When you open the box, you will get a fold-out chess board (very durable). The board has the EXACT same colors as the chess set seen in "Harry Potter & the Sorcerer's Stone". You will also receive two complete set of chess pieces.

Each piece was designed using the SAME sketches Warner Brother employees used to create the life-size pieces in the movie; they are COMPLETELY identical. The pieces are made of a thick-plastic type of material, so they are very hard to damage (but not impossible).

Also included in the box is a set of instructions that have easy-to-read insturctions on how to play chess. They have pictures showing the different ways each piece can move.

Whether you're a chess fan or not, if you LOVE Harry Potter, then you MUST have this chess set; makes a great decoration on any coffee table.

63 of 64 found the following review helpful:

Keep the kids in mind  Nov 08, 2003
By Donna Sollie
Fact: This is a chess set designed to look like the chess set protrayed in the Harry Potter movies.

Fact: This set is designed for, marketed for, and intended for use by children. Nowhere does it claim to be a "professional" or "regulation" chess set.

With that said, I'm amazed at all of the complaints concerning the game's contents. Yes, the board is a folding board, and yes, the pieces are larger than normal. It's designed that way for a reason. Would I purchase it for myself? No, because I prefer professional grade chess sets to collect.

I bought it for my KIDS, and they love it. It looks just like the one Harry & Ron played, and while the pieces do not automatically destroy each other, they have put hours of relatively quiet time into learning and playing the game of chess.... something they had no interest in until this game was purchased for them.

I highly recommend buying this product if you have kids as I'm sure they will love it. They don't care that some pieces are a bit awkward, nor that the board folds. They care that it's a "Wizard's" chess set just like Harry Potter's. My kids are happy with it, and in the end, that's all that matters.

54 of 55 found the following review helpful:

Great Success  Oct 21, 2002
By Beth Jones Henkel
My daughter had been begging me to teach her how to play chess. Why? I had no idea but when I saw this chess set it made sense. She's a huge Harry Potter fan and this set had her intrigued in playing chess. I'm all for it because chess is a wonderful strategy game that really works the brain. Plus it takes time and that means less time for brainless cartoons!

The pieces capture your attention right away, especially with the uniqueness from the first film so evident in them. They really do make you feel more inclined to play chess just because it's cooler to have pieces that fit the mood of chess than just bland, boring pieces of the cheap chess sets most of us are familiar with.

Overall the durability is good for children a little older. However, my daughter at 8 likes to use them in pretend games other than chess too. She likes to re-inact some of the movie with them too. She has the other HP figures and it all comes together real nicely... so overall it's a definite purchase any HP fan should make!

48 of 49 found the following review helpful:

The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly!  Feb 07, 2003

Yes, there are at least two different sets that represent the Harry Potter Wizards Chess and they are made by the same company - Arco. One of the sets is made of plastic and the other is resin. The Plastic set has the picture of the children on the front and the one without the picture of the children is resin. By far the resin set is the best set. While the plastic set has its draw backs, as far as the pieces having no decoration (although nicely detailed) ... and the fact that you have to paste the squares onto the playing board, it is the best choice for children. The resin set is much nicer in that the detail is just as good as the plastic set but the pieces have more weight to them and they look more geniune. The only problem with the resin set is that some of the pieces, such as the knight, tend to be a bit top-heavy and wobbly and the game board could be larger to accomodate easier movement... The resin set will make a great collectors item due to it's better quality, but they are VERY hard to find. As a matter of fact, even the plastic set is becoming hard to find. I have a resin set and I just love it. Although I am using a different playing board for it (a larger one) I will keep this set on display in my home for a long time. I LOVE HARRY POTTER!

56 of 61 found the following review helpful:

Great ...with some minor design issues  Jun 09, 2003
By T. Reinhardt "olivia lee"
I think chess is a great game to teach kids. And if your child likes harry potter this is a great motiviation to learn to play.

The connection to the movie and the game pieces make it fun for them to learn and play.

Personally, I thought the board was WAY too small. And way too flimsy. Especially for beginning players when even the biggest board with the smallest pieces can be hard to keep up with. And I found the pieces to look pretty similar, altho my son had no trouble with that issue.

That said, the issues with the design of the game were mine and getting out this game is something my son loves. So i would have to classify them as minor.

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