Cats vs Dogs Chess Set: Glass Board or Storage Board in 2026

If you want the set to sit out and be admired, the 17 inch Ebros cats vs dogs set is the one. If you want to play a game and then put the pieces away properly, the HPL set with the two drawers wins. Both are hand painted resin armies that come with their own board, and neither belongs in a rated game.

I've set up a lot of novelty sets on club nights. The ones that survive are the ones with a home for every piece. The pretty ones end up in a shoebox with an ear rattling around loose. That's the whole fight here. Cats and dogs are almost beside the point.

Worth saying up front: not one of these four listings shows a star rating or a review count. So I'm working from the published specs and from what owners of resin novelty sets tend to mention. The paint is usually clean. The resin is heavier than the photos suggest. Shipping damage is a coin flip.

The short version

Board size and how much table it eats

The Ebros pair comes in 15 by 15 inches and 17 by 17 inches, both 1/4 inch thick glass. HPL goes 17 and 18 inches in laminate. Stick an 18 inch board on a 30 inch coffee table and you've used most of it before anyone sits down.

Here's the arithmetic you have to do yourself, because none of the four listings gives a square size. Take an 8x8 grid, subtract a border, and the playing area shrinks fast. A 15 inch board with a 1.5 inch frame leaves you squares under 1.7 inches. US Chess guidance puts comfortable squares at 2 to 2.5 inches, with kings from roughly 3.375 to 4.5 inches tall. If footprint is your main worry, the best animal chess sets roundup has smaller options than any of these.

And no, the pieces won't topple on the small board. A 1.25 inch base on a 1.7 inch square is about 74 percent, which lands right where US Chess likes it (75 to 80 percent of a square). The board just looks crowded. Crowded boards make club players grumpy.

Winner: HPL. The 18 inch option is the roomiest of the four, and room is the thing a themed set usually lacks.

Piece size, weight, and the felt question

Ebros publishes tallest and shortest: 3.5 and 2.5 inches on the 15 inch set, 3.75 and 2.5 on the 17 inch set. HPL lists a 3 1/4 inch king on both. That 3.25 figure sits just under the US Chess floor of about 3.375 inches, so neither HPL set is pretending to be tournament kit.

Weight is the better number. HPL says the full 32 pieces weigh 2 pounds total. One ounce per piece on average, which is light for a 3 1/4 inch king. Do what you like with that. Ebros doesn't publish a weight at all, so there's nothing to compare.

Felt bottoms are where this gets decided. HPL lists felt bottoms on both sets. The Ebros listings never mention felt, and these boards are glass. Bare resin on frosted glass is how you get a scratched board and an ugly click on every move. Buy a sheet of adhesive felt pads if you go Ebros.

Winner: HPL. Felt on the bottom of a 1 ounce piece on glass is not a small detail.

Storage, setup, and the ten minute tear down

The Ebros 17 inch ships with board in the bottom half of one styrofoam unit and pieces in the top half, and the listing actually warns you to cut the tape around both foam sheets before pulling. That tells you how it travels. It also tells you there's no drawer, no slot, no bag. Just foam.

HPL solves it. The 17 inch has two drawers with felt lined divided compartments, which is the single most practical feature on this page for 32 pieces. The 18 inch goes a diffrent route: pieces arrive in a decorative box with foam storage, which is great for gifting and worse for Tuesday night. If you want to see how other themed sets handle piece storage, the best themed chess sets comparison covers it.

Concession: laminate isn't wood. Cherry and burlwood color on a high gloss laminate is a printed surface over engineered board. It won't warp, and it won't fool anyone who runs a finger along the edge.

Winner: HPL. Two felt lined drawers beat a styrofoam tray every night of the week.

What it looks like when nobody is playing

The Ebros boards use frosted glass and clear glass squares in a checker pattern. Not two colors of wood. Light and shadow. Hand painted and polished resin on top of that, and the 17 inch set's 3.75 inch tallest piece gives the whole thing real presence on a side table.

HPL reads warmer and more like furniture. The high gloss cherry and burlwood color is a classic club look, and it hides dust better than glass. If you're a cat person decorating a room, the best cat chess list runs through the feline options in more depth.

But glass shows every fingerprint, and resin ears and tails chip when a set gets moved in a hurry. The sculpts are caricature, not portraiture. That's the point, and it's also the reason some players will roll their eyes.

Winner: Ebros. On a shelf, the frosted glass board and the taller pieces do more work.

Picks on each side

Both brands lean hard on the theme. If you'd rather have a dog only army, the best dog chess sets list covers that ground.

Ebros 17-inch glass set

Ebros Age Old Feud Animal Kingdom Cats Versus Dogs Royal Battleground…

by Ebros Gift

• The board is made of fine glass; frosted and clear glass square boxes on the surface.

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The 17 inch Ebros is what I'd put on a side table. Frosted and clear glass squares, a 3.75 inch tallest piece, 1/4 inch glass underneath, and 1.25 inch base diameters across the set. No felt mentioned, so plan on adding pads.

Ebros 15-inch glass set

Ebros Pet Animal Kingdom Cats Versus Dogs Battleground Chess Set Resi…

by Ebros Gift

• These Cats VS Dogs chess pieces are made of polyresin, hand painted and polished individually.
• The board is made of fine glass; frosted and clear glass square boxes on the surface.

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The 15 inch Ebros is the same idea in a smaller footprint, 15 by 15 with 3.5 inch tallest pieces. Same 1.25 inch bases as the bigger set, which means the smaller board is the more crowded of the two. Great on a nightstand, tight for actual play.

HPL 17-inch storage set

Cats Vs Dogs Animal Chess Set with 17 inch High Gloss Cherry & Burlwo…

by HPL

• 3 1/4" King: 17" High Gloss Laminate Storage Board Included
• Total Piece Weight: 2 Pounds
• Standard 32 Piece Set of Men
• 2 Drawers With Felt Lined Divided Compartments

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HPL's 17 inch is the practical pick of the four. 32 pieces, 2 pounds total, a 3 1/4 inch king, felt bottoms, and two drawers with felt lined divided compartments. If the set stays out and gets used, this is the one I'd buy.

HPL 18-inch board set

Royal Cats Vs Dogs Chess Set Set with 18" Cherry and Burlwood Color B…

by HPL

• 3 1/4" King. Standard 32 pc set of men.
• 18" High Gloss Laminate Board Included
• Solid Resin and Hand Painted With Felt Bottoms
• Men Come In Decorative Box With Foam Storage

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The 18 inch HPL is the same 32 piece set on a bigger board, and it ships in a decorative box with foam storage instead of drawers. For a gift, the box matters. For weekly play, I'd take the drawers and the smaller board.

Which one I'd pick

For a player who keeps a board out and uses it: the HPL 17 inch. Felt bottoms, 32 pieces, 2 pounds total, and somewhere to put the knight when you're done. That's the whole argument.

For a shelf, a study, or a gift: the Ebros 17 inch. The 3.75 inch tallest piece and the frosted glass board catch light in a way laminate doesn't, and the hand painted resin is the reason people stop and look.

For a small apartment or a kid's room: the Ebros 15 inch. Fifteen inches square fits where 18 won't, and the sculpts survive a nine year old better than you'd expect. If you want the theme but not the animals, there's a whole world of unique chess sets to dig through.

And if you want a set for study or rated play, skip all four. Buy a weighted plastic set with a 3.75 inch king and a roll up board. Then buy the cats vs dogs set as the thing you look at, because that's what it's for.