What is a Tournament Chess Set?
There is a lot of credence given to whether or not a chess set is a tournament chess set. For anyone interested in testing their skills in a contest, this is an important notion when purchasing a chess set.
A tournament chess set that is permissible by FIDE regulations. it turns out, there are not alot of restrictions placed on what type of chess set can be used.
The first is that the material must be wood or plastic. Unfortunately, metal chess sets will not make the cut with FIDE in tournament play.
Next is the size of the chess pieces. The king should stand at 3.75 inches (9.5 cm). Its base diameter should be between 1.5 and 1.9 inches (3.8 to 4.8 cm). The rest of the pieces should be appropriately scaled from there. Since the pieces must be of the Staunton design, this should almost be a standard expectation.
The weighting is also important. Pieces that can be easily knocked of should not be used. Plastic pieces that are hollow are an example of this. Weighted pieces are better for the tournament.
The dark pieces are encouraged to be black or brown, and the light pieces are suggested to be white or cream color.
For the chess board. It is recommended that the colors be similar to the pieces. As longs as the colors are distinguishable, it should be fine. There is always a Chief Arbiter at every tournament if there is a concern about the board. The board should be made from wood, plastic or card. The board must be rigid. The boards should have squares with 2.0 - 2.5 inch sides (5.0 - 6.5 mm).
So a tournament chess set is one that is easily obtained and really should be of no difficulty to find.
All information here was found at FIDE website.
Chess Sets, tournament chess sets
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