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Maison Philidor · Handmade chess & backgammon sets from France
Solid wood chess and backgammon sets, handmade in France in the Maison's partner workshops. Solid boards, weighted pieces. Objects you keep, then pass on. Solid wood, handmade in France. Objects you keep, then pass on.
Two families, one standard: solid wood through and through, handmade in France.
A gift that leaves a mark, a set you play on every evening, or a rare piece you keep and pass on.
It's really very pretty, the pieces are magnetic and the size is good. The underside of the pieces is covered in felt, which protects the board.
Complete and very well designed. Honestly, it'll be an ideal travel companion.
As described. The board and pieces are properly magnetic, even if the magnets aren't very strong. I can only recommend it.
It's really great, perfect, I loved it. Beautiful design and good materials.
The pieces are really great. Shame I didn't have this set when I was a child. I recommend it!!!
Good chess set. When I ordered it, I thought it would be a little bigger.
The chess set is great.
Perfectly made. I'm happy. Thank you!
It's perfectly adequate for playing chess.
Perfect.
Folding magnetic walnut chessboard.
Great set, I really liked it. I recommend it to everyone and it arrived before the expected delivery date.
The Philidor method
We turn down more boards than we sell.
Every model spends an evening on our table before it joins the catalogue. Anything that creaks, wobbles or marks doesn't go online.
Solid boards through and through, turned and weighted pieces. Nothing veneered, nothing printed. You feel it in the weight, you hear it in the sound.
Cracked piece, failing clasp, lost pawn: replaced individually, in the same wood. 5-year guarantee.
The honest comparison
Six points you can check in two minutes on any product page.
*Points checked in September 2026 on the product pages of online chess shops.
On most of them, the square size wasn't given.
François-André Danican Philidor, born in Dreux in 1726: opera composer, and the strongest chess player of his century.
In 1749, in London, he wrote that pawns are the soul of chess: the game is played with the small pieces, the ones nobody looks at. We took his name for that idea. A good set is first and foremost about the care given to what you don't see.
Pawns are the soul of chess.
MAISON PHILIDOR — CHESSBOARDS & BACKGAMMON
The Staunton design, the one used in clubs and tournaments. Solid board, walnut against maple; turned pieces, weighted in the base, felted underneath. The king stands 90 to 95 mm tall: you feel it in your hand before you see it.
A backgammon set is judged closed, then open. Closed: a case that stands upright, clean hinges. Open: twenty-four points inlaid in two woods, a base that carries the sound of the dice, thirty checkers that glide without catching.
WHAT WE REFUSE TO SELL
Veneered boards that warp. Hollow pieces that topple over. 60 mm kings on 50 mm squares. Everything that looks fine in the photo and that you regret by the third game.
Our materials and our workshop
The Philidor commitment
You don't buy a chessboard twice. So we guarantee the wood, hinges, clasps and felt for five years. A pawn disappears under the sofa? We'll turn you another one.
Including the ones product pages avoid.
At £30, the board is printed plywood and the pieces are hollow. Here, the squares are cut from solid walnut and maple, the pieces turned, weighted and felted. The first one gets replaced. The second one gets passed on.
Handmade, in France, in the Maison's partner workshops: pieces turned and weighted by hand, squares assembled one by one, hand-rubbed oil finish. No two boards are ever identical.
Solid through and through: squares, border and base in solid wood, with no veneer. Slowly dried wood, squares assembled grain against grain, oil finish. It won't warp or crack, kept away from radiators and direct sunlight.
Dispatched within 24 to 48 working hours with tracking, then 4 to 8 working days to the UK. Free delivery. For a gift needed by a set date, write to us before ordering.
BEFORE • ON ARRIVAL • IN FIVE YEARS
We'll tell you which square size to choose.
Any doubt? We reply the same day.
A lost pawn, replaced individually.
A question before you order?
Replies 7 days a week.
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Ibtissam
Maison Philidor customer service
Hello, it's Ibtissam from customer service.
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