Are genuine ebony sets worth the premium price?
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Obviously these chess sets are overpriced. It is possible to buy better sets than these for half the price!
"And S.C has sold 15 sets in the last 15 hours."
If you reload the web page you'll see different random numbers for the number of sets sold in hours.
7 sold in last 20 hours
3 seconds later it says:
8 sold in last 16 hours
Another 3 seconds later:
12 sold in last 16 hours
Good to know DKW , that you are working for the Amazon police now , will let you know next time me fall foul on Amazon . 
Yea sure DKY , But i feel more safe to know that people like you have the time to take on the all almighty Amazon , I mean he's not having to live in car or a tent the owner of Amazon , So sure lets make it great again , For those that need more chess sets . 
DesperateKingWalk wrote:
lighthouse wrote:
Yea sure DKY , But i feel more safe to know that people like you have the time to take on the all almighty Amazon , I mean he's not having to live in car or a tent the owner of Amazon , So sure lets make it great again , For those that need more chess sets .
What are you talking about. How am I taking on the almighty Amazon?!
So sure lets make it great again , For those that need more chess sets .
Exactly!
Because As the little man , You are standing up to the big man over his dealing in chess set !
google ebony... 😅
DesperateKingWalk wrote:
lighthouse wrote:
DesperateKingWalk wrote:
lighthouse wrote:
Yea sure DKY , But i feel more safe to know that people like you have the time to take on the all almighty Amazon , I mean he's not having to live in car or a tent the owner of Amazon , So sure lets make it great again , For those that need more chess sets .
What are you talking about. How am I taking on the almighty Amazon?!
So sure lets make it great again , For those that need more chess sets .
Exactly!
Because As the little man , You are standing up to the big man over his dealing in chess set !
Again what are you talking about...
How am I taking on Amazon...you fool!
Brain cells few....
DesperateKingWalk By standing up for your right to consume ,
If you can not follow these simple rules, do not sell on Amazon.
It ashamed that you can not follow the rules when posting on chess.com forum then DKY .
May be you should do a new thread , In how i pimp my repro chess sets on chess.com with cheap effects .
Then tell us how many times the [Moderator removed comment - By You for your rudeness to other members on chess.com
DesperateKingWalk wrote:
You are just getting to desperate for my attention.
You just keep looking for something to attack me with, but like a poor marksmen. You keep missing the target.
No just a quote of facts , Tell us how many time you have now being warned by the Moderator That have removed comments by you , You lack any kind of class DKY .
Thank you Moderators for dealing with this rude member on chess.com ,
Yenster1 写道:
Don't worry @LeChevalier79 it's nothing that you're doing wrong. It's been long known that ebony is prone to cracking, more so than most other woods used for chess pieces. As noted at the beginning of this thread (back in 2017, well before QG and Covid), the question was whether or not ebony is worth the premium when it's prone to cracking. In my opinion, ebony is my least desired wood for chess, and not worth the extra bucks.
It seems that some previous remarks here are very incorrect, and should be pointed out (to maybe give insight to the validity of other remarks).
The statement, "And non ferrous weights have less expansion. And some manufactures are going back to lead, in their better ebony chess sets." (DKW). When I saw this comment, it was obvious to me that this didn't come from a subject matter expert. In fact, lead expands nearly three times more than iron, so that statement is very wrong. You may want to just ignore some of those comments (or take them with a grain of salt).
In regards to controlling humidity, my understanding is that woods tend to crack, more so, due to fluctuations in humidity, and less so when stable, even at low or high humidity. This effect is called 'fatigue'...the back and forth stress, just like breaking a wire coat hanger. And as you stated, your boxwood pieces are fine. So what's common with your cracked ebony pieces...they're all made of ebony! (I guess there's a reason why someone would overlook something so obvious)
Furthermore, thermal expansion and wood swelling from humidity, both, make ebony prone to cracking due to the hardness of this wood, which doesn't tolerate expansion quite as well as boxwoods or even rosewoods.
From the arguments presented (so far), it would seem irrational to buy ebony chess pieces (for most people anyway). If ebony requires such stringent climate control, that would then be an argument against buying ebony (especially if you want to take the set out of your house where you can't control the climate).
All of the above reasons, to me, make ebony 'not worth it' when considering the higher prices. Ebonized boxwood definitely will be less prone to cracking, and thus, slightly more desirable for 'black' pieces. But moreover, my primary reason for stating that ebony is my least desired wood for chess pieces is the simple reason that it's black (the void of light and thus color), and so the details of the pieces are less visible...and I enjoy them the least.
Again, you're not exactly doing anything wrong...it's just that ebony's wood properties make that wood more prone to cracking (for several reasons).
yes,Use wood that is suitable for the local environment and last longer,ebony only live in wet environment. Boxwood is more widely produced and is produced in both wet and dry areas, which means that it can adapt to more environments.
I think some chess sets are not practical, it uses wood from arid regions and wood from humid regions, which means that half of the pieces are prone to cracking in both arid and humid regions!!
Well! genuine ebony sets need are worth your money if given the right care. Collectors and enthusiasts interested in luxury sets that they love to keep for long and adorn are more interested in this material.
I believe yes! But there's a catch. You can go for genuine ebony if you are a collector or a serious player. However, for regular players, other materials can be as good with the aesthetics and feel, although not an exact match to the premium of the genuine ebony.
Ebony is a lovely wood and makes for a classy chess set of pieces...but...one has to be careful which seller you buy from, imo.
Some vendors don't offer the best quality ebony, or worse yet, don't cure their supply correctly. They just want to ship out a set fast and make a sale. Just my two cents worth but, if you choose the "better sellers" with good reputations, you have a better shot at some nice ebony woods.
As for maintenance of this kind of wood which is more prone to cracking if not carefully maintained, I personally have a small in room humidifier going in the coldest months.
I try to keep a constant year round humidity level at 40-60%. A short period of time above or below is OK.
Good luck to those ebony-ites who love this luxury wood.
magictwanger wrote:
I try to keep a constant year round humidity level at 40-60%. A short period of time above or below is OK.
To add to your comments @magictwanger, and maybe provide a feel for what a "short period of time" means.... In a recent bout of rainy weather where the outside temp was only around 70 degrees, our AC didn't turn on for a few days. The indoor humidity had gradually risen to 70% after the first day. That night, I noticed all my guitars were 'sharp' from the swelling necks. I had to pull out my dehumidifier just for these fair weather rainy days.
Ouch! An additional equip. expense for us hobby guys. Ya' gotta' live with it I guess.
magictwanger wrote:
Ebony is a lovely wood and makes for a classy chess set of pieces...but...one has to be careful which seller you buy from, imo.
Some vendors don't offer the best quality ebony, or worse yet, don't cure their supply correctly. They just want to ship out a set fast and make a sale. Just my two cents worth but, if you choose the "better sellers" with good reputations, you have a better shot at some nice ebony woods.
As for maintenance of this kind of wood which is more prone to cracking if not carefully maintained, I personally have a small in room humidifier going in the coldest months.
I try to keep a constant year round humidity level at 40-60%. A short period of time above or below is OK.
Good luck to those ebony-ites who love this luxury wood.
I think Royal Chess Mall is probably an alright seller. And yet, of an ebony set I bought my wife in 2011, all ebony pieces except for the pawns and rooks cracked at the base. It’s not a wide-open crack like I’ve seen before, but not a hairline fracture either; and the crack goes up the entire height of the base.
