Customer Reviews

Drueke 877.10 Magnetic Chess Set

5 star:		(30)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(7)
1 star:		(10)

 

 

The great thing about this particular magnetic travel set is that if you have to leave before the game is over, you just put the lid on. So many other travel magnetic sets force you to take all the pieces off the board and store them inside the folding board. I use this one on the train on my way to work; I read an instructional chess book and follow along on this set. When the ride is over, I mark my spot in the book, put the lid on the set, and they both go in my backpack until the ride home. (the pieces don't move either, even after carrying my backpack around) The pieces are of a unique design with an octagonal base. Drueke (the company that makes these) refers to the pieces as "fully scaled". What this means is that they are all (except the pawns) about the same height, so that the most possible detail can be shown.

Like any nice set, the knights have great detail. They are really quite beautiful for a set in this range.

My only complaint is that the magnets are ever so slightly loose on a couple of pieces. (hence the 4 star rating for durability) This is a quality control issue that Carrom (parent company of Drueke) needs to address. When the magnet on my white queen finally gives out, I'm sure it will be easily fixed with a bit of super glue. Even knowing this, I would buy this set again in a heartbeat.

The only good alternatives that I can think of are some small magnetic and pegged wooden sets sold by House of Jaques on ebay, but they cost a lot more, and will surely not be as durable.

The case on this set is made of a very tough plastic. It is not brittle at all, and takes the beatings that it should with perfect grace. The playing surface is sheet steel (for good magnetic properties) finished in gold and black; very elegant. The magnets are glued directly onto the bottoms of the pieces; there is no felt to hinder the magnetism. This means that if you drag the pieces around instead of picking them up and moving them, the finish will be scratched over time. (I've read reviews of this set enduring 20 years of constant use before needing replacement)

For those of us who are used to playing with tournament sized sets and boards, the squares may seem a bit crowded. The pieces nearly fill up the squares. (just like nearly every other travel magnetic set) Tournament pieces and boards have plenty of room, even with a 3 3/4" size king. (square size = 2 1/4" square)

Most magnetic sets are really cheap Chinese things now. I don't know where this one is made, but they spent the same money to make a quality plastic set that they would have to make a crappy wooden one.

This set is great: it is small and compact, the magnets are strong enough that the pieces stay put even when the board is sideways or upside down, and when the cover is on, the pieces can be left on the board to keep a game in progress going. My 5 year old son, a chess fanatic, declares this is his favorite toy, and has taken to carrying his current game in progress with him wherever he goes around the house or in the car.

The only complaint I have about this set is durability. Two things: 1) the pieces have a tendency to detach from the magnetic bases. Although the bases are easily snapped back on, it is a bit annoying when you lift a piece to make your move and find that you have left behind the magnetic base. We are considering simply using super glue to permanantly attach the magnets to the pieces. 2) the board has a shiny finish which, after just a few weeks regular use, is showing many scratches. I expect in a couple of months it will look pretty banged up.

However, shiny looks are not nearly as important to us as how well the board works, and this is the only board we've seen that allows my on-the-go son to carry his games in progress with him everywhere, so we are still very happy with the product.

I'm an international master (although I haven't competed for years), and here I am, getting *another* Drueke set. I've probably had a dozen over the decades! For me it is the optimal set for analysis while studying. It's a perfect size to use with a book (or many books). The pieces are easy to see and distinguish, and even more important to move around. The colors are comfortable. The fact that you can cover it up and resume after travel is nice.

But there are flaws.

The rooks are such that, if you have them on the side and cover the board, and put something on top, you could break off bits of the top. It's a design flaw which Drueke probably hasn't dealt with, although it would be s simple 1/16th inch reshaping of the cover. (The flat part before it rises should be made smaller.) I got in the habit of moving them inward before putting on the cover. Another solution, which I did a few times before getting lazy, was to hacksaw off a bit the rook tower just below the widened top, then superglue it back on, making it shorter. This also brought the rook more in balance with the rest of the set. This would in fact be an easier solution for Drueke, i.e. probably cheaper to implement by redoing the rook molds.

They *did* get cheaper at some point, or maybe post-pressing of the pieces was minimized; now you have to get out an X-Acto knife and remove bits of excess plastic around the tops of most of the pieces. Rite of purchase. Oh, and the *bottoms* -- they're slightly too long, stick out past the magnet. See below.

The previously mentioned loose magnets. And, since its availability, the superglue solution.

The queens' crowns' spokes will break off. C'est la guerre.

Yes, it will deteriorate, scratching the board mostly. If you razor off the pegs in the magnets so they don't overshoot, you mostly prevent that, or at least it'll take longer.

I noted, but was not bothered, by the King not being the tallest piece any more. I don't remember, was it only the rooks which towered over?

I'm a critical sort (I was assistant editor at the chess federation for a while, mostly proofreading!), but don't mistake: I *LOVE* this set! I played over so many world-class games from books and magazines that it took on an aura; I would let people use it to play. Now you know I'm nuts. :-)

IM Elliott Winslow

This is the perfect portable chess set. The cover fits under the board when in use. You can stop in the middle of a game and replace the cover to keep the pieces from getting moved. It is magnetic to keep any jostling from moving the pieces. It is a reasonable size - small enough to be conveniently portable, large enough to be fun to play. I've given these as gifts and have two sets myself for travel chess and working through problems while reading chess books. There is a wide boarder around the board where the captured pieces can be placed, leaving all the pieces attached to the board. This is a superbly designed travel chess set.

I don't often review a product, but I was so totally disappointed in this 4.5 star product that I felt a need to voice my thoughts. First of all the chess set only came with 7 black pawns. Thus the game was not even playable. Second the peices are plastic crap. It is hard to tell peices apart. Third the lid does not fit tightly on the gamebox (it would fall off if turned upside down) What is the point of the lid if it would not stay on when placed in a backpack, etc. If this product was priced at $9.99 I would not complain much. I returned this junk for a refund.

Exceptional set for a travel board... biggest drawback is, as said above, the magnets slipping off the pieces. I took 20 minutes to superglue them on and they've been just fine since. The detail of the pieces is stellar and the durability of the case, as noted, AND the fact that the top half fits underneath the bottom is a plus too... my biggest complaint is the size of the squares in relation to the base of the pieces - way too small, yet there was plenty of room to make it a tad bigger... also a nice addition would be the algebraic notation on the sides as well... oh, did anybody mention that the white pieces are actually cream-colored? This is a nice looking, durable and the best travel set around without a doubt!

Okay, the paragraph below is my original 3 star review. After using the set a few more months, I'm downgrading it to 1 star. The dark squares on this board are just too bad. I left some pieces sit on dark squares for a couple weeks. When I went to use it again and tried to move the pieces, the magnets were so stuck to the black squares that they pulled up the paint. This board is flat out defective.

First, for me, the size and overall usefulness of this set are fine. Being able to put the lid on and leave the pieces firmly in their positions is nice. So in regards to overall usefulness/functionality, I haven't found anything out there that's better and would give it 5 stars on that alone. Unfortunately, in terms of overall quality for the price (I paid about $20 here on Amazon), I'd give it 1 star. After using it for about a week, the board looked like it was 10 years old. The dark squares were dotted with scratches down to the metal (I didn't notice how bad it was at first because the room I had been using it in did not have a lamp directly over the chair I was sitting in). I looked at the bottom of the pieces and realized what the problem was. A piece of plastic protrudes out the bottom of each piece where the magnets pop on. Basically, each of those pieces had a sharp point that stuck slightly past the magnet (whic is why the pieces did not sit perfectly straight). Those sharp points were scratching the paint every time they moved (even if you pick the pieces up and put them down without dragging them, they still scratch the center of the square. I ended up taking the magnets off of all the pieces, filing down the sharp points, and then putting the magnets back on. That seems to have slowed down the scratching process. Also, there was a small sliver of magnet that had fallen off of a base and onto the board. I tried to gently remove it, but even being careful, left a permanent mark on the dark square it was on. It needs some kind of clear coat to protect the paint. Bottom line is that quality is lacking.

The best part is you can put the cover on in the middle of a game and come back where you left off. We took this on a trip to Thailand, and it was really handy for playing on the plane. We even brought it in the pool and it floated! A couple of the magnets have come loose, but nothing some super glue won't fix.

Overall, I like this chess set. It is a great value for the price, and fulfills it's purpose, to play chess on travel or on the go. For example, my son and I played chess at a theme park while waiting in line for rides, and my son uses it on the school bus.

Positives: Case is well-built, seems strong enough, my son threw the closed set to me 15 feet away, landing it on the pavement, and the case was not damaged. Pieces really stick to the board, and are short enough you can close the box, put it in your backback, get it out later, and your game is intact. It's big enough to see and move the pieces (I've had tiny sets). But it's small enough to fit in a backback and to hold easily with one hand while moving pieces with the other. Case is attractive.

Negatives: Case and pieces are plastic, and on the aforementioned throw, one of tiny tabs marking a rook broke off. All the pieces are the same size, and the bishops look too much like pawns -- but people have fixed that by putting a dot of paint on the Bishop heads, and we will do that soon.

Biggest negative: The paint is wearing off the black squares, and we've only had this a month or two. The problem is the magnets are strong, and if you slide your pieces, the friction is like sanding the board. You really need to pick up the pieces to move them, but then you have to be careful because if you go too close you can magnetically pull other pieces off the board. I don't know if this is peculiar to our board, because it seems a thin coat of clear finish would have solved this problem. We might contact the company to see if we can get a replacement, but it looks like it would be easy enough to repaint if we had to.

But the paint doesn't come off MUCH, so it's still easy to tell which square is which.

I have to say that I love this little chess board! It enables me to study chess without having to get a larger board out. The pieces are always ready to go. You can leave a position as is to go do something and when you come back it will be just the same as you left it because of the lid and the fairly intense magnets!

Of all the products I have bought lately this is the one that is better than I ever thought it could actually be!

If you are into studying and playing chess this board is an essential!!