Introduction
Online chess stores play an important role in sustaining the global chess community as they enable chess players to access essential chess equipment and learning resources so that both chess players and chess enthusiasts can improve their skills and enjoy the game wherever they reside. Online chess stores also play a key role in promoting chess and providing support for the global chess community which is essential for the future growth and development of the chess community and the chess industry. In this article i will highlight some of the best online chess stores and provide information on the history of their stores, their available products and services, their customers experience, their trustworthiness and reputation and much more. I will also explore their main strengths and weaknesses.
ChessBaron is a well-known UK, Somerset based online chess store with branches in the United States, France, and Canada that specialises in supplying high quality and affordable chess sets, chess pieces, chess boards, chess cases, chess clocks, chess software, chess books, chess DVD’s and videos, chess computers as well as other board games, games, and wooden jewellery boxes. ChessBaron is a family run business that was founded in 2003 by Baron Turner and is one of the pioneers of the UK chess industry with over 20 years of experience serving the global chess community. ChessBaron is one of the top online chess stores in the world that strives to provide customers with the best service that money can buy by prioritising excellent customer service, exceptional quality, and outstandingly competitive pricing. The products at ChessBaron are all extremely detailed and crafted from the highest quality wood by expert artisans. Many of the chess sets that ChessBaron supplies are also exclusive to ChessBaron, unique and cannot be found anywhere else on the market. Some of the exclusive chess sets that are available at ChessBaron include concentric ball chess sets, cats and dogs inspired chess sets, Bored Ape Yacht Club chess sets, Viking raiders chess sets, reproduction antique chess sets and more.
Store history
ChessBaron is a family run business that was founded in 2003 by Baron Turner with the help of his father John Turner who was a professional photographer and the official photographer for ChessBaron since its founding. John Turner was responsible for ensuring that the product photos on the ChessBaron website was of the highest quality and is the mastermind behind the majority of the excellent product photos on the ChessBaron website today. Baron Turner is a passionate chess player and a lifelong chess enthusiast who also creates informational content about chess for a few websites and promotes chess to schools and children. The ChessBaron brand has grown continuously since its founding in 2003 under the leadership of Baron Turner and with the help of Christina Turner and John Turner which has enabled the company to expand into several markets which includes the North American market, the French market, and the Canadian market. Baron Turner’s daughter, Charlotte Turner, is currently training to take leadership over the company which will likely be the catalyst for a surge of innovation coming from ChessBaron in the not to distant future. ChessBaron has worked with some of the most talented artisans in the world to produce chess products that are unique, exclusive, and competitively priced, many of which cannot be found anywhere else in the world. Since it’s founding ChessBaron has been able to stand out from the crowd by prioritising the needs of customers and by delivering both an outstanding customer service and the highest quality chess products. ChessBaron’s main head office is located in Somerset Uk, in the village of Wembdon and customers are welcome to visit and browse through their collection of chess sets any time they are in the area by calling in and booking an appointment.
Product selection and quality
ChessBaron supplies numerous high quality chess products as well as other board games, toys, and home essentials such as chess sets, chess boards, chess pieces, chess clocks, chess cases, chess software, chess DVD’s and videos, chess books, chess computers, DGT electronic chess boards, backgammon, draughts, cribbage, wooden puzzles, and jewellery boxes.
Chess sets available at ChessBaron:
Luxury chess sets, mid-price chess sets, economy chess sets, marble chess sets, theme chess sets, travel/magnetic chess sets, club and school chess sets, unusual chess sets, and wooden chess sets.
Chess boards available at ChessBaron:
Leather chess mats, leatherette chess boards, sheesham wood folding chess boards, walnut chess boards, wenge and maple chess boards, ebony chess boards, and acacia wood chess boards.
Chess pieces available at ChessBaron:
Ebony triple weighted chess pieces, Sherlock Holmes chess pieces, Lord of the Rings chess pieces, Staunton double weighted chess pieces, small Staunton weighted chess pieces, triple weighted imperial ebonised chess pieces, and triple weighted bud rosewood chess pieces.
Chess clocks available at ChessBaron:
DGT easy digital chess clocks in Crimson Cruz and DGT easy plus digital chess clocks.
Chess cases available at ChessBaron:
Leather luxury chess cases.
Chess software available at ChessBaron:
Chess tactics art, learn to play chess with Fritz and Chesster part 1 and part 2, ChessBase 10 starter chess software, Shredder 11 chess software, dinosaur chess, ChessBase 10 mega chess software, Rybka 2.3 UCI chess software, ChessBase 10 upgrade chess software, pocket Fritz 2 chess software for pocket PC and Fritz 15 chess software.
Chess DVD’s and videos available at ChessBaron:
Better chess now DVD, Karpov’s best games, Garry Kasparov my story, chess for absolute beginners by Susan Polgar, winning chess the easy way vol1, vol2, vol3, vol4, and vol5 by Susan Polgar, duels of the mind by Raymond Keene, the bad bishop series, romans chess vol24, vol34, and vol 35, and foxy openings.
Chess books available at ChessBaron:
Hardback scorebooks, softback scorebooks, Garry Kasparov’s chess puzzle book, John Nunns chess puzzle book, Jon Speelman’s chess puzzle book, Edward Lasker chess strategy book, and Kopec world title contenders chess book.
Chess computers available at ChessBaron:
DGT PI chess computer, DGT Pegasus chess computer, DGT Centaur chess computer, and the DGT Pi Senator chess computer.
DGT electronic chess boards available at ChessBaron:
DGT walnut electronic chess board, DGT rosewood electronic chess board, DGT wenge electronic chess board, and the DGT Bluetooth rosewood electronic chess board.
Backgammon sets available at ChessBaron:
Manopoulos backgammon set in walnut with red and oak points.
Combination sets available at ChessBaron:
Highest quality combination chess, draughts and backgammon sets.
Cribbage sets available at ChessBaron:
Cribbage three track snake in sheesham.
Wooden puzzles available at ChessBaron:
Hubbles galaxy wooden puzzle, bamboo the panda-monium wooden puzzle, snake cube in solid sheesham wooden puzzle, 3d shuffle in solid sheesham wooden puzzle, great women set of five wooden puzzle, bamboozled set of five wooden puzzle, jenga wooden puzzle, jenga wooden puzzle with numbers, wooden puzzle 4 in 1 in solid sheesham, and wooden puzzle 6 in 1 in solid sheesham.
Jewellery boxes available at ChessBaron:
Solid rosewood and maple luxury 11-inch jewellery box.
ChessBaron customer service and customer experience
ChessBaron’s customer service team can be reached by phone, WhatsApp, email, and mail at any time of the week and at any time of the day, Monday to Sunday and are happy to help customers with any queries they may have such as product related questions, assisting with exchanges and returns, assisting with navigation issues, and any other queries or problems customers may need assistance with. ChessBaron considers all customers as valuable and strives to provide their customers with an excellent customer service and to ensure that each customer is 100% satisfied. There are mixed opinions from customers online on sites such as trustpilot.com and sitejabber.com regarding the customer service provided by ChessBaron. Approximately half of the customers that have shopped with ChessBaron have left positive reviews about their experience whilst the other half of customers have left negative reviews about their experience between both review sites. The most common issues that customers have had whilst shopping with ChessBaron according to online reviews are customers disappointment in the condition their products arrive in, having to pay unanticipated shipping fees, having to pay to return damaged orders and receiving less than satisfactory customer service. On the other hand, many customers are impressed by the quality of products that ChessBaron supplies, the customer service provided by ChessBaron, ChessBaron’s fast shipping time, and the competitive pricing of products provided by ChessBaron. It’s difficult to determine whether ChessBaron actually provides a great customer service as there are a small number of reviews online with just as many negative reviews as there are positive reviews. Many of the customers that have left positive reviews were initially hesitant to shop with ChessBaron after seeing the negative reviews online but were pleasantly surprised with their products and the customer service they received from ChessBaron. Overall, ChessBaron is generally considered to be a respectable company that delivers on both product quality and customer satisfaction.
Trustworthiness and reputation
ChessBaron is one of the pioneers of the UK chess industry with a long history of supplying high quality chess products and delivering an excellent level of customer service to their customers. There are mixed responses online regarding the experience customers have had whilst shopping with ChessBaron as there are an equal number of positive and negative reviews with reoccurring themes among both sets of customers. As there is also a small number of reviews online which does not necessarily reflect the experience customers have had over the years and since customers do not always leave reviews after making purchases online it would not be fair to portray ChessBaron as an untrustworthy company. Some of the main factors that contributes to ChessBarons trustworthiness is their willingness to communicate with customers at any time of the day, their determination to satisfy their customers, their transparency, their high-quality products, and their competitive pricing. Over the years ChessBarons founder, Baron Turner, has developed a reputation for being an influential advocate for chess and a valuable member of the chess community by promoting chess in schools to children and by establishing numerous chess information sites. Baron Turner and the ChessBaron family’s passion for chess and their willingness to serve the chess community manifests itself in their desire to supply their customers with the highest quality chess products and their desire to provide their customers with the best customer service possible.
Pricing and affordability
The pricing of ChessBaron products is designed to provide customers with the best value for money and their chess products caters to chess players of all ages and levels of experience with various tastes and budgets. The chess sets that are available at ChessBaron are priced as low as 29.95 pounds on the lower end of the spectrum and as high as 999 pounds on the higher end of the spectrum. The chess boards are priced as low as 26.95 pounds on the lower end of the spectrum and as high as 229 pounds on the higher end of the spectrum. The chess pieces are priced as low as 36.95 on the lower end of the spectrum and as high as 495 pounds on the higher end of the spectrum. The chess clocks are priced as low as 32.95 on the lower end of the spectrum and as high as 34.95 on the higher end of the spectrum. The chess cases are priced as low as 89 pounds. The chess software are priced as low as 26 pounds on the lower end of the spectrum and as high as 319 on the higher end of the spectrum. The chess books are priced as low as 4 pounds on the lower end of the spectrum and as high as 19 pounds on the higher end of the spectrum. The chess computers and electronic chess boards are priced as low as 238.95 pounds on the lower end of the spectrum and as high as 999 pounds on the higher end of the spectrum.
Available Payment methods
ChessBaron accepts SagePay and PayPal payments.
Shipping, cancellations, returns, exchanges, and delivery performance
All orders placed on ChessBaron whether domestic or international are shipped using the standard delivery method in order to prevent customers from being charged extra shipping fees. Orders will usually arrive with customers within a week of the order being placed and ChessBaron will take full responsibility for any damages or if customers are unhappy with their orders upon arrival. ChessBaron offers worldwide shipping and has offices in the United States, Canada, France, and the UK so customers can get the best shipping rates and avoid additional charges that are required for international deliveries by utilising the ChessBaron website that’s closest to their location. ChessBaron customers are eligible to receive full refunds on returned items and customers are advised to return any unwanted items within seven days of receiving them, ChessBaron will also be happy to accept returns made after seven days. However, in order to avoid any issues with returns it would be best to return any items as soon as possible especially if the seven-day period has passed. Customers also have the option to exchange their item for an item of equal value if they are unhappy with their original purchase. ChessBaron’s overriding concern is ensuring that customers are always a hundred percent satisfied.
Website navigation and mobile friendliness
The ChessBaron website is fast and responsive, easy to navigate and mobile friendly. Product categories can be found at the top of the website under “Our Products” and additional information such as the about us page, the contact us page, the delivery information page and the frequently asked questions page can be found by clicking the company category which is also located at the top of the website. On mobile devices all of the categories can be found by clicking the menu icon at the top of the website which will also reveal the company category and the customer service category. Product categories are also displayed on the homepage of the website with images. Customers can search for specific items using the search navigation bar which is located at the top of the website. Product images on the ChessBaron website are expertly taken, clear, vivid and in high resolution and portray products in immense detail as well as from several angles which is one of ChessBaron’s distinguishing features. Product descriptions are also extremely comprehensive which when paired with the high-quality product images enables customers to gain all the information that is needed to make well informed purchasing decisions. The ChessBaron website is secured using TSL/SSL encryption which protects users’ sensitive data such as passwords and credit card numbers from malicious entities online. Navigating the ChessBaron website is as easy on mobile and tablet devices as it is on desktops. Overall, the ChessBaron website is fast and responsive, easy to navigate, mobile friendly and intuitively designed with the customers satisfaction in mind.
ChessBaron strengths and weaknesses
ChessBarons main strengths are it’s high quality, unique and competitively priced chess products, it’s mobile friendly and intuitive website design, it’s outstanding level of customer service and it’s professionally taken product images which captures the essence of the chess products in the store from multiple angles and in high definition. ChessBarons speedy delivery times is also a major contributor the overall strength of the store. On the other hand, ChessBaron, like most online stores, also has a few areas where improvements could be made. Some of the main weaknesses of ChessBaron are it’s underpopulated product categories, the absence of live chat which prevents customers from getting human assistance with issues they may be having whilst browsing the store, it’s lack of product variety as many of the product categories have very few products within them, and it’s customer service which several customers have expressed their dissatisfaction with in their reviews online. Addressing some of the weaknesses mentioned will greatly improve ChessBaron’s effectiveness in the online chess industry and improve the experience of many existing and future customers. Overall, ChessBaron is one of the best online chess stores with much more strengths than weaknesses and a long track record of providing exceptional value to customers all around the world.
Conclusion
Online chess stores are an essential part of the chess industry, and they play a crucial role in sustaining the global chess community as they enable chess players to access essential equipment and resources that will enable them to improve their skills in chess however not all online chess stores are made the same as some are clearly better than others. In this article i have highlighted 25 of the most prominent online chess stores, each having defining characteristics. Some online chess stores specialise in supplying high end chess products, some specialise in supplying chess products for professional chess players, and some specialise in supplying chess products for chess players for all ages, tastes, budgets, and experience levels. Whether you’re a professional chess player in search of a chess set that’s suitable for practice sessions, a chess set collector in search of unique chess products, or a chess enthusiast in search of a high-quality chess set, this catalogue of online chess stores will enable you to find the perfect online chess store.
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