It's all in the environment - as Greenpeace might agree. But this environment is the one inside your home in most cases. The average home humidity in the country of origin (which for most good, fine chess sets is India) is high. The average home humidity in, say, North Dakota, USA is low, as they seal their homes against draughts, heat them up and inadvertantly deprive the home of moisture, or humidity. Same with the average home in Toronto, and oddly enough, even California, where the reverse is true - moisture is kept repelled by cooling rather than heating.
But in Europe it's more of a mixed picture since some countries are cold, some not so cold. Chess pieces rarely crack in the UK where there is a constant weather change with little build up in dryness. The alloy in the bases expands and contracts, and if there is no 'give' in the wood, or a layer that expansion can occur - the wood is the weakest link - and cracks. Good manufacturers allow for this by inserting a layer of softer material between the alloy and the wood to allow the expansion. All of ChessBaron's range for example has this architecture.
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Chess pieces made of wood are very beautiful and elegant. It is true that they can crack because of humidity, but there is a simple way to prevent this from happening. All the chess pieces should be coated with lacquer or transparent paint every year and you will never have this problem again.
ReplyDeletePersonally i really like wood. But my wood set (it's very old) isn't cracked, and i play and I store it in a very humid room. It’s strange, but I think that depends of the quality of the build and the quality of the wood that was used for making your Chess Set.
ReplyDeleteScience shows no mercy even for chess, just a primary school’s science knowledge is enough to understand the concept in this discussion. So people in place experiencing many climates changing prefer a board that can adapt with the temperature fluctuations. It is not big problem at present days as it was in the middle ages.
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