Man Ray Chess Pieces Review: A 3.3-Inch King in Two Woods
A surrealist shape in real wood, but the numbers say small and light. Here's who the 3.3-inch king actually fits.
My verdict: 3.3 / 5
An affordable route to a surrealist classic, with 32 handmade pieces in sheesham and boxwood and a 12-month replacement warranty. But the 3.3-inch king and 430-gram total put it firmly on the shelf, not the tournament table.
- Best for
- Design collectors who want the Man Ray silhouette in wood and will display it rather than play on it.
- Skip it if
- You want a set for club nights, or you expect a board in the box.
The king here stands 3.3 inches tall on a 1.2-inch base, and all 32 pieces together weigh 430 grams. Those two numbers settle it for me. This is a shelf set with a chess problem attached, not the set you carry to club night. Man Ray designed his chessmen in 1966 and the geometric shapes have been reproduced ever since; this version comes from TAJ CHESS STORE in golden rosewood and natural boxwood, pieces only, no board.
What it is and who it's for
It's a reproduction of a surrealist chess set, handmade in Sheesham (golden rosewood) for the dark army and natural boxwood for the light one. The listing promises 32 pieces, the queen, rook, bishop, knight and pawns all in proportion to the king, plus a 12-month free replacement warranty against manufacturing defects. No board. No storage box mentioned either.
Who it's for: people who like the shape of the thing. If you've looked at the museum-shop version of this design and winced at the number, a two-tone wooden reproduction is the sane route. It belongs in the same mental drawer as the themed chess sets I've written about before: objects first, games second. Put it on a sideboard, let guests pick up the knight, done.
Who it's not for: anyone chasing a rating, and anyone who assumes a board comes with it. The listing is blunt. Pieces only.
What the specs actually tell you
US Chess guidance puts a tournament king at roughly 3.375 to 4.5 inches. This one is 3.3, a hair under the floor. Not a scandal for casual play. It does mean the whole set reads small in the hand, and the queen and rook shrink with it.
Then the base. A 1.2-inch king base wants squares around 1.5 to 1.6 inches wide, because you're aiming for the base to fill 75 to 80 percent of a square. Standard tournament squares run 2 to 2.5 inches. Set these pieces on a 2.25-inch board and they'll look like furniture in a warehouse. Eight squares at 1.5 inches gives you 12 inches of playing surface, so you're shopping for a compact board that isn't in the box.
Now the weight, which is the number I keep coming back to. 430 grams across 32 pieces averages near 13 grams per piece. That's light. It tells you these are small wooden shapes, and the listing never mentions weighting or felt pads, so I'd assume neither until someone shows me otherwise. Light pieces slide and tip when a sleeve catches them. For display that's irrelevant. For play you'd notice by move five. If you want to feel the contrast, my notes on original chess pieces cover the proportions that matter.
What owners report
The listing carries no rating and no review count, so I can't hand you an owner consensus for this exact set. What I can do is tell you the pattern that follows this design family and this weight class, because it repeats.
The most common complaint on abstract reproductions is piece recognition. Man Ray's queen is a shape, not a crown, and the pawns are small blocks. Under time pressure you grab first and identify second. Club players I've sat across from have dabbed paint on abstract sets for exactly this reason.
Second theme: the missing board. People buy a bag of pieces, then discover a 1.2-inch base fits almost nothing they already own. Third: lightness. Owners of thin wooden sets tend to mention tipping and sliding long before they mention craftsmanship. For another review to read alongside this one, the blue prince chess pieces review is the closest comparison on the site.
Pros and cons
Pros
- Two woods in one box, golden rosewood (Sheesham) and natural boxwood, so the sides read apart without a board between them.
- 32 pieces with a 3.3-inch king on a 1.2-inch base, the other five shapes proportioned to match, per the listing.
- 430 grams total, which packs easily, ships cheap and takes up eight inches of shelf.
- 12 months of free replacement cover against manufacturing defects.
Cons
- No board, and the 1.2-inch base needs 1.5 to 1.6-inch squares, smaller than most boards people own.
- About 13 grams per piece averaged across the set; weighting and felt aren't listed anywhere.
- The 3.3-inch king sits just below the 3.375-inch bottom of the US Chess range.
- No ratings yet, so you're buying on specs and photographs alone.
Specs at a glance
| Feature | Detail |
|---|---|
| Brand | TAJ CHESS STORE |
| Set contents | 32 chess pieces, board not included |
| Materials | Golden rosewood (Sheesham) and natural boxwood |
| King height | 3.3 in (82.6 mm) |
| King base | 1.2 in (30.0 mm) |
| Other pieces | Queen, rook, bishop, knight, pawn in proportion to the king (individual heights not listed) |
| Total weight | 430 g for all 32 pieces |
| Warranty | 12 months free replacement against manufacturing defects |
| Ratings | None listed at time of writing |
Alternatives worth a look
This comparison holds a single product, so there are no marker lines to run and no second ASIN to stack against it. The honest answer is that the alternatives sit outside this design family, and they're the ones I'd point a player toward.
If the goal is playing rather than looking, start with a Staunton pattern and a weighted base. The best lewis chessmen sets are where I'd begin, mostly because those pieces are built around square sizes you can actualy buy.
If you want carved wood you can grip without squinting, go figurative. The best german knight chess sets run the opposite direction from this one: recognizable silhouettes, standard board sizing, no guessing which piece is which at speed.
Should you buy it
Buy it if the silhouette is the point. On paper you get 32 handmade pieces in two woods, a 3.3-inch king, a 12-month replacement warranty and a total weight light enough to post to a friend. That's a fair package for a display set, and the shapes start conversations a Staunton set never will.
Skip it if you intend to play. The king is under the US Chess floor, the base wants a 1.5 to 1.6-inch square you probably don't own, and 13 grams per piece means everything tips. Skip it too if you assumed a board was included, because it isn't.
One practical note before you check out: budget for a compact board at the same time. Bought on its own, this set sits in the box until the right board turns up.
Questions people ask me
Is the Man Ray chess set actually playable?
Yes, it's a full 32 pieces with a 3.3-inch king and the usual array of shapes. It just isn't built for speed. The whole set weighs 430 grams, and the abstract forms take a beat longer to tell apart than a Staunton pattern.
Does this set include a chess board?
No. The listing says 32 chess pieces only, board not included. The 1.2-inch king base wants squares of roughly 1.5 to 1.6 inches, so you're shopping for a compact board, not a standard tournament one.
What size board fits a 3.3-inch king with a 1.2-inch base?
Aim for 1.5 to 1.6-inch squares, which gives 12 to 12.8 inches of playing surface. Put these pieces on a board with 2-inch or larger squares and they'll look stranded.