Digital Game Technology (DGT) of Enschede,The Netherlands is the official producer of the F.I.D.E. (World Chess Federation) chess clock.The company was created in 1982 by Ben Bulsink and Albert Vasse. The company is known for high quality and user friendly digital clocks and electronic boards for chess and draughts.
In 2014 DGT introduced a new and improved version of their Easy Game Timer series with:
- Larger Display and Larger Buttons
- Count-Down & Count-Up
- New Move & Save option
The new clocks are available in 3 colour options:
- Crimson Cruz
- Black Beyond
- Judit Polgar’s design
Not only are these great Chess Clocks, but they can be used for Checkers, Draughts, Go, Shogi, Backgammon, Cribbage, Dominoes, Mastermind, Othello, Scrabble, Stratego, etc.
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For tournament players there is a great new tool on the market – ChessBase Complete -to be used as a guide for the highly popular database/software from Germany’s ChessBase GmbH. There’s a general consensus among chess players that the ChessBase software is very helpful for serious chess improvement. However, many chess players are intimidated by the software. As a solution to the problem, former U.S. correspondence champion Jon Edwards has created an excellent guide that shows in easy to understand instruction on how to best use the program.:
(1) Prepare openings effectively, quickly with up-to-date theory
(2) Find and review games in each opening, middlegame type, and endgame.
(3) Check how various chess engines evaluate your position.
(4) Review your games to quickly find mistakes.
(5) Prepare own chess book for publication in print or on the internet
ChessBase Complete
Chess in the Digital Age
by Jon Edwards
Foreword by Karsten Mueller
352 pages, Softcover
ISBN: 978-1-936490-54-7
Russell Enterprises, Inc.
The book will soon be available on our site at $39.95. Please email us at sales@regencychess.ca if you are interested.
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Our Compact Isle of Lewis Chess Set is very popular as a gift item. The set is a real conversation piece whether open or closed – the border on the set is just great!
As the diameter of the set is 9 inches the set is not really practical for play. However, it is an excellent furniture accessory or accent. The story behind the discovery of the original Isle of Lewis set is quite compelling. Today historians are debating whether the pieces came from Scandanavia or Iceland.
Being of Irish descent myself I really do appreciate the Celtic design!
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We are pleased to have been invited to take part in the first annual Harbourfront Chess Fest 2014 at Toronto’s Harbourfront North Exhibition Common in support of Canada’s team for the 2014 Chess Olympiad in Tromso, Norway. The event, organized by Annex Chess Club and Chess Institute of Canada is presented by primary sponsor Scotiabank in support of Harbourfront Centre’s Summer on the Squares series.
This is great event for all! It includes the 2014 Toronto Blitz Chess Championship (5 minutes per side chess), a Blindfold Chess Exhibition with renowned blindfold master Hans Jung, a presentation on Canada’s history at Chess Olympiads, Queen of the Chess Fest and two-time member of the Canadian Women’s Olympiad team WNM Yelizaveta Orlova, Giant Chess Boards, face painting and chess crowns for kids, a Simultaneous Exhibition featuring Canadian Grandmaster Bator Sambuev, under open tents numerous chess tables if you care to play a game – and various types of chess sets for sale at Harbourfront Centre, 235 Queens Quay West!
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In June we will receiving a New Style of Chess Piece Storage Case. These cases are made from the richly coloured Sheesham Wood, also known as Indian Rosewood.The heartwood of Sheesham is golden to dark brown. It is typically used in cabinetry, carvings, musical instruments – and of course chess pieces, chess boards and chess cabinets/cases.
Our selected manufacturer is known for attention to detail and precise joinery. The vertical wood pieces are all joined using the traditional mortise-and-tenon method. Although the case as shown is quite remarkable, The Regency Chess Company has worked with our supplier to improve both form and function. Our new cases will dispense with the metal clasp and replace it with a magnetic system that is only visible when the case is opened.
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Our range of chess boards is defined at the top end by luxurious boards from Italy. The reputable firm Italfama has been producing high end boards and metal chess pieces for over 30 years. These boards are certainly among the finest available anywhere in the world. The selected wood grain patterns are superb, the accuracy of the inlaid veneers is exceptional and the glossy finish is of excellent quality.
This beautiful high gloss finish is applied in several coats to the smooth wood surface. The richly coloured and patterned Briarwood burl harmonizes beautifully with the light square Maple veneer. The board has precise lines that go well with modern or traditional decor.
17 Inch Chess Board with 1-5/8 inch squares
20 Inch Chess Board with 2 inch squares
23-5/8 Inch Chess Board with 2-1/4 inch squares
Viva L’Italia!
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Nathaniel Cook patented his modern ‘Staunton’ chess pieces on March 1st in 1849. His design was meant to standardize and simplify the numerous variations of decorative chess pieces that ruled the chess boards of the day. To promote and popularize his design, the leading player of the day, Howard Staunton of England, was contracted to endorse the set – in what may have been one of the first celebrity endorsements!
The original Staunton design, and myriad variations of such, remain the predominant style of chess pieces used throughout the world today.The story behind the Neo-Classical Grecian chess knights is that their look was derived from that of the Selene horses of the Elgin Marbles in The British Museum. The Elgin Marbles, or Parthenon Marbles, are sections of the Athenian Parthenon, and brought to the British Museum by Thomas Bruce, the 7th Earl of Elgin and British Ambassador to the Ottoman Empire from 1799 to 1803.
Lord Elgin had the figures extracted and then transported by sea to Britain at his own expense. He ended up selling them to the British government, interestingly enough having declined several more lucrative offers, including one by Napoleon Bonaparte. The controversy over the removal of these sculptures remains to this day. Do they belong in The British Museum, or should they be repatriated to the ruins of Ancient Greece?
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The modern chess set designed by Man Ray in 1920 is certainly one of the most important chess sets of the 20th century. Man Ray (1890-1976), a significant contributor to the Dada and Surrealist movements, had a long career pioneering work in photography, painting and sculpture.
The surrealistic photograph ‘Glass Tears’ was believed to have been inspired by Man Ray’s breakup with his lover Lee Miller. The model in the photo who appears to be gazing upward in distress is in fact a mannequin.The large unnatural tear drops suggest an exaggerated sign of sorrow that mock the event. The thought provoking photo, staged as it was, may present a metaphor for artificiality in art.
‘Glass Tears’. by Man Ray, 1932
As with his friends Salvador Dali and Marcel Duchamp, the theme of chess was reflected in many of his works. Our Beech Wood set is a licensed reproduction of the original Man Ray set that is on display at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City.
Salvador Dali and Man Ray in Paris, 1934, photo by Van Vechten
In this, his first design of chess pieces, Man Ray used pure Euclidean geometric forms – cube, sphere, pyramid and cone. He still made iconic associations such as the pyramid with the Egyptian symbol of kingship, the cone with medieval queen’s headgear and the flagon with the bishop’s tradition of creating exotic liqueurs and spirits. Dadaist that he was, he could not resist interjecting at least one discordant though somehow congruent element into the ensemble. He based the form of the Knight on a found object in his studio – the head scroll of a violin. Its form is also based on pure geometry, that of the Fibonacci sequence that defines spiral growth patterns in nature.
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Drueke Solid Walnut Chess Boards have a long standing reputation as being the best chess board ever manufactured in America. The company founded by William F. Drueke in 1914 started production in Grand Rapids, Michigan, USA, an area famous worldwide for its skilled wood turners, hand carvers and craftsman wood workers.
By virtue of the fact that the boards are solid Walnut they can even be turned over to play a game. The boards are unusually thick at 3/4 of an inch. There is really nothing that compares to these heavy walnut boards.
In 1990 Drueke sold the company to The Carrom Company, which discontinued the manufacturing of the boards in 2009. Today the boards are highly sought after and are occasionally available on eBay. In 2009 we purchased at least one of each board size available and one of each chess set type. We are likely the only source period that still carries at least one of each type of Drueke chess board and Drueke chess set in original condition in the original packaging. We have not released them for sale until now.
Here is the selection of what is available:
15 Inch Drueke Players’ Chess Board (1-1/2″ squares) $155.00 (SOLD OUT)
18 Inch Drueke Champion Chess Board (1-3/4″ squares) $175.00 (SOLD OUT)
21 Inch Drueke Tournament Chess Board (2″ squares) $195.00 (SOLD OUT )
23 Inch Drueke Grandmaster Chess Board (2-1/4″ squares) $215.00 (SOLD OUT)
26 Inch Drueke Classic Chess Board (2-3/4″ squares) $245.00 (SOLD OUT)
15 Inch Drueke Players’ Chess Set (2-1/2″ King) $195.00 (SOLD OUT)
18 Inch Drueke Champion Chess Set (3″ King) $225.00 (SOLD OUT)
21 Inch Drueke Tournament Chess Set (3-3/4″ KIng) $245.00 (SOLD OUT)
Please contact us for Shipping Rates if you are outside of Canada. These boards are listed on our main site.
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The World Championship Chess Set made its debut at the 2013 Candidates Tournament in London England as the official set of F.I.D.E (Federation International D’Echecs). The victor of the tournament, Magnus Carlsen of Norway, went on to use the set to defeat Viswanathan Anand of India.
This brand new set was created by renowned architect and designer Daniel Weil of Pentagram. Weil’s idea was to create pieces fashioned after architectural elements of the Parthenon in Greece while incorporating an ergonomic slant according to typical handling of the pieces. Daniel has worked on product design, packaging, interiors and art direction for clients such as Swatch, Krug, Benetton, EMI, Coca-Cola, Grey Goose, Mont Blanc, the Bulgari Hotel in Milan, the Dorchester in London.
The pieces, from Studio Anne Carlton of England, are derived from graded Boxwood that has been weighted and appropriately balanced. Unlike convention to date, the bases of the pieces have white felt for the light pieces and black felt for the dark pieces.The 20 inch board is inlaid with precisely cut veneer of Maple and rich dark Rosewood. Both the pieces and board are supplied with branded packaging.
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