Awesome concept and great magnets, I just wish that the board itself didn’t get so scratched up by the pieces. Overall a great product, which is why I’m rating this 5 stars.
This is the only one I find that is compact, good quality, and good looks for travel.
The Venture Boards are awesome! The portable chess sets are already getting tons of use during downtime, sparking friendly competition and good conversation. They’re sturdy, easy to move anywhere, and a great way to build teamwork and give everyone a chance to relax and think. These have been a huge hit for our Squadron!
I searched far and wide for a portable-ish chess set that could "save" a mid-game position. This is by far the best concept. I'm deducting 1 star because the pieces scratch up the board really badly. This would be easily solvable after the fact (and after the first couple scratches) with adding some felts to the bottom, but I feel that VentureBoard could probably source and test a thin enough covering to prevent the scratches and preserve the otherwise wonderful stability of the pieces.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
I purchased a Chess Venture Board a few months ago and it has been absolutely amazing. I use it to practice puzzles from different chess books, and my fiancé and I have a Sunday tradition where we visit a new coffee shop, bring our board or Splendor Duel, and spend a few hours enjoying great coffee and friendly competition.
The quality of the board is excellent, and the customer service has been just as impressive. I loved it so much that I bought another one as a gift for a friend. When one of the ranks on that board wasn’t perfectly flush, the Venture Board team immediately sent a replacement so I could still gift it without issue.
Thank you, Venture Board team, for creating such a beautiful product and for your outstanding service. It’s rare to find a company that truly stands behind its craftsmanship like you do.
This chess board has been an amazing addition to my classroom. My students love playing chess, but recess is never long enough to finish a game. This board has completely solved that problem! A must-have for any classroom with chess lovers.
Watch your favorite chess player's eyes light up when they immediately understand what the VentureBoard can do for them.
These are an excellent addition to the VentureBoard XL Chess set - these checker pieces are exquisitely made to fit the board - with this addition I can literally have both chess and checkers with a single board - the custom design for the XL board, these fit perfectly - simply said: get these if you are looking for a both a chess and checkers on the go.
My search is finally over - I was looking everywhere for a Go board that does exactly what this Go board does - it is incredibly portable and elegantly made - the color scheme of the board is incredible - the black and orange really looks sharp and the pieces are well made and stays in place.
If you are looking a physical practice board that will completely save your work this board is for you - if you are looking to have a small Go board that you can take on a hike with you so you could play on a scenic vista, this is the Go board is for you!
This little bored is extremely convenient and easy to use. It just rolls open, and I can pick up in the middle of a game at any time. I use it now for solving chess problems when I'm on the go. It's a quality product, and I can't wait to see which other games will be produced!
I have been looking for my grail portable chess set for years. This is the closest to perfect yet. It is the only design where if you don’t drop or bump it hard your pieces will remain where you left them. You unroll the board and there is your paused game. Feels magical. Apart from tiny pegged chess sets no others have been able to accomplish that that I’ve come across aside from Drueke which I find very clumsy to play with because the magnets are so strong. I bought one chess XL set from Amazon which arrived quickly. Not knowing it had extra queens (fantastic) I bought another via the website that was labeled as having them. I will definitely have use for it. The downside is that my set from the website is not making progress in the shipping process. It was shipped quickly, but after a couple days it stalled and has been “delayed” a couple miles from my house for around six days. There is no delivery date estimate. So, fantastic board for many reasons including durability, solid customer support and top notch design, but I am not impressed with the shipping process from the website so far. Here’s hoping it arrives soon.
This is perfect for games on the go. Thanks to the foldable design and strong magnets, there’s no need to photograph the last position and reset the board to continue a game. Just fold it up, go, and fold it back out. Unmatched portability!
Shipped fast, and man, I was not disappointed. Sturdy, compact and just plain cool. What a fun product you designed. Thanks!
I bought the larger chess / checkers set, along with the mini go and backgammon sets. The small ones are very easy to use when you are traveling. The larger one comes in a tube that's reminiscent of a bottle of fine wine or even champagne.
It deserves that.
It's an excellent board. I can play checkers on it with my son and chess on it with pretty much anyone, and I do use it to solve chess problems.
I can hardly wait to see what other games they might produce!
Very excited to gift to my child for the holidays - I took a look at the board and pieces and they all seem very high quality!
Nice to be able to finish a game latter. Built well. Great design.
Of course tiny magnetic pieces for a travel set will be lost along the way. It is a good thing Ventureboard sells replacement pieces, as I would stop buying from them if they didn’t. These pieces are nearly identical to the old pieces that I have. It comes with two blanks and a set of stickers to provide specific pieces when those too are lost. But are they good? I shall start by saying that the pictures on the pieces are designed to be visible to the using player, making all the opponents piece pictures viewed upside down (and therefore making it somewhat less beginner-friendly), the pieces are also somewhat hard to grab for people with thicker fingers and they sometimes stick together when lifted. I had noticed that they are not able to slide across the files because of the gaps between the segments. But most unfortunately, the newer pieces shift around significantly while the board is in the rolled-up travel mode if it is moved around fast, shaken, or dropped, lost. Lastly, replacement pieces are not cheap. IMHO, they should be less expensive for what they are: Plastic, glue, and magnets. That said, I say to Ventureboard, I suggest you make your next board upgrade with identifiably sculpted pieces and not those hideous Checker-piece Pawns you made for your Ventureboard XL set. After having stated all of that, your mini board is still the best mini chess in existence, and I will be watching for your future product improvements.
Love the game boards, but just awaiting on the checkers. Easy to use Phun at the ball game.
What a great invention for my teen and his friends. They take these on bus rides, to the school lunchroom, and anywhere they have downtime. Ordered more as gifts for other friends. Great product
I title this because it tooo awhileeeeee to finally get to me. I won’t dock stars in my rating for that though because I love the board and how easy it is to travel with. I like how strong the magnets are and how clean the pieces are.
I own a large board and a small one already. My 11 yo loves using my boards so I bought him his own for a recent road trip and he loves it. Great quality as always.
I lead the chess club at the private school that I work at, and this cool mini magnetic travel chess set has a “wow-factor” that my students can appreciate. The boards we have are various and vast, even higher end “AI” boards, but this small board keeps getting used or requested at nearly every one of our meetings. I believe it is popular because of the pros: it can roll up into the shape of a soda can, it rolls up like an armadillo to be all sturdy and solid, it can save the game pieces in place, it comes with 2 extra Queens and 2 blanks (and the stickers for them), and the set just plain looks cool. I found the cons to be: the pictures on the pieces are designed to be visible to the using player, making all the opponents piece pictures viewed upside down (and therefore making it less beginner-friendly), the pieces are somewhat hard to grab for people with thicker fingers and they sometimes stick together when lifted, the pieces are not able to slide across the files because of the gaps between the segments, the pieces shift around significantly while the board is in the rolled-up travel mode if it is moved around fast, shaken, or dropped, lost, and lastly, replacement pieces are not cheap. IMHO, they should be less expensive for what they are: Plastic, glue, and magnets. Unfortunately the new gray/orange “Fire” color is much duller in tone than the bright and vibrant one used in the advertisement. The only other differences I can detect from my older black and white “mini chess set” Ventureboard is that the new magnetic pieces stick less to the paint (if left in place overnight), but they do however seem slightly weaker and slide around a bit sooner than the older set as a result. In conclusion, this board may still be a travel chess set and is not at all the ideal or perfect chess board, it may be steep in cost for what it is, it may not be the easiest to use or even work the way it should. But, wow, is this board cool. Most fans of Chess will agree that this set is the best travel board for any chess enthusiast to have. If you are reading this, Ventureboard, I suggest you make your next board upgrade with identifiably sculpted pieces and not those hideous Checker-piece Pawns you made for your Ventureboard XL set.
I was hesitant after ordering, but I am very impressed. Every piece has strong magnets, it closes easily without any pieces touching, and rolls up to minimize size when storing.
It’s more expensive than a cheap Walmart box chess set, but the quality is very nice. Well done!