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Cyberchess wrote:At some point in the early 70’s, WMF Drueke & Sons, a leader in plastic injection molding, introduced the “double-weighted” plastic chess piece in their enormously popular tournament chess set, featuring extra wide bases for stability. Pacific Game Co. and other manufacturers followed suit, setting a trend that carried over into the real wooden sets as well.
Back in my school days I used to get "high" (well no, net really) on the smell of those plastic standard tournament sets made in China. You know, the ones everyone has to use in open tournaments when they are not strong enough to play on a DGT.
Seriously, there is nothing better than opening a brand new bag of those Chinese plastic tournament pieces and taking a good whiff. Fan-tas-tic...
Every time I smell one of those pieces it takes me back to the genesis of the Golden Plastic Era of the late 70s. It was then that my infatuation for plastics began to germinate and I knew even then that it would ultimately becoming a guiding force in my life - even to the point of defining the very fabric of my mortal existence.
Chess is like painting the Mona Lisa whilst walking through a minefield.
Cyberchess wrote:At some point in the early 70’s, WMF Drueke & Sons, a leader in plastic injection molding, introduced the “double-weighted” plastic chess piece in their enormously popular tournament chess set, featuring extra wide bases for stability. Pacific Game Co. and other manufacturers followed suit, setting a trend that carried over into the real wooden sets as well.
Back in my school days I used to get "high" (well no, net really) on the smell of those plastic standard tournament sets made in China. You know, the ones everyone has to use in open tournaments when they are not strong enough to play on a DGT.
Seriously, there is nothing better than opening a brand new bag of those Chinese plastic tournament pieces and taking a good whiff. Fan-tas-tic...
Every time I smell one of those pieces it takes me back to the genesis of the Golden Plastic Era of the late 70s. It was then that my infatuation for plastics began to germinate and I knew even then that it would ultimately becoming a guiding force in my life - even to the point of defining the very fabric of my mortal existence.
In the bottom you are afecciónate to the complex molecules that conform plastic stuff and its toxic odors...
Fernando wrote:In the bottom you are afecciónate to the complex molecules that conform plastic stuff and its toxic odors...
Yes, I will probably be the first known human to die of Plastic Disease. They'll probably name it after me.
It will be an honor for this place. Monsieur Plastique disease sounds OK.
BUT you have a point with respect to some packages. In my case are Amazon packages full of books. I will die of Paper Disease.
Cyberchess wrote:At some point in the early 70’s, WMF Drueke & Sons, a leader in plastic injection molding, introduced the “double-weighted” plastic chess piece in their enormously popular tournament chess set, featuring extra wide bases for stability. Pacific Game Co. and other manufacturers followed suit, setting a trend that carried over into the real wooden sets as well.
Back in my school days I used to get "high" (well no, net really) on the smell of those plastic standard tournament sets made in China. You know, the ones everyone has to use in open tournaments when they are not strong enough to play on a DGT.
Seriously, there is nothing better than opening a brand new bag of those Chinese plastic tournament pieces and taking a good whiff. Fan-tas-tic...
Every time I smell one of those pieces it takes me back to the genesis of the Golden Plastic Era of the late 70s. It was then that my infatuation for plastics began to germinate and I knew even then that it would ultimately becoming a guiding force in my life - even to the point of defining the very fabric of my mortal existence.
You would have loved my late model Toyota Camry when it was new. The plastic aroma permeated throughout, and added a little something extra to the exhilarating 285 H.P. ride!
Not too long ago I had compared a standard plastic unweighted tournament set that I purchased in the late 70’s with a recently made equivalent set. While the basic design hasn’t changed much over the years (the pawns were slightly larger on the 70’s set), the earlier plastic pieces were cleanly molded, possessed greater detail, and were slightly more substantial. I always kept one of these sets and highly aromatic vinyl rollup board for easily toting around to the occasional tournament, and another beater plastic set for playing blitz chess on the stone park chess tables. These seem to hold up better than weighted sets outdoors where they’re prone to falling off the table in time scrambles.
One thing that I do like about these late model plastic sets is that now you can have the same great fumes in your choice of coloron the bay.
Monsieur Plastique wrote:
Back in my school days I used to get "high" (well no, net really) on the smell of those plastic standard tournament sets made in China. You know, the ones everyone has to use in open tournaments when they are not strong enough to play on a DGT.
Seriously, there is nothing better than opening a brand new bag of those Chinese plastic tournament pieces and taking a good whiff. Fan-tas-tic...
Every time I smell one of those pieces it takes me back to the genesis of the Golden Plastic Era of the late 70s.
Until reading this, I'd never associated a smell with chess. Omigosh, memories from the late 70s flood back. Opening up a cardboard 'Chess Federation of Canada'-labeled box with plastic pieces inside - YES - there was a distinctive smell! Dare I admit I miss it?
red_potatoes wrote:Until reading this, I'd never associated a smell with chess. Omigosh, memories from the late 70s flood back. Opening up a cardboard 'Chess Federation of Canada'-labeled box with plastic pieces inside - YES - there was a distinctive smell! Dare I admit I miss it?
There is solid science in all of this! This is why it always good to buy smelly things (though not objectionably so)! That is another reason our hobby is go great. Plastic and wood dominate. Just recalling the smell of a brand new wooden Mephisto or a brand new plastic Scisys instantly transports me back to the mid 1980s. So our hobby is therapeutic in a way we never imagined:
This set reminds me of the chess pieces for the Multitech CC009, aka the CXG Computachess III. Very elegant pieces, allthough for serious game playing I still like the "common" Staunton pieces the best.
As for the most beautiful plastic machines, I hardly dare to admit that I am very glad with my Excalibur GM... The only disadvantage being that it is too large to stay on my desk when I have other work to do.
As for smell, the first really new plastic smell will hopefully come to me when I open the box of my Millennium Chessgenius.
As for other smells, a number of my secondhand bought machines still smell like
This set reminds me of the chess pieces for the Multitech CC009, aka the CXG Computachess III. Very elegant pieces, allthough for serious game playing I still like the "common" Staunton pieces the best.
As for the most beautiful plastic machines, I hardly dare to admit that I am very glad with my Excalibur GM... The only disadvantage being that it is too large to stay on my desk when I have other work to do.
As for smell, the first really new plastic smell will hopefully come to me when I open the box of my Millennium Chessgenius.
As for other smells, a number of my secondhand bought machines still smell like
heavily smoking cigars and pipes regards,
Paul.
Size of GM is really great disadvantage. Of course you can go to the dinner table to play, but as soon as you are there wife appears saying you must go because she must put the glasses, spoons, etc for the next meal.
If it was just 2/3 of the current size regards
Fern
Fernando wrote:Size of GM is really great disadvantage. Of course you can go to the dinner table to play, but as soon as you are there wife appears saying you must go because she must put the glasses, spoons, etc for the next meal.
Exactly . It seems wives are the same all over the world
This set reminds me of the chess pieces for the Multitech CC009, aka the CXG Computachess III. Very elegant pieces, allthough for serious game playing I still like the "common" Staunton pieces the best.
Some of the early dedicated units featured authentic Pacific Game Co. magnetic (2&1/4” king) Cavalier sets. Being that Peter Auge of Novag was in the Hong Kong based toy business, I believe that most or all of the Novag Cavalier magnetic pieces were knock-offs. This fact notwithstanding, the earlier sets were much better crafted in my opinion. I once insisted that my retailer allow me to swap the included pieces with those of an earlier model before agreeing to purchase the unit.
The early Fidelity units CC 10, CC 3 & VCC included a very standard Staunton French lacquered wood magnetic set that is probably more to your liking.
Subsequent plastic units all came with the same drab plastic pieces until the “Designer Series” gave the plastic Fidelity units a welcome facelift.
What I really do not like is the white pieces having some boring grey colour. I can get a little depressed playing with those sets. White pieces really should be white, ivory or some light woodcolour, not the dull grey or silver.
I tried the CXG Sphinx Concerto with the woodcoloured Sierra pieces once, and that made me feel a lot better .
Fernando wrote:Size of GM is really great disadvantage.
In more ways than one. Structurally the machine is simply too flimsy and does not have anywhere near sufficient torsional rigidity. I have yet to find any GM which is not beginning to suffer cracking on the underside. I've even seen whole batches of them brand new from the factory all cracked along the fastening points on the underside. It's a fair bet that if a machine doesn't have it, one day it will. The rigidity issue is also a reason the LCD displays can go flaky on them since the contacts with the circuit board require a consistent pressure across the entire surface of the board and display in order to work properly. Let's not go into the nightmare of actually repairing a GM, suffice to say it's about as sure an operation is turning your cold and soggy pizza into an aerodynamically sound Frisbee.
If there is one sure thing when it comes to dedicated chess computer collecting it is this: If you don't already own a useless donor GM, you will one day
Chess is like painting the Mona Lisa whilst walking through a minefield.
If there is one sure thing when it comes to dedicated chess computer collecting it is this: If you don't already own a useless donor GM, you will one day
Ill let you know when that day comes
so far my GM and Plantinum GM show no signs of cracking and the display's are as nice and clear as when i purchased them close to 20 years ago
Famous last words Steve. I think I've seen more in my time than you have to be perfectly honest. And don't keep turning them over to check. You'll only hasten their demise. I just hope for your sake they never need to be opened because they will never be the same again once that has happened.
I'm not overstating things: I'm just relaying facts.
Chess is like painting the Mona Lisa whilst walking through a minefield.
. It seems wives are the same all over the world 
.