, I’m not confident in it holding everything together and not allowing the board to get scratched or rubbed during transport. This board cries “take me with you” so I’m looking for a secure way to carry it.
I’m currently using 4 cloth bags to hold the board pieces before putting them in the backpack, but maybe you can develop a box or wrap to hold them together securely while protecting from scratches on the edges and rubbing on the surface?

When I first learned about the design of this chessboard I had to pinch myself to see if I was dreaming. This solution was the perfect answer to the common problem of the worry when transporting chessboards to tournaments. Because of the size of chessboards, these can get damaged when lugging them around in your car, etc. The Stack chessboard design was the perfect solution to this problem and I couldn't be happier to see this finally being made. Needless to say I had to get this no matter what and I'm glad I did. I love it...the weight, feel of the 4 pieces and look of the walnut and maple really popped out and made the chess pieces look more substantial. I hope the manufacturer considers making this in cherry and maple, golden rosewood and maple because if they do...I'm going to be forced to get another unit if and when that happens. Now if only they could offer this board and pair it with the US Chess championship set that was used in St Louis. Yeah, I know that would be an insanely expensive unit to have...but it would be just about the ultimate combination of functionally perfect chessboard design and pieces.

Outstanding craftsmanship! Wood joints aligned perfectly on all squares. Magnetic sides align without gaps.
And best of all --- I have won chess game played on this board to date!

... and you've got yourself a chessboard. With large squares for that nice big set you've bought.
With a beautiful finish, this board is to be admired. I am very satisfied and am glad I got my hands on this board.
Thank you for this innovative product.