GothamChess Board | Foldable & Portable, Magnetic Chess Pieces, Organized Fitted Storage, Includes Course by International Master Levy Rozman, Game for Families & Adults | 15.75" x 15.75"

Good chess board, my brother loved this.

The quality of the game pieces are excellent, the board is magnetic and a beautiful finished wood , and if you don't know the creator the board is affiliated with get to know him on chessly or YouTube the man it a great teacher # Gothamchess

Good

I like a lot of things about this board. -- Ranks & Files annotated; extra queens, magnets seem decent enough (not a strong snap, but strong enough to hold the pieces on upside down for the most part). But... and don't get me wrong, I'm a Gotham Chess fan... I just don't want his logo printed directly on one of the squares... and all up the side of the board... -- it just feels a bit tacky... -- also this is closer to 16", and the board is pretty large. I think if they had one with all the same features in a 12" size, with no branding printed all over it, I'd be into it. Probably on me for not noticing the logo in the product pictures, but it's not super prominent with white's H-file Rook covering it in most photos... As it is, I can't find a 12" set that has two queens, rank & file annotations, wooden, folding, magnetic, and NO branding... it's kind of a shame. -- If Levy made a board like that... even if it had smaller branding on the side that said Gotham Chess or whatever, I'd probably be a lot more excited about it. As it is, I'm probably going to return it... Bleh. Mine also had like a blemish on one of the squares... so, not really worth it to me... Also... why do all the Knights and Rooks on modern Chess sets look so silly? Like half of them have this eyes wide open looking derpy af looking knights, or the rooks have no crenelations, etc. -- It seems like every set has to have one or the other issue...

Nice

I really wanted to like this. The board is nice. Easy to see and read. The pieces have some weight and they stay nicely with the magnet. The biggest crushing issue is the holder inside. The pieces do not stay. Every time you go to open or close it, they fall out—specifically the queen, king, and bishop. It makes putting it away challenging. Not worth keeping.

Great feeling board!! Classic!

I have had this for several months and so far no issues with peeled squares or cracked pieces. The board has a satin, natural-wood finish and the wooden pieces are felted. I don't think they're weighted, other than the magnets. It also comes with 2 queens which was a nice addition. The coordinates are large and easily readable. The latches on the side aren't super heavy duty or anything, but so far have done the job. Construction all in all though is a step above a lot of the cheap "combo" game sets that I've seen. I think this would be a reasonable set for an aspiring new chess player or a casual player as sort of an all-purpose set. More seasoned players are probably already into more customized sets and might be best to look elsewhere. I don't know if I'd go so far as to say it's "compact", as it is a fairly large board, but it does fold and is self contained. I have not tried the free online courses yet. I would rate it 4 stars for meeting or exceeding my expectations based on the description. I would also note that while I had the privilege of ordering this for review and didn't have to pay the going price of ~$39 outright, that price does put it sort of in the middle of a wide array of other boards.