Chess Boards, Clocks and other Chess Essentials

When you take chess seriously as a player, coach or an arbiter you will need some of these things handy.

Just knowing what you want is not enough. You should also know how much the items cost. I have seen many people buying wrong things for higher price.

Chess Board

Chess Board comes in many varieties. The wooden board you see in the below image is a DGT Electronic Chessboard used in international tournaments. It is attached to the clock and a computer with cables.

This way the board and clock together give the data of which move is made at what exact time.

GM Hou Yifan Vs. Fabiano Caruana (source: chess.com)

Well, this is a costly board. A layman may not afford this. What we prefer is a foldable vinyl chess board. They are cheap, durable and easy to carry.

Magnus Mania in Oslo (source: magnuscarlsenchesssets.com)

But while buying chessmen, always buy Staunton style chess set which is used in tournaments.

Contact me to buy the set for Rs350. The cost is higher in e-commerce sites.

Chess Score Sheet

A score sheet is a piece of paper given to the players where they can write down their game and other important details of the game.

A sample Chess Score Sheet looks like this.

Here is a PDF that you can download and print 2 chess scoresheets on one A4 paper.

Chess Score Sheet

Chess Clock

Chess clocks are an essential tool to a time-limited chess game. I advise all my students to get one and use it often so that they get to know the intricacies of a time-limited chess game.

While coaching online, I can only describe the functionalities of a chess clock. But the best way to learn using a chess clock is by actually using it.

Commonly used chess clock is DGT 2010 which costs around Rs3500(78.50€). It is a little costly if you ask me.

I recommend my students to buy this clock which is sold at Rs2000($30 or 26€). We have a little stock of these clocks. I provide it on first come first serve basis. Contact me through email or our facebook page if you want one - info@kidschessworld.com.

Tournament Software

I prefer Swiss Manager to conduct tournaments. The free version is enough for small tournaments. But if you are a professional then please read this article on How to Use and Buy Swiss Manager

A laptop

Buy any laptop that can handle Swiss Manager + Fritz + Teamviewer. If you are buying a Free DOS laptop then make sure you install Windows Operating System. The latest version being Windows 10.

Why buy Free DOS(no OS pre-installed) Computer?

It will save you at least Rs4000 on the total cost. Laptop manufacturers charge around Rs5000 for installing Windows OS.

You can get it done anywhere by paying around Rs500. Thus saving some money.

Another thing we should keep in mind is that the laptop should be compatible with printers. Since we almost all the time use a printer to get copies of pairing and standings, it is important that your laptop supports it.

That is the only reason why I don’t recommend some tablet PCs which are often handy. But they may not support printers.

Here are some laptops I suggest which are economic and have a good user rating.

HP Notebook

Dell Vostro

Conclusion

These are some of the things I think are essential for a chess enthusiast. As a coach, I prefer using a projector for coaching. Most of the older folks are not used to the new technology. They prefer display boards. It is a personal choice. I hope I have covered most of the things here. I may have missed out a few things here. Please let me know so that I can add them as well.

Thanks for reading!