LEGO Chess Set 40174 Review: 1,400 Bricks That Store Themselves

Over 1,400 pieces, and the board itself opens up to swallow them. The LEGO Chess Set 40174 is a buildable board with buildable men, and my verdict is that it's a good shelf object and an average chess set. You go into this one with your eyes open: no felt, no weighted bases, no tournament numbers, and a piece count that tells you exactly where the fun lives.

What it is and who it's for

The listing is short, so here's all of it. You get a buildable chessboard, buildable playing pieces, and a board that opens so the men drop inside for storage. The same set plays checkers. Total is over 1,400 pieces, which is a big box by any standard.

What the listing doesn't give you: board dimensions, king height, square size, weight. Not one of those four numbers appears, so if you want them before you spend, you'll be measuring a photo with a ruler and hoping. I've read enough LEGO chess set reviews to know that's normal for this line, and it's still irritating.

Who it's for? LEGO people first, chess players second. A kid learning how the knight moves will love it because the knight is a thing they built. A club player will pick it up once, notice the squares aren't square enough to count, and put it back on the shelf. Both reactions are correct.

What the specs actually tell you

1,400 divided by 32 is about 44. The board and lid eat a chunk of that, so call it 20 to 30 bricks per man, and that's alot of geometry for a pawn. Chunky figures on a brick-built board make a crowded board, which is fine for a kitchen table and hopeless for anything faster.

For contrast, US Chess guidance for tournament play wants squares between 2 and 2.5 inches and a king between 3.375 and 4.5 inches tall, with the king base at 75 to 80 percent of a square. The 40174 gives you none of those figures, so there's nothing to check it against. If sizing matters to you, a LEGO traditional chess set review is a better use of your evening than guessing.

Now the part I actually like. The storage board solves the oldest problem in casual chess: 32 loose men in a cloth bag, and one pawn lost behind the sofa by March. A board that becomes its own box is genuinely useful in a small flat or a kid's bedroom, and I'll give it that.

Two games in one box also helps if the set is a gift. Checkers gets a second life out of something that might otherwise sit unplayed after the novelty fades.

What owners report

The theme that comes up most isn't build quality, it's handling. These are stacked bricks, so a knight grabbed by the head comes apart into its parts. Owners describe picking up a man and getting three pieces, which is exactly what you'd expect from a figure with no glue and no clip. Adults learn to lift from the base. Kids learn by knocking the whole rank over.

The most common complaint, though, is getting one at a sane price. This listing shows no price and no star rating, which tells you most copies move secondhand, and retired LEGO always costs more than the original sticker. Owners who bought at retail are happy. Owners hunting a sealed box are not.

A quieter theme: the board surface feels tight once all the men are on it. Nobody calls it unplayable, but several mention it plays better as a display than as a working set. That lines up with everything else I've seen in themed chess sets built around a gimmick.

Pros and cons

Pros

• Over 1,400 pieces in one box, which is a lot of building for the money if you find it at a fair price.
• The board opens and stores the playing pieces inside, so nothing goes missing in a drawer.
• It plays checkers as well as chess, so the box earns a second outing.
• A deep supply of basic bricks for anyone who wants to build custom figures later.

Cons

• No board dimensions, king height or square size in the listing, so there's no way to confirm it plays like a standard set.
• Stud-built men come apart under a careless hand, which is a real problem during a fast game.
• At 1,400-plus pieces, it's an evening project before it's a chess set.
• No rating and no price shown here, so expect to shop the secondhand market and pay what the market asks.

Specs at a glance

Alternatives worth a look

There's no second product in the data I was handed, so I won't invent a rival and pretend I lined them up on a table. What I'll do instead is point you where the real comparisons live.

If what you want is a chess set that looks like something, rather than a chess set you build, the best unique chess sets page covers boards with far stranger ideas than a brick one. Most sit in a similar price band, and none of them need assembling.

If the brick angle is the attraction but 40174 leaves you cold, the LEGO castle chess set review goes at the same idea from a different direction: same family of set, same studs, different mood. Worth ten minutes before you commit to a secondhand purchase.

Should you buy it

Buy it if you want a LEGO set that happens to play chess, and the 1,400-piece count is the whole reason. It stores its own men, it plays checkers, and it looks good on a shelf. That's a real product with a real job.

Skip it if you want a chess set, full stop. You'd be paying for bricks and storage you don't need when a best themed chess sets board would give you better proportions and a king you can actually measure.

My honest position: I'd buy the 40174 for a kid's birthday at a fair secondhand price, and I'd skip it for anyone chasing a 3.375 inch king on 2.25 inch squares. Two different purchases wearing the same box. <<>>