Over the River and Through the "Woods": A Guide to Wood Types Used to Make Chess Pieces

Over the River and Through the “Woods”
A guide to wood types used to make chess pieces
by Stephen Arnold, Owner

Wooden chess pieces, for the most part, are traditionally made from one of the below listed types of wood,
all which are classified as hardwoods. Hardwood comes from deciduous trees, i.e. trees that have broad
leaves and typically go dormant in the winter.

Now that we're past all the botanical information truly relevant to your buying decision, let's see what's what.

Ebony
Ebony is one of the more traditional woods used in the making of dark chess
pieces. The deep luster and total blackness of this wood makes for
exceptional, true black chess pieces. This wood exhibits excellent finishing
and polishing characteristics. Keep in mind though that this wood is
considered to be highly exotic and difficult to carve and will therefore add
significant cost, as well as value, to the price of a wooden chess set.

Rosewood
Rosewood is very hard wood variety with a dark reddish brown color. The
crossed, narrowly interlocked grain, with the combinations of darker streaks
gives the wood a very attractive appearance. This wood is supposed to be fairly
difficult to carve and work by hand. This wood also has excellent finishing and
polishing characteristics. Less exotic than ebony, but more exotic than other
woods, expect to pay more for a chess sets with dark pieces made of
rosewood.

Sheesham (a.k.a. Golden Rosewood)
Sheesham is a rich medium brown wood with deep grains. It is a part of the
rosewood family. The wood variety is highly is durable, easily carved and is
widely used in the making of chess pieces. Carving properties are reported to
be very good, and it is considered to be one of two most popular carving and
engraving woods in India. All of these properties, and its relative low cost,
made this wood an excellent choice for attractive, yet practical, wooden chess
sets.

West Indian Boxwood
Commonly known as boxwood, this species of wood has texture that is very
fine and uniform. It has a generally straight grain, with a very high luster. It can
be turned on a lathe very easily, and its carving characteristics are described
as excellent. Its coloring is usually a very light yellow brown, with a hint of red
tones. It too is relatively inexpensive. All of these characteristics make boxwood
an excellent choice for light chess pieces. Moreover, boxwood also accepts
stain very well and is therefore the wood of choice for ebonizing (staining black
to resemble ebony) chess pieces. White wooden chess pieces are almost
exclusively made of boxwood, often with a light lacquer coating for protection.

Walnut
Walnut is a very strong and finely textured hardwood. While it’s primarily used
in the making of chessboards, both solid wood and veneered, its use for
making wooden chess pieces is fairly limited.

Maple
Maple is a finely textured wood variety with immense strength and hardness. It
carves well and is occasionally used to make “white” chess pieces and
frequently used for the “white” squares on a chessboard. Its durability is
virtually beyond compare. After all, they make bowling alleys out of this stuff.
Maple also stains well and can therefore be used to make entire chess sets,
both dark and light pieces. All of these characteristic, and its relative low cost,
make this wood an excellent choice for chess pieces that are intended for a lot
of use. Such as that associated with club or tournament play.

Oak
Oak possesses good bending qualities in addition to its durability. It finishes
well and resists moisture absorption. However, much like walnut, the use of
oak to make wooden chess pieces is limited.