Imagine yourself playing a game of chess on one of those cheap magnetic travel sets - you know, the ones with flat plastic disks that have drawings of the pieces they represent. Now picture yourself playing with large turned boxwood and ebony pieces, weighted and felted on the bottom. Instead of a smelly little piece of plastic with a checkerboard embossed on it, you are playing on a large board made of beautiful inlaid woods.
In both of these hypotheticals, the game being played is the same - chess - but how different the experience. The crafted board and pieces are a joy to look at and handle. The smell of the fine woods, and the sound as you gently tap your opponent's queen upon capture, add immensely to the pleasure of the competition.
Not only is the experience richer, but the potential moves and game tactics are much easier to see and grasp. The scope of the game seems larger. When you've finished, you feel as if you have fought a real battle and participated in a contest of significance.
Such is the joy of playing quality games with finely crafted components. This blog is dedicated to helping you learn about, purchase and play such games. Classic games are most often made to such a standard; it's today's fad that you can only find made out of cardboard and cheap plastic. So, we will focus mostly on games that have stood the test of time. We will also occasionally explore the beautiful playthings of bygone days - antique games made of fine woods, bone, ivory and beautiful early artificial materials, like Bakelite.
I hope you will join me as we explore these fine quality games. Hopefully, I will be able to help you find a few examples that you will want to purchase, play and pass down to your family.
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