I had been wanting a well made, reasonably priced, solid chess set I could keep out and use for games with the kids or analysis purposes. Although attracted to the early nineteenth century Staunton design, I wanted something a little different. I was watching a review by “Random Chess Talk” and he had a Royal Chess Mall version of the Dubrovnik on hand. I liked what I saw, so I started researching other manufacturers versions of the Dubrovnik to get their spin on a classic, well researched, historically significant set. Royal Chess Mall hit all the marks in what I was looking for. Upon arrival I inspected the packaging and found no issues save for a small indent probably suffered during shipping; no fault to RCM and the pieces inside were fine. A couple high lights for me were the wide, solid bases and an almost linear progression from king down to rook. One thing I always thought was a distraction from a Staunton set is the king is generally disproportionate to the rest of the line in height. I applaud the updated rook that is truer to the original and think the knight one of the prettiest of any set I have seen. In closing, the set feels good in hand, well made, has no sharp points to distract from play, and is something I will be proud to pass on one day. At twenty percent off regular price and free shipping I definitely consider this an investment worth making. Thank you.
