The 9 Best Chess and Backgammon Sets for 2026
Nine folding combos, one clear winner, and the specs most listings hide.
| Image | Pick | Product | Buy |
|---|---|---|---|
 | Best overall | Pointworks 17 Inch Chess Checkers Backgammon Set for adults | Price |
 | Best value wooden | GSE 16" Wooden Folding Chess Set Checker & Backgammon Board… | Price |
 | Best all-in-one travel | Lingle 15.5'' Deluxe Solid Wood 3 | Price |
 | Best large board | Large 3 | Price |
 | Best lightweight travel | 3 | Price |
 | Best for kids | GOTHINK Wooden Chess | Price |
 | Best budget pick | Pressman Chess / Checkers / Backgammon | Price |
 | Best magnetic set | 3 | Price |
 | Best storage setup | Chess Set | Price |
Buy the Pointworks 17 inch if you want one box that handles all three games and looks like it belongs in the room. Walnut and maple inlay, a solid acacia frame, weighted chessmen, acrylic checkers. Three games in a 17 inch folding case.
Most chess and backgammon combos are a chess set with a backgammon grid printed on the back and a bag of afterthought checkers. I went through nine of them, from an 11.4 inch wooden set aimed at kids up to a 19 inch leather board with a 4 inch king. Only a few get the boring parts right: a board that sits flat, pieces you can pick up without pinching, and 30 checkers instead of 28. That two-checker shortfall matters more than it sounds. Backgammon is 15 pieces a side, and a set shipping 28 can't be played without borrowing from somewhere. Of the nine, five are worth your time and they're the ones below.
How I picked these
Start with the numbers I use for any chess board. US Chess guidance puts the king between 3.375 and 4.5 inches tall, squares between 2 and 2.5 inches, and the king base at about 75 to 80 percent of the square. A combo set that misses those isn't automatically bad. It's just not tournament furniture, and you should know that before you spend.
Past the measurements I looked at four things. Wood species, and whether the playing surface is real inlay or a printed sheet. Piece counts, because backgammon needs 30 checkers (15 a side) plus two dice cups and a doubling cube. Storage inside the fold, since loose pieces in a plastic bag defeat the point. And return friction: a 17 inch wooden box is a nuisance to ship back, so I read every listing for anything suggesting a hinge or handle problem. Only one of the nine published a full spec sheet. That tells you something about the category. If you want the long version of the wood question, my best wooden chess sets guide covers grain, finish and price tiers.
1. Pointworks 17 Inch Chess Checkers Backgammon Set for adults
A 17 inch folding board with walnut and maple inlay set into a solid acacia frame, large weighted chessmen, acrylic checkers and dice. Wood where your fingers go, and a playing surface that isn't a printed sticker. The listing doesn't publish a king height, a square size or a piece weight, so I'm judging this one on materials and the two sided design. Seventeen inches across eight rows gives 2.125 inches a square before the frame takes its share, which is mid-range for US Chess and a comfortable width for a 3.5 inch king. Whether the king is 3.5 inches is exactly what the listing won't tell me.
My hesitation is portability. There's no carry handle mentioned, no storage bags, and no dice cups in the box, and a 17 inch folding board in an acacia frame is shelf furniture, not something you toss in a tote. An acacia box at that size is the thing you leave set up on a side table and move twice a year. If you're building a collection rather than a travel kit, the inlay puts it in the same conversation as the boards in my best luxury chess sets roundup.
What owners say: No rating count on the listing when I pulled it, so there's no owner chorus to quote yet. On inlay boards this size, the seam where the two halves meet is what fails first, and that's the first thing I'd check out of the box.
Good for: A single wooden box on a shelf that plays chess, checkers and backgammon. Skip it if: You need it in a bag; 17 inches plus an acacia frame is luggage.
2. GSE 16" Wooden Folding Chess Set Checker & Backgammon Board Game Comb…
- Easy to Carry: The folding game board has a handle hole for easy storage and transport
Every dimension is published, which is rarer than it should be in this category. 16 x 15.75 x 1.2 inches open, 16 x 8 x 2.4 closed, 1.5 inch squares, a 3 inch king on a 0.94 inch base, a 2.75 inch queen, pawns at 1.375 inches, and 0.94 inch checker and backgammon pieces. In the box: 32 chessmen, 30 checkers, two wooden dice cups, four dice, a doubling cube and instructions. If chess and checkers is the pairing you actualy play, there's a parallel shortlist in my best chess and checkers set guide.
Now the arithmetic. A 0.94 inch king base on a 1.5 inch square is about 63 percent of the square, against the 75 to 80 percent I'd want. You feel it when the board gets crowded. And 1.5 inch squares sit under the 2 inch floor, so this is a home and club night board, not something to take to a rated event. A 3 inch king on a 1.5 inch square also leaves the pieces nearly touching at the corners in the middlegame, which is where a cramped board stops being fun.
What owners say: No ratings posted on this listing. The pattern with folding wooden boards is consistent though: buyers like the storage and the dice cups, and the complaints land on hinges and pieces rattling loose in transit. Publishing every dimension is a good sign; it means fewer surprises. If you buy it, open it on a table and check the hinge screws before the return window closes.
Good for: Players who want the numbers before they commit. Skip it if: You play rated chess; 1.5 inch squares are too tight.
15.5 inches square when it's open, 15.5 x 7.75 closed, and a hollow handle box with a magnetic closure that holds the pieces. That storage idea is the best on this list. You get 32 chessmen plus two extra queens, 30 thread checkers, 5 dice, 2 dice cups and instructions, so the backgammon half isn't a token gesture. Fifteen and a half inches across eight rows is 1.94 inches a square before the frame gets a say, so it lands under the 2 inch mark too, just barely.
Two gaps. The listing never states a king height or a square size, so I can't tell you whether the pieces are properly proportioned to a 15.5 inch board. And "thread checkers" is the listing's own term with no explanation; I don't know whether that means stitched felt, wrapped wood or something else. If you care about checker heft, ask the seller.
What owners say: This one had no ratings on the listing I pulled. The magnetic closure on the handle box is the detail that gives me confidence, because that latch is exactly where cheap folding sets give up.
Good for: Three games in one bag with a slot for every piece. Skip it if: You won't buy without a published king height.
19 inches of folding board, a 4 inch king, two extra queens, acrylic chessmen and checkers, and a leather playing surface with a built-in handle. On paper this is the most playing room in the group. A 4 inch king sits at the top of the US Chess range, so if you want big pieces to push around, start here.
The number that decides whether it works is missing. Square size isn't listed, and a 4 inch king wants something around 2.25 inches to look right. Nineteen inches across eight rows is 2.375 inches a square before any border, and that's the figure I'd want confirmed, because a frame wide enough to swallow a handle can pull it back toward 2 inches. Acrylic on leather is also its own feel: light, clicky, no wood warmth at all. If you want a board you can take to a tournament instead, my best tournament chess sets list covers the roll-up options that actually travel.
What owners say: New listing, no rating data. Leather boards with handles are the easiest thing in this category to get wrong, because the fold has to stay flat after a few hundred openings.
Good for: Big pieces and a big board with one handle to carry it. Skip it if: You want wood, or you need the square size before ordering.
A 15 inch folding board with a leather surface and a carry handle, acrylic chessmen and checkers, two extra queens, storage inside the fold. Chess, checkers, backgammon. It's the smaller sibling of the 19 inch set above, and 15 inches is a sensible size for a coffee table or a small apartment.
Reality check on the grid. Fifteen inches divided eight ways is 1.875 inches a square before you subtract any border at all, so you're under the 2 inch mark no matter what. The listing also doesn't give a king height. Acrylic pieces at this size are light, and light pieces knock over. At 1.875 inches a square, a king base wants to be about 1.5 inches to hit the 80 percent mark, which means the pieces have to be slim to sit right on this board. For casual games that's fine. For anything else it isn't.
What owners say: No ratings yet on this listing. On any folding board with a leather surface, the hinge line across the middle is what I'd inspect first, because a lip there catches every piece you slide across it.
Good for: A 15 inch board that closes up and goes in a suitcase. Skip it if: You want wood, or you want piece sizes published.
Sizes side by side, and what each one gives up
Line them up by playing room and the order is 19 inches, 17 inches, 16 inches, 15.5 inches, 15 inches. Line them up by published information and the order flips. Only one of the five listings states a square size, and it's 1.5 inches, half an inch under the 2 inch floor. One states a full spec sheet down to the 1.375 inch pawn. Three state no king height at all.
That gap is the whole buying decision. A 4 inch king on a 19 inch board is a fine thing to sit behind, and I'd want 2.25 inch squares under it before I committed. A 15 inch board can't give you 2 inch squares; the arithmetic won't allow it. So decide which constraint you can live with first, then pick the box.
My own order, if it helps: the 16 inch set with every dimension published, then the 17 inch walnut and acacia board for the room, then the 15.5 inch handle box for the storage. The two leather boards are the ones I'd want to open myself before buying, purely because a fold that doesn't lie flat ruins a board faster than any other fault.
And a last thing on checkers. Count them before you buy, every time. Fifteen a side, 30 total, plus a doubling cube and two cups if you plan to actualy play backgammon rather than just own it. Two of the five sets here publish 30. On the rest I'd ask the seller before pressing buy.
Questions people ask me
Is a chess and backgammon combo set worth it compared with buying two separate sets?
If space and budget are tight, yes. One folding box replaces two boards and a bag of loose pieces. The tradeoff is that most combos run 11 to 19 inches, and the bigger ones take up a shelf rather than a drawer.
What size chess board is right for a combo set?
For serious play, squares between 2 and 2.5 inches with a king 3.375 to 4.5 inches tall, and a king base around 75 to 80 percent of the square. Most folding combos land under 2 inch squares, which is fine for family games and cramped for tournament chess.
What should be in the box besides the board?
Thirty checkers (15 a side), two dice cups, at least four dice, a doubling cube, 32 chessmen and two extra queens. Several sets on this list skip the cups or the extra queens, so read the included list instead of the photos.