To find out, I spent 15 hours researching chess sets online and sat down for an extended conversation with Imad Khachan, owner of Chess Forum, a New York City institution that hosts matches and sells all manner of chess books, clocks, and sets. Khachan loves chess, and he loves chess boards and pieces, but his advice surprised me: It doesnt really matter which set you get.

There are hundreds of sets and millions of combinations if you start mixing things, Khachan told me during our talk. But ultimately, chess is a game that can be played anywhere, with anything. Khachan said that a set itself is just a means to an end, an opportunity for a conversation: one player moving a piece, introducing an idea onto the board, and the other player responding in kind.

You realize eventually that this is what matters: the human contact, the precious moments you spend with people, the memories you create, Khachan said, And that memory can be created with a $10 set or a $1,000 set. It does not make a difference.

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How to Pick the Best Chess Set | Reviews by Wirecutter - The New York Times