Sterling Chess

Sterling Chess

Sterling Chess is our own label. It is not a single product line: it runs from club and tournament chessmen through historic reproduction patterns to complete sets, timber boards, chess tables and fitted storage.

That breadth is the point of it. Find a pattern you like in one part of the range and the same label will usually carry the board, the table and the box to keep it in, cut to sizes that work together.

What the label covers

Chess pieces

Pieces are the deepest part of the label. The bulk is Staunton or a Staunton variant, cut for club and tournament use, and a large group reproduces patterns from chess history. King heights run from 49mm to 159mm, with giant outdoor chessmen well beyond that. Timbers are chiefly ebony, ebonised boxwood, boxwood, sheesham, rosewood and bud rosewood, with brass, camel bone and moulded plastic alongside them. Start at chess pieces for the full range, or go straight to Staunton chess pieces, wood chess pieces, reproduction chess pieces or luxury chess pieces for the large-format end.

Complete sets

A complete set is board and pieces together, sized to each other, which takes the one decision that most often goes wrong out of your hands. Under this label that covers marble sets, luxury ebony and boxwood armies supplied with a matching board, and folding magnetic travel sets. Boards on these run from 18cm up to 76cm and kings from 26mm to 123mm. See chess sets, wood chess sets, marble chess sets and travel chess sets.

Boards

Boards are sold on their own for players who already have an army. Sizes run from 37cm to 60cm with squares of 38mm to 60mm, in sheesham and maple, Indian rosewood and maple, bud rosewood and maple, ebony and maple, and walnut and maple veneer. Browse chess boards, wood chess boards or tournament chess boards if the board is for rated play.

Tables and storage

The label also carries chess tables from 53cm to 76cm, in golden rosewood with maple or acrylic ivory playing surfaces, and fitted storage boxes cut for kings up to 107mm and up to 114mm. See chess tables and chess piece storage boxes.

Matching pieces to a board

This is the step that goes wrong, and it is worth getting right before you order rather than after. Measure the base diameter of your king and choose a board whose square is comfortably wider than that base, leaving room for two pieces to stand on adjacent squares without touching. FIDE puts competition squares between 5cm and 6cm. Every listing under this label gives the king height and base diameter, and every board gives its square size, so the arithmetic is there to do. If you would rather not make the decision at all, a complete set in chess sets has already had it made for you.

Buying Sterling Chess in Australia

Everything under this label is held in Australian stock and shipped from Australia, so there is no international freight wait and no customs step. Pieces travel in their own packaging with the army separated, boards are packed flat, and tables ship in their own carton.

All products sold by Sterling Chess are backed by a 12 month limited manufacturer warranty. This covers manufacturing defects and cracking, and ensures every product is 100% genuine. Sterling Chess also offers 100 day free returns.

Browse related

• Chess pieces. Every army on the site, in every material.
• Chess sets. Board and pieces together.
• Chess boards. Boards on their own, in every size.
• Chess tables. A board built into furniture.
• Chess piece storage boxes. Fitted cases for an army between games.
• All brands. The other labels stocked alongside this one.

Sterling Chess FAQs

What is Sterling Chess?

Sterling Chess is our own label. Products carrying it span chess pieces, complete sets, boards, chess tables and storage, rather than a single style or material.

What sizes do the chess pieces come in?

King heights in the titles run from 49mm to 159mm, which spans small travel armies through club and tournament sizes to large collector pieces. Giant outdoor chessmen go well beyond that, up to lifesize.

Do the chess pieces come with a board?

Listings under chess pieces are an army on its own, and listings under chess sets are board and pieces together. Each product page states which, and the chess sets are gathered in chess sets.

What timbers are used?

Ebony, ebonised boxwood, boxwood, sheesham, rosewood, bud rosewood and mahogany-stained options across the pieces, with maple as the light side on the boards. Brass, camel bone, marble and moulded plastic also appear, and each product page names what it is made from.

What board sizes are available?

Boards sold on their own run from 37cm to 60cm, with squares of 38mm to 60mm. The larger sizes suit a full club army; the smaller ones suit a side table and a shorter king. Sizes are in every board title in chess boards.

Are Sterling Chess pieces suitable for tournament play?

Many are. Check the king height and base diameter against the board you will play on and against your club's requirements, because individual events set their own equipment rules. The ones cut to competition proportions also sit in tournament chess pieces and tournament chess sets.

Is Sterling Chess an Australian brand?

Yes. Sterling Chess is Australian owned and operated, stock is held in Australia and orders ship from Australia, with local support and 100 day free returns.