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.
We travel a bit and this gameboard is the perfect way to keep the kids entertained while driving and play when on our holidays!
No notes, way better than I even expected. Really well made. Shipped super fast, like next day it was wild
Hi when I got my board i opened it and the back row was snapped. I can still use it and I love it but I really wanted it to be good because I don’t get anything for myself and I just wanted it to be right.
The Ventureboard chess set is simply outstanding. The build quality and portability make it perfect for travel. I’ve already taken it on a plane trip, where I ended up playing with another passenger, and on a motorcycle trip, where I played with friends and practiced openings. It packs easily, sets up quickly, and makes it effortless to enjoy chess anywhere. I was so impressed that I went on to purchase the Venture GO, Backgammon, and XL Chess boards as well. Highly recommend this product to anyone who loves board games and wants to take them on the go!
