The CHESS-MFG injection moulding hall: three very large blue-grey IMM-2000 injection moulding machines in a row, and in front of each machine a wooden pallet holding a grey plastic crate filled with loose black and ivory Staunton chess pieces — machines, pallets and pieces, with no people in frame
Ready for delivery — packed chess sets in our Ningbo warehouse.
Factory direct — tournament chess equipment shipped worldwide.

CHESS MANUFACTURING · NINGBO, CHINA

CHESS-MFGTOURNAMENT-GRADE CHESS EQUIPMENT MANUFACTURER

Professional Chess ProductsOEMODM

Twenty-five years. One game. Nothing else.

We are a manufacturer, not a trader. This is our injection moulding hall in Ningbo: three of our largest presses in a row, and beside each one a pallet of plastic crates filled with loose black and ivory Staunton pieces — kings, queens, knights and pawns, straight off the mould. Every set is designed, moulded, turned, finished and packed in our own factory, as it has been for over twenty-five years.

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OEMYour brand, produced on our lines ODMYour design, developed & made by our factory
25+

years devoted to chess equipment — and nothing else

40+

individual operations in a single tournament knight

120+

chess federations, clubs and academies supplied worldwide

30

days — the typical production window, order to ready-to-ship

THE FULL CATALOGUE

Every model, in one place

The complete CHESS-MFG range — 39 models in seven families, each shown in its real product photo from our factory catalogue, and every one designed, tooled and finished under our own roof in Ningbo. Pick your models, send them through Order to Us, and the factory replies with prices and a production slot.

Flagship Combo

8 MODELS

Our signature complete sets — the combinations clubs, federations and retailers lead with.

COMBO-A Tournament Chess Game Set Combo — product photo

COMBO-A

Tournament Chess Game Set Combo

Our flagship all-in-one tournament combo — pieces, board, clock and carry bag in a single retail box.

Enquire about this model →
COMBO-C New Ultimate Chess Game Set Combo — product photo

COMBO-C

New Ultimate Chess Game Set Combo

The ultimate all-in-one combo: full-size pieces, roll-up board, scorebooks, pens and bag.

Enquire about this model →
COMBO-D Champions Chess Game Set Combo — product photo

COMBO-D

Champions Chess Game Set Combo

The Champions combo in its carry-handle gift box — 3-inch kings with four queens, board, scorebooks, pens and bags.

Enquire about this model →
COMBO-F Portable Chess Game Set Combo — product photo

COMBO-F

Portable Chess Game Set Combo

A portable combo made to travel — set up anywhere, pack away in moments.

Enquire about this model →
COMBO-G Backpack Chess Game Set Combo — product photo

COMBO-G

Backpack Chess Game Set Combo

A full set combo that carries in a backpack — for players always on the move.

Enquire about this model →
COMBO-W Folded Wooden Chess Game Combo — product photo

COMBO-W

Folded Wooden Chess Game Combo

A wooden combo with a folding board — classic looks, compact storage.

Enquire about this model →

Chess Pieces

9 MODELS

Standalone piece lines and replacement armies, from school basics to Staunton classics.

HF77B Basic Chess Pieces — product photo

HF77B

Basic Chess Pieces

Dependable basic pieces with all-felt bases — the workhorse line for schools and club fleets.

Enquire about this model →
YS100-22 and YS100-40 Natural Wood Chessmen — product photo

YS100-22 / YS100-40

Natural Wood Chessmen

Natural-finish wooden chessmen with the grain of the wood on show, in two sizes.

Enquire about this model →

Chess Boards

2 MODELS

Roll-up and flexible boards matched to tournament play.

VN51 Vinyl Chess Board 20 inch — product photo

VN51

Vinyl Chess Board 20"

20-inch roll-up vinyl board — the tournament-room standard for clubs and events.

Enquire about this model →

Chess Clocks

2 MODELS

Classic timing for club nights, schools and home play.

Chess Bags

8 MODELS

Carry and storage for every kit — from a drawstring pouch to a full tournament bag.

Chess Supplies

5 MODELS

Teaching aids, presentation pieces and chess-branded extras for events and retail.

Combo Sets

5 MODELS

Ready-made combinations — pieces, boards, clocks and bags configured as single products.

MANUFACTURING SERVICES · OEM & ODM

Your brand. Your design. Our factory.

Everything on this page is made on our own lines in Ningbo — and those lines are open to you. Two ways to work with the factory behind CHESS-MFG:

OEM

ORIGINAL EQUIPMENT MANUFACTURING

Your brand on proven CHESS-MFG lines. Take our tournament-grade pieces, boards, clocks and sets as they are — and make them yours, from logo to shelf.

  • Your logo and colourways on our existing product lines
  • Retail gift boxes, printed sleeves and barcoding to your specification
  • Private-label packaging produced in-house
Start an OEM project

ODM

ORIGINAL DESIGN MANUFACTURING

Your design, developed and made by us. Send a drawing, a sample, or an idea — our design centre and mould centre turn it into a production-ready set that is exclusively yours.

  • New profiles and complete kits developed with our design centre
  • Moulds cut in our own mould centre — your design stays exclusively yours
  • From first sample to mass production under one roof
Start an ODM project

01 · THE WORKSHOP

Inside the CHESS-MFG workshops

We are a mid-sized specialist factory in Ningbo — not a trading company, not a giant group — and one plant stands behind every CHESS-MFG set: our design centre, our own mould centre and the production halls, where our own people run the presses, finish the pieces by hand, print the boards and load the containers. When you order from CHESS-MFG, this floor — and these people — are what stand behind the promise.

THE PLANT · NINGBO

A factory built for one product

Our Ningbo plant was laid out for chess equipment and nothing else: production workshops, design centre, mould centre and warehouse under one roof — and only minutes from the port every container sails from.

MOULDING HALL

At the presses, pieces by the tray

Our operators run the injection presses that form our tournament plastic pieces, lifting each fresh tray of kings, queens and knights straight from moulds cut and maintained in our own mould centre — the tooling discipline that keeps piece number one and piece number ten thousand identical.

BOARD LINE

Boards, made on the line

Roll-up boards come off the print line to be stacked, rolled and checked square by square before they are matched with their pieces — real boards, made by real hands, at real production volume.

ASSEMBLY & PACKING LINES

Trays full, all day long

Along the assembly and packing lines, clocks are built up and tested, sets are matched piece by piece — and the trays come down the conveyor stacked with boxed chess sets, sealed and checked box after box. A full line is the normal state of this floor.

FINISHING BENCHES

Finished by hand, piece by piece

Moulding is only half the job. At the finishing benches, our people trim the mould lines, buff and polish every piece by hand — a knight held to the wheel, a pawn checked between finger and thumb — until each piece feels the way a tournament piece should feel.

One roof

Design centre, mould centre, workshops and warehouse in a single Ningbo plant — nothing about a set is outsourced.

9 stages

Every set passes the same nine production stages, in the same order, on our own floor — see The Craft below.

In-house tooling

Moulds and profiles are cut and maintained by our own mould centre, so tolerances hold across the whole run.

30 days

The typical window from order confirmation to ready-to-ship, because production never leaves the building.

Want this floor working on your order?

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Anyone can make a chess set. The hard part — the part that takes twenty-five years — is making ten thousand sets that feel exactly the same in a player's hand.

Consistency is what separates a club set from a tournament set: the same weight, the same balance, the same silhouette, board after board, hall after hall. It is the standard every CHESS-MFG set is measured against before it leaves Ningbo.

Sets held to this standard, made for your players.

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02 · OUR STORY

A quarter century at the board

CHESS-MFG began in Ningbo with a simple conviction: chess deserves equipment made by people who make nothing else. Twenty-five years later, that conviction runs every bench, lathe and packing line in our factory.

THE BEGINNING

A workshop, a lathe, one product

We started as a small Ningbo workshop turning wooden Staunton pieces. No toys, no general games, no side lines — from the first day, the benches were set up for chess and chess alone.

THE WORD TRAVELS

From local clubs to tournament halls

Players notice balance and finish before they notice anything else. As clubs and tournament organisers began specifying our sets by name, production grew — carefully, without ever diluting the hand-finishing that earned the reputation.

TOOLS OF OUR OWN

Design centre and mould centre in-house

To hold tolerances across tens of thousands of pieces, we brought development home: our own design centre for profiles and finishes, and our own mould centre, so every tool that shapes a CHESS-MFG piece is made and maintained under our roof.

THE FULL KIT

Pieces, boards, clocks, bags — one maker

Tournament organisers asked for complete kits from a single accountable source. Boards, digital clocks, carry bags and matched combination sets joined the pieces, all produced and inspected to the same standard.

TODAY

25+ years on, still only chess

Today our sets play in the halls of 120+ federations, clubs and academies around the world. The range is wider and the volumes larger — but every set is still finished, matched and checked by people who have spent their careers on this one game.

Join the halls that already play on CHESS-MFG.

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03 · THE CRAFT

Nine stages. No shortcuts.

Every tournament set passes through the same nine stages, in the same order, held to the same gauges. This is the process behind the promise — the reason set number one and set number ten thousand play identically.

40+ steps

in the making of one tournament knight — the most demanding piece on the board, and the one we judge ourselves by.

  1. 01

    Material selection

    It starts before any machine is switched on. Timber, resin and moulding compounds are chosen batch by batch for density, stability and consistency, and checked for moisture and flaws. Material that varies will produce pieces that vary — so it never reaches the floor.

  2. 02

    Turning

    Blanks are turned to profile on our lathes, cutting each piece's silhouette to tight, repeatable tolerances. Kings, queens, rooks and bishops take their proportions from master patterns held in our design centre.

  3. 03

    Carving

    The knight cannot simply be turned — it must be carved. Muzzles, manes and eyes are cut and then refined by hand, piece by piece. It is the slowest stage in the factory, and the one we refuse to rush.

  4. 04

    Sanding & polishing

    Every piece is sanded through progressively finer grits until edges are crisp but never sharp, and the surface takes finish evenly. You can feel the difference between a sanded piece and a finished one the moment you pick it up.

  5. 05

    Weighting

    Bases are weighted and sealed so each piece lands with the settled, confident feel tournament players expect — stable in a blitz scramble, identical across the whole set, and matched between the white and black armies.

  6. 06

    Lacquering & finishing

    Finishes are built up in coats and properly cured, giving wooden pieces their depth of colour and protecting every surface against the handling of daily club and tournament play.

  7. 07

    Felting

    Precision-cut felt is applied to every base — cleanly centred, firmly bonded, no lifting edges. Felt is a small detail that decides whether a piece glides across the board or scratches it.

  8. 08

    Assembly

    Pieces are matched into complete sets by eye and by gauge — heights, weights and finishes compared side by side — then combined with their board, clock and bag where a full kit is ordered.

  9. 09

    Inspection

    Before anything is packed, sets are inspected piece by piece: dimensions, weight, balance, finish and felt. A set that fails any check goes back to the bench. It does not go in the box, and it does not go on the ship.

Put all nine stages to work on your next order.

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04 · THE RANGE

Everything a tournament needs. Nothing it doesn't.

Five product families, one standard: tournament-grade. Every line below is designed, tooled and finished under our own roof in Ningbo.

Weighted Staunton chess pieces in warm boxwood tones standing on a board

Staunton Chess Pieces

The heart of the factory. Classic Staunton profiles with the proportions players have trusted for generations — broad bases, clean collars, and a knight carved with genuine intent. Weighted, felted and balanced as a matched army, in wooden and tournament plastic lines for every level of play, from school clubs to national championships.

  • Classic Staunton profile
  • Weighted & felted bases
  • Wood and tournament plastic
  • Matched sets, checked by hand
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Loading a container in wind and rain at CHESS-MFG
A walnut-veneer chess board seen from above with wooden pieces in play

Chess Boards

A great set deserves a board that does it justice. We produce wooden veneer boards with crisp, true squares, alongside roll-up and flat boards built for the realities of club nights and hundred-board events.

  • Wooden veneer boards with precision-cut squares
  • Roll-up boards for clubs, schools and travel
  • Tournament square sizes matched to our piece bases
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A digital chess clock with a large dual display and press bars

Chess Clocks

Time is half the game. Our digital clocks are built for long tournament days: clear dual displays, positive press-bar action that survives thousands of blitz finishes, and the timing modes modern events run on — increment and delay included.

  • Digital tournament clocks with increment & delay
  • Large, glare-free displays readable across the hall
  • Press bars tested for heavy daily use
Order to Us
A padded tournament carry bag with a roll-up board and Staunton pieces laid out

Bags & Cases

Equipment that travels well gets used for years. Our padded carry bags and storage cases are cut and stitched to protect pieces, boards and clocks between home, club and tournament hall — with room for scoresheets and the small things players actually carry.

  • Padded tournament carry bags for full kits
  • Divided storage for pieces, board and clock
  • Colours and branding to your specification
Order to Us
A hand-carved boxwood knight among pawns and a rook, lit dramatically

Combination Sets

One box, ready to play. Our combination sets pair matched pieces with the right board — and a clock and bag where the event calls for them — configured for federations, academies and retailers who want a complete, consistent kit from a single maker.

  • Pieces + board, with clock and bag options
  • Configured for events, academies and retail
  • One maker, one standard, one shipment
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05 · PACKAGING

Packed like it matters — because it does

A set can cross an ocean and a continent before it meets its first player. Our packaging standard is simple: it must arrive looking like it just left the bench.

An open wooden storage box with divided compartments holding light and dark chess pieces with green felt bases

  • Every piece protected

    Pieces are individually wrapped or seated in divided compartments, so finishes never rub against each other in transit.

  • Storage that becomes part of the set

    Wooden storage boxes and formed inserts keep sets organised for years of club use — not just for the journey.

  • Ready for the sea

    Moisture-conscious packing and reinforced export cartons are standard on every ocean shipment out of Ningbo.

  • Your box, your brand

    Retail gift boxes, printed sleeves, barcodes and private-label packaging are produced to your specification under OEM and ODM programmes.

Your products, packed your way.

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06 · CAPABILITY & DELIVERY

From our benches to your harbour — or your door

Design, tooling, production and export all sit inside one company, which is why we can promise what we promise: production typically completed within 30 days, then straight onto the water at Ningbo Port.

Ningbo Port, one of the world's great chess squares

Every container we ship starts here — minutes from our factory, on direct sailings to the major ports of Europe, the Americas and beyond.

A

In-house design centre

Profiles, finishes and complete new lines are developed by our own design team — send a drawing, a sample, or an idea, and we will turn it into a production-ready set.

B

Our own mould centre

Moulds and tooling are cut and maintained in-house. That is how tolerances stay tight across a production run — and how your OEM design stays exclusively yours.

C

Mass production, hand finished

Batch production lines deliver volume; people deliver the finish. Scale never costs a set its carving, weighting, felting or final inspection.

D

Global delivery, your choice of terms

Less-than-container and full-container loads, delivered port-to-port or all the way to your door. Production typically within 30 days of order confirmation.

Ready when you are — production slots are open now.

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07 · WHO WE SUPPLY

Trusted where the game is organised

Our sets are played on by members of 120+ chess federations, clubs and academies around the world — in national championships, school programmes, weekly club nights and everything in between. When an organiser stakes a tournament's reputation on its equipment, that equipment has to be identical on board one and board two hundred. That is precisely what we manufacture.

OEM

Your brand on our craft: logos, colourways, retail packaging and barcoding applied to proven CHESS-MFG lines.

ODM

Your design, our benches: new profiles and complete kits developed with our design and mould centres, produced exclusively for you.

A large tournament hall filled with rows of chess boards and hundreds of players
The destination of everything we make: a full hall, a quiet room, and a game about to begin.

Equip your next event straight from the factory.

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08 · ORDER TO US

Order to us

Tell us what you need — the products, the quantity, your market — and the factory will reply with models, prices and a production slot. Your enquiry goes to [email protected], and it is answered by the same people who run the lines.

FROM THE BLOG

Notes from the factory floor

Short reads we publish for the people who buy, sell and run chess — how tournament equipment is made, stocked and shipped. New post every day.

OCT 22, 2026

The Board That Rides a Bus: VN51 Roll-Up Vinyl Boards

The most-used board at a weekend tournament is never the wooden one — it is the one that rides a bus in a bag and still lies flat at 9 a.m.

Read on the blog →

OCT 21, 2026

Three QC Gates: Why We’d Rather Remake Than Apologize

Every tournament piece passes three gates before it gets near a box: weight, base, finish. Rejects go back, not through.

Read on the blog →

OCT 20, 2026

From Napkin Sketch to Exclusive SKU: How Our OEM/ODM Works

A distributor once sent us a sketch on a napkin. Three months later it was a moulded, weighted, felted production set — theirs alone.

Read on the blog →

OCT 19, 2026

What Should Dealers Stock for the Chess Season?

70% workhorses, 30% special pieces — and order when you see the calendar, not when the shelf is empty.

Read on the blog →

All blog posts →

09 · FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Questions, answered by the factory

The things importers, federations and retailers ask us most — OEM and ODM, order quantities, production time and shipping.

Do you offer OEM and ODM services?

Yes. Under OEM, your brand goes on proven CHESS-MFG lines: your logo and colourways on our existing pieces, boards, clocks and sets, with retail gift boxes, printed sleeves, barcoding and private-label packaging produced in-house. Under ODM, your design is developed and made by us: send a drawing, a sample, or an idea, and our design centre and mould centre turn it into a production-ready set that stays exclusively yours, from first sample to mass production under one roof.

What is the minimum order quantity (MOQ) for each model?

The minimum order quantity is 1,000 pieces per model. That per-model MOQ applies across our pieces, boards, clocks, bags and combination sets, and models can be mixed within a single shipment or a full-container order.

How long does production take for orders under 3,000 sets?

Orders under 3,000 sets are produced within 15 days of order confirmation. Design, tooling, production and export all sit inside one company and one Ningbo plant, which is what makes that pace possible.

What is the production lead time for orders of 3,000 sets or more?

Orders of 3,000 sets or more take 30 days from order confirmation to ready-to-ship. Design, tooling, production and export all sit inside one company and one Ningbo plant, which is what makes the 30-day lead time possible.

How do you ship, and where do you deliver?

Every container ships from Ningbo Port, minutes from our factory, on direct sailings to the major ports of Europe, the Americas and beyond. We ship less-than-container (LCL) and full-container (FCL) loads, delivered port-to-port or all the way to your door — global delivery, on your choice of terms.

How do I place an order or request the catalogue?

Use the Order to Us form on this page, email [email protected], or message us on WhatsApp at +86 180 5858 4445. Your enquiry is answered by the same people who run the production lines.

Is there a smaller or more budget-friendly tournament set option?

Yes — our HF77B Basic Chess Pieces (77mm king) + VN43 17-inch vinyl chess board (about 45×45cm) combo. It is the same tournament style as our HF97A+VN51, one size smaller, at FOB USD 2.42 per set (MOQ 1,000 pieces per model). A good fit for tighter budgets or customers who prefer a smaller set. Orders under 3,000 sets are produced within 15 days.

What is your main tournament chess set combination?

Our standard tournament combination is HF97A Club Chess Pieces in plastic paired with the VN51 20-inch vinyl roll-up chess board — the set we supply to federations, clubs, schools and tournament organisers, with uniform pieces and boards across large orders. Per-model MOQ is 1,000 pieces, and orders under 3,000 sets are produced within 15 days. For a smaller, more budget-friendly version of the same style, see our HF77B+VN43 combination above.

Do your prices include customs duty and taxes?

No. Our quoted prices cover the goods (FOB Ningbo) plus freight to your destination port — seafreight for containers, or courier when you need goods in days. Customs clearance, import duties, taxes and final door delivery are charged at actual cost, itemised for you, and we handle the shipping paperwork on our side. Please confirm you accept this pricing basis when you confirm the order.

Do you make both plastic and wooden chess sets?

Yes. Our plastic tournament line (HF97A and HF77B pieces with VN51 and VN43 vinyl roll-up boards) and our wooden line (YS series and MG-1-M wooden pieces with wooden boards) come from the same Ningbo factory, so a buyer can order plastic sets, wooden sets, or both in one shipment. The per-model minimum order quantity is 1,000 pieces, and production lead times are the same: under 3,000 sets within 15 days, 3,000 sets and above within 30 days.

Tell us what your players deserve.

A catalogue request, an OEM idea, a container of tournament sets for next season — write to us. You will be answered by people who have made chess equipment, and only chess equipment, for over twenty-five years.

EMAIL [email protected] For enquiries, catalogues and OEM / ODM projects WHATSAPP +86 180 5858 4445 The fastest way to reach the factory directly

Order to Us — open the order form

Inside Our Workshop.

Real photos from our Ningbo workshop — packing, boards, pieces and loading, straight from the factory floor.

Loading finished combo sets onto a truck at CHESS-MFG
Green-and-white vinyl chess board
Stacked blue combo set boxes
White retail boxes, barcoded and ready to pack
Empty cartons ready for packing
Black combo boxes being packed into cartons
Blue combo set packaging
Red Club combo set packaging
Bagged black and white chess pieces
Blue Club combo boxes being packed

See all in Workshop

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